Christmas Dance
A/N: I know, I know, you're all mad at me for not updating so soon! But this chapter took me a LONG time to type. I didn't realize how long it was until I actually started typing it. Plus, I was really busy with schoolwork and whatnot.
So now, without further ado, CHAPTER 3!! -cheering!!-
Chapter 3
When Fin arrived at the precinct the next morning, Olivia wasn't there yet. He frowned. She was usually the first one there, occasionally even beating Cragen.
" Hey Elliot, you seen 'Livia yet?" Elliot looked up.
" No. I thought she was with you guys last night?"
" She was, but we all went separate ways. I don't know if she ever got home." Fin replied.
" Has anyone tried calling her yet?" John asked, pouring himself some coffee.
" Yup." Both Fin and Elliot replied.
In his office, Cragen wondered where Olivia could be. She was almost never late without a viable excuse, and yet this was the second time in two days that she had been late to work. Just then he heard a knock on his door and saw Fin. He motioned for him to come in. Just as Fin was about to speak, Cragen's phone rang. He held up one finer, asking Fin to wait. He nodded understandingly.
" Cragen, Special Victims?"
" Hi Captain Cragen, my name is Ana Ryans. I live in the apartment across from Olivia Benson." Don's brow furrowed.
" How may I help you Ms. Ryans?"
" I…"she sighed, unsure of how to phrase what she had to say, " Olivia's in the hospital." She stated with a shaking voice. Fin saw a flurry of emotions in his captain's eyes and knew the news could not be good.
" How come I wasn't informed of this earlier?" he asked angrily.
" She was brought in as a Jane Doe. Look, I can't really explain it very well right now. But I'll tell you what I know at the hospital. I'll meet you at the entrance." She said quickly.
" What hospital?" Fin looked at Cragen in shock. Missing partners and hospitals never mixed well.
" St. Catherine's."
" Ok, thanks Ana. We'll meet you there." Don said, and then hung up the phone.
" That wasn't Ana Ryans, was it?" Fin asked, worried. Cragen nodded.
" What's wrong Cap?" Don sighed and looked up.
" Liv's in the hospital." He said grimly.
Fin was a wreck the entire way to St. Catherine's.
I should've made sure she got home ok. Elliot always does. Hell, I should've known better than to let her walk home on her own. He chastised himself. John looked over at his partner, noticing how upset he was.
" She'll be ok Fin. Liv's a fighter. She's too stubborn to die." John told him, as the pulled into the parking lot of the hospital.
" It's my fault…I should've made sure she got home ok. I should've gone home with her." Fin muttered. John raised an eyebrow at him over his glasses, but said nothing. It was pretty much obvious to everyone at the 1-6 that Olivia and Fin were dating, even if they hadn't told anyone about it yet. When they walked into St. Catherine's, Fin was the first to spot Ana. He was also the only one who recognized the 14 year old.
" Fin!" She said when she saw him. She ran up to him and hugged him tightly.
" Hey Ana. How is she?" he asked.
" I don't know a whole lot yet. The doctors won't tell me anything, since I'm only 14." She replied.
" Um…Fin?" Cragen prompted.
" Oh, sorry. Uh, Ana, this is my captain, Captain Cragen. And that's Liv's partner, Elliot, and my partner, John Munch. Guys, this is Ana." He quickly made introductions. She grinned and shook hands with everyone.
" Come on, I'll show you where she is." Ana said, motioning for them to follow her.
" Excuse me! Who are you, and where are you going?" A nurse asked, stopping them. Ana spoke up before Don could say anything.
" We're going to room 316, Olivia Benson. I'm her daughter, Ana. This is her fiancé, Fin, my uncles, John and Elliot, and my grandfather, Don." When the nurse gave her a strange look, Ana easily deflected it.
" We're a close family. Can we go now?" she asked impatiently. The nurse nodded and turned away, embarrassed. Don looked at Ana as they walked down the hallway.
" Are you always able to lie so easily?" he asked. Ana shrugged.
" Only when I have to." When they go to Olivia's room, there was a doctor waiting there. Ana tried to go in, but he wouldn't let her.
" I'm sorry miss, but if you aren't a relative, I can't allow you in." he said, putting up his hand. Ana was about to give an angry retort when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Don standing there. He held up his badge.
" Captain Don Cragen, Special Victims Unit."
" She wasn't raped." The doctor replied.
" I know. That's my detective in there. Olivia Benson." The doctor sighed.
" Can you prove it?" Elliot got up and took a picture out.
" Take a look. Tell me that isn't her." He said angrily. The doctor realized that the captain wasn't kidding.
" Look, I'm sorry. She didn't have any ID on her when she came in, so we couldn't have known. Is there any family I should call?"
Ana looked at Fin, them back at the doctor.
" This unit IS her family." John said, annoyed. The doctor nodded. " Ok. I'll go find Dr. McKinley, who is heading her case. In the meantime, you may visit her, but only one at a time please." He left, and the four men plus the teenage girl were left to their own devices. Fin sat down in the nearest chair and put his head in his hands, attempting to keep his emotions in check. He had never shown his emotions in public, not since he was a little kid. Instead, he kept them bottled up, and he wasn't about to let them out now.
" This is all my fault. I should have made sure she got home ok…I shouldn't have let her go home on her own…" Fin muttered. Suddenly, he felt a pair of small arms around his shoulders. He looked up to see Ana hugging him.
" It's not your fault Fin. She's going to be ok. Liv won't give up without a fight." Ana said, reassuring him. Fin gave her a small smile, and ruffled her hair. Just then, another doctor came up. He looked at his clipboard.
