Disclaimer: I'm totally excited about tomorrow's episode "Burned". Mariska quoted it as being one of her favorites, and I have absolutely loved the other ones that she calls favorites, "911", "Wrath", and "Fault". Dick, I know you own them, and I probably can't afford them, but maybe we could work something out like a 'rent-to-own' package or something?
"Hey Dani," Elliot said as he opened the door to his temporary partner's room. He didn't really want to see her, but it was the polite thing to do, even if she was a frizzy haired bitch, "so...how's it feel to finally be going home?"
Dani was dressed, hair braided, sitting cross legged on the bed. "Well, I would know if the stupid doctor would ever show up to release me. I'm getting so anxious sitting in here. It'll be nice just to get back to Florida and as far away from SVU as possible."
"Florida? When you said you were going home to where it was warm, I was certain you meant hell!" He said laughing.
"You're an ass, Stabler," she said rolling her eyes, " you staying here until Olivia gets released?"
"Yeah, I'm going to. The doctor said it would only be a couple more days until she can leave, and I know she'd be ok if I went home, but I just couldn't live with myself if something happened and I wasn't nearby."
"You really are in love with her, aren't you?"
"Yeah...I am...", he paused, letting a sigh escape his lips, "now if only she felt the same."
Down the hall from Dani's room, where the mood was light, Olivia had fallen into depression, and was only getting worse by the day. Normally, she would have jumped at the opportunity to finally have permission to get up and around, but she insisted on lying in her bed all day long, with the exception of bathroom breaks, and a daily shower. She'd spend her time sleeping, or staring at the wall, and when she thought no one was listening, she would cry.
"Olivia," Casey said with a sigh, " The doctor said that you can go home hopefully day after tomorrow, but first you have to show everyone that you can get up and get around."
"Girl, you've been in this room for almost a week now. Lets take a little field trip," Fin said with a grin, gently tugging on Olivia's arm.
"I just want to lay here. Thanks anyways," Olivia said as she closed her eyes and waved her hand as to dismiss the thought of going anywhere.
"Ummm...not an option, or a question. We're going, and you're coming too."
After a small bout of resistence from Olivia, Casey and Fin helped her into the wheelchair, and wheeled her down the hall to the atrium. They went inside and sounds of trickling waterfalls surrounded them, as well as the smell of plants and flowers. The three sat for a while. Talked. Not about anything in particular, just how much they wanted Olivia to be able to go home and get better. Olivia hadn't brought Elliot up in the past two days, and no one asked her about him.
"Girl, the food here blows. That should be reason enough for you to want to get out. I'll make you a deal. You get better, and any takeout food you want is yours, my treat," Fin said nudging her in the side, getting a small smile from Olivia in return, "See? All skin and bones. What's Munch going to think about his hospital conspiracies now?"
Before she could reply, the door to the atrium opened, and Elliot and Dani strolled in and came face to face with Casey, Fin, and Olivia.
"Lets just go," Elliot said, taking hold of Dani's arm.
"No that's ok, we were just leaving. We'll leave you two alone," Olivia said, wheeling her chair around so that she was facing him directly, her stone hard stare cutting right into Elliot.
"Liv, this isn't what it looks like, please don't go. We need to talk."
"Elliot, She'll talk when she's ready. Please just leave her alone," Casey demanded, stepping in between the two.
Fin took hold of Olivia's wheelchair, and maneuvered her past Dani and Elliot, with an icy stare, and wheeled her back to her room.
After she was settled back in her bed, Olivia was the first to break the uneasy silence that had blanketed the room, "How can he tell me that it's not what it looks like? He's walking around with her on his arm. He hasn't even checked up on me in two days now."
"Sweetie," Casey started tentatively, "you told him you'd have security all over his ass if he got near you. He's been sleeping in the waiting room outside your door ever since then. He wants to be close to you, he just knew you didn't want him to right now."
"Or ever. I meant what I said, as far as I'm concerned, our friendship is over." Olivia closed her eyes again, hoping to avoid any further conversation about him.
"What's up with her?" Dani asked as she and Elliot sat on a stone ledge in the atrium, "She's got some nerve talking to you like that after you risked your life for her."
"She's upset, now do you see what I mean? I can't talk to her. She doesn't want to hear it."
"So...you're just going to avoid her after she returns to work? That's not going to be a very productive partnership."
"I don't know, god!" Elliot raged, "I don't know what I'm going to do..." Elliot rubbed his hands over his face, and released his breath, "I'm sorry Dani. I...uh…"
"It's ok." The two sat in silence for a couple of moments before Elliot spoke again.
"Hey, we've been gone for about twenty minutes," Elliot said, changing the subject, wanting badly to get away from her, " We should probably head back to your room so you don't miss the doctor, and your chance to finally break out of here." They climbed off the ledge and were walking back to Dani's room when suddenly, all of the color drained from Elliot's face. "Elliot, are you ok? You're not looking so good."
Before Elliot could respond, his body went limp as he passed out and hit his head on a crash cart that had been sitting up against the wall in the hall.
Dani bent down beside him, holding her hand over the gash on his forehead that was now bleeding onto the floor. "I need some help over here!" she screamed as doctors and nurses scrambled down the hall, pooling around him, assessing the situation.
