"How's the soup Liv?" Cragen asked from the rolling chair beside her bed.
She sighed "if I'm being honest it's a little bland... but that's hospital food for ya and after every thing I'm just happy to be consuming something that's not vodka or pills."
Cragen nodded "I hear that," he said as Elliot broke off a peace of his sandwich "here sweetheart try this."
Olivia shook her head slightly "as good as that looks Elliot you need it more than me besides soup is probably all I can hold down right now anyways."
"Are you sure Liv? I really don't mind to share."
Olivia nodded "I'm positive El, thank you though."
He smiled slightly "your welcome sweetheart," he said as after a few more minutes she had eaten a little over half of the soup and Elliot had eaten 3 quarters of his sandwich and half of his fries as Jennifer then walked back into the room "hey guys, it's time for your versed Olivia, you might feel a little funny but you'll be totally fine. Usually people tell me it's like they're floating or on cloud 9."
She nodded slightly "will I still be aware of my surroundings and what's going on around me?"
Jennifer nodded "yeah you should be for the most part you'll just be a little less on edge."
Olivia nodded slightly as Elliot gently eased her out of his arms and back onto the bed while pointing to the garbage can as she understood his silent communication and nodded to him as well while Jennifer gave her the medication through the IV port "this auta kick in in about 5 minutes or so and I'll be back to get you for your X-ray in 10."
Olivia nodded slightly "okay," she said as once Jennifer was gone she tried to get comfortable as when she rolled over she bumped her shoulder "ahhh!!" she cried, her attempt to stifle it doing no good as Elliot ran over to her "what is it baby w-what is it what hurts?"
She sighed slightly "I-it's just my shoulder El I-I guess I hit it when I tried to roll over."
He nodded slightly "I'm sorry I moved honey.. If I had just stayed still..."
She shook her head slightly "no Elliot, no you can't hold me 24 7 do I need some morphine? yes, but that wasn't your fault what happened just now."
Elliot sighed a bit but nodded slightly as he stood beside her bed "you know it shouldn't be to awful long until we get to leave here... and once we're out of here we should both be able to get some sleep, hopefully undisturbed sleep at that."
She smiled "yeah I really hope so.. If you wanna sit down you can," she said patting the bed beside her.
Elliot shook his head slightly "thanks for offering but I need to stand for a few minutes my legs are stiff," he said as he gently ran his fingers through her hair.
Olivia nodded slightly understanding as she started to feel the effects of the versed "she wasn't lying when she said I'd feel like I was floating El that's exactly what it feels like. It's like I'm in a place with 0 gravity."
He nodded "that's strange," he said as she nodded, smiled and giggled "do you see that?"
"See what sweetheart?"
"The penguin," she said as she pointed at a picture of 1 that was on the wall.
He nodded "I do see that it's a beautiful painting isn't it?"
She nodded with a bright smile "yeah it is El, did I ever tell you about the penguin I drew in art class when I was a little girl?"
He shook his head "I don't think so sweetheart," he said as Cragen gave him a look "what's wrong with her?"
"I don't think anything's wrong with her I think they just gave her the good stuff," George said since Elliot was to busy listening to her telling the story to respond.
Cragen nodded "yeah I guess they did," he said as Jennifer walked in "it sounds like the meds have done their job," she said with a smile.
Elliot and Cragen nodded their heads "yeah I think they have, hey I'm just happy to see her smiling and laughing instead of hurting and scared," Elliot said after Olivia finished describing the drawing to him in detail.
Jennifer smiled and nodded "I like seeing her like this too," she said as she then looked to Olivia "are you ready to go for your X-ray? They're ready for you."
Olivia nodded with a smile "yeah sure, your neckless is beautiful I have 1 just like it at home Elliot got it for me a few years ago."
Jennifer smiled "thank you Olivia I'm glad you like it, lets get you into the wheelchair."
She nodded with a smile "okay but Elliot has to be the one to help me he's more gentle than anyone else and my shoulder kills."
Jennifer nodded "okay that's fine Olivia," she said as she pushed the wheelchair over to the bed and Cragen stifled a chuckle "I think you give me wayy to much credit sweetheart," Elliot said softly as he gently helped her sit up.
