1 Chapter six

Munch awoke in a hospital bed. Well, he figured he was in a hospital bed, where else would it be this blindingly white and...well, clean? Wait, He thought, am I dead?

He dismissed the ridiculous thought when one, his vision cleared, and two, he remembered he'd only been shot in the shoulder. But if I lost a lot of blood... His thoughts trailed off as he noticed Olivia asleep in a chair in the corner of the room and Finn outside with his back against the clear hospital wall. Glass walls in a hospital?...That's weird.

"Liv?" He asked. When she didn't wake up he tried again, " Livvie?" This time she stirred, but when she woke up she seemed slightly confused and groggy from sleep, "I get shot and you're the one who's sleeping like someone hopped you up on morphine. Go figure." He joked. His comment immediately brought her out of her fog, "John?!"

"No, Bob."

She laughed a little, though her face showed signs of worry. Walking toward him she wrapped him up in a careful hug. "My god woman, I was only shot in the arm. Now if I was shot in the butt, that would be bad...and painful."

"Figures," She began, letting go of him, "You get shot by your ex, lose a dangerous amount of blood, and all you can to is joke."

Blood loss... Munch tried not to look alarmed. "How much blood did I lose?"

"Enough to make us all think you were never going to wake up. Finn's been really quiet, Elliot's been moody. Well, moodier than usual, and I've been a complete wreck. The ER room was so crowded they had to put you somewhere else and the Dean of Medicine here was so busy chasing around some immature cripple doctor of hers that she didn't tell us what was going on right away. I thought - we thought we lost you." A single tear slid down her cheek as she sat on the edge of the bed. Munch grabbed her hand.

"I'm sorry," He said quietly, "If I knew how serious my condition was I wouldn't have joked." She nodded, and he pulled her toward him gently with his uninjured arm, kissing her tenderly.

It was then that Finn walked in, apparently without looking toward the glass. " Hey Liv, is he up yet - Agh!" He exclaimed as he saw them, "Yeah, I guess he is."

The two separated and Munch looked up at Finn, "Brilliant conclusion Detective." He said dryly.

Finn smiled, " I see your back to your normal self. How ya feelin' man?"

" I feel...alright. It's hard to feel much else with so many drugs running through my system." Munch replied tiredly, "Stabler and Captain here?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think they're both back down in the waiting room. I'll go get them." Finn walked out the door and they watched as he headed towards the elevators down the hall.

"Who puts glass walls in a hospital?" Asked Munch.

"I was wondering the same thing." Said Olivia, " I mean, don't you want privacy when you come to this kind of place?" She asked.

Suddenly Munch had a revelation, "It's a conspiracy." He announced.

Olivia smacked him lightly on the head, " Oh, shut up." She smiled foolishly.

"Make me." Munch challenged.

"That, I can do." Olivia smirked and leaned in to kiss him.

"I'm so glad John is awake." Said Cragen as they all stepped into the elevator.

"Why, Cap? Wouldn't want to hire a replacement?" Elliot asked, only half joking.

"Elliot, that's not fair. I would never want to replace John, and I thank the heavens I don't have to. He's a sweet guy." Said Cragen.

"When he want's to be," Finn Pointed out.

"Mostly when he's with Olivia." Added Stabler as the elevator finally arrived on the correct floor.

" I still can't believe those two are dating." Said Cragen as they walked down the hall. They froze in their tracks when they saw the slightly disturbing sight of the above mentioned couple engaged in a fierce make out session. After almost five minutes of dumb struck silence, Finn spoke up,

"Ya betta believe it, Cap" Cragen nodded and turned to them, "Boys," He said dramatically, " We're going in."

"Ew, but Cap..." They began.

"Someone's gotta go pry those two apart!" He exclaimed.

"Fine." Said Finn.

"Yeah, Okay," Said Elliot, " But I'm closing my eyes."

Finn chuckled, "Have fun bumping into the walls, Stabler."

All three of them took a few more steps forward and opened the door.

"Ahem!" Olivia and Munch sprang apart when they heard their Captain clear his throat.

"Captain, " They said at the same time, " Sorry, we-

Cragen interrupted them with a wave of his hand, "It may be a tad...disturbing..." Munch rolled his eyes and Olivia pretended to look offended. Cragen continued, ignoring them, " But as long as it doesn't happen at work, we'll all have to learn to deal with it." Olivia and Munch both smiled their thanks at their Captain and Finn and Stabler began to follow him out the door.

Just after the door was closed and he thought they were out of earshot Elliot began, " If you think that's disturbing, imagine my face early this morning when Olivia answered her door and Munch walked into the room shirtless! It was so -

"STABLER!!!!" Came the shout of the two furious Detectives on the other side of the door.

"Gotta run," Said Elliot to Finn and Cragen, who both wore an expression similar to how he looked when he actually experienced the event. Finn and Cragen shook their heads in a mixture of amusement and disgust as they followed their jogging colleague.

Meanwhile...

Olivia and Munch laughed as they watched Elliot run towards the elevator, afraid one of them was going to come and kill him. " I knew Stabler would tell." Said Munch, shaking his head."

"Yeah." Agreed Olivia.

After a moment, Olivia asked, "So, how many ex wives do you have?"

"...Four." When she gave him look, he assured her, " Elizabeth's the only one that was actually that angry with me, said I spent to much time at work. The other three just couldn't handle my constant sarcastic remarks and intelligence"

Olivia laughed.

"I'm serious!" Protested Munch.

There was a pregnant pause.

"Hey Liv?" Said Munch, sitting up carefully in the not-so-comfortable hospital bed, " I love you."

Olivia gave a shaky laugh and wrapped him up in another hug.

" I love you too, John." She murmured, and kissed him like she had so many times before, she broke away and looked at him, humor dancing in her eyes, " Just promise me you won't let me become ex wife number five."

Munch laughed, and kissed Olivia joyfully on the cheek.

"I promise."

THE END

A/N: So, what did you think? Should I try and write more JO stories? Please review! Oh, and did anyone catch the little crossover I put in here? Sorry, I couldn't resist. :)