Chapter 13
The next morning, Elliot was discharged from the hospital but instead of leaving, he went right to Olivia's room. The two officers who had been stationed outside her door let him through so he could visit her.
"Hey how are you feeling?" He asked, taking a seat next to her bed. He had a bandage on his upper right arm, while Olivia currently had her left arm in a sling.
"Like hell," she admitted.
"It's my fault," Elliot said. She could see that he was seething. He blamed himself for what had happened despite the fact that no one could have guessed that the suspects had guns.
"Because you have eyes in the back of your head and could see who was back there and what was going to happen," Olivia gave him a look. He looked at her right back.
"I'll be fine. The doctor said that I was lucky. No major lasting damage. I should be out of here in two days tops," she continued.
"The Captain said that your lead about the PIs is panning out. Our list of alphas is down from half of the male population of New York to only a handful of guys. Munch and Fin are running down everything that can be found out about them. Kenny put an APB on Cray. There was no point in hiding what we knew now since they know we know it," Elliot filled her in.
"Any more victims?" Olivia asked.
"Radio silence so far, which isn't much comfort," he admitted. She nodded knowing what he meant. Just because they hadn't heard from them didn't mean they weren't out there right now attacking a new victim or worse still, fleeing the jurisdiction. Elliot reached out and took her right hand in his left and gave it a squeeze.
"I'm still here El," the words came out just barely above a whisper. What they both wanted to do and what they could do were two different things. They were in a public place after all.
"But this could have been so much worse," his words weren't very loud either.
"That's the job. We both signed up for it," she reminded him.
"I know but…" Elliot trailed off. It was a side of himself that he rarely showed. Despite the sometimes rough around the edges persona, she knew there was a softer side that usually only came out when they were in the privacy of one of their apartments. There was a knock on the door and the two quickly let go of each other's hands. Olivia missed the warmth immediately and wished that they didn't have to hide their relationship, despite what it meant.
"How are my detectives?" Captain Cragen asked.
"Better when Liv can get out of here," Elliot admitted.
"I think we'd all agree with that," Cragen winked at Olivia.
"Any news on the case?" She asked.
"Well your hunch about PIs has really helped but we have sightings of Cray coming in from all over. So far nothing has panned out but they have to feel the noose tightening in the tristate area," the Captain said.
"They now have quite the laundry list of crimes. I have to wonder if someone would help them just because they're scared of them," Elliot said.
"It's a point which is why we hope the APB will turn up something. If it doesn't they could slip through our fingers and take up shop in some unsuspecting community," Cragen frowned. That's when the Captain's phone went off. He quickly excused himself and answered the call, close to the doorway.
"That can't be good," Olivia frowned as she watched his facial expressions shift during the call.
"Yeah definitely not," her partner agreed. It wasn't long and Cragen was back.
"What is it?" Olivia asked.
"There's another body," he frowned.
To Be Continued…