A/N: I just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone who has faithfully stayed with Olivia and Alex through this tumultuous beginning. I have written 14 chapters so far just on my computer. (I was being selfish and didn't know if it was good enough to post.) I'm glad I've decided to! This is why there are so many updates in so little time.
Thanks so much for sticking with the story. It's hard for me to fast-forward through parts of a story, but Olivia's recovery will not be dragged out over many chapters, so if that is too unrealistic, I apologize-however, it just gets us closer to AO being back to 'normal.' (Hate that word, but I think it fits here.)
Thanks, as always, to everyone who has followed, favorited, commented and just read! Thanks to lizzy43, bellatisha, BabouTunt, tummer22, and various guests who have left comments. I am forever indebted to you-not just for commenting, but for helping me realize that my writing was good enough! :)
Chapter 11
Help
Alex helped Olivia to the couch and turned to face her partner. "Thanks Elliot. I'm gonna get her in the bath and put her PJ's on. I foresee a long couple days of DVD's and 'Friends' marathons." Alex smiled as she spoke to Elliot.
"It's no problem. Hey, Alex," his voice lowered to a whisper. "Be good to her. We all know how you feel now, so just be aware of that." It almost sounded threatening, but Alex knew he was just looking out for his partner. "Call me if you need me. But, I'm gonna try to leave you both alone regarding work—you both need to recover from this." Elliot hugged Alex and left the apartment, after saying goodbye to Olivia.
"Well, detective," Alex said as she approached Olivia. "Feel like a bath?"
"Actually, yeah. That sounds great. I feel really gross."
"Ok, I'll go run you some water. You need to be careful that it doesn't get on your stiches, but I think it'll still make you feel better." Alex walked to the bathroom and started the bathwater, adding some soap and fragrance to the bottom of the tub, so when the water hit it, the soap bubbled up into a fragrant mix of water and bubbles. She was lost watching the swirling water when she heard a voice from behind her.
"Alex," as the attorney turned around, she saw Olivia, struggling with the black brace that held her right arm across her chest. "Can you help me?"
Alex shot up from the side of the tub and to Olivia's side. She gingerly moved around to the back of the detective and undid the Velcro strap holding the detective's arm, supporting her arm from behind her. Alex moved to stand in front of Olivia and lifted the brace over her head, releasing her arm. Olivia slowly lowered her arm to rest at her side, looking directly at Alex.
"Thanks," Olivia said with a sympathetic smile. "The hardest part is going to be my shirt—I'm not wearing anything under my pants or shirt, so it should be pretty simple for me to get undressed, but I'll need your help from the back to take my shirt off. It'll be easiest if you take it over my head from the back so I can just pull it down my arms in the front."
Alex did as she was told and tried not to look at Olivia's bare, chiseled back in front of her. The detective removed her pants and stepped lightly into the bathtub. She sank low, and looked at Alex.
"Is there any way I could ask you to help me wash my hair? I think I can do it, but I'll need you to wash the shampoo out." Olivia looked at Alex with curious eyes, as she started pouring shampoo in her hand.
"Yeah. But I need to put the waterproof tape and dressing over those stitches, just in case." Alex walked into the kitchen and grabbed the supplies the hospital gave them. She came back into the bathroom and carefully tore the tape to fit the dressing. Delicately, she placed the pieces over Olivia's wounds and pressed lightly. "Sorry—did that hurt?"
"No, it's ok." Olivia winced, but rubbed the shampoo into her hair with her left hand, trying her best to cover her whole head from one side. Feeling bad for her, Alex walked behind her and started massaging the shampoo into Olivia's hair, trying hard not to have wandering eyes while the detective was naked under the scented water. She could make out her breasts, barely underneath the milky water, bubbles surrounding her tight body and gathering around the detective's cleavage.
Olivia leaned back, enjoying the feel of Alex's hands in her hair. She knew that she was mostly thinking of the attorney in a lustful capacity before, but Olivia knew that was partly because she was denying that she still loved Alex. It seemed to make it harder to ignore the attorney when she still found her so incredibly sexy. Now that Olivia was ready to submit to her feelings, she saw and felt things about Alex that she couldn't understand, but treasured.
The detective couldn't help but feel the love in Alex's hands—her touch was so soft and delicate. Olivia looked up to see Alex sitting over her, her face close to the detective's. She smiled and held eye contact until Alex broke it, carefully washing the shampoo out of Olivia's hair, cautiously avoiding the wound area.
