Chapter 19 - Stabler
First off, much love to Delila07, qt-angel, christopher-meloni-freak, Katydidit, Southrn Bell, Lady Padfoot II, Krystal Redfield, Shellster, georgesgurl117, LivElRocks a lot, viol8dbyalizzard, Mika Tsuki, LawandorderSVUfan, and finalfan17 for updating. Your reviews are the fuel that keeps the fire in this story burning!
Now to answer some questions, that thing with John at the end of the last chapter, "He loves you Liv, we all do," that was strictly like family love, no brewing OE romance. Well, maybe not yet... I suppose I'll have to see where the story takes me. ;) But again, no. As of right now there isn't any OE.
I got some mixed reviews on whether Olivia was in character or not, but that's okay. I love knowing what you guys think. So like I said before, I can't keep triple posting, so here are two more chapters. a really, really, really short Stabler (it doesn't even deserve to be called a chapter, I warn you now), and a pretty long Munch to make up for it. And there is a much awaited cliff hanger at the end of it. Keep reading and you'll see what I mean. ;)
Lyrics by Jennifer Lopez feat. Fat Joe - Hold You Down
You don't know how much you mean to me
Whenever you down
You know that you can lean on me
No matter the situation
Boy, I'm gon' hold you down
You don't know how much you mean to me
Whenever you down
You know that you can lean on me
No matter the situation
Girl, I'm gon' hold you down
Ain't nothing has changed
Not a damn thing, baby…
Stabler
As I lay on the bed, I let my eyes roll around the room, looking everything over. I'd been in a hospital a few times before, because mine was a dangerous job. So nothing was really new to me. That wasn't to say, of course, that I couldn't have done without the thin, almost sheer, paper nightgown and annoying IV sticking out of my arm.
I had to give it up for the doctors though, whatever pain meds they were giving me were really knocking me out. I let my eyelids droop and began letting the quiet beeping of my heart rate monitor lull me off again.
Just as I felt sleep over-taking me, a loud knocking noise quickly pushed it away.
"Yeah!" I half-grumbled, half-moaned at the door as I pushed myself up into a sitting position. Instinctively, I reached my hands up and started rubbing my eyes, something I normally always did after first waking up. As soon as I touched my face, I sucked in a huge breath of air to prevent myself from screaming. I hadn't seen my face since John had attacked me, and I really didn't have to in order to know the damage that had been caused. Mental note, I thought to myself, don't do that again, it hurts.
Attempting to ignore the throbbing pain that was coming back to my face, I turned to the door, waiting to see if it was another nurse to check my vitals. When nothing happened in the next few minutes, I called out again. "Come in!" Slowly, in an almost creepy way, the door moved forward, as if the person behind it was really hesitating. My face twisted into confusion, sending more pain shooting through it. I resisted the urge to show any more emotion as I impatiently listened to the door's hinges squeak in slow motion.
Once it was finally open, I stared into the face of someone who, though I normally saw everyday, was the last one I'd expect.
"Liv?" Guiltily, the first thought that ran through my mind was that she looked horrible. She had a black eye that was starting to fade and other cuts and bruises that were hardly visible. That wasn't what I first noticed though. The first thing that hit my heart was her expression. Her eyes were red and puffy – she'd been crying, and seemed on the verge of doing so again. I immediately was able to read the emotions in my partner's eyes. She was scared, hesitant, and worried, none of which I'd ever seen in her eyes before, and definitely didn't want to now. I opened my mouth to talk, but she beat me to it.
"I-I shouldn't be here," she stuttered, awkwardly backing up.
"Liv, wait!" I reached my hand out, as if subconsciously trying to pull her back towards me. "It's okay." I felt my arm fall back down as we locked eyes for a moment. Her eyes slightly traveled over my face before they began watering.
"I'm sorry…" She began apologizing and the next thing I realized, she was sitting on the side of the bed in tears as I held her in my arms, reassuring her. "It's okay Liv. I'm fine." I struggled to keep my voice from cracking and revealing the tears that were starting to slide down my cheeks as I held Olivia's shaking frame.
