Hello Readers! My apologies for the long delay. I write these chapters as I go along and sometimes the creative process takes longer than is ideal. I should be finishing up this story in 2 or 3 chapters after this one and then I have new one up my sleeve! Please leave me a comment, I love feedback! P.S. I don't have a clever title for this one, forgive me.
Warning: There is a dream sequence that contains sexual assault, it is not graphic but it is there.
Disclaimer: I own nothing SVU-related, obviously.
May 25, 2011
Six more weeks went by and Rollins and Amaro did not get any closer to finding Mark Donovan. According to every source they had gotten a hold of, the man had ceased to exist in 2008. There were no records anywhere of an address, phone number, job history, not even a bank account. The detectives had, however, managed to track down some of his former girlfriends who'd had no trouble describing in detail what a vindictive bastard he was. Rollins was convinced more than ever that this was their guy but that didn't help her get closer to finding him.
Alex and Elliot were still in the process of selling their apartment and looking for a new one. It was going slowly, and Alex was getting worried that they wouldn't be moved before her babies came. She was already accumulating a good supply of baby items, mostly from her family when she had gone home to Connecticut a few weeks ago and had a baby shower. Elliot was still too overprotective to take her out of the house too often, the times they did get out she most often went to visit Casey. The two had become fast friends since their first encounter at the hospital and they found they had a great many things in common, not the least of which was a pregnancy with multiples.
Today was one of the days that Alex got to see Casey. After they dropped Eli off at preschool, they drove straight to the hospital. Elliot took an unfamiliar route to ensure they weren't being followed. As Alex sat in the seat next to him she was staring absently at the sidearm strapped to his belt. He carried his gun all the time now, even to the grocery store. Though her stalker had seemingly faded into silence, Elliot was always vigilant, watching everyone and everything.
Alex smiled to herself as she thought about seeing Casey today. She had a really good idea up her sleeve.
Meanwhile, at the hospital...
Casey opened her eyes slowly. She was in a hospital room. She was alone. She didn't want to be alone. Where's Chester? Why isn't he here? The door opened and Casey sighed with relief. Then a man walked in. It wasn't Chester...it was Danny. In an instant she felt his weight on her, holding her down, suffocating her. She felt his hands all over her body, touching her, hurting her. "NO! GET OFF! HELP! CHESTER!" Casey screamed and cried. She kicked at her attacker, wailing for him to stop. Then she saw him. Her Chester. Through the window. He was just sitting there. Surely he could hear her. Danny held her down harder, her arms hurt, and then he was inside her, pushing into her over and over, violating her. "STOP IT! STOP IT! NO! CHESTER HELP ME!" Casey screamed for him over and over but he didn't come, he stood up and then walked away. Danny was raping her and he walked away. Why won't he help me? Why is he leaving me? "CHESTER! PLEASE! HE'S HURTING ME! DON'T LEAVE ME!"
Casey vomited after she woke up that morning. Afterwards, Chester had held her in his arms for nearly 30 minutes before she was able to stop crying. The nightmares weren't everyday anymore but when they came, they were intense. This one was so bad her heart monitor had started beeping causing a slew of nurses and interns to rush in and Chester had needed to raise his voice to get them to leave her alone.
Now that Casey was relatively calm, she was lying on her side with her head in Chester's lap and he was gently brushing her hair with his fingers.
"You think they would learn by now not to panic every time that stupid thing goes off." Casey murmured.
"They're just doing their jobs, honey. They are supposed to keep track of these things." Chester replied. It was partially true, the other part of it was that Casey was having the first set of quints this hospital had ever seen and everyone from the surgeons to the orderlies wanted a glimpse of her. More than once he had caught groups of them hanging around outside Casey's room just waiting for something to happen.
"Yeah well," Casey grumbled, "I don't need them, I just need you." She hugged his knees and blinked back a few tears.
Chester leaned down a kissed her temple. "I love you," he said, "and I'm always gonna be here." Then, Chester remembered something. "Hey, I almost forgot, Alex is coming to see you today!"
Casey cracked a smile. "She is?"
"Yeah, she called this morning before you woke up. Actually," he checked his watch, "she should be here any minute."
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door and Chester slid out from under Casey to answer it. Casey rolled herself onto her back and hastily wiped her eyes. Alex didn't know about Danny and she wanted to keep it that way.
Alex came in with a big smile on her face and stack of magazines in her hands. "Hey Casey, "she said, "How are you feeling?"
Casey rubbed her huge belly and shrugged. "I'm fine, just sitting here getting fatter. How are the twins?"
Alex waddled over to Casey's bed and sat down on the end of it. "Getting heavier every day. I'm so ready to have them it's ridiculous."
"You're due pretty soon aren't you?" Casey asked.
