Elliot pulled the squad car up in front of a tall apartment complex and glanced over at his partner, who had been staring out the window since they had left the hospital. He cleared his throat to get her attention. "So, how do you want to play this? It's one thing to show up in the hospital room of an eight-year-old and tell her we're there on a friend's sayso, but questioning her neighbor is a little different."

Olivia sighed softly, thinking over her options. Casey had asked them to do this off the record, but Elliot was right; they couldn't just approach a woman who had never met Casey and tell her that they're worried about Maddie with no explanation. "Why don't we tell her that we met Maddie at the hospital while we were visiting a friend and she had mentioned that she missed her mother? We can play it like we're just trying to find the mother as a favor for the little girl."

"All right," Elliot replied, nodding in approval. "You ready for this?"

Olivia groaned quietly as she exited the car. "What are we going to do if we find out that the mother is neglecting her? Casey'll pitch a fit."

"If that happens, we'll open a formal investigation and call ACS." Elliot slammed his door shut and walked around the car, stepping up next to his partner.

Olivia nodded, glancing up at Elliot and smiling in appreciation. "Let's go."

The two detectives entered the apartment complex and scanned the mailboxes for last names. "There," Elliot said, pointing to two mailboxes. "Donovan, 36; Miller, 37. Next-door neighbors."

Olivia led the way up to the third floor, glancing around the halls and taking in the small details. The corridors were unusually clean for this section of the city and the place had a very welcoming feel. They came up to apartment 37 and Olivia knocked on the door, hoping the woman wouldn't be too hesitant to talk to two random strangers.

The front door locks began clicking and the door opened slightly then caught on the chain lock. A woman in her mid-sixties peered out at Olivia and Elliot, frowning in confusion. "Can I help you?"

"Hi, I was just wondering if you'd know where Kim Donovan is," Olivia said, smiling sweetly.

"I don't know for sure, but have you tried Hudson Medical? Her daughter's having surgery."

"Well, truthfully, ma'am, that's why we're looking for her," Elliot spoke up. "We were visiting a friend of ours in the hospital, and she seems to have made friends with Madelyn. Maddie really misses her mother, and we told her we'd try to find her and get her down to the hospital."

The woman groaned in disgust. "Hold on." She closed the door, then Olivia heard the chain sliding and banging down against the doorjamb. A second later, the door opened again and the woman invited the two detectives into the apartment. "Come on in."

"Thank you," Olivia said. "My name's Olivia, and this is Elliot. We're sorry to barge in on you like this, but--"

"No, it's all right," Mrs. Miller replied, holding up her hand to quiet Olivia. "My name's Shirley Miller. Is Maddie doing all right?"

"She's doing as well as can be expected," Elliot answered, taking a seat on the sofa. He glanced up at Olivia as she sat down next to him and smiled when Shirley sat down across from the two of them.

"That poor little thing," Shirley said, shaking her head. "Kim doesn't look out for her, so I try to. She stays with me when she gets out of school, but I don't drive and I'm on a fixed income, so when she goes into the hospital, I can't get down there to see her."

"What do you mean, Kim doesn't look out for her?" Olivia asked, her heart dropping.

"She stays out till all hours, makes Maddie fend for herself for meals. That little girl puts herself to bed eight times out of ten." Shirley shook her head and sighed softly. "I wish I could do more for her."

Olivia closed her eyes and dropped her head in disappointment. Elliot comfortingly rested his hand on her knee before addressing the older woman. "Mrs. Miller, have you ever called the police or children's services about Maddie?"

The woman averted her eyes, ashamed. "No. When Kim's around, she's really a good mother. She's just not around a lot."

"With all due respect, ma'am," Elliot spoke up quietly, "that's the problem. Especially now with Maddie having surgery … she needs someone to care for her." Elliot felt a twinge of guilt when the older woman looked down, suitably chastised. "Mrs. Miller, we didn't mean to intrude and we didn't mean to suggest anything. We were just wondering if you knew how to get in touch with Kim."

"I can give you her work number," Shirley said, standing up and walking over to her phone. She wrote something down quickly on a small piece of paper and walked back over to the two detectives. She slipped the paper into Elliot's hand. "If she's not there, I have no idea where she is. I hope for that little girl's sake that do you find her."

"Thank you," Olivia said, smiling as she stood up from her seat on the sofa.

"Will you tell Maddie I'm thinking of her?" Shirley asked as she walked Elliot and Olivia to the door.

"Sure thing," Elliot replied with a smile. "Thank you for your help."

Once the detectives were out in the corridor and out of earshot of Mrs. Miller's apartment, Olivia sighed. "Looks like Casey's instincts were right. That poor little girl."

Elliot comfortingly rested his hand on his partner's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "We'll call ACS and let them handle it. Now, the really hard part: how do you want to tell Casey?"

Olivia hesitated, mulling over her options. "Let me do it," she said after a moment. "I'll go to the hospital on my dinner break and tell her."

-----

Olivia took a nervous breath in as she headed down the corridor to Casey's hospital room. She was not looking forward to having to tell the ADA that Maddie was indeed a victim of neglect and that the case was now in the hands of ACS. She knew Casey well enough to know that she wouldn't let go of the case that easily and that she wouldn't trust ACS to watch Maddie closely enough after her surgery. Olivia was dreading just the thought of the turf war Casey was likely to cause with ACS once she found out all the details.

She came up to Casey's door and knocked quietly. When she didn't receive an answer, she entered slowly and peeked around the curtain, a smile playing across her lips at what she saw. Casey was sound asleep, one hand resting on the pillow next to her face and the other arm wrapped around the teddy bear Elliot had given her the day before. Her sleep looked peaceful for the first time in days. Olivia didn't have the heart to wake her, especially with news that would be distressing to her, so she sat down in the visitor's chair and quietly waited for her to awaken.

