11:11

Elliot moaned and rolled over, opening his eyes to the incessant chiming of his cell phone. "Stabler," he muttered, after picking up the phone and answering it.

"El?" a voice asked. He sat up, unsure of who was calling him.

"Who is this?" he asked. The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite figure out who it was.

"You don't even recognize your own ex wife's voice?" she asked, almost laughing.

"Kathy, hi. Sorry, it's been a long few days," he replied.

"I heard. It was on the news just a minute ago… I was calling to make sure you're okay," she told him. His eyes opened a little wider when she said that.

"I'm fine. Worried, but fine."

"Freaked out, insecure, neurotic and exhausted?" she asked.

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up," he joked.

"If it's any consolation, I hate that it had to happen to her," Kathy said, sobering the mood once again. "She didn't deserve it, no matter what I used to think about her."

"Used to?" Elliot asked.

"I finally realized that she wasn't the problem… she didn't have anything to do with it. We were just too young, El," she replied. He nodded.

"Yeah, we were."

"I should go. My break's over, I have to get back to work."

"Thanks, Kathy," he told her.

"You're welcome."

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Olivia slowly managed to force her eyes open. She didn't dare to ask what was going on; she assumed that Ganzner had moved her again. She couldn't move, a fact which scared her. She didn't know what to do, other than remain there and try to stay calm, try to forget the fact that Nick Ganzner might appear at any moment, to do who knows what else to her.

She laid there in agonizing silence for several minutes before the door opened. The light in the room was turned on, and she saw an angel of mercy standing there… Rebecca Hendrix.

"Rebecca?" she asked, assuming that she was hallucinating.

"Yeah, it's me," the woman replied.

"Rebecca, you have to get out of here, he'll kill you if he finds you here," Olivia told her. She was still afraid that Ganzner would walk in at any moment.

"Olivia, it's okay. You're in the hospital. He can't hurt anyone here," Rebecca assured her.

"He'll come back, Rebecca! He'll find me here!" she said. She moved to get up, but Rebecca was faster and held her down. "I have to get out of here Rebecca!"

"Olivia, listen to me. You're in the hospital, and you are safe. No one is going to hurt you here, I'll make sure of it. But you've got to calm down now, before you hurt yourself," Rebecca told her. She released her grip on Olivia's shoulders as the detective relaxed.

"Where are they?" she asked.

"Who?"

"The guys," Olivia replied. Rebecca smiled.

"Your doctor told them to go home about three hours ago. But I think Cragen's still around here somewhere," she told her. Rebecca glanced at her watch. "I can call Elliot, if you want me to."

"Please," Olivia whispered, closing her eyes. The pain medication was beginning to show its effects. She didn't see as Rebecca nodded and walked out.

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Elliot sat up in bed again, beginning to get annoyed. He'd just gotten back to sleep after Kathy's call, and now he was being woken up again. "Stabler," he mumbled, trying not to sound as pissed off as he was, in case it was one of his kids.

"Good morning to you too," Rebecca said. Elliot could hear her smiling through the phone.

"Hey Rebecca," he said. "What's up?"

"Olivia's asking for you."

"She's awake?" he asked, getting himself out of the bed and starting to put his clothes back on.

"Woke up about five minutes ago. Just be careful, okay? She's still pretty disoriented…" Elliot noticed that Rebecca was cutting herself off before she gave something away.

"What aren't you telling me?" he asked.

"I don't think she realizes where she is. She thinks that the person who had her is going to find her again. She told me to leave, because he would kill me if he found me there," Rebecca admitted.

"Did she give you a name?" he asked.

"No. I didn't ask her," Rebecca replied.

"Why not?"

"I was a little preoccupied trying to keep her from getting out of the bed and leaving," Rebecca told him.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," he said, grabbing his badge and stuffing it into his pants pocket.

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Elliot walked up to the nurse's desk quietly. "Excuse me, I'm looking for Dr. Hendrix," he said, getting the attention of one of the nurses.

"She's on break… probably down the hall, Room 317," the nurse said. Elliot nodded and headed in the direction the nurse had indicated. He knocked on the door and entered at the reply. Rebecca was sitting at one end of a bed, playing cards with a little girl who couldn't have been more than six.

"I'll be back later, Anna," Rebecca said, smiling and putting down her cards. "Don't cheat." Elliot and Rebecca left the room. "Have you been to see her yet?"

"I thought I should talk to you first."

"You're afraid, aren't you?" she asked. Elliot looked away from her.

"I've seen victims before… some in worse shape than her. But it's Liv this time. It's personal," he replied.

"She needs you, Elliot. Don't be a cop in there. Just be her friend," Rebecca told him.

"That's all the advice you can give me?"

"That's all you need to know. Just be there for her. Let someone else be the detective for once," she replied, turning and going back into the hospital room they'd just left.

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Elliot paused at the door to Olivia's room. Even after his talk with Dr. Hendrix, he still wasn't sure he could do this. Finally, he sighed and opened the door. It was all he could do not to gasp at the sight. He knew it was bad, but he hadn't expected this.

Most of Olivia's face was black and blue, and her left arm was in a cast, besides being immobilized against her body. Elliot knew there were other injuries… broken ribs too numerous to count, a punctured lung. The ER doctors had told them it was a miracle she even made it to the hospital.

Elliot stared for a moment before Olivia's eyes opened. She looked at him and smiled.

"El," she whispered. He moved closer and took hold of her right hand.

"Hey Liv."

"It was Ganzner," she whispered. Elliot nodded, making a mental note to call Cragen once she was asleep and have the man arrested.

"I thought it might be."

"He said he wanted to embarrass me, the way I embarrassed him," she told him.

"You don't have to tell me. Not if you don't want to. They've given it to Major Case," Elliot told her. She closed her eyes.

"I don't give a damn. Just listen." Elliot nodded and let her continue. "Tell Casey to take herself off the case, if she's still on it."

"She's not. Carver will get it."

"Good. I don't want her to have to hear about it. She doesn't need to know any more about my screwed up life." Elliot knew there was more to that sentence than she was letting on, but he decided to let it go. For once, he knew things would be better off that way.

"She wouldn't think any less of you," he told her, opening the conversation up for her.

"No. She's better than that. But she already knows more than I want her to know," Olivia replied. She closed her eyes, and Elliot thought she'd fallen asleep. He gently began to put down her hand. "Don't go, El. Just stay with me a while… make me feel safe," she whispered.

"You don't need me to do that," he said.

"I'm not invincible, El. And right now I'm afraid. I do need you… just for a little while," she told him. He nodded and sat down in a chair next to the bed.

"I'll be right here. As long as you need me."

"I know."

A/n: I'm so sorry about the long wait! Thanks for still reading, though! I think I'll make just one more chapter, and then I'm going to put this one to bed. I'm thinking about rewriting Alcohol… don't know just yet.