Barba made his way into the hospital, with a few small brown take-out bags in hand, quickly making his way to Savina's room. He stopped by the Nurse's station on her floor, handing them one of the bags he had in his hand, and asked about an update on Savina. Since they hadn't quite made it a known fact around the hospital that Savina was Olivia's – otherwise, they would have to show proof of custody, which was yet to be obtained – so the nurses knew that he was the ADA assigned to the case, and always gave him the update he needed. Of course he knew that there were hushed talks about their dedication towards this patient, and even a few theories about why that would be. But he was sure none of their imaginations had led them to the truth.
He made his way over to the room, and found Officer Watson – he took over from Gonzalez the night before – sitting in his chair, reading a book. He looked up at the sounds of footsteps, and smiled tiredly at the approaching ADA. Barba shot a quick glance into the room, and saw a passed-out Carisi on the recliner, with Diana moving about the room gathering her things, and Savina sound asleep in bed. The officer stood up when Barba reached him.
"Good morning, officer," Barba greeted, offering him one of the bags.
The uni smiled appreciatively at Barba. "Morning, sir." He took the bag from him, and peeked inside, smiling widely when he saw the bagel and coffee inside. "Thank you, sir."
Barba smiled. "No problem. Everything went alright last night?"
"Yeah. She had a couple of nightmares I think, the doctor and a few nurses checked up on her a couple of times during the night, and I think she fell asleep a couple of hours ago," he briefed him quickly. News of Savina's identity had already spread like wildfire around the department, so when he was assigned to stay guard on the door, he knew that he had to pay attention to a whole lot more than just any unwanted visitors.
Barba smiled thankfully at him, before he slowly turned the knob, and pushed the door open. The room itself wasn't lit, but the light streaming in from the hallway through the window was more than enough to let him see. Diana – who had her phone pressed to her ear as she whispered into it – looked up at the sound of the door opening, as she slipped her boots on. He looked over at the bed, and saw Savina fast asleep on it. He couldn't help but chuckle softly at the resemblance, the position that she apparently assumed in her sleep was one of Olivia's favorites. She was lying on her back, her arm bent at the elbow over her head, so that her hand was tucked under her head.
"Her dad just came, so just let me know when you're downstairs," Diana whispered into the phone, and Barba's heart fluttered slightly when she referred to him as Savina's dad.
He offered her the small brown bag as soon as she got off the phone, and got to her feet. "I didn't know what you liked, but I figured bagel and cream cheese is the safest bet."
"They're perfect, thank you. You're a life saver!" she exclaimed excitedly, though she kept her voice down a bit. "The food in the cafeteria is not good. I don't think Savina throwing up had anything to do with her! It's the food!" she grumbled and he chuckled.
"Why don't we step outside so we can talk?" he suggested, but to his surprise, she shook her head. "She said the silence gets to her, she didn't sleep till there was movement outside the room, and the hospital's pace started to pick up again," she explained hastily.
"How did it go last night?" he asked evasively.
"Like I said, the silence gets to her, so we watched another movie after The Conjuring. We talked till I think about four, and when there was more commotion outside, or maybe her body caved, she fell asleep. Of course she had a few nightmares, but we handled them," she replied softly. "She responded better to Carisi's voice, rather than mine. She woke up faster if he was the one trying to pull her out of it," she added, and Barba nodded in understanding.
"She was taken by a woman, so it makes sense that she wakes up faster if it's a man's voice," he stated. Diana's phone vibrated, and she pulled out, glancing at it quickly. "That's my brother, they're downstairs. They all want to see her, but I'm not entirely sure she's ready for that," she sighed, the exhaustion from the lack of sleep evident in her voice.
"Thank you for staying. I'm sure it won't be easy to keep a clear head at school today," Barba pipped up.
"It's okay, I've pulled all-nighters before for school. She means more to me than some exam," she retorted fondly, her eyes wandering over to the bed. "My Dad is meeting with the board today to figure out a way for her to keep the scholarship," she informed him.
Barba reached inside his coat, and pulled out one of his cards. "Just have him give me a call. I don't want her worrying about school right now," he said, handing her the card.
"She made me promise not to come for the rest of the week to focus on school, so I'll see you on Friday," she declared, as she headed for the door. "Thanks for the bagels," she chirped once the door was open.
"See you then, and no problem."
Once the door closed behind her, Barba turned back to the still sleeping Carisi. He gently placed the bags he still in his hand on the small coffee table in the corner of the room, and shrugged out of his coat. He saw Savina's phone lighting up from the bedside table, and he made his way over to it. He thought it was someone calling, and he was going to silence it before it rang, and woke her up. But when he saw that it was just a text, he relaxed, and just stood by the bed, watching her sleep. She looked peaceful – so far – and he wondered if she even knew the meaning of a good night sleep. He knew all too well the horrors foster kids face, after all, half his arraignments daily are troubled foster kids, ones who used to be in the system. It had been a weapon his father used against him constantly as a kid, he would threaten him that if he went to the police, that they will put him in foster care. He wondered if she knew how to let other people take care of her, it had taken Olivia a while to let him do it because she was so not used to it. It dawned on him, that it was probably the same with Savina. It pained him to realize that she inherited more than just her mother's looks, it appeared that she also inherited her tormented childhood. He couldn't help but wonder how different the situation would have been if she was never taken from Olivia. He knew that what his mother said was true, that she would have been in the apartment when Lewis attacked, and he most probably would've killed her. But maybe she would've been out that day, spending the night at a friend's or something. If she had survived him, would she still have been taken?
