"Cap, the bloodsucking leeches are here. One of 'em, at least. Want me to get rid of her?" John crossed his arms and scowled.
"No. I'll take care of it. Thanks, John." Cragen got up and looked out the window before reluctantly stepping out.
"Captain Cragen. A moment of your time, sir." Sandra Owenson stood there, notepad in hand, ready to write and looking as if she wouldn't take no for an answer.
"You can drop the formalities, Sandra. We both know why you're here." He ushered the reporter to his office and closed the door.
"I want to know what you know. Anything. If we don't run a segment on this you're going to have a mess on your hands." She sat down at the offered chair.
"I know that, Sandy, but we're both wasting our time here. You saw the papers. You know what happened. I'll tell you when I have something to add to that. Until then, no comment." He looked at her sternly and she backed off, hands raised in mock surrender.
"I'm not going to badger the poor woman. You know, the parents think she's hiding something. I know it's ridiculous, but they're grieving and they have just as much right to this information as the rest of the world does. Maybe even more." She uncapped her pen and dared him not to talk.
"You don't think what you were doing was badgering her? You've called nonstop for days, Owenson. You're out of line and I cannot believe we're even having this conversation. You, of all people. Of all the things you've seen just in your time at the station. I expected more of you. You're no better than the others. Get the hell out of my precinct and don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out. And you can quote that." He yanked the door open but she refused to budge.
"I…I'm sorry. You're right; it was out of line. I'm just doing my job, Don. They're coming down on me for a statement. My boss…my job is riding on this. Give me a line. I'll fill in the blanks. I'll do her justice, I swear." She stood and faced him. His expression was unreadable.
"You want a line? The most horrific thing you could think of happened to that woman, and instead of giving her time to get through this, as she fully deserves, you're standing here asking me why I won't give you answers. She's a human being, damnit! Treat her like one. You can tell that to your superiors. Like I said, I'll call you when I have something. I don't have much and what I do have, I can't say. You know that. We're in the middle of an investigation here. Detective Benson has a right, too. She has a right to grieve and I will not, I will not let you or anyone else take that right away. You can tell them that, as well." He glanced at the door and saw her hesitate before finally walking out.
"I know I come across as a total bitch. I'm sorry it happened to her, I really am. When I first got into j-school, I never dreamed I'd be doing interviews like this. I wanted to tell the truth, get the story out. I never thought I'd be reduced to this. I…tell her I'm sorry. For what it's worth, I know she tried her best. I heard the 911 recording of that night. I do have morals, Don, and I'm exercising them by not letting anyone else know I have a transcript of that call. The others, as you put it, they may not do the same. I just thought you should know about it. I'm not all bad. We've both been put in a terrible position. I respect that." Without another word, she left the precinct.
"Anyone seen Stabler?" Cragen assumed Elliot was with Olivia lying low after the session the day before, but it was worth a shot.
"He had to pick up some things from Olivia's apartment. Said he'd be in about ten. Didn't sound like Olivia was with him." Fin looked up from his computer, spouting off as much as he could remember.
"Well, it's a quarter 'til now. Tell him I want to see him when he gets in." Cragen closed the door behind him once again, rethinking the information he'd just been given. He hadn't been told about a 911 tape. It would make sense, though. He couldn't get out of his head what he'd heard Sandra say. She tried her best. Of course she did. Something didn't fit, and it was on that tape. If it would be of help to the investigation, it had to come out.
"Hey, sorry I'm late. You wanted to see me?" Elliot stood against the wall and eyed his boss.
"I just got rid of Owenson from 4 News. First of all, she didn't leak anything, but she has a 911 call Olivia made the night of the crash. She said she has a transcript but won't let anyone else see it. I don't know what to do with this piece of information. I don't want this to put her over the edge if she finds out. I saw her come out of there yesterday. She looked dead on her feet. How's she doing?" Cragen felt a sense of déjà vu wash over him. He couldn't count the times he'd called Elliot in to discuss how Olivia was doing in the past few days alone. He felt bad for her not being there to defend herself.
"She had an appointment with her doctor after the meeting with Huang. She has an infection in her right hand. That one was worse off than the other one. She's got a new prescription on top of the pain pill she's taking. She was up all night with the chills. The doctor said it was getting pretty bad. She's sleeping it off." He hadn't gotten much rest, himself, from watching over her all night. She'd insisted she'd be fine but he knew better.
"Whatever helps. Right now, I'm worried about what that tape will do to her if someone gets a hold of it and she has to start explaining herself. I feel like a broken record. You tell me. Do we let her hear the tape? Do we let her read the transcript? Does it matter?" He felt the strong urge to get George as fast as he could.
"You know Liv. She'd want to know. Maybe not specifics. I don't know if she's ready for that but she wouldn't want to be kept out of the loop. Whether we like it or not, she's involved more than anyone else is. I say we tell her about it, then we fight like hell to keep her in control. She already hates not having a say in anything. What does George think?" He felt for the position his superior was in.