"Yep, 6 weeks to go, I'm in the home stretch!"
The ladies awkwardly hugged each other, bumping bellies in the process, and then laughed in unison. Their men who had been watching them from the door both chuckled to themselves and then left to get some coffee.
"So Casey, "Alex said, "I had a wonderful idea. I wanted it to be a surprise but I don't want to hear Chester's mouth about your blood pressure so I'm just gonna tell you. I think we should throw you a baby shower!"
Casey blinked. "What?"
"We can do it here in the hospital," Alex replied, "in the cafeteria, or maybe a conference room- and we can decorate and invite all your friends. We could even invite your mom and sister if you let me call them." She said the last part quietly knowing that Casey probably wouldn't like it.
Casey's face darkened and she fought back the tears that were threatening to rise as she thought about her mom and Sarah. She hadn't seen either of them since she'd been in the hospital. Her mother had called dozens of times and Casey would talk to her on the phone sometimes but she didn't want her visiting. Sarah, on the other hand, was completely ignoring her.
"I don't think that is a good idea," Casey replied.
Alex looked crestfallen. "Why? I mean, I know you and your sister don't get along but, I'm sure your mom would want to be there!"
"I don't want her there."
"Case, you really don't want your mom at your baby shower?"
"No, I don't. I don't want to see her, I don't want her to come here."
"Casey, why not? What did she do?" Alex pressed.
Casey stared at her new friend, trying to decide how to answer her. There were several reasons why she didn't want to see her mother, and she decided there was only one she could tell Alex.
"I can't stand the way she treats Chester," she replied at last, "I can't stand the way she talks to him, or the way she looks at him. She hates him, and I just can't deal with it right now."
"Why does she dislike Chester so much?" Alex asked.
Casey sighed. "I love Chester with all of my heart. And he loves me, he takes care of me, he protects me. All my mom sees when she looks at him is guy who got arrested for murder. Both my parents think he's dangerous and they treat him like a criminal. I've been dealing with it for years and I just can't anymore."
Alex was both confused and astonished. "Chester was arrested for murder!?" she exclaimed.
Casey nodded. "It was a long time ago, and it's a long story, but yes he was."
Alex sat back in a comfortable position on Casey's bed. "I'm not going anywhere, tell me the story."
Casey could tell Alex wasn't going to let it go so she took a deep breath and began. She told Alex an abridged version of the Elisa Hernandez case and how badly she, herself, had handled that case.
"Wait, is that how you got disbarred?" Alex interjected.
Casey nodded sadly, the memory still stinging a little. "After the trial, the dead girl's father went after Officer Crane and shot him. Chester was there and saw the whole thing, but was too late to intervene. Chester told the father to run and he stayed there with the body. When the cops showed up he let them think that he had done it so the father would have time to get away."
"Wow, he really did that?" Alex was incredulous.
"I was furious," Casey said in reply, "but Chester said that they couldn't prove he did it and he couldn't watch that man go to prison for getting the justice his daughter deserved. Chester was in jail for 3 weeks but they eventually had to let him go."
"Wow," Alex said again," and I guess your parents found out about all this?"
"Just the part about him getting arrested, it was the headline of every newspaper. My parents are the type of people who don't know the meaning of the word 'alleged'. I tried to explain it to them but they just wouldn't believe that Chester was innocent. They thought he got away with murder. When Chester and I got married in Martha's Vineyard a month after he came home, just the two of us, my parents were beside themselves."
"Well, I'm sure they were," Alex said with a little chuckle.
Casey smirked half-heartedly. "So all that is to say, it might be nice to have a party but can we please leave my family out of it?"
Alex nodded. "Of course, it is about you after all, and your munchkins. Did you guys find out the genders yet?"
Casey finally smiled again. "Yeah, actually we found out last week! It's really funny because when we found out about them, Chester predicted that we would have two boys and three girls and that's what we're having!"
"Wow, that's so great!" Alex gushed. "Have you picked any names out?"
Casey nodded. "Well, we settled on Brooklyn Elizabeth and Bailee Shea for the twins." Casey smiled at Alex's puzzled look. "It turns out that two of the girls are identical," she explained.
"Really? That's amazing! And the names are adorable," Alex exclaimed. "Any others?"
"Well I kinda like Tyler, Everett or Zachary for the boys," Casey replied, "my husband is trying to talk me into naming one of them Casey the Third, but that is never gonna happen."
Both moms laughed and then continued to talk about their babies and the upcoming shower.
Later that evening...
Olivia was at home, in bed, getting a foot rub from her husband Kurt. She was now a full week past her due date and was being held hostage in her home by her loving and slightly nervous husband. He had become paranoid of her going into labor in a public place and without him there, so he kept her trapped in the house and had taken a sabbatical from work to be with her.
