"Dad, it's early," she grumbled.

"Hi, Maureen. It's Olivia. Sorry if I woke you," she apologized. She could hear Maureen take a deep breath, and letting it out, said, "What's up?"

"Don't freak out, but I'm at the hospital with your dad," Olivia said.

"What happened?" Maureen asked, suddenly sounding alert.

"He's been sick for a few days, and he's actually going to have his tonsils taken out. I guess I didn't want to be the one to call your mom. I know your dad would have been mad at me, so I thought I'd try you first," Olivia said.

"He's going to be okay, though?"

"Yeah, he's pumped full of medicine right now, so he's asleep. He'll be here for a few days, so I thought maybe you guys could come visit him. I know he'd love to see you."

"Of course, what hospital?"

"St. Kate's. Same one as before."

"I'm beginning to dread phone calls from you, Liv," Maureen said, making Olivia feel slightly bad that she had called her. "I'll call mom and let her know. It's his weekend with the twins, isn't it?"

"Yeah, so I know he'd be excited to see them. And you and Kathleen."

"Thanks for calling, Liv. Sorry about, you know, when I answered."

"Late night?" Olivia asked, smiling to herself.

"Are you asking as a cop?"

"Nope."

"Then yes, very late night. Don't tell dad!"

"I wouldn't dream of it, sweetheart. A girl's gotta have some secrets."

"Are you going to stick around with dad?"

"You know I don't go anywhere without him, he's my protector."

"So I'll see you later," Maureen said, hanging up the phone.

Olivia dialed the station house next, knowing full well that no blizzard would keep Don Cragen from his desk.

"This is Cragen," he answered briskly.

"It's Olivia," she said quietly, for the first time the fact that she was exhausted really kicked in.

"What's up?"

Olivia let out a long yawn before answering. "He has to get his tonsils out. He's got a really high fever so it'll probably be a few days before they can do it, so he'll be here a while."

"And how are you holding up? You sound tired."

"I'm okay," she said, unwilling to admit to Cragen that she hadn't had much sleep.

"It's dead around here, so maybe we'll take a little field trip to see you guys. And Olivia, get some rest."

"Yes, sir," she answered before hanging up.

She dumped the rest of her coffee in the trash and went back up to Elliot's room. She quietly snuck in and curled up on a chair with her coat covering her and she listened to Elliot's steady breathing and was asleep in no time.

Olivia awoke to the sound of voices she recognized, but she struggled to open her eyes. Her back was aching and she was almost positive that her left leg was asleep. She tried moving it, and it was, indeed, fast asleep.

"Why can't you have something cool removed, like a kidney?" she heard Munch say.

"Yeah, they might as well remove your other set of balls while they're at it," Fin added. The sound of all three men laughing was finally enough to get Liv to open her eyes.

"Ahh, Sleeping Beauty awakes," John said.

Olivia could do nothing but groan. Her body hurt and her eyes burned as she pried them open.

"Shut up," she finally managed. "I'm tired. I had to listen to Sir Snores A Lot last night, and let me tell you, he's no one hit wonder."

Elliot made an attempt to sit up. "Oh, I'm sorry, did you want the bed?"

"I'm leaving," she said as she headed to the door.

"Someone's grumpy when she wakes up from her afternoon nap," Munch called after her.

Olivia shot her middle finger up behind her head, hearing as the door slammed behind her, "We already played that game with Elliot yesterday!"

She collapsed in a seat next to Cragen in the hallway. He had his briefcase on his lap, flipping through an open file.

"Why aren't you in there with Dopey, Grumpy and Sneezy?" she asked.

"I have ethical standards," he deadpanned. "Can I be honest?" he asked a few moments later.

"What?"

"You look like hell. It's been a rough week for everyone. I know your bedroom is probably getting ready to file a neglect suit. Why don't you go home and sleep? Although I'm sure it doesn't seem like it now, we actually can take care of ourselves without you around."

"Wow, I had no idea."

"Seriously, Olivia. Sleep, shower, change your clothes. You can even be of some use and bring Elliot his toothbrush. He's sick, he's not dying. He'll still be alive if you come back in a few hours. I'll perform live saving measures myself if I have to."

"Fine," she said, rising from her chair.

"Wow, that was almost too easy," Cragen said in disbelief.

"I'm too tired to argue with you boys, you're all driving me crazy," she said, waving behind her as she walked down the hall.

Back home, Olivia threw herself onto her bed and slept for what felt like an eternity. Or an hour and a half. Olivia slowly trudged to the shower and let the hot water run down her body without moving a muscle. As she inhaled the steam, she began working the kinks out her neck. She was not, she told herself sternly, going to sleep in that damn plastic chair again. After stepping out of the shower, she threw on her favorite pair of Levis and an old jersey shirt. Packing a small bag with her toothbrush and a change of clothes, Olivia left her apartment and headed to Elliot's. After plowing back into his driveway, she let herself in and immediately starting packing Elliot an overnight bag. She felt like she was violating some sort of rule as she was rummaging through his underwear drawer, but she got what she needed, grabbed the book off his nightstand and headed back to the kitchen. She warmed up a bowl of soup for herself and put the rest in the freezer. Since no one would be at his house for at least a couple of days, she turned the thermostat down and turned on a burglar lamp. Then she headed back to the hospital.

Elliot was asleep when she poked her head into his room. She tiptoed to the damn orange chair and pulled out a case file. She had barely begun to review her notes when Elliot stirred.