Disclaimer: I do not own Law and Order: SVU. It belongs to a genius named Dick Wolf. No profit is being made from this story.
A nurse quietly walked into the detective's room. She was startled when she saw the woman asleep in the chair next to his bed with her hands clasping his. She moved around as quietly as she could, checking her patient's vitals, and softly closed the door behind her.
Olivia startled awake when she felt movement next to her. Disoriented, she lifted her head, wincing as the muscles in her neck popped. She blinked to clear her vision, and then she heard soft noises. She immediately remembered where she was and got up quickly, lifting herself partway onto the mattress.
"Liv…Olivia…." Elliot was twitching, his head thrashing against the pillow. His voice broke as he whimpered her name in his sleep, and her heart ached. She reached up and cupped his face gently in her hands, caressing his forehead and traveling to his cheeks.
"Shh…" she soothed softly, running one hand up through his hair. "I'm right here, honey. I'm right here with you." She continued the gentle caresses as tears of agony seeped from her eyes.
Although he didn't awaken, her actions seemed to calm him. He went silent after a few minutes and his head dropped limply back against the pillow, his breathing becoming deep and even.
Olivia bit her lip and stifled the sorrowful tears streaming down her face. It killed her to see Elliot so frightened, so…vulnerable. Sniffling quietly, she continued to stroke all over his face. An overwhelming feeling of protectiveness washed over her as she watched him sleep.
She was unaware that she had dozed off until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Jumping, she shot her head up to meet the eyes of her captain. He didn't miss the way her eyes immediately flew to the bed to make sure Elliot was still sleeping peacefully.
"Why don't you go home and get some sleep?" Don whispered. He set the duffle bag he held onto the floor next to the door.
She yawned. "What time is it?" she asked sleepily.
"It's about 7:30," he said. Her eyes flew wide in surprise. The last time she had looked at her watch, it had been almost noon. "Have you eaten anything today?"
She shook her head even as she felt her stomach automatically growl. "I'll get something on my way," she said. "Where are the guys?"
"Fin went home at about 2," he said. "John is at the station with the other officers."
Olivia hadn't realized that while they were with Elliot, their fellow officers had been doing all they could to gather as much evidence as possible to be used in court against the kidnapper.
A light knock sounded, and a nurse poked her head in. "Pardon me," she said softly.
"Please, come in," Don said. The woman stepped inside and shut the door quickly to keep the light from disturbing Elliot.
"I just wanted to make sure you knew that Elliot is being released tomorrow," she said. "Have you given thought to a possible psychologist for him?"
They were silent a minute. Olivia fielded the question before Don could answer. "We have," she replied. "We're still deciding at the moment. Actually, I am going to take him to stay with me for the time being."
Don looked at her pointedly when she said that, but she ignored the gaze. She knew he was against her keeping him at her apartment. He was looking out for her well-being as much as he was Elliot's; she knew that. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate his concern. It wasn't going to be an easy task, and she knew that she was likely to be tested more than when she had to find him.
But there was no way that the captain could understand just how traumatized she was. Olivia had thought for sure that Elliot was going to die at the hands of that monster. She had come just short of completely losing her mind while the team was trying to find him. She was accustomed to his presence, and when he wasn't there she felt like half of her was missing, especially when she knew that he was in trouble. Now that he was back with her, she was going to do everything in her power to keep him in her sight at every second. He wasn't going to disappear again.
"Ok," the nurse said. "You can sign him out in the morning during visitor hours. We're going to be giving him another strong dose of tranquilizers in about an hour, so he'll be out for the night and most likely a good part of the morning."
They both nodded. "I have to check his IV's," she said. "I'll just be a minute."
A cell phone rang, and Olivia reached into her pocket. "It's mine," Cragen said. "Excuse me." He went out of the room.
The nurse puttered around, writing some things down on the chart at the foot of the bed, and went over to the IV drip above Elliot's head. She reached down and gently removed the needle from his arm, and he whimpered at the sudden pain. Olivia felt a pang slice through her heart at the sound. The nurse looked at her sympathetically. "He can't move his arms, but he still has feeling in them," she said softly, as she switched out the bag.
Olivia flinched when the nurse re-inserted the needle, and he moaned again. The woman covered him more securely with the blankets and finally stepped back. She looked at Olivia, who looked like she was trying not to cry. "I'm sorry about that," she said sincerely. "I tried to do it as quick as I could." She bit her lip, nodding. The nurse wrote on the chart once more before bidding her goodnight and leaving the room.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Don almost dropped the phone in shock at the words coming from the other end.
"Just what I said, Captain." Munch looked around at the busy squad room as he held the receiver to his ear. "The group of officers that went to retrieve the kidnapper from the sewer after we rescued Elliot found an empty pair of handcuffs on the ground. They searched the area for hours, but it's no use. The guy is gone."
Cragen's eyes were wide in disbelief. Dear God…what if he's coming after Elliot again? He turned around and gazed through the window at Olivia, sitting next to her partner. She was stroking his hairline absently as he slept.
"Captain?" Munch asked, after not receiving a response.
"Sorry," he said, shaking himself. He turned around again. "Alright….let me think." He took a breath, completely thrown off kilter. This was a total nightmare. The whole situation was spiraling out of control faster than they could keep up. "I'm sending Olivia home," he said. "Tell everyone there to leave now and get some sleep. I'm staying here until she comes to get Elliot tomorrow morning. Have everyone there report back at 9 am tomorrow. I'll meet you there, and we'll discuss what to do next."
"Will do," Munch confirmed.
Cragen shook his head, still in utter disbelief. "John?" he said.
"Yeah?"
Don turned to the window once more and bit his lip as he stared at his two best detectives inside. "Whatever happens….don't let Olivia find out about this."
Hey now…come on, cut me some slack here….I know it's not as action-packed as the first, but I promise if you stick it out you'll be pleased. I won't let you down, honest! Please send me some reviews!