Olivia shook her head slightly "you have the gentlest hands ever..." she whispered into his ear as he blushed slightly "ummm thank you honey I always try to be," he said as he looked to Jennifer "is this normal?"
She smiled and nodded "yes sir it is once we give her the morphine after the X-ray the loopiness will where off and it'll turn into grogginess."
Elliot nodded "good to know," he said as he gently helped Olivia stand "owww..." she said when she hit her shoulder on the bed rail.
"Sorry honey sorry sorry sorry..." Elliot said softly.
Olivia smiled up at him once she was seated "it's okay Elliot it was an accident... Don't be so sad..."
Elliot smiled slightly at her "that's easier said than done sweetheart."
She nodded with a slight smile "I know it is El," she said as Jennifer looked to her "it's time to go Olivia."
Olivia nodded slightly "okay, I love you Elliot. You'll still be here later right?"
Elliot nodded and gently kissed her forehead "yeah of course sweetheart," he said softly as she nodded with a bright smile and let Jennifer wheel her out.
"Did you know that Elliot has saved my life a lot of times?" Olivia asked with a bright smile as she rode.
Jennifer smiled slightly "no I didn't know that. It sounds like he's a great husband."
She nodded "he's the best husband ever..."
Jennifer nodded and slightly smiled "were you ever married before Elliot?"
Olivia shook her head "no never."
She nodded "then you can't know for sure that he's the best because you don't have anybody to compare him to."
Olivia chuckled and smiled "ohh he's the best husband ever... I don't need to compare anything I just know he is..."
Jennifer just chuckled and smiled "how's the pain right now?"
Olivia grimaced "oh my shoulder and wrist both still kill... but right now it's like I don't even care I feel like I'm in a dream world."
Jennifer nodded "that's the magic of the Versed," she said as she wheeled her into the hall of the X-ray room as Fin was standing there guarding the door "hi Fin, you look exhausted..." Olivia said.
Fin chuckled "no more than you baby girl where's Elliot?"
Olivia sighed "oh they wouldn't let him come with me. Stupid rules oh well I made a new friend."
"Oh you did huh?" he asked as he then looked to Jennifer "what the hell did you give her?"
She smiled "just a dose of Versed."
Fin nodded as Olivia smiled "I feel like I'm in a dream world."
Fin nodded "I wish this was all a big dream Liv truly."
Olivia's smile dropped as a frown replaced it "but it's not, I have burns all over my body and no one will ever look at me the same again.."
Fin shook his head "I don't think that's true."
Olivia sighed slightly as her eyes darted around, looking for someone as Jennifer sighed "detective Tutuola we need to keep her thinking happy thoughts if possible her husband can't be down here to keep her calm and the last thing we need is for her to panic while she's getting her X-rays done."
Fin nodded "I'm sorry I'm sorry," he said as Olivia still rapidly scanned the area, looking for Elliot as Fin grabbed his phone and found a picture of her, Elliot and Izzabella at a department picnic here look at this Liv," Fin said showing her his phone.
Olivia nodded as her eyes focused on the picture "it was such a beautiful day that day, the sky was clear, the sun was bright. I curled Izzabella's hair for her... She loved it, played with the curls all day.
Elliot wore my favorite suit of his too," she said as the doors opened and Lewis was rolled out "you miss me already sweetheart?" Lewis asked with a smirk.
"Shut up dirtbag," Fin said as he obstructed Olivia's view of him "you can keep my phone Liv I'll get it back from Elliot before I leave."
Jennifer shook her head "no in the state she's in she can't take responsibility for keeping up with it, get him away from her James there is a strict no contact order for those 2 and I'd rather not have to deal with the rage of her husband again," she said to the mail nurse.
"See? I told you he had anger issues," Lewis said as James nodded quickly and rolled him away as Fin took his phone and quickly followed them.
Jennifer smiled "since we're friends Olivia do you think we can keep this little incident between us?"
Olivia shook her head "I'm sorry but I never keep any secrets from Elliot."
Jennifer sighed "no harm was done though..."
Olivia nodded "I'm not gonna complain to him about it if that's what your worried about but if he asks me I'm not gonna lie."
Jennifer nodded "fair enough," she said as her and the X-ray tech got her situated to have the X-ray of her wrist taken "your scared of him aren't you." Olivia said knowingly.
Jennifer sighed "the hole emergency room nursing staff is intimidated by him if I'm being honest."
