Author's Note: Thank you kcbienaime and Moonlit Kit for my two reviews. I noticed I did have quite a few people sign up for story alerts, but I'm not one to check my email everyday. I don't ask for long reviews at all, but just something to let me know that people actually like this story and want me to continue it.
Disclaimer: I only own Izzie Russell and Theresa Chalmers. I wish I owned the SVU characters, but I don't **sigh** But I wouldn't mind borrowing Elliot for a little while ;)
And I did realize that I named Olivia's daughter Elizabeth and the nicknames are almost alike. Olivia wasn't at SVU when she had her daughter, and she didn't know Elliot, so she couldn't have known what he named all of his kids. Also, I named her that because of a show I was recently in, where I met a little girl named Izzie whose real name was Elizabeth, and she's who I'm basing the character "Izzie" on.
Now, on with the show, er...fic...hehe...
After Olivia left, the squad stood there, motionless, all looking at the place where Olivia, her nanny, and her daughter had been moments before.
Elliot was still standing in front of the elevator, but he finally moved back into the squad room, not wanting unsuspecting people to exit the elevator and think that he was crazy.
Captain Cragen watched as Elliot walked back over to them. "Did you know about this?" he asked the Detective, who looked at him with pure confusion.
"Of course I didn't know," Elliot fairly spat out. "If I had, would I have looked as shocked as I just now did?"
Cragen thought about that, then shook his head. "No, I suppose not." But what he couldn't understand was that Elliot and Olivia had been partners for almost six years now! How could Elliot not know about it?
All was silent for several moments, as everyone stood there, thinking. Elliot was running his hands through his hair, wondering how this could have eluded him for so long. He didn't come up with an answer.
Finally, Fin spoke. "She's still family. So what if she hid it? She probably had her reasons."
Everyone knew that was true, and they shouldn't be blaming Olivia. But if she did have her reasons, then what were they?
Cragen nodded, looking at the clock. "Let's give them tonight. We'll go in the morning to see how they're both doing. In the meantime, get your paperwork in, then get some rest. Something tells me we have a long road ahead of us, here."
Everyone nodded, slipping from the small circle and back to their desks. But, it was Elliot who was hurt most of all. They'd been partners, the best of friends, and yet she couldn't confide in him about her daughter. Things were coming to light, now...why she never invited him over to her place, why she wanted to leave work as soon as possible. But he swore to himself that after he found out, he'd move on, and he'd be there for Olivia and her daughter, no matter what.
The next morning came all too soon for Olivia. She woke up, hoping that everything from the night before had been a dream, but as she looked around the room, she knew that it wasn't. Her daughter lay in a hospital bed with the railings pulled up. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Her hand had an IV in it, and it's tubes threaded up to a pole that contained two different plastic bags; one of clear fluid and one red (blood, as her counts were all low). Olivia sighed, rubbing her temples. She stood, having slept on a hard cot the whole night, and took another look around the room. Other than the hospital paraphernalia, it looked like a sweet and cozy room, painted a baby blue with different murals along the walls. Bookshelves lined a wall and another wall had a table with four chairs. It was a private room, that also had a TV in it with a DVD player and a couple of game systems. Olivia was grateful, because what Izzie was going to have to go through in the weeks ahead, she needed every distraction that was possible.
Olivia began pacing around Izzie's room, not knowing what else to do. A clock on the wall told her that the time was only a quarter after eight, but she didn't know what to do with herself. She finally turned the TV on low, flipping through the channels as she sat by her daughter's bedside. The chair was not much more comfortable than the cot, but at least she was up where she could keep a close eye on Izzie.
Olivia found herself not really watching the TV, just surfing it. At about 9:05, she heard stirrings from the bed next to her. She looked, and saw Izzie shifting uncomfortably before opening her beautiful brown eyes. "Hi mommy," the little girl said, a smile lighting up her face. Olivia smiled, too, but more in relief. After all that Izzie had been through the night before, she hadn't expected the seven-year-old to be so cheery.
"Hi honey," Olivia said, leaning over and kissing her daughter's forehead. "How're you feeling this morning, baby?" Olivia fought, and after a couple attempts, finally got one of the bed-rails lowered. Izzie giggled at this.
