You have to love me! 2 chaps about an hour or two apart, but that is because of a very special reviewer who just keeps making me smile with the reviews posted on each chapter.
Thank you inspirationimagination you don't realise how much your words encourage me and inspire me because even though I finished writing this story some time ago it drives me to work harder on the other fic I'm working on and it really does drive me on!
Keep reviewing guys!
After the recess Olivia sat in the public gallery beside Munch and Kathy. She was still scared as next up on the witness list was the doctor who had examined Olivia after she had arrived back at the hospital.
As the doctor was sworn in she grabbed Kathy's hand as Munch slipped his arm around her shoulders. She wasn't sure if she was ready to hear the true extent of her injuries
"Doctor Connors, you were the doctor who examined and treated Mrs Stabler also known as Detective Benson." Casey began.
"That is correct." Doctor Connors soft voice echoed across the silent court room.
"I will direct you to People's thirteen, I must warn you that what you are about to see is graphic." Casey said switching on the large monitor. Olivia closed her eyes and squeezed Kathy's hand tight as the image came into view.
It was clearly her chest and breasts covered in multiple burns and even though she had seen it in the mirror the pictures showed the true extent of her injuries.
"Did you take this picture Doctor?" Casey asked.
"I did."
"And what is it?"
"They are the injuries that Mrs Stabler had on her chest and breasts." The doctor spoke like it wasn't a big deal that it was just like telling someone about the news which hurt Olivia more as she knew that it was her body he was talking about, her body which was now damaged.
Olivia pushed her face into Kathy's shoulder who protectively placed her arm around and stroked her hair.
"What are these injuries?" Casey asked also having to fight the tears.
"These are burns and from what we could make out they were made by a lit cigarette that was held to the flesh for extended period of time." The doctor replied again so matter-of-factly.
"But these burns aren't shaped like a cigarette burn? They seem larger and in odd shapes."
"That is correct; we could see that the cigarette was pressed to the skin multiple areas numerous times, so what you see is a cluster of burns." The doctor explained.
"How many burns were there in total?" Casey asked closing her fist to prepare herself for the answer.
"There was a total of forty six clusters each containing between four and six individual burns."
"So that would be between a hundred and eighty six and two hundred and seventy six individual burns?"
"That is correct." The doctor replied.
Olivia sobbed quietly into Kathy's shoulder. She hadn't realised how many times he had burnt her in the storage unit but now it seemed all too real.
"People's fourteen your honour." Casey said lifting a bag up. "This bag contains a total of thirty cigarette butts that were collected at the scene and every one of them had DNA matching to Lieutenant Ed Tucker." Casey said before placing the bag down on her desk.
Casey clicked the remote control in her hand and the picture changed, Olivia saw her ankle which had a deep gash.
"What is this?" Casey asked.
"That is Mrs Stabler's right ankle which has a large cut around three inches wide."
"Were you able to identify the object that was used to make this cut?" Casey asked slowly moving back towards her desk.
"We believed that it was a thin steak knife."
"Peoples fifteen your honour. A steak knife that was found at the scene containing a positive DNA match to Detective Benson and the fingerprints of the defendant." Casey said lifting the bag containing the knife, still covered in Olivia's blood.
"How deep was this cut?" Casey asked.
"Objection! Relevance?" Miranda Pond shouted from her seat.
"To ascertain what caused Detective Benson's black out as it links to my next few questions." Casey said.
"Overruled."
"It was one inch deep."
"Did this cause considerable blood loss?"
"Yes, the blood loss would have been considerable because of the veins that were cut."
"Would this have caused Detective Benson, Mrs Stabler's black outs?"
"Not on its own." The doctor replied.
Once again Casey clicked the remote control and this time it caused half of the people in the courtroom to gasp.
"Could you please tell us what this image is of?" Casey said swallowing hard.
"Those are the thighs of Mrs Stabler."
"And what is wrong with them?"
"They have multiple wounds, some stab wounds and some cuts." The doctor said causing Olivia to begin to sob again, she hadn't known that he had stabbed her.
"Were you able to ascertain what the weapon was that caused these injuries?"
"We believe that it was the same weapon that was used to cut Mrs Stabler's ankle."
Casey went back around to her desk.
"I'll again ask you to look at peoples fifteen, the steak knife with both Mrs Stabler's blood and Ed Tuckers fingerprints." Casey said lifting the bag once more.
"How many injuries were there on Mrs Stabler's thighs?" Casey asked
"24, there were eight stab wounds and seventeen cuts."
"How many of these injuries required stitches?" Casey asked him again clenching her fists so that she wouldn't react to the answer.
"The ankle required twenty stitches, the eight stab wounds required five stitches each and a few of the cuts needed stitches too."
"Would these injuries along with the ankle cause Mrs Stabler's blackouts?" Casey asked him already knowing the answer herself but needing to move on to the next question.
"No they would not."
"Then what did cause the blackouts that Mrs Stabler reported having during her time in the storage unit as well as the blackout she had after her rescue?"
"Mrs Stabler gave birth outside of her hospital with the help of a Medical Examiner and a Psychologist without the proper equipment. This caused Mrs Stabler to receive a third degree tear which required stitching after the birth."
Olivia remembered how bad the pain was between her legs after the birth, it had been far worse than when she had given birth to her daughter.
"What is a third degree tear Doctor?" Casey asked thinking this could put her off having children for the rest of her life.