" Family of Olivia Benson?" The whole group stood up.
" Actually, I'm only looking for whoever's listed as her next of kin…" the doctor trailed off. Elliot stepped forward.
" That's me. But whatever you have to say to me, you can say to them too. We're family in this unit, so we look out for each other." He said firmly. Don, Fin, John and Ana all nodded. The doctor shrugged and introduced himself.
" My name is Dr. Jack McKinley. I'm heading Ms. Benson's case."
" What can you tell us?" Don asked.
" She was hit in the back of the head fairly hard, most likely with a heavy object, such as a rock or a baseball bat, then she fell to the ground. So essentially, those two things are what caused her current condition."
" Which is?" Fin prompted.
" A concussion. Too large to be called minor, but too small to be called major. As of right now, we've got her in a medically induced coma, which should wear off in about an hour or two. After that, it's up to her to wake up. And she may or may not have a minor case of temporary amnesia, but she'll regain her memory in a day or two if she does." He told them.
" Can we visit her?" Elliot asked. Dr. McKinley nodded.
" But only one at a time. I'll be back in a couple of hours to check on her." He said. With that, he turned and left. Don noticed that Fin was becoming more and more agitated.
" Go on in Fin. Take as long as you want." He said, motioning for Fin to go into Olivia's room. Everyone could see him visibly relax as he headed into her room, and pulled up the chair beside her bed where she slept. He took her hand in his and kissed it gently.
" Hey baby girl, guess who? Look 'Livia, I don't know if you can hear me or not, but I don't care. I love you. I love you so much it hurts. I don't know I could tell you that often enough. You have us all scared to death, you know that? Don't ever let me let you go home alone again, 'kay?" Fin leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
" Cragen and Elliot and John all want to come visit too, so I'm gonna go for a bit. I'll be back soon, I promise. I love you Liv. Don't give up on me. Not yet." He whispered, placing one more kiss on her forehead. Then he got up and went back out, keeping his composure.
" I'm going on a Starbucks run. I'll be back in a bit." He muttered, as he walked out.
" Want me to come?" Ana asked. Fin paused and looked at the girl he had come to know so well. He shrugged.
" Yeah, why not? Come on." Together, the detective and girl left.
As soon as Fin was out of earshot, both Cragen and John turned to look at Elliot, who tried, but failed to avoid the what-was-all-that-about look coming from both his co-worker and captain.
" How long has that been going on for Elliot?" John asked, grinning like he did when he was about to go off on a conspiracy rant.
" How long has what been going on for?" Elliot asked back innocently. Don raised an eyebrow at him. Elliot sighed. He could ignore John but not Cragen.
" Almost 5 months. But don't tell either of them that I told you. Liv made me promise. They'll tell you when they're ready. And Don, before you get all fatherly over-protective on Liv, give Fin a chance. He really cares for Liv, and you and I both know he'd never hurt her." Elliot told them. Cragen huffed and rolled his eyes in mock annoyance.
" As long as they-"
" Keep it out of the office." John and Elliot finished for him, laughing. Don stood up.
" Well, I'm going to go visit Liv. Let me know when Fin gets back." The two men nodded, and were left alone with their thoughts. Don entered the room quietly, as if any noise might wake Olivia. He sighed and sat down next to her sleeping form.
" Olivia, I have no idea how you keep these guys in line. Elliot's been pacing, just like he always does. John's been keeping to himself, but you never know with him. And Fin's worried sick about you. He trusts you Liv. And Fin doesn't usually trust anyone. Sure, he trusts John enough to be his partner, but that's about the extent of it. You can't give up on us Olivia. Especially Fin. He needs you. We can all see it." Don told her. He got up to leave just as Fin and Ana came back with coffee.
" Here. Have some fresh coffee from Starbucks." Fin said, handing each man a cup of coffee. Cragen made a quick decision.
" Ok guys, we have to get back to work so we can get this guy. Fin, take the rest of the week off. You need it." He told him. Fin nodded a thank you.
" Can I stay here?" Ana spoke up.
" No. You need to come with us, since you might have been a witness." Don told her. She nodded.
" Fin, call us if anything changes." Don told him. Fin nodded again, and watched them go before headed back in to sit next to Olivia.
A few hours later, Dr. McKinley came back. He quickly ran a few tests, and then came back in to talk to Fin.
" Where'd the rest of them go?" he asked, noticing that the other three from before were gone.
" To catch the scumbag who did this." Fin said darkly. Dr. McKinley only nodded.
" How's she doing? Is she gonna make it?" Fin asked.
Dr. McKinley sighed. "The meds we gave her when she first came in have worn off, so now it's up to Olivia to wake up. At best, she'll wake up in a couple of hours. At worst, maybe another week with the possibility of temporary amnesia." Fin sat back down, looking dejected.
" So there's nothin' I can do to help her." He replied grimly. The sight of the tough-looking detective so weak and helpless broke Dr. McKinley's heart.
" Physically, no. But mentally, yes. Talk to her. Let her know what she's missing. You have to keep her in the land of the living." Fin gave a small nod as he stroked Olivia's hands, keeping them cradled in his large ones. The doctor said something about coming back at 8 pm to check on her, but Fin wasn't paying attention.
Please Livia, he prayed, you gotta wake up baby girl. You gotta pull out of this. I love you too damn much to lose you.
Ok, now I know you all really want to read the next chapter, but unfortunately, that can't happen until I get some reviews, since I'm a little stuck for ideas. Any suggestions are welcome!! So, drag that mouse over to the left hand side of the screen and click!!
Nell