8
Alex looked up at the muscular, male EMT on her left as he began to wrap her left wrist. Her eyes were filled with tears as she questioned, "Where's Detective Benson-Cabot?" Her own voice was meek, quiet.
Mark, or so his narrow, gold name tag read, smiled before securing the gauze carefully and then looked at her. "She's on her way to the hospital." He looked through the back windows of the ambulance and nodded toward them. "I think that's her and her partner right there. They radioed that they were right behind us." He motioned with his head and then lifted her other wrist.
Alex looked through the small window of glass to see the navy Caprice, that her wife normally used for work—red light flashing—and she saw a familiar close-cropped, silhouette of a head in the driver's seat, and then moved her gaze to the passenger seat.
It was her wife. She knew her anywhere—even at fifty feet away and without her glasses—but she couldn't quite make her out completely. And she wanted so desperately to do that, to see her, to look into her eyes, to feel her.
To hear her voice. And, God, she missed her voice.
The only sounds she wanted were those of love, kindness, familiarity, and she felt her eyes well with even more tears then as she thought of this fact and Mark finished the dressing on her other wrist.
"We're almost there," he encouraged, looking at her with empathy.
Alex only nodded and leaned her head back on the pillow, eyes still on her wife, feeling her vision roll slightly, as she closed her eyes.
Olivia couldn't help it. Tears filled her eyes as she rested her right elbow on the ledge of the passenger window, her hand over her mouth as she looked at her wife through the back of the ambulance. Seeing her lying there, being worked on by an EMT next to her, she was filled with mixed emotions—joy that her wife had been found and was coming home, but anger and vengeance that she was hurt and had gone through this in the first place.
"We're almost there, Liv. Just a couple more minutes," Fin soothed.
Olivia nodded quickly, feeling a tear roll down her right cheek. She sniffed and hastily swiped it away before returning it to cover her mouth, her lips trembling behind it.
"It's gonna be alright, Liv. Alex is gonna be just fine. With you and the kids all together again…"
Olivia clenched her jaw. "I'm just so angry, Fin," she uttered, her voice shaky. "I'm so—I feel like I want to—" But she didn't finish her sentence, afraid of what might come out of her mouth.
She would have her time, in the same room, with all of them—everyone involved in her wife's abduction—and until that happened, there was only one thing that needed to take place.
Taking care of Alex and making sure she was OK both physically and mentally.
The fact that she could see that the EMT was wrapping her wrists, told of restraining. The fact that her wife's face was pink, spoke of pain and heartache.
And it killed the brunette.
The ambulance stopped in front of the emergency entrance doors and within seconds, the two EMTs from the front had gotten out, moved around the back, and opened the doors.
Olivia pulled on the handle and swung her door open, her eyes not leaving the opening back of the ambulance, and then she shut it, jogging directly to the gurney where her wife was laying. The stretcher was pulled out and lowered and the brunette went around to Alex's right side as the medical workers stopped briefly, knowing who she was from the badge on her hip, the call she had just made, and the story in the paper. She leaned over her wife, feeling her emotions come on strongly then.
And then those blue eyes opened and looked at her, and that porcelain face scrunched with dolorous relief, her hands reaching out to her.
Olivia took them and kissed each, before placing her hand on her wife's cheek. "You're gonna be OK, Al…"
Alex only nodded adamantly, her mouth trembling, tears falling.
"We need to get her inside, Detective."
Olivia nodded, looking at Alex as she pulled away slightly, their fingertips still touching, the blonde's hands loosening in her hold until they went flax on her lap. Her wife looked so small, so defenseless, so frail, so exhausted.
She stepped backward and watched as Alex's eyes rolled and then closed and she furrowed her brow, falling asleep, and they wheeled her into the hospital.
Two officers walked up then, nodding at Olivia, their hands on their duty belts.
Olivia narrowed her eyes and looked at one of the EMTs. "Why does she seem so…?"
"We had to give her pain medication and a sedative," a shorter, blonde EMT explained.
"A sedative?" Olivia asked incredulously. "Why?"
"When she had to wait in the apartment for us to set up and check her vitals, she lost it, Detective. We had to sedate her for the safety of our team. She wanted to run out of there. Was fighting us. But she couldn't have gotten away even if she wanted to. Her back is all messed up and she was much too weak."
"She just wanted to get out of there," a female officer named Darwin, from the scene, offered, her voice shaky eyebrows raised, shaking her head. "I think she went through hell, Detective."
Olivia nodded, trying not to break down again. "Thank you, officers. I need to be in there. Detective Tutuola and I will be in touch." She tried a smile and then looked at Fin who was by the Caprice, talking with the other officers from the scene of the rescue. She opened her mouth to call something to him and he nodded in understanding.
She turned and headed through the doors of the emergency entrance, ready to be there for her wife in any way that she could.