"I'll call him. Let me know if Olivia needs anything." Cragen shook the detective's hand, a gesture to show how much he appreciated all he was doing. He only wished he could say he was helping as well.
ooo
Elliot picked the phone up for the sixth time before placing the receiver back down. He couldn't help but worry.
"Tell her we said hi." Fin watched Elliot check his cell phone again and rolled his eyes. Stubborn.
"Huh?" Elliot clipped his phone again and frowned.
"Tell her we said hi when you go over there. She's probably sleeping and you're going to wake her up if you call her. Just go over there, Stabler." John raised his eyebrows at the idea the Elliot hadn't gone yet.
"Yeah, okay. Hey, do you need to meet again or are we cool on that case?" Elliot pointed to the file in John's lap as the older man glanced down at the information and began typing.
"Yep. About to wrap it up, as we speak. Get out of here." John snorted as Elliot shoved the papers off his desk and into his drawer before rushing out. There sure wasn't a shortage of concerned detectives.
ooo
Olivia tossed and turned, going from freezing cold one minute to blazing hot the next. Currently, her body was on fire. She'd kicked off the blanket an hour ago in an attempt to cool down. Sweat drenched her skin and clothes but she lacked the energy to change or shower. She didn't want to think about getting her hands wet. Her right hand had been aching ever since the doctor poked and prodded. The bandages had been on most of the time, preventing her from realizing her hand wasn't healing properly. She groaned as she heard the key in the lock.
Elliot crept into the apartment slowly. He set the duffel bag down and looked around. His eyes had yet to adjust to the lack of lighting, and he nearly missed knocking over a lamp on the end table. He steadied it with his hand and tossed his keys on the table. The glow of the television lit the darkened interior of his bachelor's pad. He looked down and saw her sleeping fitfully on the couch. He hesitated before going to the medicine cabinet. Gently, he shook her awake.
"Is it that late?" She over her shoulder, trying to determine where he was.
"No. I thought I'd see how you were doing. Are you feeling any better?" He remembered the state she was in when he left for work. He'd left her pills on the coffee table and a glass of water so she wouldn't have to get up.
"Ugh. I feel worse. Is there a word for more than miserable?" She sank back into the couch and ran a hand through her hair. She felt disgusting.
"I wouldn't know. That would be a question for Kathleen. She's always correcting me on my grammar. She says I should use more…what'd she say…elevator words. She says it would make me sound smart. Here." He picked up both bottles and shook out a couple pills from each, knowing she hadn't taken any yet.
"I couldn't remember what I took when, so I thought I'd wait a while. It's been long enough. I just didn't want to move. Even if it was just across the table. Thanks." She popped the pills in her mouth and picked up the glass with her good hand before washing them down.
"You'll feel better once the infection clears. He said the day after is always worse. I'll be right back. If you want to change, I got your bag. It's already opened. Let me know when you're done." He set the bag down by the couch and went into the kitchen to start the water boiling for some soup. He leaned against the counter and called Cragen.
"Hey, Cap. I'm going to hang out here for the rest of the day. Olivia's not feeling well. I'm going to stick around in case she needs anything." Elliot picked up the information the doctor gave them and scanned it over, looking for signs to look for that he should bring her back in. How was he supposed to know what 'significantly better' was?
"Tell her we said hi. I met with George, by the way. I thought you should know. He said with all she's dealing with to hold it off for a while. I didn't ask and I know he wouldn't say, but he said yesterday was hard on her. He said the timing wouldn't be right. I'll let you go, but I thought I'd let you know what he said." Cragen's voice dripped with concern for his detective.
"Thanks, Captain." Elliot hung up the phone and continued reading.
"Hey, Elliot. I'm done." Olivia half-hollered from the couch. She started to fold her clothes when her shirt slipped from her grasp.
"I got it. What'd that say?" Elliot scooped up her top and pointed to the thermometer.
"High enough to be uncomfortable. Low enough to not warrant a little trip to the hospital." She grinned, knowing full well that his mind was churning with the idea already.
"Gotcha. I'm making you some soup if you want some. I don't think your stomach is going to go for you taking that stuff when it's empty." He stood there, waiting to be told what to do.
"I think I'll wait for the soup then I think I'm going to crash." Olivia yawned as if adding to the conversation that she needed sleep.
"Okay. I'm going to go babysit the water, then. I'll let you know when it's done. Before I forget, the guys said hi." Elliot watched her lay her head back and close her eyes. He had a feeling she'd lose the fight with sleep any moment.
"'Kay. Thanks for staying, El." She heard the television click off and his footsteps on the floor grew quieter as he went into the kitchen. She was surprise when it didn't bother her that he was staying to help her.