Olivia sighed slightly as she winced when they moved her arm to take the X-ray from a different angle "he might look scary and don't let him know I said this... But he's a big teddy bear inside more than anything... He only acts that way when he's trying to protect someone he loves."
Jennifer sighed and nodded "and he thought that Hope hurt you somehow when she dug to find the vain.."
Olivia nodded "yeah and my mini freakout didn't help... I'm getting sleepy..." she said through a yawn.
Jennifer nodded "alright we're almost done here," she said as after a couple more minutes the X-rays of her shoulder had been completed as she helped her ease back into the wheelchair and Olivia fought falling asleep right then and there.
Five minutes later they were back in the room as Olivia's head lulled from side to side "hey sweetheart did every thing go okay?" Elliot asked softly as he gently lifted her from the chair and into his arms.
"Mmhmm I saw Fin," she said half asleep as she buried her head into his chest.
Elliot nodded and sat down on her bed "what was he doing there?"
"Guarding Lewis I think," she said as Elliot stroked her hair and sent a glare in the direction he thought Jennifer was but sighed when he saw she had already gone "did anything happen baby?"
Olivia sighed slightly "they got it under control quick, can I go to sleep now?"
Elliot nodded "of course sweetheart," he said as he rubbed her back and stroked her hair as she was out like a light fairly quickly.
Over the course of a half hour people started piling into the room like crazy as Amber's mom and aunt arrived to see her, Cragen came back in after being gone for almost an hour and Amaro and Kathleen also came into the room "I'm just gonna take this curtain down so we'll all have room," George said quietly as both Olivia and Amber were sleeping.
Elliot nodded "that's fine with me," he said softly since Olivia was covered in a sheet plus in Elliot's arms "I brought her 1 of your old marines teeshirts and a loose fitting pair of sweatpants," Kathleen said softly.
Elliot nodded slightly "thank you honey I'm sure she'll be thrilled to get out of this gown when she wakes up."
Kathleen nodded with a slight smile "I talked to grandma B, she said she tried to call a few times but you never answered."
Elliot went rigid "is something wrong? Did Izzabella get sick or hurt?"
Kathleen shook her head "no no she's fine I guess she just wanted to talk to you, is missing you since she's never really stayed away before."
Elliot sighed in relief "you had me thinking something was wrong Katie... I turned my phone off because it was almost dead, you can let her know though that we're fine and have her tell Izzabella that I miss her too but I'm still handling an important adult thing and that I want her to focus on having fun."
She sighed slightly "alright dad I'll tell her."
Elliot nodded slightly "thanks Katie," he said as Amaro walked over how are you guys holding up Elliot?"
He slightly smiled "we're hanging in there Nick thanks for asking."
He nodded "your welcome, if there's anything at all that you guys need just let me know."
Elliot nodded "I'll keep that in mind," he said as there was a knock on the door and doctor Barisferd entered with Jennifer "woah how did so many people get in here? It's supposed to be a limit of 2 and I see 7," he said after counting their heads.
George sighed "I pulled down the curtain."
Barisferd frowned "look doc my daughter and Olivia have both went through unimaginable horrors... Me and Olivia's husband are friendly with each other so I figured there was no harm."
Barisferd sighed "well I'm gonna need for all but 2 of you to clear out I need to examine Mrs. Stabler and for privacy reasons the curtain needs to come back up."
They all nodded their heads "I'll leave her bag of clothes on the foot of the bed," Kathleen said.
"I'll wait in the waiting room," Cragen said.
"I'm gonna go get some sleep and see Zara," Amaro said as Elliot nodded to all of them while George rehung the curtain "Christy I'm gonna head out into the waiting room, give you some time with Amber."
She nodded slightly "thank you honey, hey did she ever tell the police officers who broke into that house?"
He shook his head "she didn't tell the officers, doesn't want for the person to get into any trouble but she told me and it was him," he said pointing at Elliot.
She nodded slightly "I-I hope he knows how much we appreciate what he did... Her bedroom and every thing's ready," she said as Barisferd sighed "I need to get this exam done so please..."
George nodded quickly and kissed his daughters forehead as he then left the room as Barisferd closed the curtain "can you wake your wife up please? I need to do some of this exam while she's awake, and I'll also need for you to lay her on the bed please."
