Chapter 7--Another Player
A/N: Okay I know some of you were confused about whether Elliot and Olivia slept together and the answer is yes. Why? I'm not really too sure, but that's what I decided to make happen.And now, enjoy...
The sedan was barely in park before Elliot leaped from the driver's side and took off toward the sliding glass doors. Olivia quickly turned off the ignition, which her partner had forgotten to do in his hurry, stuffed the keys into her pocket and followed suite. They took the elevator to the third floor trauma wing in silence. It was an all too familiar trip for the pair; one they had made more times than either could remember. But this time was different, this time it was personal.
As the heavy doors slid open Elliot saw his eldest daughter pacing the area in front of the nurses' station like a caged animal, chewing on her fingernails nervously. She stopped her pacing when she noticed her dad approaching.
"Dad!" Maureen cried as she flung herself into his arms. "They won't tell me anything. They said they can't tell me because I'm not family."
"Shh, it's okay sweetie," Elliot tried to calm her down. He walked them both towards a row of plastic chairs and sat Maureen down in one, quickly taking place next to her. "Can you tell me what happened?"
As Maureen recounted the days events, Olivia approached the nurses' station. Flashing her badge to the middle-aged woman behind the counter she said, "My name is Detective Benson. I need information on a Nathan Grainer please."
The nurse studied Olivia before retrieving a file from her desk. "Admitted with minor bruising on the face, a cracked rib, and a four inch gash across his forehead," she read without feeling.
"Who's the doctor?" Olivia asked.
"Dr. Nash is the attending physician tonight."
"Thank you," Olivia said before returning to Elliot. "Where's Maureen?" she asked upon noticing the girl's absence.
"I told her to go get a cup of coffee, that it would calm her nerves," he said taking a seat on one of the plastic chairs and motioning for Olivia to take the one next to him. "What did you find out?"
"He was admitted with a few bruises, a cracked rib and a nasty cut on his forehead," Olivia recited while rubbing her neck absentmindedly.
Without thinking Elliot reached his left hand around her shoulders and began to knead the muscles of her neck. Olivia felt her hand drop to her lap as her head rolled forward. It was a simple act of friendship but Olivia couldn't help the blush that rose to her cheeks or the heated feeling that enveloped her flesh.
"Liv you know we're going to have to talk about it sometime," Elliot whispered.
"I know," she whispered back.
"Dad?"
Both Elliot and Olivia's heads snapped up like children caught sneaking a cookie before dinnertime. Maureen stood just a few feet from them holding a tray with three steaming cups of coffee.
"I thought you guys could use some too," she said gesturing to the cups. Her eyes were still rimmed in red from the mass amounts of crying she had been doing. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail that hung just past her shoulders.
"Thanks Maureen," Olivia said taking one of the cups and giving the younger woman's shoulder a friendly squeeze.
"Did you find out anything else about Nate?" Maureen asked hopefully.
"He was admitted with some bruises and a cracked rib," Elliot explained. He glanced over his daughter's shoulder at Olivia who was sipping her coffee and eyeing him expectantly. "And quite a gash across his forehead."
She shook her slowly as if digesting the information. "But how is he doing?"
"We don't know yet," Elliot sighed. "We're still waiting for the doctor to come out."
"Well can't you go in there?" Maureen asked. "I mean you're the police for God's sake! Can't you just bust in the door?" Her voice began to shake just before the tears began to slide down her cheek. Elliot handed his steaming cup of coffee to Olivia who gladly accepted it before wrapping his arms around his daughter's shoulders letting her cry into his shoulder.
Olivia watched the scene with a sense of longing. She had never had a father to comfort her when she cried and her mother…well she wasn't the greatest. Olivia always felt that she was robbed of a real childhood; she'd had to grow up way too fast. As she stared at Elliot and Maureen she realized just how much she wanted a life like that.
"Detectives?" a low voice called from the emergency room doors.
"I'll take care of it," Olivia whispered to Elliot as she passed the two. "I'm detective Benson," she introduced herself to the man in the long white coat.
"Dr. William Nash," he replied with a friendly nod.
"How's he doing?"
"Well the laceration on his head wasn't deep enough to need stitches," the doctor reported as the pair made their way to the nurses' station. "I've wrapped his ribs and gave him some pain medication."
"Did he say what happened?" Olivia asked.
"He mumbled something about being attacked from behind. I'd say the fracture was caused by someone kicking him in the abdomen a few times."
Olivia winced at the mental picture that was conjured into her mind. She dealt with assaults and rapes all day long for the last seven years but she couldn't get past the pain that these people had suffered. The victims had done nothing wrong yet for some reason they were made to suffer. "Is he awake?"
"Yes he is," Dr. Nash responded before scribbling what Olivia presumed to be his name to a file and handing it to the nurse. "But I should warn you that the pain medicine will be kicking in soon, so he may not be very coherent."
Olivia nodded in understanding before asking, "Is it okay if he has visitors?"
The doctor followed Olivia's gaze to where Maureen and Elliot now sat, no longer embracing but with Maureen leaning against her father's shoulder with her knees pulled up to her chest. "Just don't stay in there too long," Dr. Nash said with a friendly smile.
"Thank you," Olivia said. She shook the doctor's hand before making her way over to where Elliot and Maureen sat.
"So what's up?" Elliot asked as his partner approached.
"Well he's all stitched up but he's not very coherent," she reported.
"Can I see him?" Maureen asked with a weak voice.
"Sure." Olivia led Maureen to the door to Nate's room but paused before letting her in. "He's gonna look a little different Maureen," she whispered. "He's gonna look a lot worse than he really is."
"I know," the younger woman swallowed the lump in her throat before she pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Olivia stood looking through the clear glass window and Maureen approached the bed and began to talk. She could tell by his movements that Nathan was awake and talking to Maureen, but she wasn't sure how long it would last. She was so caught up in the moment before her that she didn't notice her partner's presence beside her until he spoke.
"We should get his statement," he said softly before attempting to push open the door.
"This isn't our case," Olivia told him. She laid her hand on his arm to stop him, causing him to turn and stare down at her.
"What do you mean this isn't our case?"
"He wasn't sexually assaulted," Olivia explained, her eyes never straying from Nate's room. "This has nothing to do with us. We really have no right to be here."
Elliot understood what she was saying. This wasn't their jurisdiction and they had already overstepped the boundaries by interviewing the doctor. He knew Olivia had done so for Maureen and he could never thank her enough for it. Reaching down, Elliot took hold of Olivia's hand and gently squeezed it in his own. He expected her to shy away from such a public display, but to his amazement she squeezed back.
"You do realize however," she continued as if nothing more were happening, "that if Nate's attack is related to the Banks' case, then that means--"
"We're looking for another player in all of this."
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