Although her pain had gotten better quickly and she was much more experienced on crutches, Liv had spent much of the past week depressed and frustrated with being injured again. Elliot smiled at her when she woke up. "Seven weeks til our wedding," he said, kissing her softly. She lit up.

"I can't wait," she said. Elliot was relieved to see her happier.

Later that day, at her follow-up appointment, the orthopedist had Liv walk without crutches. "How's the pain?" she asked.

"It's actually not painful," Liv said surprised. "The boot feels awkward, my ankle feels a little uncomfortable maybe but it doesn't really hurt."

"Great," the doctor said. "Your x-ray looks good too, so you can start weaning off the crutches?"

"Really?" Liv asked, shocked.

"Yes, just slowly. Keep using them for any longer distances for the next 4-5 days. But as long as your pain doesn't increase significantly as you use them less, you can stop using them. Some soreness as you use your ankle more is expectable. Take ibuprofen for it. I can clear you to go back to work too, although obviously you need to be on desk duty." "Tomorrow," she added, seeing that Liv looked ready to go to the precinct that minute. "Take it slowly."

Liv left the appointment significantly happier. "I know they said it would be faster, but it was hard to really believe it," she said.

"You just went through such a long, intensive recovery," Elliot said. "Of course it would be hard to believe this would be faster. I'm so glad you can start getting off the crutches."

The rest of the day, Liv used the crutches to go between rooms but did things like go to the bathroom without them. It was hard to tell who was more excited about her progress once Noah got home, Liv, Elliot or Noah. It had been so hard for Noah to see his mom hurt again, and Liv and Elliot were both extremely relieved to see him less worried.

"How does your ankle feel?" Elliot asked at the end of the day.

"It's really not painful," Liv said, "more strange to be using it again. I'm going to take ibuprofen tonight as a precaution though."

"I think that's a smart idea," Elliot responded.

She limped into the precinct the next day thrilled to be back. When her team came into her office, Fin frowned when he saw her walking to the couch. "Aren't you supposed to be using them?" He asked, nodding at the crutches.

"The doctor cleared me to start walking. I'm allowed to go short distances without the crutches and should be off them completely in a week."

"That's great," Amanda said warmly.

"Thank you," she said, as Fin brought the stool over and she propped her foot on it."

"We just need to keep you bubble-wrapped until the wedding," Amanda said.

Liv laughed, shaking her head. "I need it," she said ruefully.