The sound of a buzzing phone shook him out of his trail of thoughts, and he looked over in time to see Carisi groaning as he looked at his phone, with his eyes only half open. He abandoned his place by the bed, and walked over to Carisi.
"Good morning, Detective."
"Morning!" Carisi mumbled sleepily, as he sat up, rested his elbows on his knees and rubbed his face.
"Here, I think this might help," Barba stated, handing him a coffee cup. Carisi took the cup from him without so much as a single protest, and took a large swig from it. "Thanks, Barba," he grunted appreciatively.
"Go home, and get some sleep. I got her."
"No can do. That was Rollins, the warrants for Savina's hospital record from the night of her birth, and the Lieutenant's credit card records came in," Carisi retorted. "Where is the Lieutenant?" he asked, his half asleep brain finally realizing that she was nowhere to be found.
"She's meeting Judge Linden about a temporary custody order, then Fin is meeting her with the exhumation order to dig up the baby," he listed. "She didn't want Savina to be on her own."
Carisi nodded in understanding. "Well, Savina's barely been asleep a couple of hours, and she had a couple of nightmares," he recounted, and Barba nodded. "Diana told me, I saw her before she left for school," he interjected softly.
"Lucy got Noah?" Carisi wondered, and Barba sighed. "Yeah, she does. But she said she can only keep him till three, so I guess I'll have to go get him, and see if my mother can take him for the rest of the day. I know Liv will spend the night here, so I can take him at night."
"How about I call Bella?" Carisi suggested. "Noah loves playing with the baby, and she loves Noah. Lucy can drop him off at her place."
Barba shook his head. "No, I can't spring this on your sister like that," he objected half-heartedly. In truth, this made more sense than his mom. Lucia was great with Noah, but realistically speaking, he knew she wouldn't be able to leave work before at least five, and that if he was being optimistic. And Bella's apartment was on their route back from the hospital.
"You're not springing anything on her, like I said; she loves Noah, and Noah loves Matilda," he argued.
Barba smiled appreciatively at him. "Thanks, Carisi."
"Don't mention it. I'll give you a call with any updates." And with that, he left the room. Barba heard mumbling from the other side of the door, and he knew that it was probably Carisi giving Officer Watson an ETA on Gonzalez. Moments later he saw Carisi heading down the hallway towards the elevator. He found himself once more looking over at Savina, he grabbed one of the chairs and moved it closer to the bed, before lowering himself into it. He had barely gotten any sleep the night before, between Olivia's nightmares, and his own, he was drained. He knew that it was going to get worse before it got any better, and he cashed in one of his many backed up vacation days as soon as he woke up. He called his secretary, and told her that he won't be coming in today. He was a bit surprised that the DA didn't take him off the case, and he wasn't going to back down, so he knew he had to keep a level head throughout all of this to make sure he gets Freed. It was true that the rest of the squad didn't think that she will let the case go to trial, but he wasn't taking any chances. What if she was too far off the deep end that she believed she can get away with it, and let it go to trial? He had to be prepared.
A small whimper from the bed shook him out of his thoughts, and he saw Savina's face contorted slightly, as she shook her head. He immediately shot up to his feet, and sat down on the bed next to her.
"Savina, wake up," he instructed gently, his hands finding both of her shoulders. "You're safe, honey. Just open your eyes."
"No, please don't," she begged, her eyes still screwed shut, a thin layer of sweat now covering her face.
He hesitated for a second, before he gently cupped her face, caressing her cheek with his thumb, wiping away at the tears. "Niña, it's over. She can't hurt you anymore, just open your eyes. It's Rafael, you're safe," he chanted soothingly over and over, as he tried to wake her before the quiet whimpering turned into screams. The shaking wasn't getting any worse, but she wasn't waking up either. He kept repeating reassurances to her, till her eyes finally snapped open. They were wild, pupils blown wide in fear, as her eyes frantically darted around the room.
"You're safe, no one is going to hurt you," he soothed.
"Rafael," she breathed in relief when her eyes finally focused on him, and he smiled reassuringly at her. Her voice was still laced with fear, and it tore him to see her so scared.
"I promise you, you're safe."
She nodded robotically, and it was then did he realize that he was still cupping her face. He was about to take his hand back, but her own hand came up, and she grabbed on to his sleeve. He saw the exhaustion in her eyes, and realized that maybe the contact was not only calming her down, but also helping her drift back to sleep.
"I'm not going anywhere," he vowed, his other hand finding hers and grasping it. Her knuckles turned white around his hand, and he moved his thumb repeatedly over the back of her hand, as her eyes fluttered closed once more.
A short chapter I know, but I needed a Barba fix after the lack of him in last week's episode! They seriously need to stop making episodes without him! And am I the only one who is falling for mini-Dodds? I like his attitude, and I sure hope he stands up for his unit in front of his dad, because Dodds is really starting to get on my nerves, as well as creep me out with the way he looks at Olivia!
Anyways, let me know what you all think of this.