Chapter 5 Lucky Man
Elliot woke up from slowly from an uneasy sleep. His dreams were plagued with recurring images of the kiss shared with Olivia, however, when he opened his eyes in the dream, it was Kathy looking back at him and not Olivia. Could it be his guilt of the kiss bothering him or was it something more? A glance at the clock showed him that he had only been asleep for about 2 hours. Kathy would be out at the doctor's office and the kids wouldn't be home for hours, so he decided to try and go back to sleep. He tried to relax and erase those disturbing dreams from his mind, but gave up after tossing and turning for another hour.
The bagel that he had eaten for breakfast was a fond memory and he decided after his shower to go to the kitchen and grab a bite to eat. Nothing in the kitchen appealed to him so he decided to head out and grab some fast food. He scribbled out a quick note to Kathy letting her know that he had run out and would be back before the kids got home.
Since it was such a beautiful day out Elliot decided that he would head out to a little diner that he and Kathy used to go to when the kids were really little and money had been short. He tried to remember why they stopped going and couldn't come up with a reason why, especially since they had the best burgers in town. The winter had been unseasonably warm and he decided to take advantage of it and drove with windows open and the music blasting. It had been a really long time since he had been in the car by himself and not in a rush to be somewhere. Now that he thought about it, this was the first he'd felt relaxed since the kiss.
He pulled into the diner's parking lot and was about to exit the car when something caught his eye. He looked over and saw a couple arguing and wondered if he would need to interrupt but decided that they didn't look like they were going to get violent. As he reached across to get his phone an alarm went off in his head. It was as if he was in slow motion as he turned back again to look at the couple fighting by a blue pick up and realized that it was his wife and the guy from this morning! Elliot just sat there, shell shocked as he watched them while trying to make sense of what he was seeing. While he stared, all the odd things that he had noticed today started coming back to him. Doug leaving his house in a rush so early this morning, Kathy not being mad about him being out all night, her nervousness and her refusal to be with him. It all started to spell out something that he didn't want to see. No, that he couldn't see. He examined their body language and hoped to see something that would disprove what his eyes were telling him. Proof that his wife wasn't cheating on him.
His world as he knew it completely shattered as he saw Doug pull Kathy into his arms and kissed her like there was no tomorrow. Suddenly their hands were all over each other as he pushed her up against the truck. Elliot just sat there and observed them pawing each other. All kinds of thoughts ran through his head. Should he walk over there and confront them? Should he pretend nothing happened and see if she comes clean? As he was trying to decide, they took the decision away from him as they jumped into the truck and peeled out of the parking lot. Elliot beat his hands on the steering wheel hoping to get out some of his hurt and anger, but all it did was cause a couple getting into their car to give him a funny look.
He grabbed his cell phone and punched in Olivia's phone number. Elliot couldn't catch his breath and nearly screamed in frustration as he got her answering machine. As he waited for her to pick up on her cell, he turned the key in the ignition and started backing out.
"Benson." Elliot couldn't find the words. "Hello?"
He pulled into traffic and choked out, "Olivia?" His voice was heavy with emotion and Olivia just knew something was really wrong.
"Elliot! What happened? Are you okay?" She anxiously inquired as she glanced worriedly at Julie.
"Kathy…" He felt the tears coming on. "Look, I just need to see you. Now."
Olivia could hear the desperation in his voice. "Elliot, where are you?" She was trying to remain calm but she was alarmed by his tone. "I will meet you anywhere you want, just tell me where."
"I…I am, uh, shit! I am driving around and I don't know where I am." Olivia had never heard Elliot sound like this before and she was trying not to panic.
"Elliot. Listen to me. You are in no shape to drive and you need to pull over and look for a street sign to tell me where you are so I can be there as soon as I can." She looked over at Julie and mouthed, "I have to go." Julie understood and gave her a hug. "I'll call you."
She turned her attention back to the phone and she heard Elliot cry out, "There is nowhere to turn around here but I see a light ahead and I'll turn off there."
"Elliot, please calm down," Olivia pleaded. "I am getting in my car now and will head out to meet you. Do you know where you are?"
He looked up and caught a glimpse of a street sign. "I am over by Sycamore Avenue and I am turning…" He didn't get to finish. Olivia heard a horn blare, the unmistakable sounds of vehicle impact, and a short scream and then nothing.