"How does that feel, sweetheart?" Kurt was saying as he kneaded the bottom of Olivia's swollen foot. Olivia moaned in response.
"I'll take that as a 'great, baby that's the spot', " Kurt quipped.
Olivia nodded and giggled. "Exactly," she said, "but you know, there's something else we could do that would feel great!" She pulled her foot out of his hands and gently rubbed his chest with it.
Kurt kissed her toes and then, after gingerly climbing over her huge belly, kissed her lips. He held himself suspended over her for a few moments as he continued to kiss her and then dropped down on the bed next to her.
"Can't do it, babe," he said.
"Oh, come on!" Olivia whined, "Please? I want to!" The further Olivia got in her pregnancy, the stronger her sex drive became and, unfortunately, the more nervous her doting husband became about obliging her.
"Sweetheart, I can't, I don't want to hurt Audrey," Kurt replied apologetically.
"Little miss Audrey Kaitlyn," Olivia huffed, "is getting ready to go to college in my belly. I'm sure a little 'push' out the door isn't going to do any harm."
Kurt smiled and then leaned over and started kissing her neck. "You know," he said into her skin, "we could do that other thing, if you want."
Olivia closed her eyes, relishing her husband's kisses. "We always do that other thing," she whined again.
Kurt rested a hand on top of her belly and then slowly slid it down between her legs. "Does that mean you don't want to?" he asked.
"Don't stop," Olivia breathed, she was already melting into her husband's touch.
Kurt continued to lovingly caress her, when out of the blue her phone rang on the bedside table.
"Son of a bitch!" Olivia barked as she was startled out of her reverie. Kurt removed his hand and Olivia glared at him. "Don't you even think about moving," Olivia ordered. She then reached over and begrudgingly picked up her phone.
"Oh it's Alex." She answered it immediately with a cheery 'hello'. Her face changed from a smile to a confused frown as the conversation wore on. She hung up after few minutes with a subdued 'talk to you later'.
"What was that about?" Kurt asked, propping himself up on one elbow.
"Alex is throwing Casey a baby shower," Olivia answered, staring straight ahead.
"Well that's nice!" Kurt replied.
Olivia now looked at her husband with that same confused face. "Alex is throwing Casey a baby shower! Why would Alex throw Casey a baby shower?"
Kurt shrugged. "Maybe they're friends? Why does anyone throw anyone a baby shower?"
"I knew the were talking but I didn't know they were getting so close." Olivia's confused look turned to one of sadness. "I should have thrown her a baby shower."
"Honey, you're too pregnant to throw anything. Don't be-" Before Kurt could finish his sentence Olivia was crying.
Kurt laid back down and simply held her hand. He had learned by now that there was nothing he could do when she got emotional but ride it out with her.
"It's all my fault!" Olivia sobbed, "Casey hates me!"
"Livy come on, Casey doesn't hate you."
"Yes, she does! I haven't been a good friend to her!"
"Livy, how can you say that? You've done so much for her the past few months."
Olivia shook her head. "That doesn't matter, I wasn't there for her when she really needed me."
Kurt frowned. "Honey, what do you mean by that?"
Olivia sniffed. "We...we weren't always such good friends. It was mostly my fault, I wasn't really nice to her. That year, the year she was raped, I thought, you know, we were getting closer and she finally opened up and told me something personal. But I...ended up using it against her."
Kurt didn't respond but his face showed surprise.
Olivia continued. "I was so consumed with the case we were working that I forgot she was a person, a friend. It's no wonder she didn't come to me...later."
Kurt was silent. He could tell that this conversation had gone into much more serious territory than baby showers. "Liv, we all do things we regret. You guys are close now, isn't that what matters?"
"No it's not!" Olivia exclaimed, "She went through hell and she felt so alone! Her sister didn't believe her, Chester was in jail and I...I was such a bitch she was afraid to tell me what happened to her! I could have helped her. I could have made sure she got justice. Now she never will. I don't know if I'll ever forgive myself."
Kurt wrapped his eyes around he wife and cuddled her into his arms. "All right, all right," he soothed, "let's calm down okay? What happened to Casey is not your fault, Olivia. It wasn't then and certainly isn't now. The only person whose fault it is, is the man who assaulted her. You have done everything you could to be there for her. You are a good friend Olivia." He brushed her wavy brown hair out of her face and kissed her forehead.
Olivia smiled at her husband, and seemed to accept his words. "Maybe," she replied, "but I should be planning her baby shower, not Alex."
Kurt chuckled, glad that they had circled back to the topic at hand. "Yeah, well maybe you should "plan" on having this baby first," he quipped.
Olivia's jaw dropped and then she threw a pillow into her husband's face.