Elliot nodded slightly "Liv, honey.. I need you to wake up sweetheart," he whispered softly as her eyes fluttered open "hmmm?" She asked.
"The doctor's here baby and he needs to look at you, I have to put you down too but I'l still be right here beside you."
She nodded slightly "okay," she said groggily as he laid her down gently and stood beside her bed at her head as he strummed his fingers through her hair "so Mrs. Stabler I wanna say first off we got the results of your blood tests back and your negative for hep c which I know you were worried about, aids and all other STD's."
"Thank god... I was terrified about that.." Olivia said as the doctor nodded "rightfully so. I also got the X-rays back that we took on your wrist and shoulder, your wrist was broken pretty badly so I'm gonna need to do what's called a reduction which is just where I'll manipulate your bones back into the right place, once that's through I'll put a cast on it to keep the bones in place and you'll have to ware it for several weeks."
She nodded slightly "will I still be able to do things with it? I mean there are some things that I need to be able to do for myself as a woman."
Doctor Barisferd shook his head "I'm sorry Olivia but you'll have to keep it immobile for several weeks."
Olivia sighed "you can't be serious... I refuse to be an invalid. There are some things that I've gotta be able to do for myself," she said as Elliot rubbed her good shoulder in sympathy.
Barisferd sighed "I mean it should help that your right hand is your dominant one and not your left but your still gonna need a considerable amount of help, if you don't think that you can get that help at home I'll admit you into our rehabilitation wing where you can receive that help."
Elliot cut in "hey hey there's no need for that, there's no need for that I'll do whatever it is that she needs.."
Barisferd nodded "are you comfortable with that Olivia?"
Olivia nodded "yes I'm comfortable with it... I just don't want to be an invalid or a burden on him that's all so I need to be able to move it some."
"Honey you could never be a burden to me..." Elliot whispered in her ear as Barisferd sighed "I mean what I said still stands, you don't need to move it for at least 4 weeks... but if you end up having to it should be fine if your very careful but it might slow down your healing process."
Olivia nodded slightly "I-I'll keep that in mind. My shoulder? What's wrong with it?"
Barisferd nodded "it's just dislocated, once we finish talking in a few minutes we're gonna give you more Versed, a dose of morphine then I'll put it back into place for you."
She nodded slightly "and it'll be good as new then?"
Barisferd shook his head "not exactly you'll need to be really careful how you move it for at least a week. Your husband will need to alternate between putting heat and ice on it for a couple days and I'll be prescribing you a pain reliever."
Olivia nodded slightly "o-okay," she said as she yawned slightly "Jennifer lets give her some morphine and another mg of Versed."
"Copy," she said as she did that and Olivia fell asleep almost right away.
"Mr. Stabler if you could just stay on her right side and keep soothing her like you've been doing that would really help us."
Elliot nodded his head "I can do that," he said.
Barisferd slightly smiled "thank you sir, you might not wanna watch this," he said as he got to work maneuvering her shoulder bones.
"Ahhh..." Olivia sighed in relief once the shoulder was back in place as a popping sound could be heard and Elliot slightly smiled, glad that some of her pain had been relieved as Barisferd then moved down to her wrist as he carefully worked on moving the bones back into place.
After a few minutes of the work Olivia started to whimper slightly in her sleep "shhh, shhh, shhh I know sweetheart I know..." Elliot cooed as he gently rubbed her good shoulder and stroked her hair "give her a little more Versed," Barisferd said to Jennifer.
"Copy," she said as she did that and Olivia settled back down.
"God I hate seeing her hurting..." Elliot said as Jennifer nodded "all decent people who have family members in here do.. for what it's worth though your wife says your "the best husband ever."
Elliot looked over at her "she really said that?"
Jennifer nodded her head with a smile "yes sir she did, the love you two share... It's an amazing rare thing and I hope you both hold onto it forever."
He nodded "I don't ever plan on letting her go although I don't really think I deserve her."
Jennifer shook her head "I'm an outsider in this whole thing but in my honest opinion you guys deserve each other."
Elliot slightly smiled and focused back on Olivia as Barisferd looked to Jennifer "I'm gonna cast her wrist, while I'm doing that I'd like for you to go ahead and give her her tetanus shot while she's unaware."
