Here is chapter 2! Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter, I appreciated them a lot! Please let me know what you think of this chapter :)
After Amanda's reluctant agreement to see a doctor, Olivia had managed to locate one pretty quickly. The blonde detective had been wheeled past her twice, on the way to and from x ray and both times had ignored Olivia's presence. Now Olivia was sitting in the corridor outside Amanda's room, waiting. Her hand hovered over the phone in her pocket, and she was torn as to what she should do.
The detective in her was screaming out to call it in, she knew that whatever evidence there was in the alleyway was deteriorating with every passing second. But she also knew, that for whatever reason, Amanda had chosen to call her, and Olivia knew that betraying her trust at this point would probably do more harm than good. She resigned herself to talking with Amanda again, to try and encourage her to come to the decision to report it herself.
Olivia wasn't long until she heard raised voices from inside the room. She winced slightly. Before the doctor had gone in to see Amanda, Olivia had asked her to bring up the possibility of a rape kit. She felt slightly guilty because she had agreed when Amanda told her she didn't consent, but this wasn't strictly breaking that agreement, as the doctor had only asked.
"Get out," she heard Amanda yell, and Olivia sprung to her feet, knowing this was her cue to wade back in to the situation.
"Hey," Olivia said calmly, as she stepped into the room and behind the curtain. The cut on Amanda's cheek had been stitched up and a fresh white plaster covered the injury. She was surprised to see that the doctor had managed to coax Amanda into a gown, and then she realised the cause of the current conflict was the brown paper bag the doctor was holding.
Amanda's jacket and top were on the edge of the bed, and Olivia presumed that the doctor had asked her to put the garments into the evidence bag.
"Why are you trying to trick me? I said no," Amanda said, flashing a desperate look at Olivia.
The doctor, slightly flustered, gestured to the clothes, "It was just to preserve the chain of evidence in case-"
"In case she wants to change her mind," Olivia finished the doctor's sentence for her, "Amanda," she said softly, "she's just trying to give you options. Things will look clearer after… in the morning and you might change your mind. And if you do it's important that procedure is followed. Put the clothes in the bag 'Manda, that's it, you don't have to do anything else," Olivia pressed softly, hoping that the gentle encouragement would work.
"The only option I want is to go home," Amanda insisted, but she grabbed the clothes anyway and stuffed them into the bag in the doctor's hands. Wordlessly, the doctor signed the ticket on the bag and put it on the trolley.
"Can I have a minute with her?" Olivia asked the doctor quietly.
"Sure, from what she's let me look at, her physical injuries aren't too severe, she has a mild concussion and a couple of cracked ribs. The rest is superficial scratching and bruising, though it will still cause a moderate amount of pain. She didn't consent to a full exam though so I can't account for the full extent of her injuries,"
"Thank you doctor," Olivia said.
Olivia waited until the doctor had left the room before she turned her attention to Amanda.
"I'm all stitched up," Amanda said flippantly, pointing to her cheek, "Can I go now?"
Olivia sighed. This was going to be even harder that she'd imagined, "Honey, someone hurt you, don't let him get away with it," she reasoned gently with the blonde, using the same coaxing voice she tended to use with the most reluctant of complainants.
"No," Amanda shook her head. She was still as defiant as ever, "please, can you get me something to wear, instead of this gown, I want to go home,"
"If you consent to a rape kit, you don't have to release it, it's just there if you change your mind, you know this Amanda" Olivia insisted, firmer this time. There was a part of her that knew, in the cold light of morning, when she was more sober, that Amanda might feel differently and Olivia wanted to make sure she had every opportunity to report the son of a bitch. And that meant collecting the evidence as soon as possible.
"I know I have a duty," Amanda said venomously, "I know you're thinkin', that I should do this so he doesn't hurt some other woman,"
"I am," Olivia answered truthfully, now was no time for lies and pleasantries.
"and that if you did it then why can't I?" Amanda said tearfully, "but the truth is, I'm not as strong you Olivia," she sniffled and wiped her cheeks but the tears still kept coming, "not even close," she whispered.
Amanda's admittance stunned Olivia and for a moment there was nothing the brunette could do but stand looking at Amanda in shock. If Amanda thought she was strong Olivia wished she'd been there at the hospital after Morris had kidnapped her. If anything, they were par for par on how they'd both reacted.
"It's humiliating and painful and I can't do it Olivia," Amanda said in a tiny, defeated voice, shaking Olivia's train of thought.
"I know it is, but how many times have we had women refuse, only for them to change their minds, a day or a week later. And there's nothing we can do to help them because there's no evidence. I can't let that happen to you," Olivia sat down on the bed next to Amanda and reached for the blonde's hand, "Amanda," she said softly, squeezing the other woman's hand gently, "you can do this," she encouraged.
"I'm so scared Olivia," Amanda admitted, "it's too much,"
"One step at a time huh?" Olivia said, "Can you try? I promise you, if you want to stop, it'll stop. Okay?"
Olivia looked expectantly at Amanda, knowing that this was the make or break moment.
"You promise?" Amanda asked quietly.
"You're in control," Olivia said, flashing her a reassuring smile. The brunette breathed a small sigh of relief as Amanda nodded her consent.
It had taken a good hour and a half for a trained nurse to become available and Amanda had gotten so worked up that at one point Olivia was sure she was going to change her mind. She was however, able to get Amanda to let her call uniforms to secure the scene, currently Amanda was a 'Jane Doe' but that would soon change once Olivia put in the formal call to SVU.
"You okay?" Olivia asked softly. Amanda had been pacing the room for the past half an hour, rubbing her forehead every now and then.
"Just sobering up," Amanda replied quietly, "kinda wish I wasn't,"
Amanda jumped at a sudden knock on the door and Olivia flashed her a reassuring look, "it's okay,"
"Sorry about the wait, my name's Caroline," the nurse introduced herself, "and you must be Amanda," she said kindly, "before we start I just want explain-"
"I know how it works," Amanda cut in coldly. She was standing in the corner of the room, her arms wrapped around herself defensively, "no talking, no explaining anything, just do it,"
Olivia could sense Amanda's panic, but she knew that the blonde was trying to detach herself from the situation as much as possible. She'd seen it a hundred times, sometimes the victims withdrew so far into themselves it was impossible to get a useful statement out of them for hours afterwards. Victim. A wave of nausea roiled in Olivia's stomach as she found herself referring to Amanda as a victim. She remembered how it was to feel so weak, so helpless and she couldn't help wishing that it was a stranger in Amanda's position right now. This hit to close to home, far too close.
"Amanda, you control the pace alright, if you want to stop," Olivia said, pausing to shoot the nurse a look to make sure knew she was being serious, "it'll stop okay?"
Amanda nodded meekly, "Okay."
"I'll be right outside this door," Olivia promised, she wanted to be close by but also didn't want to invade Amanda's privacy.
"No," Amanda said, "stay, please. Is that okay?" she asked tearfully, her eyes flicking between the two other women in the room.
"Are you sure?" Olivia questioned, slightly taken back by the request, not because it was unusual; she had supported victims during rape exams before, but because of the level of trust Amanda Rollins was currently placing in her.
"Please," Amanda repeated.
"Okay," Olivia nodded with a small smile, "okay,"