Author's Note: Thanks for your support! I love my family, but they drive me absolutely crazy sometimes!
Olivia's wake up call is here. Her recovery will be tough, but it will be worth it.
Alex awoke and took in the surroundings of Olivia's hospital room.
"I guess it wasn't a nightmare," Alex sadly thought, as reality crashed back down on her.
Her back was aching from sleeping on the hard plastic chair. She stood up and stretched. Abbie and Olivia were both still asleep. Alex took out her phone and checked the time. It was 6:36 AM. She figured that Elliot would be awake by now, so she decided to call him first. She stepped into the hall so as not to disturb the other women.
"Alex. To what do I owe the pleasure of this early morning phone call?" Elliot asked.
Alex sighed. "Elliot...you're not going to like this."
That line immediately got his attention. "Why, what happened?"
"Last night...it didn't go well...she...Olivia, well, she had another incident. Her drinking, Elliot, it was bad, and now...now we're at the hospital." Alex knew she was rambling but she was so upset she couldn't stop herself.
"Alex, is she OK? Are you OK?" Elliot demanded.
"We're both fine. Olivia drank too much... so much that she gave herself alcohol poisoning. Abbie and I called an ambulance, and the doctors were able to treat her. Liv was sedated and she's still asleep. I'm sorry I didn't call you last night, I was just..." Alex couldn't finish her sentence. She started crying, remembering how Olivia looked when she was passed out on the bed.
Elliot took a measured breath. "Hey, Alex. Don't beat yourself up over it. I do wish you would have called me sooner, but I understand it must have been hectic. Which hospital? I'll head over there now."
"Mercy", Alex answered, as she tried to compose herself.
"I'll be there as soon as I can. Have you told Cragen?"
"No, just you. I don't even know what to tell him," Alex replied.
"I think we need to tell him the truth. It's gotten to the point where her drinking is affecting her ability to work. Not to mention how it's put you through the ringer. She needs help," Elliot said.
"I'll call him now, I guess."
"I know this is difficult. But it's the right thing to do, Alex. I'll see you soon and we can figure out where to go from here"
"Thanks, Elliot."
"You're welcome. Hang in there, Cabot."
Alex hung up and immediately pulled up Cragen's contact information. He answered on the second ring.
"Good morning, Alex. Though I have a feeling that it's not going to continue to be such a good morning since you're calling me this early. What's up?"
Alex started to pace the hall. "Don, I really don't know how to tell you this...it's about Olivia."
"What's wrong? Is she hurt?"
"Sort of. I'm with her in the hospital...she had to be rushed here yesterday because she drank too much. She has alcohol poisoning. She'll be fine, but...Olivia has a serious drinking problem," Alex blurted out.
"Oh no...I can't believe I was so stupid! I'm a former alcoholic for God's sake. The absences, the moodiness, the aggressive behavior...I should have recognized the signs. Hell, maybe I didn't want to recognize them. Why didn't someone tell me? I assume Elliot knows."
"Don, I'm sorry. I honestly, I thought that I could help her on my own. I thought that supporting her would be enough to fight this. And I don't think Elliot wanted to believe that there was a problem."
"She's going to get help whether she likes it or not," Cragen insisted. "I almost lost my career due to my drinking. I'm not going to let Olivia go down that same path."
"I'm 100% with you. I want her to get better. I don't know what's happening yet. She's still asleep but a counselor is supposed to talk to her later on. But she'll probably be released afterward."
"Keep me posted. I want to see her today."
"Of course," Alex agreed.
"I'm still in shock. But thanks for telling me the truth. I'm sure Olivia isn't going to be happy about it, but this is all for her own good. I'm heading to the precinct now, but I want updates as soon as you have them," Cragen stressed.
"Don, as soon as I know, you'll know. Elliot is on his way to the hospital too."
"I figured as much. I'll talk to you soon. Bye, Alex."
"Bye, Don."
Alex felt awful about breaking Olivia's trust, but she knew it was the right thing to do. Olivia would need the support of her friends as well as Alex in order to get through this.
Alex put a quick call into work notifying them of her absence before walking back to Olivia's room. When she walked in, Abbie was just opening her eyes.
"Hey, Abbie. How did you sleep?"
"These chairs have very solid construction. However, the designer failed to take into account any sort of comfort factor. I rate this as a D minus on my list of weird places I've slept," Abbie playfully responded, trying to keep things light.
"You mean there are places worse than this?"
"I locked my keys in my car once when I was sixteen. My parents were out of town for the weekend. It was late, and of course, this was the pre-cellphone era. So I slept in the barn that night. It was cold and smelly."
