A/N: Ok so this chapter may seem to prattle on a little, but the characters wanted to have their say, to let you know what's going on. I tried to rewrite it a couple of times but they just didn't want to play it any other way. Thanks for those who have already sent a review...I really really appreciate it! But for those who haven't feel free to let me know if you think I should keep this going. There is a long way for this story possibly series to go.

Again, thanks for the support, without it the story goes no further :o)

It's been two weeks since I got the call that changed everything that we've come to know.

Two long weeks of waiting and hoping.

At times I have thought that this had to be some kind of nightmare and Olivia wouldn't be in a coma, fighting for her life, that Elliot and his family were not mourning the lose of a wife and mother, that they all wouldn't in this nightmare of being helpless.

Don leaned back in the arm chair he was sitting in. Elizabeth had crawled into his lap an hour ago after waking up from a nightmare, he continued to gently rock her back to sleep, hoping that for her, for the time being that she would be able to have a dreamless sleep. Elliot's parents had retired to bed a couple of hours ago, but he'd said that he'd wait up until Elliot returned home.

So much had happened since that one phone call, and so much more was still happening, but one good thing had come out of this tragedy. His "family" had become tighter, and stronger. And now his family had been absorbed into a larger family that comprised of both Elliot's and Kathy's families.

He'd been wary when Kathy's parents, and then her brother and sister had arrived at the hospital that morning. He had no idea how they would react when they found out the details of what had happened.

He smiled as he remembered what had happened.

When Elliot had arrived at the hospital soon after Kathy's family had been told he had half expected them to turn on Elliot, but when they had seen their ex-son-in-law and his children arrive they had enveloped them all and had remained by their side, working together with the rest of Elliot's family to help them.

He'd been surprised when soon after they had reassured Elliot that they were there for him and his children they had all turned their attention to Munch, Fin and himself, making sure that they all realised that they to were considered part of their family, even though this was technically the first time that they had all officially met.

Lizzie snuggled closer seeking comfort that he was more than willing to give, and also receive.

He looked around the room that was filling with boxes of stuff that had been packed up. Elliot and his kids had sat down after Kathy's funeral and discussed what they were going to do. The kids had been adamant that they didn't want to live in this house anymore, apparently the last year had been harder on them than anyone had realised, and they all agreed that they wanted to move to a new home and make a fresh start.

That had been the easy part. They had no worries about money, and had put the house in Queens and Elliot's apartment up for sale the next day.

A new house had been found in a couple of days with the help of their relator. It was closer to the city but still close enough to where their house in Queens was that the kids wouldn't have to change schools or loose contact with their friends. The kids loved the new place, as did Elliot, but the cloud that was Olivia's future still hung over everyone's head, dampening the joy. But everyone had been working together to pack everything up for the move.

He'd been lucky in that the sex crimes in New York seemed to have slowed down in the past two weeks, and his squad had everything in hand, Munch and Fin had taken the couple of bigger cases that had cropped up, while his other, newer, detectives had been able to handle the lesser cases.

He was starting to doze off when he was woken by the phone.

Two weeks.

Two weeks of sitting here, talking to her, taking care of his children, and then on top of that selling up and getting ready to move. He always seemed to be going somewhere, doing something.

Time seemed to speed by but at the same time it seemed to stand still.

He felt a tear track down his face as he watched Olivia lying there on the cold hospital bed, with the breathing tube still down her throat to help her breath. And his heart broke all over again.

"Come on Liv, you must have had enough sleep by now." He said as he gently caressed her hand. "It's time to wake up, there's so much that I haven't told you yet."

He silently watched as the machine breathed for her. The noises of the hospital were comforting in their familiarity and rhythm. He listened to the steady beeps of the machines that were monitoring her life, and he felt another tear fall. He hated the looks that the doctors and nurses shared when they thought that he wasn't looking. The looks that he and his family had all seen and refused to acknowledge. They had to be wrong, she was stronger than that, they were not going to loose her to.

"We can't loose you Liv, I can't loose you." He brought her hand to his face as he began to quietly sob. He hadn't wanted anyone to see how truly scared he was that he would loose her, but here, in her ICU room, alone with her he could finally let it out. "Don't leave me Liv, I need you, I love you."

He let himself grieve for Kathy, and he prayed Olivia, and cursed himself for not telling her how much she meant to him before.

