Prompt #80: Lean on Me by Bill Withers
[Over the years, Olivia learns how to let Elliot take care of her.]
Lean on Me
~oOo~
Olivia Benson learned to take care of herself at a very young age. By the time she was 6, she bandaged her own wounds and made herself sandwiches, along with trying to take care of her drunk mother.
~oOo~
Liv was sitting at her desk, starting to fill out the incident report, when her new partner came up to her. "Let me look at it," he said.
"It's fine," she said, dismissively.
"Olivia, you got an elbow to your face. You can either let me look at it or I'm taking you to the hospital." She glared mutinously at him. He touched her cheek and forehead gently before asking her several questions and having her tilt her face so he could see it better.
"No signs of a concussion and your eye seems fine."
"I could have told you that."
He left, returning with an ice pack that he held gently to her bruised cheek.
"Thanks," she murmured, looking away for a second.
"Do you need painkillers?" Elliot asked, concerned.
"No, the ice is helping, I'm fine," she said, swallowing away the emotion she felt at having someone take care of her.
~oOo~
Elliot caught up to Olivia as she was tackling the perp. She handcuffed him but was holding her left arm awkwardly against her body. Elliot put the perp into the back seat, then turned to his partner. "I think it's broken," he said, gently putting his arm on her back and guiding her into the passenger seat.
"It's fine."
"It's not."
Olivia closed her eyes once she was seated, and Elliot glanced over in concern. "Stop worrying," she said, eyes still closed. By the time they got to the hospital, she was too worn out from pain to argue and went in with Elliot while Munch and Fin took the perp back to the station.
"Go home," she told Elliot from the exam room, but he refused to leave until her arm was in a cast and sling and he had her discharge papers.
"What are you doing?" she asked, as he parked in front of her building.
"I'm just walking you in, then I'll leave you alone." She rolled her eyes. "You want me to order you dinner?" he asked once they were inside.
"No, I just want to go to sleep."
"I'll pick you up in the morning." She raised her eyebrows.
"I'd argue with you to stay home, but I know you. You aren't taking the subway in a sling."
She sighed. "Fine," she grumbled.
~oOo~
Elliot stood outside the cribs, giving her time to compose herself. Cragen had just told him about her mother. She opened the door slowly, not looking at him. "I'm sorry," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm so sorry, Liv." She started to cry, and he held her, hoping it was a reminder that she wasn't alone.
He called her that evening to tell her that he was dropping off dinner. He knew she was embarrassed about crying earlier and didn't want to surprise her when she felt vulnerable. He told her he wouldn't stay if she didn't want him to and hung up before she could argue.
She raised her eyebrows at the number of bags in his arms when she opened the door. "I wasn't sure what you'd be able to stomach, so I got a few different things. You want company?" She shook her head.
He squeezed her arm as he left. When she opened the bags, she found all her comfort foods: soup from the deli around the corner from the precinct, the Chinese food they ordered on late nights, mac and cheese from their favorite diner. She only managed to swallow a few bites, but the thought of him going to all the restaurants and knowing exactly what she wanted filled her and relaxed her enough to finally rest.
~oOo~
They were miles outside of the city, having chased down a fruitless lead, when Olivia slipped on a patch of ice on the way back to the car, turning her ankle. He helped her up, watching carefully as she gingerly put weight on her ankle, immediately wincing. He put his arm around her back and her arm over his shoulder against her protests. "Come on, Liv. Just lean on me." She eyed the distance to their car and leaned on him, trying not to audibly grimace each time she stepped on her left foot.
Elliot examined her ankle gently, but she yelped in pain. "I don't think it's broken," he said, "just sprained." He wrapped an ace bandage around the swollen joint. She closed her eyes and he asked immediately about her pain. She was holding back tears from the feeling of his warm hands wrapping her ankle, but she was also in a lot of pain and pretended the tears were from that. She accepted the bottle of water and ibuprofen he handed over, as he promised to stop at the first possible place for an ice pack. She allowed him to fold his coat and help her lift her leg so it was stretched across the back seat, with her foot propped on his coat.