Alex couldn't help but smile. "I really need to hear more of these hillbilly childhood stories. They're absolutely fascinating. But back to the matter at hand..." Alex's expression quickly changed as she gestured to Olivia. "I called Elliot and Cragen. Elliot is on his way over, and Cragen will be visiting once we've figured out what we're doing. He is insisting that Olivia get help."
"That's good," Abbie responded. "Olivia is going to need a strong support system."
"Yeah...But she's going to be furious when she finds out," Alex said.
"Better angry than dead," Abbie reasoned. "I'm going to call my boss and let her know that I have an emergency. Then I'm going to get us some coffee." Abbie stepped out of the room.
Alex heard stirring from the bed. Alex rushed to her bedside and grasped Olivia's hand.
"Alex...what happened?" Olivia whispered as she looked around the room. "Why am I in a hospital?"
"Liv...you drank too much last night. You were unresponsive, so we had to call an ambulance. You have alcohol poisoning," Alex replied, softly but firmly.
"What? Oh god, no. No, no, no! I can't believe I did that...I really screwed up didn't I?"
Alex sadly nodded. "Yeah. You did. But now, you're going to get help. It's pretty obvious that your drinking has gotten out of hand. And I'm at a loss over what else I can do on my own. You need a professional."
Olivia couldn't meet Alex's eyes. She knew she couldn't talk her way out of this one. There was no way she could justify her actions while laying in a hospital bed because of her own bad choices. "I don't even know what to say, Alex. I'm sorry."
"Liv, I know. And I forgive you. But we can't pretend anymore. I'm going to be with you every step of the way, but this problem is beyond me. A counselor is going to talk to you today and we're going to determine the best course of action."
"I know I promised to see a counselor. And I'll keep that promise. But, I'm pretty skeptical of the whole thing," Olivia responded. "I just don't think it's going to help."
Alex couldn't hide her frustration. "Liv, you need to approach this with an open mind. If you dismiss everything the counselor suggests, you're right, it won't help. But handling your addiction by ourselves hasn't helped either. We need to try something else," Alex shot back.
Olivia had to admit to herself that Alex was right. But then another thought hit her.
"Oh no, Al, what about work?"
"That's another thing. I called Cragen and Elliot. Elliot is on his way over, and Cragen is going to see you later, once we've figured everything out." Alex braced herself for Olivia's blow-up.
"You told them?!"
"What other choice did I have? You're in the hospital! You could have died. They needed to know the truth!"
"Alex, no, they didn't need to know. This is so embarrassing. I can't believe you did that to me!" Olivia exclaimed.
Alex couldn't stop her temper. "Newsflash, Liv! They already knew that something was wrong! Elliot has witnessed your out of control drinking and Cragen put the pieces together pretty quickly once I told him. They care about you and they don't want you to destroy yourself. But sure, I'm a terrible person for wanting you to have support from your friends."
"We could have dealt with this without exposing my problem. They're going to judge me for the rest of my life now," Olivia said.
"Cragen is a recovered alcoholic. How could he possibly judge you? And Elliot is your partner. He just wants you to get better."
"Who else knows? Munch? Fin? Liz?" Olivia demanded.
"The only other person who knows is Abbie."
"You told Abbie? Why?"
Alex was taken aback. "You don't remember, do you?"
Olivia was confused. "Remember what?"
"We agreed to meet Abbie at the restaurant yesterday. I was running late, so you got there before me. Apparently, you were already drunk, but you continued to drink. Then you had some sort of meltdown. When I arrived, you two were outside the restaurant. Abbie and I took you home and when we checked on you, you were unresponsive. So we called the paramedics. That's why you're here," Alex explained.
At first Olivia was too stunned to reply. She didn't remember meeting up with Abbie at all. The last thing she recalled was drinking in her apartment.
"Wow," Olivia finally said. "I...I don't remember that at all. Which is scary."
"Yeah, we were terrified too. We spent the night here. Abbie should be back any minute."
Olivia apologized again. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."
"I know. But now can you see? If you continue drinking, you're going to ruin your life. And I'm not going to stand by and watch you self destruct."
Olivia's chest was tight. Her heart was pounding and she felt nauseous from a combination of her alcohol consumption and the emotions that this conversation had stirred up. "I've been horrible. You're the person I love most in this world and I've put you through hell. Alex...please don't leave me."
Alex pulled Olivia into an embrace. "I would never leave you. I've wanted this relationship for years, and I'm willing to take the good and the bad. This isn't going to be easy, but we'll get through it. I love you too, Liv, and I want you to get better."
"Thank you," Olivia whispered. "I'm committed to this. Whatever the counselor recommends, I'll do. I won't let you down again."
"I believe in you. Today is day one. A new chapter for us," Alex declared. She knew the road ahead would be bumpy, but this was a major step in the right direction.