Olivia woke up surprisingly refreshed the next morning, and chuckled softly when she saw both Noah and Rafael with identical faces on their side facing her. Noah was tucked in-between Rafael's arm, snoring softly as they both slept soundly. He had joined them in bed sometime in the night after a very long and passionate sex session. Olivia had missed Rafael terribly, and she needed to feel good, needed the assurance that at least one thing in her life was not jostled, and Rafael was more than happy to comply. She smiled softly at them both, before she ran her fingers through Noah's hair gently. She looked over at the alarm, and realized that she still had a few minutes before Rafael's alarm went off, and they all had to head out. She had already told Lucy not to come in that morning, that she would be the one taking Noah to the hospital, and had decided to skip daycare all together.
She gently shimmied her way out of the bed, careful not to make it move too much under her weight, and put the pillow in her place, before she made her way out. She walked over to the spare room that Rafael was using as a make-shift office, and stood at the door. It had a bed, a small chest of drawers, and a rather big closet. It was also the only other room in the house with an en-suite bathroom. She rested her head against the doorframe, and let her mind wander off. She pictured what the room would look like with all the things that teenagers usually cram into their room. She walked over to the closet and eyed it critically, the ghost of a teenager getting ready inside dancing before her eyes. She could almost hear the music sounding in the room, as the faint echoes of footsteps rang in her ears as they tapped along with the music. She chuckled to herself when an annoyed 'Mom' sounded, and the over-dramatic eye-roll floated before her eyes. This was almost too good to be true. She had spent years yearning for it, wishing that she could have it, wondering what life would've been like with her baby girl….and she was finally getting the chance.
She hummed contently when she felt his arms wrap around her waist, as he peppered a gentle kiss to her temple. "Morning," she sighed, leaning more into the kisses he was still feathering up and down her neck, and almost moaning in pleasure.
"It appears that great minds think alike," he murmured against her, and she craned her neck to look at him questioningly. "I'm already setting up the printer and laptop in the space by the hallway closet so Savina can use this room."
Olivia turned fully in his arms, resting both her hands on his chest, as she almost gaped at him. "You're okay with having to move your things again? That's a lot of change for you, and I know you're not exactly fond of sudden change," she alluded softly to the fact that he already had to move once to make room for Noah's crib, and now he was moving again for Savina. Not to mention the fact that they just moved in with him, and basically uprooted his entire life.
Barba smiled, a genuine smile, one of his hands coming up to gently cup her face. "I never like change because it never brought me anything good, and it usually caught me off guard, and it was never anything I wanted or hoped for. This; you, Noah, and Savina are things that I never even dared dream about, let alone want. You three are exactly what has been missing this whole time," he refuted gently, and her heart swelled with each word. "And besides, I've hardly gone home with work since we started seeing each other, and I seriously doubt I'll do it now that you'll be here, especially when Savina is released. We'll need to focus on making sure she recovers well, adjusts to the sudden changes in her life, and drill it into her stubborn head that she's loved and wanted," he lectured, smirking slightly at the end, with a pointed arched eyebrow, and she laughed, knowing fully that it was a jab at her as well. "Liv, I'll keep saying this till my last breath; you three are my priority, you come first, and the rest of the world can go to hell for all I care," he vowed.
Olivia had Noah perched on her hip, as she and Barba made their way to Savina's room. The morning walk from the elevators to the room was more of a routine now, greetings and smiles along the way to the nurses and staff they ran into on daily basis, as their legs carried them – almost on autopilot – to the room down the corridor. Olivia frowned slightly when she saw the chair outside the room to be empty, her hand subconsciously moving to the gun on her belt, as she allowed Barba to pluck Noah out of her arms. She knew he found the situation eerie as well, and they both quickly picked up their pace. Olivia's heart sank when she reached the glass window looking into the room. The bed was empty, the sheets and covers turned, and she stormed into the room, her gun already out of its holster, but not fully drawn yet. She moved towards the bathroom, but the door was already ajar, and it was awfully quiet. She pushed the door open all the way, and nearly fainted when she found it empty. She whirled around, her eyes wide and frantic, her chest already starting to heave in panic, as she desperately tried to school her features to avoid scaring the toddler currently clinging to Barba, and eyeing her warily.
Her brain had completely shut off, her mouth hung open, ragged breath leaving her lips, but no words came out. She couldn't even string along a sentence if her life depended on it. She saw Barba reach into his pocket, and pull out his phone, though she was not sure who exactly was he calling.
"What the….." the voice trailed off, and her eyes cut to the person standing in the doorway gaping at the empty bed. Dr. Thompson, Savina's doctor, and he too had no idea where she was. This was not good.