~oOo~
Aside from the few minutes in the interrogation room, Liv mostly held it together after Cragen told her Elliot had put in his papers. When she walked into her apartment that night, she burst into tears. She laid down on her bed, buried her face in her pillow and sobbed. He wasn't coming back, and she didn't know how to go forward without him.
~oOo~
Two years after Elliot came back, they were finally dating. Elliot saw her name in his cell phone and smiled. "I can't go to dinner tonight, I'm sick," she said between coughs.
"You sound awful. Is it Covid?"
"No, the flu. Sorry about our date."
When he showed up at her door, she rubbed her eyes. "I thought I called you to cancel. Maybe I hallucinated it. Sorry, El."
"You called. I brought you soup and came to take care of you and Noah."
"I'll give you the flu," she protested.
"You look terrible."
"Stop with the sweet talk," she responded, remembering the last time she'd had the flu and he'd come over. He fed her a bowl of soup, took her temperature, gave her Tylenol and tucked her back into bed, kissing her forehead.
"Love you," he murmured. "Go to sleep. I'll take care of everything." She started to cry, and he laid down next to her. "I know you feel lousy," he said, his face creased in worry.
"It's not that," she said through tears. "It's having you here, taking care of me. You're the only person who ever has."
"I know," he said, stroking her hair. "I know. I'm not leaving you ever again."
~oOo~
They were walking home from dinner when Elliot slipped on black ice. Olivia grabbed him, but he went down hard, taking her down with him. Elliot scrambled off her, worried that he'd hurt her. "Liv," he said gently. "I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" She was silent, and he started to scan her for injuries. "Liv?" he asked again.
"I think it's broken," she finally admitted, holding her lower leg carefully.
"Your ankle?" he asked, his face tensing.
"No, my foot."
"I'm so sorry," he repeated, rubbing her back. "Let's get you to the hospital."
"Are you hurt?" she asked, frowning.
"No, I'm fine. You took the brunt of it," he said in chagrin. He started to put his arms under her knees and back, but she shook her head. "You shouldn't put weight on it until it's evaluated, and it's icy. I don't want you to fall again."
"I wasn't the one who fell."
He gently picked her up. They were only half a block from his car and once he got there, he adjusted her to open the door. "Can I take your shoe off to see it?" he asked, looking into her eyes. She was trying to hide her pain, but he could see it in the tightness of her mouth and eyes. She nodded, and he slipped her boot and sock off as gently as he could. She gasped and closed her eyes against the rush of pain. He squeezed her shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said, crouching to look at her foot. "It's already really swollen. I definitely think it's broken."
Elliot sat on the edge of her bed in the exam room, so she could lean against him, her foot propped up with an ice bag on it.
The doctor came back into the room. "You broke your fourth and fifth metatarsal," he said. "The fractures are both simple," he continued, pointing them out on the x-ray, "but because there is more than one fracture, you'll need to be non weight-bearing for at least six weeks."
He left to get her a boot and crutches, and Elliot looked at her, his eyes large and deep blue. "El, it was an accident, it's not your fault," she said.
He kissed her head gently."I'm still sorry," he said, wrapping his arms around her.
By the time they got home, she was in more pain and exhausted from the crutches. She let him fuss over her a little, propping her foot up, bringing her an ice pack, and then carefully lying down next to her so she could rest on his shoulder. When she reluctantly started to get up to brush her teeth, instead of grabbing her crutches, he sat next to her. "Lean on me. I've got you," he said, helping her get up and hop the few steps into the bathroom.
"I love you," he said, kissing her after he helped her get settled back in bed. "I'm so sorry I broke your foot."
"I love you anyway," she murmured sleepily, nestling closer to him.
The author of this SVU Love in the Air story will be revealed in March