Sitting in a chair to the left of Alex's bed, Olivia watched her wife sleep. The blonde was out—subdued and medicinally placated—and the brunette knew she was dreaming because her hands were twitching, her feet, as well, and every now and then her brow would furrow and her chin would lift slightly.
She wanted so badly for those blue eyes to open up, to look at her, to see her awake and alert and OK; but, at the same time, she knew Alex needed rest from the toll of what she had gone through both physically and emotionally, coupled with relief and her current state chemically, and Olivia would wait as long as it took for her to awaken.
She swallowed, looking at her beautiful wife lying there in that white hospital bed that seemed to dwarf her, an IV in her arm giving her much-needed fluids, her pink mouth subtly chapped and slightly parted, her hair messy and matted and in a lopsided ponytail, and she couldn't help but feel her heart expand, enlarge, at seeing her so helpless, so defeated, so kicked down; yet now so safe once more.
The right side of Alex's upper lip was swollen, and there was bruising just below her nose, as well, crusted blood inside of her right nostril. There was also an abrasion on her right cheek—red and raw and sore—and Olivia gathered that she must have received a blow at some point to that area of her face.
The brunette sniffed and swallowed, nodding to herself, and felt her eyes fill with tears as she leaned over from the chair she was sitting in and took her wife's left hand, gently holding it, running her thumb over the soft skin on the back before leaning over and placing a gentle kiss on her knuckles. She lifted her head then and felt Alex's hand jerk slightly then and she peered at her face briefly before looking back down at her hand.
Where are her rings? Olivia thought to herself, her mouth parting, brow furrowing.
Did Raul or one of his guys take them?
"How is she?" Fin's quiet voice questioned from the doorway.
Olivia looked up, still confused. "She's…uh, she hasn't woken up yet. But…"
Fin moved further inside the room.
"…they did a rape kit on her, just in case, and to collect more evidence from her…but…" Olivia looked back at her wife's bare finger, "…her wedding and engagement rings are gone, Fin."
"We'll find 'em, Liv. We got Raul Moreno and Pedro Escobar at the station in the tank. Brother Armando was arrested coming back home and he was askin' about someone named Rosa. If she'd been arrested too. Must be a girlfriend or something."
Olivia stood now and moved up to Fin, placing her hands on his elbows and backing him up a foot or so, standing close and leaning in, speaking low, her eyes not focused on him but somewhere in between his neck and his chin. "I don't want to talk about it here, in front of her, until she's awake and has had a chance to talk about it first. I don't want to risk anything…upset her." She looked into his warm, deep brown eyes. "Does that make sense?"
Fin smiled. "Makes perfect sense, Liv." He looked at her intently now. "And now comes the hard decision for you. We got the three of them at the station and I know you want to be in on the interrogations, but I also know you want to be here."
Olivia nodded fervently, feeling the lump in her throat. "Yeah," she whispered.
"So…I was thinking…CSI is doing they thang at the apartment and have a couple more hours to go, it's…" he looked at his watch briefly, "…about four now…I say we keep the three guys in there tonight, you stay here with Alex until she wakes up, and we deal with the questioning of Raul and his posse tomorrow." Fin raised his eyebrows. "Whatchoo think?"
Olivia tried a smile. "Thanks, Fin…"
"For what, Liv?"
"For thinking this through, coming up with a plan, because…"
"I got you, Detective." He smiled. "Always."
Olivia moved into him and wrapped her arms around him, closing her eyes and resting her cheek on his shoulder, the older detective doing the same. "I know you do, my friend." She hugged him tighter. "I know you do."
They pulled away and the brunette half-smiled.
"I'll head back to the station," Fin began. "I'll holler atcha when I get there, Liv." He winked and then turned and walked out of the room and down the hallway.
A doctor headed into the room then and she smiled.
"Detective Benson-Cabot?" She raised her eyebrows.
"Yes," Olivia offered, glancing at the doctor's nametag, Dr. Monica Roberts, PhD., before looking back at her face.
She was Olivia's height, with medium-length dark black hair and small, dark eyes and a kind smile.
"I'm Dr. Roberts." She looked at Alex.
"Nice to meet you, Dr. Roberts," Olivia took a deep breath, both of them now looking at the blonde. "She hasn't woken up yet, Doctor."
"That was a strong sedative they gave her, midazolam. She must have really been agitated for them to give it to her. But she'll sleep now, and…" she flipped through a couple of pages on the clipboard in her arms, "…according to the EMTs, they also gave her ten milligrams of morphine to help with her back pain."
Olivia felt that lump again and she swallowed it down, nodding.
"She's been in and out, as you know, but mostly out. And her verbal consent for the rape kit was helpful." Dr. Roberts cocked her head to the side. "I know she appreciated you being there during that, even though she wasn't awake for most of it."
"Of course…" Olivia said softly. "And her fluids? Her back? Her wrists?" Olivia felt her eyes begin to water again, no matter how hard she fought to keep them away. "Her nose?"