It took him a while to realise that something was different, and even longer to realise just what it was that was different.

"Liv?"

It took a moment, but he felt it again, a gentle squeeze of his hand. It was then that he noticed that the steady rhythmic beeping that had not changed much over the past two weeks was beginning beep faster. He stood up and leaned over her bed, looking for a sign that he wasn't imagining it.

"Come on baby, I need you to wake up" Elliot said as he smoothed her hair back from her face. "I need you to show these doctors that they aren't always right."

He felt her squeeze his hand that was still holding hers, and he knew that she was coming back to them, to him.

Then alarms started sounding from the monitors and he felt her tense up, as she struggled to breath past the tube down her throat, to open her eyes as the panic and awareness flashed through her, and he knew he had to calm her down or the first thing that the doctors would do would be to sedate her.

"Hey, it's all right Liv, don't fight it. You have a tube down throat to help you breath, it's ok." He said, he didn't bother to press the call button, he knew that the nurses station would have heard the alarms and be on their way. So he concentrated on soothing her, trying to calm her down. He leaned closer to her, to whisper in her ear, as he continued to stroke her hair. "It's ok Liv, you're safe. Shhh, it's ok."

Olivia had never felt so peaceful.

But something was pulling at her.

No not something.

Someone.

She tried to concentrate. To figure out why she felt she had to leave this peaceful place. Then it came to her.

Elliot.

She concentrated harder, and she swore that she could hear him.

Was he crying?

No not Elliot. He didn't show that side of himself around people.

But he was, she could hear him, as quiet as he was. And she could feel him holding her hand.

She knew the feel of his hands. The feel of his touch, always to fleeting and to rare. But why was he crying?

"We can't loose you Liv, I can't loose you."

We? We who? She wasn't that important, her leaving wouldn't effect anyone…..would it? She tried to think who he'd been talking about, then his words sank in, he couldn't loose her? She wanted to tell him that she wasn't going anywhere. But she couldn't.

"Don't leave me Liv, I need you, I love you."

Oh god! He sounded so desperate, so sad. She had to let him know that she'd heard him, that she was fighting to get back to him. She didn't want him to hurt. She concentrated harder. If she couldn't talk to him what could she do? Then it came to her, she could feel him holding her hand, all she had to do was to squeeze his hand, he'd know that she was there then.

Sounds simple.

Yeah right, so why was it proving to be so hard?

She concentrated on trying to squeeze his hand. God how hard was it to squeeze a hand?

Then she did it, and she felt a rush of pleasure. She had done it!

She listened. Waited.

"Liv?"

Oh god, his voice hadn't ever sounded so good. She could hear the hope in his voice.

"Come on baby, I need you to wake up"

She could feel his breath on her face as he whispered to her, could feel his hand on her head.

"I need you to show these doctors that they aren't always right."

So she tried to squeeze his hand again, and again it was hard, but with a lot of effort and concentration she squeezed his hand again.

And that was when she realised that she couldn't breathe.

Oh god! She felt the panic rise through her as she fought to breath, something was stopping her, but then she heard his voice again. She tried to concentrate on what he was saying to her, to the soothing tone of his voice. He wouldn't let anything happen to her. He was always there to make sure that she was all right, she had to listen to what he was saying to her. But by god she was scared, no more than scared, terrified.

"Hey, it's all right Liv, don't fight it. You have a tube down throat to help you breath, it's ok."

A tube? Why did she have anything down her throat, what had happened, why was she in so much pain? Oh god what had happened to her? What was that noise? Alarms? Was this just a nightmare that she had to wake up from? That had to be it, just a nightmare. But if it was why did Elliot sound so real, the pain feel so real, and why did Elliot feel so real. Yes she had dreamed about him before, but even in her wildest most vivid dreams he'd never been this real. Something wasn't right. Oh god, what was going on?

"It's ok Liv, you're safe. Shhh, it's ok."

Ok so if she concentrated a little harder on Elliot maybe she'd be able to make more sense out of this. God he sounded so good, tired, and what was that….Was it relief she could hear in his voice? But he was here, she could feel him, his breath on her face, one of his hands holding hers, and his other wonderful hand was stroking her head, comforting her.

Whatever had happened it couldn't have been good…….