Casey sighed, "Olivia, you weren't ever his responsibility. Not even when you were partners, did he think you were his responsibility. He thought you were his friend... I'm due back in court. I'll stop by later tonight." She gathered her things and stepped out into the hallway, shaking her head. Those two were never going to get their heads screwed on straight.
Chapter 15
As Casey walked down the hall, she saw Cragen walking towards her. She pointed the way towards Olivia's room and explained she was due in court and hurried off. The bald captain made his way into the room of his old detective. She was surprised, and at little embarrassed, to see him. He made some cracks about how he'd gotten her into some tight spots, but had never actually let her get run over. They chatted a little bit about Homicide and how things were back at the 1-6 before Olvetti came back bearing sandwiches, with Munch at his side. Cragen gave his apologies and left, wondering briefly where Stabler was. He'd gotten the day off and the Captain had just assumed he'd be at the hospital. It was curious that he wasn't there, but didn't have time to dwell on it.
Olvetti and Munch entertained Olivia for most of the afternoon. By late afternoon, they had left and she was chafing under the restrictions of the hospital. She was desperate to get home. She finally convinced the nurse that she should be allowed to walk in the hallway, as long as she agreed to not run off in the middle of the night in return. Olivia thought perhaps the nurse still didn't trust her not to, but she was content for now with the freedom to wander in circles around the floor.
She was completing her first loop when she passed the waiting room and saw Stabler still sitting inside. He had his elbows leaning on his knees, head down. She considered his posture. She'd seen it before, but she wasn't sure she could place the feelings behind it this time. She stood staring for just a moment too long as as she started to turn away, Elliot looked up and saw her. Ignoring him just seemed cruel knowing he'd been sitting there all day. She walked into the waiting room and took a seat in the chair next to him.
"Are you supposed to be up walking around?" he asked her.
She didn't answer except to say "I thought I told you to go home, Stabler."
"You did," he replied. "But I didn't want to go."
"You should have, Elliot. I'm fine. This whole extra day is just BS precautionary stuff. You don't need to be hanging around all the time, El. I don't need you to-" He cut off her protests.
"Olivia, knock it off. We were partners, friends, whatever the hell you want to call it, for 10 years. TEN YEARS. You think all of a sudden because you have a new partner, you don't need me? You can just push me away like I was just a convenient perk of the job. That's not how this works."
"It has nothing to do with getting a new partner, Elliot. Maybe it's not that I don't need you, as much as I've realized I CAN'T need you as much as I have. For my sake."
"For YOU, For YOUR sake, for what YOU need! This friendship, this whatever the hell partnership we had, it was a two way street, Olivia. It wasn't all about you, you know. Did you ever stop to think that maybe I needed you as much as you needed me?"
She stood slowly as his words hit her. "No, Elliot," she said slowly. "Let's be honest here, we both know you never needed me like I needed you." She turned without a goodbye and walked slowly back to her room.