The logical part of her brain tried to remind her that Fin had spent the night with her, that she needed to call him before she worked herself into a frenzy. But the non-logical part was already in control, her own demons and fears rearing their heads, and conjuring up every single possible scenario….none of them were good. Her eyes found Barba again, his phone pressed to his ear, as he mumbled something into it.
Olivia held on to the sliver of hope, that distant echo of logic that reminded her that Fin would die before he let anything happen to her little girl; that if any of the horrible scenarios in her head were true, she would've walked in and found him lying in a pool of his own blood, probably along with the killer.
But to her horror, Fin wasn't picking up, and the sound of the ringing was somewhere very close.
To her surprise, Dr. Thompson took a step back into the hall, and the sound of laughter finally reached her ear. She bolted from the room, but was pulled back before she could reach the corridor by Barba. He grabbed her arm, and she sent daggers his way. She needed to see her daughter, and he knew it well enough. But a pointed look at her right arm, made her realize that her weapon was still drawn.
"Ms. Matthews, what do you think you're doing?" Dr. Thompson chastised.
She quickly holstered her gun, and ran to the hallway just in time to see Savina leaning against Fin, with both Rollins and Carisi flanking her on both sides, and the officer trailing behind them. She could see how heavily Savina was leaning against Fin, one hand grasping his tightly, as she walked briskly towards the room. They had all stopped when Dr. Thompson came into view, and the squad eyed Olivia warily when she all but stormed out of the room, and stood there almost staring at Savina, eyes gaping, mouth slightly open as her breath came out ragged and shallow, her chest rising and falling erratically. Barba followed her closely behind, with Noah in his arms, the toddler grinning ruefully the second he saw Savina, and immediately reached for her. Barba put his hand on his chest, and pulled him back into his embrace. "No, Mijo, not now."
"Olivia, are you alright?" Savina croaked, her voice slightly wavering, giving way to the exhaustion she actually felt.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Olivia whispered, past the lump in her throat, as she moved closer to the teenager, her eyes briefly flickering over to her team, and they all winced at the daggers they saw flying out of her eyes. They all knew they were gonna get their asses handed over to them as soon as she got the chance.
"I'm still waiting!" Dr. Thompson interrupted, and Savina arched an eyebrow at him questioningly, so he added. "What is it that you think you're doing?"
"You see, when you put one foot ahead, then the other, and then just repeat that action, it's called walking!" Savina quipped cheekily, and he gave her an unamused glare. "You just seemed to have a problem recognizing it, so I figured I'd explain it. I'm sure Noah is even familiar with the concept," she continued, her eyes dancing with so much mischief, Olivia couldn't help but smile softly, as one hand found its way to her back. Savina flinched slightly at first, but when Olivia moved her thumb up and down comfortingly, she immediately relaxed.
"Sassy!" Noah called for her, his arms reaching for her once more, and she nodded at Barba, before she let go of Fin's hand, but continued to lean on him, and he wrapped one hand around her waist to keep her steady. Barba carefully maneuvered the toddler into her arms, and she moved him to her uninjured side, where he immediately burrowed into the crook of her neck.
"I agree with the kid!" the brunette doctor huffed, as he crossed his arms over his chest, and gave her the most disapproving look he could muster.
"You're acting like I ran a marathon, I simply walked to the cafeteria, ate, and headed back," she defended, though she made no sign to show that she was planning on heading into her room any time soon.
"One of those trips should've been in a wheelchair. I said don't over exhaust yourself!" he retorted.
"The nurse got her a wheelchair, and she used it all the way to the elevator on the way down, she merely walked to the cafeteria from the elevator," Fin quickly jumped to her defense.
"And besides, I don't stretch myself too thin. If I can't seem to do something, I don't do it," she shot back, her voice acquiring an edge suddenly, the humor that vibrated in it mere seconds ago slowly slipping away.
"I said take it easy," he reminded her.
"Yeah, well, and the plastic surgeon said that walking would help circulation and wound healing, so you two need to get on the same page," she snapped.
A heavy silence descended upon the hallway, and Noah – seemingly aware that Savina was upset – tightened his arms around her, and snuggled more into her embrace, who in turn leaned her head against his. Dr. Thompson sighed loudly in an attempt to get his frustration under control, before he spoke again, in a much gentler tone this time. "Savina, the extensive blood work we did on you showed a cocktail of drugs that were masked, and didn't show on the initial tox screen," he started, and she flinched slightly, her arms subconsciously tightening around Noah's smaller frame. "I've never seen so many drugs in one page since med school," he continued, and Savina's lips twitched slightly, as the ghost of a smile pulled at her lips. "We're starting to flush them out, and I don't want you coding on me again."