There was still a slight whistle in Casey's breath, and every time she inhaled, Olivia could hear the air moving around the fluid in her lungs. Shaking her head, Olivia reached forward and touched Casey's cheek, feeling for her fever. Her skin was still hot to the touch, but she was nowhere near as hot as she had been that morning. Suddenly, Casey let out a small sigh and turned her head into Olivia's hand, nestling Olivia's palm against her cheek. Casey scrunched her nose at the contact but soon relaxed into it, sighing again.

Olivia gasped, surprised that Casey had so readily become at ease at her touch. She pulled away and gently took Casey's hand instead; it was a more comfortable position for her and Casey seemed just as relaxed with her hand entwined in Olivia's. She squeezed Casey's hand and smiled when, in her sleep, Casey returned the gesture. Olivia unconsciously started running her thumb over the back of Casey's hand and pulled the chair a little closer to the bed.

After about ten minutes, Casey started getting restless, pulling her hand out of Olivia's grasp. Olivia reached forward and gently brushed her fingers across Casey's forehead to calm her. The ADA stirred at her touch, groaning softly and opening her eyes slowly. "Hey, sleeping beauty," Olivia said quietly, giving Casey a smile.

"Hey," Casey replied groggily, blushing at the nickname. "How long have you been here?"

"Fifteen minutes," Olivia shrugged.

"You should have woken me." Casey's eyes slid closed as she shifted position in bed, sitting up a little bit.

"But you were sleeping."

"I've been sleeping all day."

"That's good; you need it." Olivia smiled and brushed Casey's hair out of her eyes before pulling her hand away and sitting back in the chair. "How're you feeling?"

"Tired." She forced her eyes open again, turned her head to face the detective, and managed a small smile. "Kind of achy. But I think I'm breathing better. At least I hope so, because my nose is getting dry from the stupid oxygen."

Olivia smirked; leave it to Casey to find the tiniest thing to complain about. "Could they give you a mask rather than the tube?"

"I think they tried. Cheryl said that I kept pushing it off. I don't really remember it, though." Casey suddenly let go of the teddy bear, seemingly realizing for the first time that she was holding it so tightly. "Is Elliot here?"

"No, I'm here by myself," Olivia replied, smiling. "I got out of work early for the first time in a week, so I decided to come up and see you."

"You should go home." Casey caught the hurt look that crossed Olivia's face for a split second and instantly regretted her wording. "You look exhausted," she added hastily, "and really, what's so fun about sitting here with me?"

"You're a friend of mine and you're sick," Olivia answered. "I'm here because I want to be, Casey. Don't worry about it, okay?"

Casey nodded. "So what's up? I feel so out of the loop. How did things go with Maddie's neighbor?"

Olivia paused, reluctant to bring the subject up with the ADA, even though that was part of the reason she had stopped by the hospital after her shift. She was trying to find the right words to break the news as easily as possible when Casey tore her eyes away from Olivia's and gazed down at her hands. "You know, saying nothing says just as much as trying to find the right way to tell me," she said quietly. "I was right, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, hon," Olivia confirmed, her tone gentle. "I'm sorry."

Casey nodded, collecting her thoughts and trying to contain her emotions before she spoke again. "What do we do now?"

"We turned the case over to ACS," the detective replied hesitantly. "It's not an SVU case anymore, and ACS is better equipped to handle it than we are."

"Olivia, all ACS is going to do is place her in a group home!" Casey exclaimed, sitting up straighter in bed. "That defeats the entire purpose! She needs to be cared for, Liv, and--"

"Casey, relax," Olivia said, hoping her calm tone would reassure the ADA a little. "ACS knows the situation requires special care--"

Casey opened her mouth to argue further but coughed instead, quickly bringing her hand up to cover her mouth. The pain from both the cough and the sudden movement tore through her aching chest muscles and caused her to involuntarily cry out in pain. "Damn it, I am so tired of this," she muttered, leaning back against the pillows as her eyes welled with tears. Embarrassed, she wiped the tears from her eyes, hoping Olivia hadn't noticed.

Olivia, however, had noticed. "Oh, honey." She reached forward to comfort the ADA, but Casey pushed her hand away, still embarrassed. Olivia flinched, slightly hurt that Casey wasn't allowing her to comfort her. She figured Casey was just self-conscious, but it still upset her. Looking Casey over, she noticed that her left hand was discolored. "Casey, your hand's all bruised."

Casey brought her hands down and frowned. "Yeah, it's from them changing the IVs. Once a day, every day. It kind of hurts." Sighing wearily, she settled back into the pillows, suddenly unable to keep her eyes open. "We have to do something for Maddie," she mumbled sleepily as she allowed her eyes to slide closed.

"We will," Olivia whispered. She stood up from her seat and straightened the covers around Casey's shoulders. Bending down, she gave Casey a goodnight kiss on the forehead and then ran her thumb across her cheek. "You go back to sleep now."

Casey smiled slightly at the motherly gesture. "Mmm, I haven't been tucked in in years." She snuggled under the covers, unconsciously snaking her arm around the teddy bear. After a moment of silence, just as Olivia was about to head for the door, Casey spoke up softly. "Liv? Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

"Of course, sweetie." Olivia sat back down in the chair and took Casey's hand again, waiting for the ADA's breathing to even out and deepen. It hurt her to see Casey in so much pain, both emotional and physical, and she wished there was something--anything--she could do to make everything better.