"ELLIOT!" Olivia screamed. "ELLIOT!" She looked down at her phone and saw that the call had been disconnected and she quickly dialed 911. "There is a NYPD Detective that was just involved in a motor vehicle accident and he gave his last known location as being on Sycamore Avenue." She was trying to keep her voice calm but the tears were rolling unchecked down her face.
The 911 operator tried to keep the irritation out of her voice, "Ma'am, Sycamore Avenue is quite a long road, I would need more information to give to the emergency vehicles." Olivia had to bite her tongue to keep from yelling at the woman because she knew she was right.
"I know, but I was just on the phone…" The 911 operator interrupted her, "Ma'am, the accident was just reported in by one of the occupants and the emergency vehicles have been dispatched."
"Oh God! Thank you!" She took a deep breath and then asked. "Can you give the location of the accident? The detective involved is my partner."
"I can't give that information out to you ma'am, but the emergency vehicles are coming up on the scene now. If you will hold for a minute I can try to find out if they will be transporting anyone to the hospital." She offered understanding how Olivia must be feeling right now.
"Thank you so much!" While on hold, Olivia tried to think optimistically. Maybe it was just a small fender bender and the phone was thrown and turned off. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and waited for the operator to come back on the line.
"Ma'am?" The subdued tone made Olivia's stomach drop. "Do you know which car your partner was in?"
"Uh, he would have been in a dark blue 1994 Mazda 626." Olivia tried to rack her brain and remember the license plate number. "The license plate started with…."
"That's okay, I don't need the license plate number." The operator interrupted. "The driver of that vehicle will be transported to Mount Sinai Hospital according to the EMS crew."
Olivia already had the car in gear. "Thank you so much!"
"I'm sorry I can't do more. I really hope your partner's not seriously injured." They ended the call and Olivia was on her way. She wished that she had their department sedan right now so that she could just hit the siren and blow past all the traffic but she didn't and she couldn't. She still made it to the hospital in record time.
Olivia ran into the emergency room and up to the receptionist on duty. "Hi. I am Detective Olivia Benson," she flashed her badge, "And my partner, Elliot Stabler, was involved in a MVA and transported here."
The receptionist looked down at her list. "Ah, he was just brought in." She looked up at Olivia, "You said that you are his partner?"
"Yes, I am. Do you know anything about his condition?"
"Unfortunately, I don't, honey. They are back working on him right now. I do need to get some information on him so could you fill out some forms for me?" She handed Olivia a clipboard with a pen.
"Sure, um, has anyone called his family?" She inquired as she looked thru the mountain of paperwork.
"Not yet, we hadn't gotten to that point yet. He was brought in about five minutes before you got here and we were in the process of pulling his files to see who his family contacts were." She searched thru a stack of files that were just laid on her desk. "It doesn't look like it's in this stack. Would you want to call them or to give me the number to call?" Olivia could tell that she really wanted her to make the call so she agreed to do so.
She walked out of the waiting room to the ambulance bay and tried to get hold of Kathy. When she got the answering machine she left a short message stating that Elliot had been in a car accident and at which hospital. She didn't have Kathy's cell phone number so the next call she made was to Captain Cragen.
"Cragen."
"Captain." Olivia's voice broke.
"Olivia? I didn't expect to hear from you so soon. What's wrong?" He knew something was wrong by the sound of her voice.
She took a second to collect her thoughts. "I am over here at Mount Sinai Hospital and they just brought Elliot in."
"Elliot! Why?" Cragen's voice rose and Munch and Finn heard it in the squad room and headed towards his office. The captain looked up and waved them in.
"He was in a MVA and I don't know the extent of his injuries nor can I get hold of Kathy and …" Her voice trailed off as her emotions got the best of her.
"Take a deep breath, Olivia, he'll be fine. I am on my way down there now."
"Thank you, Captain." They disconnected the call. Cragen looked up at the two detectives standing in his office and relayed the information. Munch and Finn asked and received permission to go along, too, so the three of them grabbed their coats and headed out the door.
Olivia sat down in the waiting room and started to fill out the paperwork, waiting for word on Elliot's condition. She could hardly concentrate on the papers in front of her as her mind just kept replaying the phone call and the sound of the accident. "Elliot just had to be okay!" Her mind screamed. He just had to be okay.