"Pulse is steady. Head injury, possible concussion, possible neck injury. Get me a stabilizer for his neck," the doctor barked out orders. One of the doctors quickly secured the neck brace into place, "We'll move him on my count. Ready. One. Two. Three." They quickly lifted him onto a stretcher, and wheeled him down the hall to perform a more thorough exam.
Dani hurried alongside him, but after being asked to wait outside the room, she then retreated to her own room to call Cragen to inform him of the current situation.
"Cragen"
"Hey its Dani. I just thought you should know that Elliot is in the hospital."
"Yeah, I know. He's staying there until Olivia gets released. Did you need something else Dani, or just to report Elliot's whereabouts?"
"No, I mean IN THE HOSPITAL, as in he passed out and hit his head."
"Oh…Is he ok?"
"No word yet. Last I heard, he was unconscious, and they were giving him a CAT scan to assess potential brain damage."
"Ok, I'll call Munch, we'll be there soon. Call Fin because last I heard, he and Casey were visiting Olivia, so they should still be there"
A couple of hours later, after a concussion, 10 stitches from the fall, and a diagnosis of extreme dehydration and exhaustion brought on by stress, the doctors had Elliot in his own room, strongly insisting for him to stay the night for observation due to his head injury. Cragen, Munch, Fin, and Casey gathered in his room.
"I know it's a crash cart, but that doesn't mean to crash into it," Munch said, teasing Elliot.
"God, Munch, that was bad, even for your jokes," Elliot replied, returning a smile, then wincing at the pain of moving his head around too much, "so did Dani head home?"
"Yeah, after she was released, about an hour after your little incident with the hospital apparatus," Cragen said, joining in on the Elliot banter.
"Fine, fine, laugh if you will, but if I had gone into cardiac arrest, the paddles would have been right there," Elliot laughed at himself, then his face turned serious, "how's Olivia? I think I really pissed her off earlier."
"She's ok. She's asleep right now. We didn't tell her what happened to you though. We didn't want to add anymore stress to her, so don't feel bad if she doesn't come to visit you."
"Well, considering our track record right now, I think I would be stretching it to get a Hallmark card."
After another hour or so of conversation, the group left Elliot to get some rest. Elliot laid in his bed, alone for the first time since his incident with Olivia, replaying everything in his head. He eventually fell into a dreamless sleep.
About 2 in the morning, Olivia awoke to find someone leaving her room, but all she could make out was a shadow of the person.
"Excuse me, did you need something?" Olivia asked, "Hey, who the hell are you, come back." Whoever the person was continued on their way and closed the door without responding to her. She switched on the light over her bed, and she glanced around the room the see if anything had changed in her surroundings. She looked over and found a manila envelope on the table next to her bed, with a note taped to the front.
'Thought you might want to know what happened in between the apartment and here. When you get done, if you want to talk to Elliot, call 813-8746, and ask for his room number.'
'What the hell?' The handwriting resembled Casey's, but Olivia wasn't sure.
She opened the envelope and found copies of Dani and Elliot's statements from the day that Olivia was found. She fumbled through the pages, and decided to read Dani's first.
'We arrived at the scene, and after a thorough check of the premises, Detective Stabler and I discovered a locked door inside the closet, which after removing the lock, was found to house Olivia Benson. Detective Stabler approached her, and checked her pulse. He was attending to her injuries, while I called for a bus. Blake entered the apartment unnoticed due to mine and my partners attention on the victim. After holding us at gunpoint, Detective Stabler was given an ultimatum as to who would live, myself or Olivia, but replied that he would allow himself to die instead. The sniper shot Blake, as Blake shot me, which is the last thing I remember.'
"Oh my god," Olivia whispered, clasping her hand to her mouth, "they were held at gunpoint, and Elliot was going to die for me, ...and then I treated him like shit." Tears began to form and stream down her face, as she read Elliot's statement. It described the same procedure as Dani's.
'What have I done? He really has been nothing but nice to me and what have I done for him besides be a jealous bitch?' Olivia reached for a tissue off the bedside table and wiped her tear streaked face. After a few minutes, the initial shock and upset had subsided and Olivia decided that she needed to talk to Elliot, and apologize for everything she had done, not caring that it was two in the morning. She began to dial his cell phone number, then remembered what the note said. She dialed the number and was surprised as to the voice on the other end. "Bellevue Hospital, Front Desk, how may I assist you today?"
Confused, Olivia sat in silence. "Hello, Bellevue Hospital, can I direct your call, or assist you with a room number?"
"No, I'm sorry. I must have the wrong number." Olivia hung up the phone, and re-dialed the number.
"Bellevue Hospital, how may I help you tonight?"
"Um, well...I don't...," Olivia stumbled over her words, panic mixing in her voice as she remembered the note, "I think I need Elliot Stabler's room number please." "Stabler? How do you spell that?"
" S-T-A-B-L-E-R"
"Yes, Elliot Stabler. He's in room 409. Can I assist you with anything else?"
"No." Olivia quickly hung up the phone, her mind racing as to why Elliot was in the hospital and whether he was ok or not. She had to go see him no matter how painful it was to move around. She took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself for the ensuing pain. She struggled and eased herself over to the edge of the bed and, carefully with her two broken legs, lowered herself into the wheelchair sitting next to her bed, knowing that if she asked for assistance, the nurses would insist that she returned to bed. She slowly eased toward the door. Peeking out, she saw that no one was currently in the nurses station, and wheeled down the hall to find him