Dr. Roberts reached out and placed a hand on Olivia's upper arm. "Your wife is going to be fine, Detective." She smiled. "I promise. Nothing broken, no infections. She was really low on fluids but we're getting those into her now. Her wrists and ankles will heal and the pain is being managed. She said she wasn't raped, but there might be other DNA on her that will be helpful, as you know…"
Olivia nodded. "And her back?"
"She was immobile for over twenty-four hours and, with her prior issues with that region, especially due to stress, it amplified her previous problems. Her back pain has always been stress-related, you say?" Dr. Robert's raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah…if she's going through a particularly stressful time…she's always had back and neck pain and headaches."
"Well, I'd say the situation she was in constitutes a stressful one and not being able to move for so long only aggravated it."
Olivia swallowed again, looking at her wife. "But she's gonna be OK?"
Dr. Roberts smiled. "Her pain is under control and we have her in clean clothes now, after her accident."
And Olivia knew already what the doctor was referring to. There was no explanation necessary. And it was yet another thing that Olivia hated Raul Moreno for, and another thing for the brunette to be proud of her wife for. But still, the look on Alex's face when they removed her soiled clothing was almost too much to bear. But Olivia understood and wanted her wife to know that she always would be empathetic and understand. No secrets between them. No embarrassment. Nothing to be ashamed of.
"I know she's gonna ask when she can go home when she wakes up again. And I…" Olivia sniffed, "…I'd like to know, too…and our kids are gonna want to know. My sister-in-law is watching them right now and I need to know what to tell them."
"I think she needs to stay here, at least, overnight, Detective. I think it would be best to get her on track with fluids and make sure she's able to move around first."
Olivia looked at Alex again. "She's not gonna like that. I know she's not." She looked back at Dr. Roberts. "Can't she come home tonight?"
"Like I said, we need to watch her, keep the IV in her, make sure her numbers are OK first. Her blood pressure has gone down since she arrived, so that's a good thing. And if, when she wakes up, she's hungry, let the nurses know and they'll get her something to eat."
Olivia nodded, looking back at Alex and moving towards her, standing next to the bed. "OK. But…I'm gonna stay here tonight, then." She took her wife's left hand again. "No matter what she says."
"That'd be fine, Detective. Do you have any other questions?"
Olivia looked at the doctor and smiled. "Not right now. Thank you, Doctor."
Dr. Roberts nodded and then turned and left the room, closed the door behind her, placed the clipboard in the slot outside of the room, and moved on to the next patient.
Olivia carefully sat on the bed to the left of the blonde and felt her eyes fill with tears once more. "We're gonna get through this, Al…" she whispered. "I'm here for you, Babe…"
Eyelids fluttering then and then amazing blueness. And a smile. Her wife looked at her with such love, such appreciation, that Olivia couldn't help but begin to sob.
"Hi, Babe," Olivia said softly.
"Hey, Liv," Alex looked her face over as she squeezed her hand back with equal fervor. "You look…" Alex shook her head, "…so beautiful, Liv."
"Oh, yeah?" Olivia smiled, raising her eyebrows. "Hard to believe after I've been so…" Olivia swallowed, "…worried about you…"
Alex nodded, wincing slightly, before looking back at her. "You've always looked good in your work clothes." Alex tried to wink but it came out more like a double-eyed, extra-long blink.
Olivia couldn't help but smile at her and shake her head. "How are you feeling, Al?"
Alex moaned, closing her eyes and dipping her head further into her pillow. "Right now? I feel...nothing...numb, but…"
She opened her eyes, the blueness still mesmerizing to Olivia.
"But?" Olivia questioned.
Alex shook her head then, her eyes filling with tears. "God, Olivia…" she whispered, "…I thought…I thought I…" Her face wrinkled with emotion than and she put her right hand over her face.
Olivia moved in and carefully wrapped her arms around her wife. Alex leaning forward to return the embrace fully. And they held each other, each shaking with relief, both crying in the other's arms.
"Shhh," Olivia soothed, lightly tickling the back of her wife's neck with her fingertips, "…you're safe now, Babe. And it's time for you to relax and get better before we think about anything else, my love." Olivia smiled. "OK?" Olivia moved to pull away but was met with her wife not forfeiting the hold.
Olivia smiled and kissed the shell of her ear.
"I don't want to let you go, Liv," Alex whispered. "Just hold me like this…please…"
Olivia felt her lower lip quaver then and she smiled. "Anything you want, Babe." Olivia kissed her ear lobe then. "Anything."
And, at that moment, Olivia felt their world's puzzle pieces fall back into place. It was going to be a rough few days, even weeks, but she knew that with the love they had for each other and their will and drive to persist, there was nothing that they couldn't, and wouldn't, get through.
As her wife's body hummed against her own, her heartbeat felt against her own breast, she knew that this much was certain.
A/N: Each chapter, from now on, will pick up right after what last happened, so we don't miss anything. For example, the next chapter will pick up right after Olivia and Alex's last conversation.
Thank you for reading and reviewing to all of you who do.
