A/N: Following the response I got from some of you after posting the last chapter I have posted a link in my profile to my blog discussing issues of real-life abuse. If you have any information, links or stories you feel you want to share, want to discuss anything, or just want to follow what I and others have to say, everyone's welcome!
'Hello? Hello?' Elliot felt confused. He was back in the vast, empty garages, shadows and stained concrete stretching far ahead into the darkness. There was silence, broken only by the occasional sound of some far away water dripping. He knew he'd been here before but didn't know quite when, couldn't quite put his finger on it - then on the other side of the building a steel gate clanged shut. He remembered. He ran.
She was there, lying in the dark corner, the reason he had been there long gone. She lay on her back, arms flung out, head slightly turned away, with the broken-off blade of a knife still visible protruding from the left side of her chest. One shoe was missing, her trousers torn but still buckled at the waist.
(She always said she'd die before she let that happen to her again)
He found his voice, yelled, ran to her and grabbed her hand in his. 'Liv? Liv, it's me, Liv?' He squeezed her hand, feeling her broken fingernails snagging on his palm. 'Liv, Liv, say something, it's me!' Her eyes stared emptily through her tangled fringe. He brushed the hair out of her face, placed his hand against her cheek and tilted her face, trying to meet her eyes. A solitary drop of blood glistened below her right eye.
There was nothing.
He choked a little, lay down beside her and pulled her towards him, then buried her face into his chest, stroking her thick brown hair and hugging her body tightly against him. A sob escaped his throat. 'Olivia...'
Elliot woke with a start, grabbing at the empty space in front of him in the odd, pale glow of Olivia's apartment. The black and white movie he'd fallen asleep in front of still flickered on the television screen, Humphrey Bogart fleeing deeper into the Sierra Nevada. He remembered now - he'd come home from the hospital to stay with Olivia for a while, after the shock she'd had. His stomach turned at the memory of it, and of his dream. He pressed the back of his hand against his forehead, slowly forcing himself to stop and catch his breath.
There was a sniff.
He started, looked up and saw her in the doorway, tears running down her face and arms clamped firmly in front of her, wrinkling the loose fabric of her nightshirt against her stomach. She opened her mouth, closed it again, swallowed awkwardly. 'El?' Suddenly her face crumpled and she dissolved into thick, heavy sobs, her arms still crossed awkwardly in front of her.
'Hey, it's OK, Livvy, I'm here,' he said, trying to sound reassuring as he sat up. 'Do you want to come sit with me for a while?'
She swallowed again, nodded, then silently crossed the room and sat beside him on the sofa, quickly wiping the back of her hand across her eyes. Elliot put his arm around her hunched shoulders, and they sat in silence for several minutes.
Olivia cleared her throat. 'What are you watching?'
'High Sierra,' replied Elliot. 'It's a classic.'
She snorted. 'That sucks.' She elbowed him in the ribs and curled up on her side on the sofa, watching Bogart as Mad Dog Earle in action on the screen. Elliot hesitated, then lay down behind her and held her tightly, stroking her hair and pretending not to notice that she was crying.
Time passed, and she had quietened down. The movie had finished, replaced by a late night Teleshopping show. Elliot waited awhile, watching the hostess burble on about the benefits of the All-New-Magic-Mopper-Tool, then smoothed her hair back, tucking it behind her ear. 'Do you feel any better, Liv?'
Olivia sniffed, cleared her throat and nodded, burrowing further back against him. Elliot wrapped both arms around her and they lay together on the sofa in silence, listening to the traffic passing outside. He absentmindedly fingered the sleeve of her nightshirt. 'Hey, Liv, is this MY shirt?'
'Shut, up, El.'
A/N: Thanks for reading guys, and as ever, r+r!