Author's Note: Hey, guys, thanks a TON for the reviews! Nothing makes my day a little brighter more than new review alerts in my inbox. ;) Just to answer a question in one of the reviews: I'm trying towrite any Casey/Olivia stuff as purely subtext. I want it to make it so that it can be read that they're together if the reader chooses to see it that way, or that they're just really close friends if the reader chooses to see it that way.:)

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the next part!

Casey was beginning to get a little stir-crazy. It was the middle of her fourth day in the hospital, and she had become bored by the whole thing three days ago. Luckily, Elliot and Olivia were extremely frequent visitors, though she had a sneaking suspicion that was more Olivia's doing than Elliot's. Munch and Fin would stop by at the end of their shift each night, and Don Cragen had come in a few times with flowers and had sat with her until she started falling asleep. She was truly touched by the way Olivia was playing mother hen and the captain was acting as a substitute father.

She was grateful for the time she could spend with the squad. While she didn't really want her colleagues to see her so sick and weak, she craved the interaction and the chance to talk to someone besides Cheryl, her nurse. Glancing up at the clock on the wall, Casey sighed softly. It was only one o'clock in the afternoon, too early for anyone to stop by, though Cheryl would be coming in soon to check her IV.

With another small sigh, Casey picked up the remote control and started flipping channels on the television across from her bed. She had come to discover that daytime television was not all it was cracked up to be. She could only stomach soap operas for a few minutes, the talk shows drove her batty, and the court shows were so ridiculous she could hardly stand it. After going through the channels three times, she finally settled on the internal closed circuit channel which monitored the lobby. At least this way she could people-watch.

"And how is my favorite patient this afternoon?" a kindly voice asked from the doorway.

Casey smiled when Cheryl came into view. If Casey had to guess, she'd say the nurse was in her late forties or early fifties. A little bit of gray was creeping into her dark hair, and her bright blue eyes reminded Casey of her own mother's. "You say that to every patient you have."

"I do not. You really are my favorite."

"Uh huh," Casey chuckled. "And in answer to your question, I'm more bored than anything."

"You still having the chest pain?" Cheryl asked as she gently stuck the tip of the digital thermometer in Casey's ear.

"No," Casey replied, wincing as she drew in her breath. The thermometer beeped; Cheryl pulled it away and frowned. "What's the matter?"

"Well, for one, your fever's just a touch higher than it was last night." She put the thermometer back down on the medicine cart. "A hundred and one now. And for another, don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying--"

"Casey, I saw you cringe when you took a breath in. Do you want me to take away your favorite patient status?"

Casey blushed once she realized she had been caught in the lie. "Okay, okay, yeah, it still hurts. But it's just pulled muscles."

"Right, but those pulled muscles are interfering with your breathing, and that's not good. Let's not forget which one of us went to nursing school." Cheryl gave Casey a smile as she pushed a couple of buttons on the IV stand's computer. "I just upped the pain medication a tad. If it starts making you sleepy, do not fight it, you understand me?"

"Yes, Mother," Casey replied teasingly. "Hey, Cheryl? You think I can go for a walk or something? I can't sit here another moment, I really can't. I'm starting to watch The Nanny, and I'm starting to like it. You have to help me."

Cheryl burst out laughing. "You really are desperate, aren't you?" Casey nodded, grinning. "Okay, you can go for a walk. You'll have to drag the IV with you and if you start wheezing, you have to come back right away."

"And here I was thinking I could make my escape!" Casey jokingly rolled her eyes as she prepared herself to stand. Slowly, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and put her feet flat on the floor. The tile felt cool against her bare feet, which sent a shiver down her spine. "Do you see the slippers anywhere?"

Cheryl glanced down at the floor and slid the blue hospital-issue slippers out from under the bed and over to Casey with her foot. "Here they are. They disappeared on you."

"Thanks." Casey slipped her toes into the thin shoes and began putting weight on her feet, slowly standing. She felt her knees buckle as a wave of dizziness washed over her. Groaning softly and cursing under her breath, she sat back down on the edge of the bed.

"You all right?" Cheryl asked, gripping her arm.

"Head rush; been lying down too long."

"Casey, maybe this isn't such a good idea."

"I'm fine," Casey insisted, once again trying to stand. This time, she made it with no dizziness, though her breathing was a little labored from the effort. She hated that she could hear the fluid in her lungs when she inhaled. "I was just in the same position too long. I'm okay now, I promise."

She could tell at once that Cheryl wasn't convinced. "You have fifteen minutes."

"It's going to take me fifteen minutes just to get to the door!"

Cheryl smirked. "Okay, fine, half an hour. Fifteen minutes to get to the door and fifteen minutes to get back to bed."

Casey groaned, slightly annoyed by the nurse's teasing. She was tired of being sick, tired of not being able to do much for herself, and tired of not being able to leave the hospital room. "Where's the nursery?"

"Are you kidding? They're not going to let you anywhere near the nursery."