"Ok. You probably need to relax. Let me know if you need anything, or any help."
"Thanks Alex."
The attorney gently closed the bathroom door and moved into Olivia's bedroom. She changed her sheets, and fluffed her pillows, as well as grabbed a change of clothes for when Olivia emerged from the bathtub. She placed Olivia's exercise paperwork next to the brace and sling on the bed, and sat down, thinking of the sight of the naked detective in the bathtub in the next room. Not much time had passed when Olivia emerged wrapped in a large grey towel. Alex turned and got up from the bed.
"Hey. You done already?" Alex approached Olivia and rubbed her left arm with a reassuring smile. Olivia smelled so good that the attorney leaned in as she spoke, touching the detective's tricep, cupping the back of her arm, and running her hand down it delicately.
"Yeah—I'd rather be out here. And, I'm afraid I'll get these damn stitches wet." Olivia laughed and nodded to the change of clothes on the bed. "Thanks for that. Can you help me? And…" Not knowing how to approach the subject, she hesitated a little. "I'm not going to be wearing a bra for the next few days, so I'll apologize in advance for all of…this." She made a circular motion with her left hand around her chest and chuckled.
"It's no problem. I don't blame you," was all Alex was able to say. There were so many other things she was thinking of saying, but she decided to hide how satisfied she was that she would be able to see the perfect, unrestricted breasts of the detective for the next few days.
Alex sat on the bed, facing away from the detective while Olivia put on her cotton underwear and the skin-tight yoga pants that Alex laid out. She was able to get the sweatshirt over her head and pull it down. She got her left arm through without a problem, but knew that straightening her injured arm out to get through the hole would be a task. She walked to Alex and cleared her throat, causing the attorney to turn around, stand up, and face her. They made eye contact and laughed quietly at the sight of Olivia with one arm in the sweatshirt and one restricted against her body. Olivia reached for Alex's hand and grabbed it with her own, as her smile faded.
"Alex." Olivia spoke softly, barely above a whisper. "I know 'thank you' won't ever be enough. And even more, I know 'sorry' won't ever cover how I've been acting towards you. But, I'm so happy that you're here." She moved closer, almost touching noses with Alex. She placed her right hand on Alex's waist, above her hip and looked into the blue eyes. Alex could swear she saw tears in Olivia's eyes, but she started to speak anyways, her own voice a little shaky.
"Olivia, there isn't anything for you to say sorry for. We will just start over…from right here…this very minute. And, I'm the one that should be thanking you. You sa-" Olivia stopped her from speaking anymore with a squeeze of her hand.
"We can talk about that later."
"Ok," Alex said as her voice broke. Now, there were definitely tears in the attorney's eyes, and the last thing Olivia wanted was for her to cry. So, ever the jokester, she flapped her empty sweatshirt arm at the attorney and chuckled. "Now…can you help me out here?"
The smile and show warmed Alex's heart and she knew she was getting back to the old Olivia she knew, and loved, so well.
"Ok, just please tell me if it hurts—I'll stop," Alex said as she tugged the sweatshirt down over Olivia's belly button. She pulled down on the bottom of the shirt so the armhole traveled lower and more parallel to Olivia's arm. The detective squinted and raised her shoulder, bending her elbow to put her hand through the hole. After a minute of a struggle, Olivia's face eased as her arm came through the hole and her hand protruded through the wrist hole.
"Ok," Alex said with a smile. "Sorry if that hurt. Take a second and breathe while I take off that dressing and tape." Alex pulled the collar of the sweatshirt gently to the left to expose the wounds and gingerly peeled off the tape. "All dry. Looks good."
Olivia put her arm in the sling and threw the Velcro over her shoulders and around her back so Alex could attach it all together. The younger blonde pulled the brace and sling a little tighter than was comfortable for Olivia, which she was instructed to do, and Olivia thanked her.
"You made that really easy," Olivia said. "Thanks again for taking good care of me."
Alex blushed. "Olivia, honestly, after what you did for me the other day, there isn't anything I wouldn't do for you."
Their eyes met for this confession, and they both felt the electricity between them. Unknowingly, they moved closer to each other, until Alex snapped out of the trance and cleared her throat. "You should sit down somewhere. Are you tired? Do you want to take a nap or be on the couch or…?"