"A third degree tear affects the skin and muscle and extends to the muscle around the anus."
"So how did this input to her blackouts?" Casey asked quickly turning back on route.
"Well when a mother has received a third degree tear we ask them to remain in bed for a couple of days and keep walking to minimum, when Mrs Stabler left the hospital many of the stitches tore away from the skin causing her to bleed and this is what caused her blackouts." The doctor explained well which didn't really help Olivia in anyway.
"Peoples sixteen." Casey said flicking a button on the remote control in her hand.
Olivia could do nothing but stare.
"This is the back seat of the silver Mercedes found behind the storage unit Mrs Stabler was kept."
Olivia continued to stare, there was so much blood.
"Is this amount of blood loss normal?"
"If the stitches aren't repaired instantly then yes it would be." The doctor explained.
"And so this would cause the blackouts?"
"Even without all the other injuries, yes, this would cause the blackouts." The doctor explained.
"No more questions your Honour." Casey said returning to her seat.
"We have no questions for this witness your Honour." Miranda Pond called.
"Well people call your next witness." Judge Donnelly said.
Casey stood up again, having hoped for a sit down she was sadly mistaken.
"The people call Detective Odafin Tutuola." Casey called.
Olivia watched as Fin walked into the courtroom, he gave her a curt nod before going to sit in the seat. As he was sworn in Maureen and Kathleen took each other's hands in the same way as Lizzie and Dickie had. It was very painful for all of them.
"Detective Tutuola can you please tell us about the phone call that you received from Detective Benson on the afternoon of January the thirteenth." Casey said.
"Detective Benson called me to find out if anyone in our squad had a reason to place a protective detail on her. I informed her that no one had to my knowledge and then she informed me that she was being followed. I told her to return to the precinct to speak with her husband so that we could ascertain who may be following her."
"Did she return to the precinct?"
"Yes she did, I met her down in the parking lot."
"What happened when you arrived in the parking lot?"
"I walked towards Detective Benson's parking spot and saw a silver Mercedes come in. I looked inside and saw that there were two people inside but they were hiding their faces and when they saw me looking they placed their foot down." Fin explained.
"Did you pick up the number plate of the silver car?"
"I didn't think that I needed to."
"Why not?"
"It is a police car park where only members of the NYPD can park as it requires a swipe card to open the gate."
"So you knew that it must be someone with a car that opened the gate into the car park. Do members of the internal affairs bureau carry cards that can open the gate?"
"I believe so."
"When you dropped off Serena Stabler at Simon Marsden's house what did you see?"
"I saw nothing until Detective Benson stepped out into the road and a Silver Mercedes flew past."
"Was the Mercedes aiming to hit Detective Benson over?"
"Objection calls for speculation."
"Withdrawn." Casey said slightly groaning at having to drop the question.
Casey nodded and went back to her desk trying to remind herself what the next question was if any.
"No more questions for this witness your Honour." Casey shrugged. She hadn't realised how little she had to ask Fin.
It was now Miranda Pond's turn to ask Fin questions and he wasn't looking forward to it. He had always hated being cross examined because he found himself questioning what he had seen even after the trial had ended.
"Did you see my client in the silver Mercedes that entered the car park?" Miranda Pond asked getting straight to the point.
"No I did not." Fin answered.
"And did you see my client in the silver Mercedes that almost knocked over Detective Benson?"
"No I did not." Fin answered again.
"No more questions." Miranda said before going to sit down.
"You may step down Detective." Judge Donnelly said and Fin nodded before coming from the bench and sitting in the gallery.
"We will finish there for today and reconvene at nine am tomorrow morning." Judge Donnelly said and the courtroom buzzed into life. Olivia couldn't help but watch as handcuffs were slapped onto the wrists of Ed Tucker. It somehow made her feel safe knowing that he would be spending the night at Riker's Island and not on the streets of Manhattan.
"Olivia are you alright?" Kathy asked seeing Olivia stare into the distance.
"I'm fine." She said snapping her gaze away.
Casey came over to meet them.
"How are you holding up Liv?" She asked worrying about the strain of the trial on her friend.
"I'm ok I think." She mumbled not knowing exactly what Casey wanted to hear.
"Ok so tomorrow Elliot is up first to give evidence and then Cragen and hopefully we'll get Porter in tomorrow too. Then we have Melinda and George and we should be ready for the home run from there." Casey smiled and Olivia just nodded, she knew she had to listen to what had happened over and over again.
"Olivia are you sure you're alright?" Casey asked knowing that her friend wasn't.
"I need a sit down with Huang. Can we use your office Casey? I just think I need this." Olivia sighed as she knew Elliot would be frustrated that she wasn't talking to him.
"Of course why doesn't Munch take you to my office and I'll go and get Huang and explain to Elliot." Casey said before rushing off. Olivia stood up and began walking when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"I'm done for if I am caught talking to you but I hope your holding up." Miranda Pond said.
"I'm ok." Olivia said smiling weakly. Miranda Pond nodded and then headed off out the door to face the press scrum that was outside waiting for her.
Olivia just followed Munch through the courtroom towards Casey's office.
What a place to leave it! Haha I am cruel to those of you who seem to enjoy the Olivia/Huang relationship in this fic. Don't worry though it is coming I think I have two more O/H sit downs and I hope they meet your expectations!
Again to my lovely reviewer inpirationimagination you are a star and I hope you like this chapter!
Next upload will be at around 12pm GMT.
Thanks again all! Please review!