"I just want to look in the window," Casey promised. "Contaminating newborns with the evil pneumonia virus is not high on my list of fun things to do."

"It's downstairs, but you're not leaving the floor, Casey. You've been in bed for four days, you're weak, and just standing up has winded you." Cheryl gently took the hand that wasn't connected to the IV and started walking with the ADA as she slowly headed for the door. "Go to the end of the hall and come back, and maybe tomorrow you can go downstairs."

Casey wanted to whine and tell Cheryl that she was going downstairs come hell or high water, but instead she just sighed. After four days of only getting out of bed to use the bathroom, she was indeed rather weak and fatigued, and she hated to admit that she thought Cheryl was right about not being able to make it downstairs. "Fine. End of the hall. Is there at least a window?"

"Yes, there's a window," Cheryl smirked. "It's got a particularly lovely view of the parking lot. You want me to walk with you?"

"No, I'll be all right." Casey felt her independence surging now that she was up and walking, despite that fact that her knees were shaking slightly. "Half an hour?"

Cheryl nodded and let go of Casey's hand. "If you need me, just give a shout, okay?"

Casey returned the nod and gradually made her way out of the room, dragging the IV stand along beside her. With a small sigh, she began trudging to the end of the hall, the sunlight from the window beckoning her. As she got a little closer, she saw a little girl sitting on her knees on the wide sill, staring out the window. Curious, Casey quickened her pace as much as she could. She figured the little girl was at the hospital visiting a family member and had gotten bored.

When Casey walked up to the window and sat down on the edge of the sill, the little girl looked up and smiled. "Hi, my name's Maddie."

Casey returned the smile. "Hi there. My name is Casey."

"I like that name. One of the girls in my class is named Casey. Are you sick, too?" The girl turned around and settled cross-legged facing the ADA, her brown eyes twinkling in the sunlight.

"Yeah, I've been having a hard time breathing lately," Casey replied, hoping that would a good enough explanation for a little kid. She looked the little girl over and was surprised to see a white ID bracelet fastened around Maddie's wrist. "What about you?"

"My heart doesn't work right," she replied, turning her head to stare out the window again. "I have to have an operation to fix it."

Casey blinked in surprise. The little girl in no way looked sick, certainly not sick enough to require heart surgery. "How old are you?"

"I'm eight!" she answered proudly, shaking her dark curls out of her eyes. She turned again to face Casey and smiled. "How long have you been here?"

"Four days," Casey answered. "I'm more than ready to go home, though."

"You're bored?" Maddie asked. Casey nodded. "Me too. I've played with all the toys in the toy room so much that they're not fun anymore and no one's been with me in days. I asked if I could go for a walk just to do something."

"What do you mean, no one's with you? Where's your mom and dad?"

Maddie shrugged. "I haven't seen my dad since I was little. I don't know about my mom. She hasn't been here in …" She paused and raised her eyes to the ceiling, her mouth moving as she counted back days in her head. "… five days."

Casey frowned, her brow furrowing in concern. "Are you worried?"

"Nah. She does this a lot."

"Madelyn!" Cheryl called from the end of the hallway. Both Maddie and Casey jumped at the sound of her voice. "You know you're not supposed to leave the floor without telling Linda. She called down here frantic looking for you."

"Sorry, Cheryl," Maddie said, hopping down from her seat on the windowsill. She turned and gave Casey a small wave before she took off down the hall. "I have to go now. Bye, Casey!"

"Bye, hon," Casey replied, giving the girl a goodbye smile. She watched the little girl run down the hall only to have Cheryl admonish her and tell her to walk to the elevator.

After Maddie disappeared around the corner, Casey remained on the sill, trying to process what the little girl had said. Why wasn't the girl's mother with her? It struck her as extremely odd that a mother would just leave such a sick child in the hospital and not at the very least pay her a visit. She didn't look up until she heard Cheryl calling her name. Blinking, she raised her head as the nurse sat down on the sill next to her. "Wh-what?"

"I asked if you were okay," Cheryl repeated.

Casey nodded distractedly, her mind still with the little girl. "Who was that girl?"

"Oh, Maddie? She's a favorite up on the pediatric unit. She's been in and out of here with a really bad heart murmur since she was a baby." Cheryl stood and held her hand out to Casey. "Come on, your half-hour's almost up. I'll walk you back down to your room."

Casey allowed Cheryl to help her stand but she pulled her hand out of the nurse's grasp once she was sure she wasn't going to have another head rush. It didn't escape her notice that Cheryl seemed surprised that she wasn't arguing with her about having to go back to the room. Truthfully, Casey was too preoccupied with trying to figure out if her concern for Maddie was coming from her surprise at learning the little girl was having heart surgery or if it was coming from her background in Special Victims. She was hoping that it was the former because she didn't like the implications of it being the latter. Besides, if it were the latter, one would think someone from the hospital would have picked up on it sometime in the past eight years. Either way, something wasn't right with that little girl, and she intended to find out exactly what was happening.