Disclaimer: Well, Christmas came and went, and unfortunately, even though my husband tried, he was unable to get the SVU characters for me, so they're still Dick Wolf's.

Ever since Olivia had been brought in, Elliot lived at the hospital. Munch had gone to Elliot's house that first night that Olivia had been brought in, and packed a small bag of essentials and a couple of changes of clothes for him. Elliot ate, slept, and showered in Olivia's room. He kept a constant vigil at her bedside. Everyday, he spent hours just talking to her and holding her hand. The rest of the crew stopped by every evening after work, and took turns giving Elliot a chance to get out of the room and walk around.

On the forth day that Olivia had been in the hospital, Olivia's condition began to improve. "Hey guys," Elliot greeted Cragen and Casey as they came for their evening visit, a grin covering his face.

"Stabler, I haven't seen you this happy in...well...I don't know...since before Olivia left. Good news I'm guessing?"

Elliot nodded,"The doctor came in earlier today and removed Olivia's drainage tube. They took her down the hall for a MRI and the results said that everything had drained properly, and she was healing nicely. He said that she should be waking up either today or tomorrow, but not to get our hopes up yet. She's moved slightly a couple of times, and her eyes flickered open once, but nothing significant yet."

"That's great news. I'll be so relieved when she's up and awake again, giving the doctors shit, and wanting to bust out of here," Casey giggled. Cragen smiled at the thought, himself wanting the same thing, but his smile turned solemn as he glanced at Elliot.

"Elliot, you look like hell, have you eaten at all today?" Cragen questioned.

"Not really, I had a bag of chips out of the vending machine, but I didn't want to go too far in case Olivia woke up. I wanted someone to be there with her when she did."

"Well, we're here now, so I want you to go and get something real to eat, none of that cafeteria shit. I don't want to see you back here for at least an hour and that's an order, or I'll make you go home and sleep there tonight."

"K cap, I'll go," Elliot laughed, holding up his hands in a surrendering position, " Just, if anything happens, call me immediately."

"We'll take good care of her, and if anything happens, we'll call."

With that, Elliot headed out the door, and toward his and Olivia's favorite Chinese restaurant.

Casey and Don sat in Olivia's room discussing Olivia's condition, and what they'd missed most about her while she'd been in a coma. The two shared some laughs, and the mood in the room was much lighter than it had been over the past couple of days.

Suddenly, Olivia's eyes opened, slowly, closed again at the sight of the light above her bed, and finally opened with caution. "Arrghh," she moaned.

"Olivia," Casey jumped up to her bedside, "hey its me, Casey. How are you feeling?"

"Where…Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital Olivia. You've been out of it for a couple of days now. You're safe now though," Cragen said, taking her hand in his.

"I'm going to go get the doctor, but I'll be right back. I'm so glad that you're awake. Do you need anything?" Casey said. Olivia shook her head no, and with that, Casey stepped out of the room.

"Hi, Olivia Benson in room 401, has just woken up, could you please page the doctor on duty?" Casey asked the nurse at the desk. After a few minutes, the doctor approached Casey.

"Hi, are you the one here for Olivia Benson?"

"Yes, I'm Casey. She woke up a couple of minutes ago."

"Ok, I'm going to go in and examine her, and I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

The doctor disappeared into Olivia's room, and Casey was joined by Cragen in the waiting room. Casey remembered that no one had called Elliot to tell him the news, so she called Elliot, while Cragen called Munch and Fin.

"Stabler"

"El, its me, Case, Olivia's awake."

"Oh my god, is she ok? Does she know who you are?"

"She's a little confused, but the doctor is in with her now, giving her a thorough check up. Captain is calling Munch and Fin and they're on their way."

"I'll be there as fast as I can. Thanks Case. Bye"

After about 20 minutes, Elliot, Munch, Fin, Casey, and Cragen were gathered in the waiting room, anxious to hear the doctor's report. The doctor came out of the room and approached them.

"Everything's good. Her vitals are normal, and she's responding well. She told me her name and she remembers who she is. I'd like to keep her here for a few more days to ensure that everything checks out, but I'd say that she should be able to go home by this weekend as long as someone would be able to be with her at all times, for a couple of weeks, just in case. She's resting, but you can go in and see her if you'd like. Just try not to force too much on her at once, she's still very weak."

Everyone smiled as a feeling of heaviness had been removed from the group. All eyes turned to Elliot, signaling him to go in and see her first. Anxiousness filled his throat, as he approached her room, as he had done countless times over the past four days. He opened the door, and walked over to her bedside. She opened her eyes, and looked at him.

"Elliot," she whispered softly.

"Hey Liv, I missed you," he said, taking one of her hands in his and holding it up to his lips, placing a soft kiss on her skin.

"What the hell?" she said a little bit louder, pulling her hand away from his.

"I'm sorry Liv, I've just been so worried about you. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Get the hell out of my room!"

" Liv, I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry." Elliot said starting to panic at the thought of having hurt her.

"Really? Did you not mean to hurt me when you kissed Dani outside the bar? Oh yeah, I saw that by the way. Did you not want to hurt me then too? Do you just go around kissing everyone these days?" she looked down at the blanket as her voice lowered into a whisper, "Get the fuck out. As far as I'm concerned I don't ever want to see you again. Our friendship and partnership are over, and if you so much as set foot in my room, I'll have you removed by hospital security. Now. Get. Out," Olivia replied, her voice soft, but harsh, as she lifted her finger to point to the door.

Tears began to pool in his eyes as Elliot turned and walked toward the door. He opened the door, and before leaving, he turned back to Olivia,

"Dani doesn't mean anything to me. Please believe me." He walked out into the waiting room, passing all of his friends as he headed down the hall to find some solitude.

"Elliot, are you ok?" Munch asked as he started to follow him.

"Just..don't...not now," Elliot replied holding up his hand to Munch and continuing down the hall.

"What the hell was that about?" Fin asked when Munch returned.

"I don't know, maybe its just emotional. It's been really hard on him. It's been hard on all of us."

"Do mind if I go next just to make sure that Olivia's ok?" Casey asked approaching Olivia's room.

"Go for it. We'll be here when you get back."