She nodded "copy," she said as she quickly ran out of the room to get what she needed.
About 20 more minutes passed as the shot was given and her wrist was fully casted as just when Barisferd was about to look at her burns he got an emergency page "I've got to go this is an emergency but you can feel free to hold her again and relax until I get back," he said to Elliot.
Elliot nodded slightly "alright," he said as he picked her up gently and put her in the position she liked as he leaned back against the pillows, just meaning to rest his eyes but his body had other plans as he fell asleep right along with her as he snored softly.
5:45 PM, Mercy hospital.
Elliot had been sleeping deeply with Olivia for almost an hour now as neither him or Olivia ever heard the door at all when the nurses would come in to tend to Amber.
He was having a rather pleasant dream when he felt his shoulder being shaken "hmmm?" he asked as he stirred.
"Mr. Stabler it's Jennifer, doctor Barisferd is ready to look at Olivia's burns and teach you how to treat them so we're gonna need you to lay her down and watch."
Elliot nodded slightly and laid her down gently "okay... I-I didn't mean to fall asleep I was just holding her and the next thing I knew..."
She nodded "I totally understand, I imagine you've had an exhausting couple of days."
He nodded slightly as he stretched his arms and neck "e-el? w-where are you?" Olivia asked in a groggy state as she was starting to wake up.
"I'm right here sweetheart I ended up falling asleep with you and was just stretching my arms."
She nodded slightly "I'm ready to get out of here."
"Me too honey me too, doctor Barisferd is just gonna look at your burns and once he's done with that hopefully we can go."
She nodded slightly "I hope so," she said as Barisferd walked over to her "can you tell me where the burns are?"
She sighed slightly "t-they're on my breasts , upper chest and stomach.."
He nodded his head "alright Mrs. Stabler I'm just gonna undo your gown and look okay?"
She nodded slightly "o-okay..." she said as he did that gently "holy mother of god..." he said completely shocked as Elliot's face paled and a few tears streamed down it.
Olivia just nodded slightly as a tear fell down her cheek as well "are those... are those from keys?" Barisferd asked.
Olivia nodded slightly "y-yes, t-they're from keys, hangers, a blow torch, cigarettes and 1 of them was made from a metal that was given to me a long time ago.."
Barisferd nodded "Olivia I'm so sorry this happened to you... So sorry..." he said as Elliot gently wiped her tears with his thumb and stroked her hair.
"T-thank you," she said quietly as Elliot looked to him "h-how do we treat these?"
Barisferd nodded "they're gonna have to have cream applied, be cleaned and have bandages applied to them twice a day until they heal... And it's important that you never forget because if you do these could get badly infected and you don't wanna go down that road trust me on that."
Elliot nodded firmly "I understand doc I'll set alarms on my phone, make sure I don't forget."
He nodded "that's a good idea sir, we're gonna show you how to do 1 of them, watch you do 1 then after that we're just gonna send the supplies home with you because there are so many."
Elliot nodded slightly "fair enough," he said as he watched Jennifer put on gloves then gently run water over, then put cream over the semper fi brand just above her right breast then put a bandage on it.
Elliot swallowed hard, struggling to keep his emotions at bay and remain detached in front of the hospital staff "I-I think I'll be able to do that."
Jennifer nodded "we need to watch you once just to make sure."
He nodded slightly and used hand sanitizer on his hands as he then stood where Jennifer had been as he was extremely gentle as he ran slightly cool water over, then applied cream to and bandaged the burn from the hanger that was on her stomach as Olivia was as still as possible during the process.
"You okay baby?" Elliot asked softly once he had finished.
Olivia slightly nodded "yeah I'm okay El it's a little cold but it doesn't really hurt that bad it's just a little tender."
He nodded slightly then looked to Barisferd "so I just need to treat the rest of them once we're at where ever we're gonna stay for the time being?"
He nodded "yes Mr. Stabler that's right and if you ever have any questions at all just call the hospital and ask, also if she starts running a fever or green pus starts coming out of the wounds you'll need to bring her back in immediately."
Elliot nodded slightly "I understand," he said as Barisferd slightly smiled "I'm gonna work on Olivia's discharge paperwork, you guys should be out of here in no time at all."
Elliot nodded "thank you so much doctor Barisferd," he said as he gently covered Olivia up and they sat and waited.