"Not tired. I am in a little bit of pain though. I think I'll go out to the couch. Maybe we can watch a movie or something…?"
"Sounds good. What do you need?"
"Alex, I'm good. Lead the way," as she said this, Alex began to walk into the living room, arranging pillows and blankets on the oversized couch. Olivia crouched down and reached into her bag from the hospital, pulling her glasses out and placing them on her face. She saw her jacket and t-shirt, covered in blood, and her heart sank. She hadn't really thought about what had happened to her, but rather she had been focused on her mind, instead of her body. She knew that an event like this changed everything: she had been thinking about Alex. For what seemed like hours, Olivia stood holding the bloodied shirt in her left hand, until she jumped at the contact on the middle of her back.
"Olivia? Are you ok?"
Olivia said nothing, but turned to Alex with the stained shirt still in her hand. Her eyes were glassy and Alex could tell that her thoughts were clouded. Their eyes connected and she lovingly placed her hand on the detective's hand. She took the shirt from Olivia and wrapped her into a soft hug, holding the back of her head with one hand and caressing the middle of her back with the other, until Olivia broke the contact.
"I'm ok…I'm good. Let's go watch a movie." She struggled to show a smile, and Alex noticed.
Olivia and Alex walked into the living room and the detective got comfortable on the couch. Alex walked over to one of the bookshelves and scanned through the DVD's—Olivia was a fan of thrillers and comedies.
"Want anything specific?" Alex asked this question knowing that Olivia probably wouldn't pay much attention to the movie, so she knew she'd say no.
"Not really. But, a comedy would be nice."
Alex picked up 'Back to the Future,' and placed it in the DVD player. The main menu came up as Alex was getting Olivia some Ibuprofen and water in the kitchen.
"HA! Good pick," Olivia said as she saw the menu on the TV. "I love this movie."
Alex smiled—she remembered that Olivia had liked the movie, and was glad that she was still right about some things. She handed Olivia the glass of water and pills and smiled at her before sitting on the other end of the couch.
"I know! I have a good memory." Alex smiled at Olivia and started to watch the movie.
The first hour of the movie passed without much conversation, but Alex was brewing and it must have been obvious. Olivia grabbed the remote and paused the movie, looking towards Alex.
"Alex, what's up with you? If you've got something to say, just say it."
"Liv," her eyes lifted and met Olivia's. She hadn't purposefully called her that in so many years—sure, it may have slipped a few times in the past few months as they were getting reacquainted, but she surely didn't mean to. But now, it felt so right coming off of her lips. "I don't really know what to say." Alex's eyes filled up with tears as she began speaking. "You saved my life…again, Olivia...why?"
Olivia was sitting with her right ankle up under her leg and her splinted arm resting on the armrest of the sofa. She opened up her left arm and motioned for Alex to move closer. The attorney obliged, and relaxed into Olivia's uninjured shoulder.
"Alex, when I became a police officer, I pledged my life to this city. Every day I willingly put myself in the way to protect others. I do it because it's inside me—it's in my blood and it's something I can't deny. On September 11th, I realized my life was not guaranteed, and shortly after that, when my mother died, I knew that it was a gift. I guess you don't really realize how valuable life is until you see some of these victims—these kids—who already don't have a reason to live anymore. Someone has destroyed their life at such a young age, and it's my job to protect that."
"There has been a lot of stuff that has happened since you've been gone, but I haven't changed that much, Alex—I still take my oath very seriously, and I pledge to protect people under my charge." Olivia stopped her speech, and looked towards Alex.
"Alex, I need to apologize to you. When I sent you that email…," Alex stopped her.
"You don't have to explain yourself. It's ok. I just wanted to tell you that I owe you—and I know that. It doesn't matter what happened when I was in WITSEC, and we can talk about that later if you want. All that matters is that I'm back in New York, you've come to my rescue once again, and I'm here with you now."
Olivia conceded and relaxed back into the sofa. "Ok. Well, you don't have to thank me." Olivia reached up and stroked Alex's arm. "I would do it again in a second." She looked down at Alex as the blue eyes met her gaze.
"Buuut, I am kinda hungry, so if you want to pay me back by ordering something, that would be awesome." Alex smiled and snuggled playfully into Olivia, who threw her head back and laughed as her stomach growled. Alex laughed and headed towards the fridge, where she knew many takeout menus would be hanging from the magnets.