"I have no intention of coding again, nor will I let things get that far. And most importantly, I don't think any of them will let me. It was a walk! They were all walking at my pace, and if it did anything, is actually work up an appetite for me to eat. Which is good for recovery, or so I hear," she spoke gently.
He sighed, a smile tugging at his lips as well, as he fished his flashlight pen out of his pocket, and wiggled it tauntingly in front of Savina, who groaned. "Why?" she whined.
"Payback!" he deadpanned, as he flashed it in her eyes, one at a time. "Follow my finger," he instructed, and once he was done, he took a step back. "You seem to be doing fine on your feet with a toddler in your hands, so your balance is clearly not that bad. But you should try to take it easy a bit," he informed her, and she nodded, along with practically everyone standing in the hall with them.
"Don't worry, Doc, we'll make sure she follows the rules," Fin assured him, and the doctor nodded before taking his leave.
"How about I take Noah, so we can get you back into bed?" Olivia suggested, her voice still a bit hoarse from the scare she got earlier, and when Savina looked over at her to negate, she finally saw the look in her eyes, and the pieces finally fell into place.
"You didn't know where we were, did you?" she asked softly, and Olivia merely swallowed visibly in response.
"I'm sorry, Liv. I knew you wouldn't switch your phone off, and if I had sent a text, you would've panicked before you even read it. I didn't think you'd be in till much later," Fin apologized quickly.
"No, it's alright. I overreacted," she reassured them, and Savina smiled sympathetically at her. "No, you didn't," she shook her head. "I probably would've done the same thing, if the situation had been reversed."
Savina knew that Olivia asking for Noah wasn't because she didn't trust her, but rather because she needed the comfort. She knew that, and knew that she needed to have her in her arms, but Savina wasn't ready for that just yet. And so, she allowed Olivia to take Noah, who didn't really seem to mind, before they started to head back to the room.
"Rollins, can I talk to you a minute?" Barba, who had been silent through it all, asked, and Amanda nodded. They both hung back, while the rest of the group made it back to the room. Fin's phone pinged just as they got inside, he fished it out and opened the text. "Damn, Vina!" he exclaimed, and Savina turned around to look at him. He had given her the nickname the night before, and she was starting to like it. It made her feel special, Carisi had already told her that Fin had been nicer to him when he first started, and that he sometimes called Olivia 'baby girl', because he thought of her as his younger sister, and it showed how much he cared for her. So she knew that dubbing her 'Vina' was his way of showing her she mattered too.
He turned the phone towards her, as he spoke. "Hospital sent over your updated bloodwork, that's more drugs than I've seen in the past sixteen years….combined!" he commented.
"Makes me feel so special," she drawled out sarcastically, as she settled into the bed, and happily settled Noah into her lap with her phone.
"Well, at least there weren't any mushrooms," Fin hinted pointedly, and she grinned cheekily at him, while Olivia looked slightly confused for a few seconds, before it finally dawned on her, and she groaned. "You told her about that," she was more amused than shocked.
"Yep!" Savina replied, and she looked over at her in time to see the laughter dancing slightly in her eyes. But she easily spotted the ghost of pain as well. "He wasn't kidding when he said he had sixteen worth of dirt on you, though I think we barely covered a year's worth!" she teased.
"Great! Now I have to make sure I never leave the two of you alone again!" Olivia groaned, happy that the pained expression was off her little girl's face – even if it was a temporary fix – and that the earlier gloom had dissipated, and they were all back to chatting happily.
"What mushrooms?" Carisi wondered, and Olivia groaned once more when she saw the identical cheeky grins of Fin and Savina's lips. But she didn't care if Fin told every embarrassing story about her that he knew, if it meant Savina would be laughing, if it meant it would help her deal with what happened to her, help her get back on her feet...then she'll never tell him to stop. Hell, she'll tell her some herself.
I am terribly sorry for the long wait, but I was trying to update my other two fics, but that didn't go very well either. And the past three eps of SVU have left me reeling! They seriously put her with Tucker! That guy is an asshole! I have nothing against Bobby - if anything, my hatred for Tucker shows his abilities as an actor - and I really don't think they're good for each other. She can't trust him with half the crap that she's pulled...and yet Barba knows it all. So as you can all probably guess, I will be ignoring all things Tuckson related, and if you're a fan, I will warn you that this is not a Tucker-friendly story, since like I said, I can't stand the guy.
Anyways, let me know what you all think of this chapter.
Thank you to all the new follows and favorites, and of course the DMs and reviews, they are much appreciated.