The Next Morning

5 O'clock

St. Vincent's Midtown Hospital

Olivia woke up to someone shaking her gently. She opened her eyes and yawned. She smiled sadly at Cragen, who was standing in front of her. "Any news?" She asked.

Cragen shook his head. "He's still in surgery. A nurse came out to say that they'd be finishing up in the next 30 minutes, so I thought I'd wake you," he told her.

Olivia nodded. "Thanks."

Cragen sat down next to her. "I uh…I have something I need to tell you…I think you should know…in case Elliot doesn't make it," Cragen said as he watched her.

Olivia rested her hands on her protruding stomach and sighed. "Okay…"she said quietly. "What is it?"

Cragen hesitated a moment before continuing. "Elliot and I had some deep talks after you left…most of them were about you, and how he felt about you. He shared some things with me, and I just thought that you had a right to know…that he would want you to know," Cragen began. "He was telling me about your relationship…he told me that he fell in love with you the moment he first saw you. He thinks you're beautiful, intelligent, witty, charming, sweet, graceful…believe me he could go on and on. He thinks the world of you, and it's obvious to everyone who's around him. I think you guys had…have…a lot of potential. You're best friends, you can tell each other everything. You guys have great chemistry…and as I said before, it's obvious that you're in love. He told me that he wanted to marry you one day," Cragen told her.

Olivia sighed and blinked back tears as she rubbed her belly.

"Maybe you don't believe me, but he bought you a ring Olivia, before you left," Cragen said as he pulled a small box out of his pocket. "I think he would have wanted you to have it, something to remember him by," Cragen said as he handed her the box.

Olivia nodded and opened the box. Inside was a sparkling white gold ring. Diamonds and small sapphires surrounded a pearl. Olivia began to cry as she looked at the ring. She took in out of the box and began to slip it on her finger.

"Wait," Cragen said. "Read the inside," he told her.

Olivia turned the ring so that she could see the inscription on the inside. It read, "Liv, you are the love of my life, always and forever, Elliot," in small letters. Olivia smiled through her tears and pondered what to do with the ring. She took off her small silver chain necklace, and slid the ring on it before putting it around her neck again. The ring hung down near her heart, and for once in the past two days, she felt at peace.

1 Hour Later

St. Vincent's Midtown Hospital

A doctor in a set of scrubs walked out into the waiting room and towards Olivia and Cragen. Olivia struggled to stand up, and Cragen had to help her out of the chair. The doctor took off his mask and stopped in front of them. "Mr. Stabler is out of surgery and in recovery now," the doctor told Olivia.

"How is he?" Olivia asked quietly.

"He's still unconscious, but it's too soon to tell whether there was any brain damage," the doctor explained. "We managed to fix the artery, but until he wakes up, there's not really much we can find out."

Olivia nodded. "Will he make it?"

The doctor sighed. "The next twenty-four hours will determine that. I'm sorry I can't tell you anything more. You may go in and sit with him," he told her.

Olivia looked at Cragen.

"Go ahead," he told her as he gave her a hug. "I'll call Casey and your girls."

Olivia smiled and then turned to the doctor. "Okay, I'd like to see him."

The doctor nodded and led her down the hall to Elliot's room. Olivia walked in and sat down in the chair next to Elliot's bed. She took his hand and brushed a kiss across his lips. She let her tears fall freely down her face as she watched Elliot. He wasn't moving, and he looked so weak.

Olivia kissed Elliot's knuckles and began to talk to him. "El, it's me, Liv. I don't know if you can hear me, but I hope you can. Elliot, I'm so sorry I left you. It was wrong of me, and I realize that now. I was just so afraid; of what, I'm not exactly sure. I loved you Elliot, I still do. I just didn't think, didn't know that you loved me too. After that night, I didn't think I would be able to work with you every day, knowing that I would never be able to have you. When you were married, I knew I loved you, but it was different. Now, or then I guess, you were single. I wanted to be with you so much, I wanted you to love me. I was just too afraid that you wouldn't that I didn't stay around long enough to let you tell me that. El, I'm sorry I broke your heart. I wish I hadn't left, I really do. But I'm here now. You need to get better so you can see our child being born, because I don't know if I can do it without you. I love you Elliot, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you…" Olivia told him, wiping the tears from her face.

She sat there for a few minutes before she heard someone come up behind her and she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Casey standing behind her. "Hey," she said quietly.

Casey smiled at her. "How are you doing?" She asked.

Olivia shrugged. "It's all just…too much. It's not fair," she decided.

Casey shook her head. "No, it's not. Ella and Sophia are outside, can they come in?"

Olivia nodded. "Thanks Casey," she said squeezing her hand.

Casey smiled at her as she ushered Olivia's daughters inside. Ella ran up to Olivia and launched herself on Olivia's almost non-existent lap. Olivia wrapped her arms around Ella and hugged her tightly. "Hey sweetie," she said. Ella kissed her mother on the cheek lovingly before sticking her thumb in her mouth and leaning her head on Olivia's shoulder.

Olivia smiled at Sophia who pulled up a chair next to her. "So this is Elliot," Sophia said, looking at the body lying in the hospital bed.

Olivia nodded slowly. "I wish you wouldn't have to meet him like this," she said.

"I 'member Elliot," Ella stated. "He took care of Mommy when Mommy was sick," she said before sticking her thumb back in her mouth.

Olivia kissed Ella's curly blonde head. "Yes he did. And Mommy loves him very much."

"Have you been able to talk to him?" Sophia asked.

Olivia shook her head. "When they brought him in, he told me that he loved me…then they took him away. He hasn't regained consciousness yet," she explained.

"At least you know he loves you," Sophia said.

Olivia nodded. "I talked to Cragen earlier. Elliot had shared some things with him, and Cragen felt that Elliot would have wanted me to know. Elliot was going to ask me to marry him," Olivia told her as she showed her the ring.

Sophia smiled. "Would you have said yes?"

Olivia smiled back. "If I hadn't been stupid and stayed here, I would have said yes in a second. God, I've loved Elliot for as long as I could remember…" she said sadly.

Sophia put an arm around her mother. "Don't worry…he'll be okay," she reassurred Olivia.

Olivia leaned back. "I hope so. Can you take Ella? I'm going to try and get some sleep. I didn't get much last night," she explained.

Sophia took Ella and put her in the stroller. "We're going to go have Casey take us to get some food. I'll have my cell phone if you need us," she said as she gave her mother a kiss. "Love you," she said as she walked out the door.

"Love you," Ella echoed as Sophia pushed her stroller out the door.

"Love you too," Olivia called after them. She pressed a kiss on Elliot's forehead before falling asleep in the chair beside him, still clutching his hand.