"Oh, would you look at that? My coffee's empty," Olivia said, standing up. But Maureen wasn't going to let her get away with it that easily.

"Come on, Liv," Maureen said, following Olivia back up to the coffee cart.

Doing her best to ignore Maureen's comments, Olivia ordered two hot chocolates and set her money on the counter.

"Well, I'm glad you're spending time with him, anyway. But he is good looking, if you can get past the whole male pattern baldness thing," Maureen said, laughing.

"I'm not even going to justify that with an answer," Olivia said as she picked up the two steaming cups of cocoa. "Come on, let's go."

Maureen was beaming the whole way up to Elliot's room. When they walked in, Olivia passed the hot chocolate to the twins and Elliot gave her a gracious smile. She joined Kathy by the door. She couldn't not talk to her for much longer.

"Thanks for calling Mo this morning," Kathy said, smiling warmly at Olivia, effectively breaking the ice between the two women in Elliot's life. "He said you stayed with him last night. And made chicken noodle soup from scratch. That's impressive."

"It was nothing, I was glad to do it. Until he woke me up snoring about six times," Olivia said, laughing.

"It's bad, isn't it?" Kathy laughed, too. Olivia suddenly realized how awkward this conversation was. She was crossing into Kathy territory. She was talking about Elliot's snoring, something that's so intimate and embarrassing. Then her phone rang. Olivia was secretly relieved. She apologized to Kathy and snuck out the door.

"Benson," she said.

"It's Melinda, I have something from the Cooper case down here you might wanna see," she said.

"Sure, I'll be there as soon as I can," Olivia said, snapping her phone shut. She snuck back in the room and grabbed her coat and shoulder bag from Elliot's nightstand.

"Leaving?" he asked, sitting up a little.

"Yeah, duty calls," she said, smiling at Elliot. His face fell a little bit. She knew it would be hard for him to handle her going to work without him.

"Be careful," he said quietly.

"Why, are you still worried about your truck?" she teased.

"You're not taking it," he groaned.

"I can, and I am. Bye guys," she said, squeezing the kids tight before she left. She gently rested her hand on Kathy's shoulder on her way out and quietly said, "I'll see you later."

"Goodnight," Kathy replied, smiling at Olivia.

Olivia spent the next sixteen hours working the Cooper case. She had been to the lab, back to the crime scene, and then at the station house, where she was working with Fin on some paperwork. Their suspect was in the interrogation room with his lawyer and Casey. Fin and Olivia were both glad to have caught the bastard that killed Audrey Cooper as a hazing stunt for his fraternity. But now they were going to be buried in paperwork for the rest of the afternoon.

Olivia inhaled deeply and mumbled, "Mmm, smell that?"

Cragen entered the squad room with three plastic bags. He dropped them on Olivia's desk and she immediately recognized them.

"Oh my God, you're my hero," she said, pulling out the containers of Chinese.

"You need to get your head checked?" Fin asked.

Olivia ignored him, opening all the containers until she found her favorite, sesame chicken.

"Hey, that's not all for you," Cragen said. "Make sure you save some for Casey." But it was too late, Olivia was inhaling her food. They sat making small talk while they ate, all avoiding the inevitable stack of paperwork that lay before them.

At five, she finally pulled her coat on and grabbed her bag. She thanked Fin for finishing up, and she headed out the door. She desperately wanted to go home and throw herself on her bed and not get up for anything. Then she thought of Elliot lying in the hospital, and her guilt overcame her. She climbed behind the wheel of his SUV and headed to St. Kate's. She stopped for coffee on her way in, too tired to even pour in cream or sugar, she drank it black.

She tapped lightly on Elliot's door before letting herself in. He looked up from his book and smiled at her. He looked worse than yesterday, if that was possible. He looked comfortable sitting there in his favorite Giants sweatshirt.

"Still here, huh?" she asked.

"Were you hoping to find someone else?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Olivia resisted the urge to sympathize for him, knowing full well that he would get irritated if she babied him. But the sound of his voice made her sad.

"George Clooney, maybe. Or at least a cute male nurse attending to your needs," she said, trying to lighten the mood. She fell heavily into the chair next to his bed and sipped her coffee.

"Seriously, what are you doing here? You look like you got hit by a bus, stepped in a puddle and found out your dog died," he said.

"Wow, and to think I cleaned up for you."

He smiled at her, relieved that she still had her sense of humor after working so long. He knew she wouldn't admit outright that she was tired. So he tried to drag it out of her. "Everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's just, sometimes I'm disgusted by what people do," she said, shaking her head and thinking about Audrey Cooper's murderer.

"Tough case?"

"Better. Closed case."

"Already?"

"Fin is one hell of a substitute," she teased.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"Nah, you buy me coffee. I'd never bite the hand that feeds me."

Elliot noticed Olivia struggling to keep her eyes open. "Why don't you get some sleep? I can keep myself entertained. The twins brought me a care package today," he said as he gestured to the nightstand.

"That's sweet of them," she said, yawning.

Elliot watched her succumb to exhaustion. She pulled her jacket tight up around her chin and her breathing became heavy. He sat, watching her sleep peacefully. Her brown hair falling into her eyes. He couldn't believe she had taken such good care of him. They'd been partners for a long time, but Kathy had always been there for him. They were friends, they looked out for each other, but Olivia had sensed that he needed her, and she was there. He felt a wave of exhaustion creep over his body, and he closed eyes and let it carry him away.

Olivia awoke to the sound of a familiar voice. It took her a few moments for her to realize she was at the hospital and the voice was Elliot's.

"No," he groaned. "No, stop, no. Leave…"

She sat up straight, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. A glance at Elliot's alarm clock told her it was late. Really late. And she had been asleep on that chair for seven hours. Her body ached and her stomach growled.

Elliot's voice pierced the silent room. He was having a nightmare. Unsure of what to do, she rose from her chair and sat next to Elliot, attempting to soothe him.

"It's okay, Elliot. Calm down, it's just a dream. Shhh," she said as gently as she could muster.

"No, get away. That's…my partner," his breath quickened. Olivia's stomach lurched when she realized he was dreaming of her. "No, leave her alone. Liv, I love you."