"I'm fine," Izzie replied as her mother took her small, frail hand into her own.
Olivia looked at her precious daughter skeptically. Izzie was in every way like Olivia, including being bullheaded and stubborn. She could be on her deathbed and still say, "I'm fine."
"You sure?" Olivia asked again, raising one eyebrow.
Izzie thought about it. Her mother was a detective, so of course she knew she was lying. "Okay, okay...I still feel sick, but I feel a little bit better," she finally replied sheepishly.
Olivia smiled at her, ruffling her brunette hair. Every feature of Izzie looked just like her mother's. "That's better. Now, how about watching some TV? You need to rest for a while."
"No more tests?" Izzie asked brightly. "Does that mean I can go home?"
Olivia frowned, feeling saddened by what her daughter asked and wanted, knowing that she couldn't deliver. "No more tests, but you do have to stay for a while...remember?" Olivia asked tentatively, wondering if her daughter remembered at all the discussion they'd had the night before. Her diagnosis had come in only hours after her arrival, and then she'd been moved upstairs. They sat and talked until the pain was too unbearable for Izzie. A nurse had given her a pain shot, that had knocked her out within ten minutes. Olivia wondered now if she remembered anything, because of the medicine.
Izzie leaned her head back, taking a few minutes to think everything over. She recalled the tests last night: blood being drawn, a huge needle going into her hip, one going into her spine, and then medicine being given after a needle had been stuck in her hand. She slept for a while, and when she woke up, her doctor, Dr. Wirtz, had been there to give her and her mother the bad news. He was an pediatric oncologist—a kid's cancer doctor, and she had leukemia, specifically acute lymphocytic leukemia. They talked for a while longer, and he promised to be back in the morning. Izzie shuddered. She liked him, yet she didn't want to see him again. After he left and the nurse came with the pain medicine, she was asleep in no time.
Izzie grimaced. "I know I have to stay...but I don't want to."
Olivia smiled sadly, kissing her daughter's forehead. "I know, but I'll be staying with you. I'll talk to my Captain to see if I can take some sick time off of work...since I never do."
Izzie giggled. At that moment, a nurse entered. She looked to be in her mid to late twenties, with reddish brown hair cascading all down her back. Izzie couldn't help but smile at the woman, who seemed so nice.
"Morning miss Izzie," the nurse said, setting a tray of food down on the tray table over Izzie's bed. She pulled the top off to reveal cereal as well as eggs, bacon, and a biscuit. Izzie scrunched her face at the latter, and the nurse smiled, pulling the top off the cereal and pouring some milk in it. "I'm nurse Rhonda...your day nurse. If you need anything, you can just push this button," Rhonda pointed to a button right behind Izzie's bed, "and I'll be right here. Is there anything I can get for you?"
Izzie shook her head, smiling shyly. Rhonda smiled, then turned to Olivia, who seemed to be in another world, right then. "Anything I can get for you, ma'am?"
Olivia was forced out of her reverie as she looked at the kind nurse. Olivia smiled. "A cup of coffee would be great."
Rhonda beamed a sweet smile. "I'll be right back, then," she said, and left the room.
Olivia turned on the TV for Izzie to watch as she sat back in her chair, pondering. The whole squad the night before had seen when Theresa had brought Izzie in, and now they knew about her. She felt guilty for not telling them, before, but when she was going to, her husband died in that car accident, and she had to play it off like it was nothing but just taking a few days to herself. She had her reasons for not telling them after that. They may have been selfish reasons, but were valid, nonetheless.
Olivia was pondering so much that she didn't realize that someone had come back into the room. Izzie was reading a book, and Olivia thought it was Rhonda bringing her coffee to her. She looked up, but it wasn't Rhonda with her coffee, it was Elliot. He had a cup of Starbucks coffee, and he was looking down at Olivia with hurt and sadness in his eyes.
"I thought you might be needing this," Elliot said, handing her the coffee.
Olivia murmured her thanks, but now she didn't know what to do. She thought she'd have more time to get it together before she had to see anybody. But now Elliot was here, and she didn't have that luxury anymore.
Now, if she only knew exactly what she was going to do, then maybe she'd be all right.
