AN: Younglings are fun, aren't they?

*

Olivia began coming to to the incessant prodding of her face. Tiny hands poked at her cheek, tugged at errant strands of hair, and even grabbed at her nose. All the while declaring in an exuberant voice, "Up, up, silly!"

She groaned, rolling away from the irritation. Footsteps approached, and she heard Kathy's voice speak in a hushed tone. "Eli, I told you to let her sleep." Olivia felt the boy get swept up.

"Not sleepy time," he declared from above her. "Up time!"

"Well, it is sleepy time for Olivia."

It was too late to get back to sleep. As soon as Olivia realized where she was, she was far too embarrassed to even consider it. She rolled back over and pried herself up to a sitting position. She stretched out her arms, and couldn't help but notice that she felt pretty damn good.

"I'm sorry, he managed to sneak away from me," Kathy said.

"No, no, God, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come here and wear a hole in your couch."

"Don't worry about it. Looks like it did you some good."

Olivia nodded. "I guess it did."

She glanced to the clock and saw that it was almost three. The longest stretch she had managed by far, over five hours. Olivia just wished she didn't have to feel so guilty in doing so.

She stood and allowed the blood to start circulating back through her limbs. Now that his task was done, as soon as Eli's feet once again hit the floor, he was off like a shot. Babbling about trucks as he went off to his room. He returned with a dump truck in one hand and a bulldozer in the other. They thudded against the carpet as he tromped over.

"Those are cool," Olivia replied. Eli nodded his agreement and started pushing them along while making engine noises.

Kathy shook her head at his antics. "There's some soup from lunch that I can heat up for you."

"Thanks, but that's not necessary..." The brow shot up again, and Olivia immediately backpedaled. "Actually, that would be great. Where's Elliot?"

"Elizabeth wanted a ride over to a friend's."

As soon as she finished, she excused herself. She just felt increasingly uncomfortable being looked after. And she wasn't used to spending time with just Kathy. Olivia left, and Eli insisted on giving her a sloppy kiss before she went.

She went over to the hospital. First she stopped off at A.J.'s room. He was awake, the bed raised up to a sitting position. When he saw her enter, he gave her a smile.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey there. You're looking better," Olivia replied.

A.J. nodded. "Yeah. They said that tomorrow I can go over and see Sara for a little while. Have you been to see her?"

"Not yet today. How are you doing otherwise?" She knew that the ordeal would be taking its toll on him as much as anyone.

"I've been thinking about it a lot."

"Yeah, me too." Olivia looked down at the floor for a moment. "I'm sorry about your parents."

A.J. turned away for a moment, rubbing at his eyes. "Still can't really believe it. I mean we could hear all the crashing and yelling, but when I went out... I wasn't expecting that."

And really, how could he? People didn't walk around believing something so horrible could actually happen to them.

Olivia took a bracing breath. "I'm going to do the best I can to help you. Both of you."

He gave her a small smile of amusement. "Yeah. Sara said that you would, before all of this. The first time I saw her really trust someone, besides me."

"Well I've meant everything I've said."

"I know."

"You know, she's lucky to have someone like you," Olivia said. It just came out.

The color rose in A.J.'s face. He cleared his throat. "Um, yeah, I guess. I mean, everybody needs someone to look out for them, don't they?"

Olivia nodded. She knew that it wasn't just some sort of perceived obligation on his part. He truly cared about what happened to Sara. And from the blossoming crimson, she knew that A.J. cared a lot. It was good to see. Olivia knew that the two would need each other if there was any hope of getting through it. Not over it, she wasn't naive enough to believe it would ever be completely out of mind.

She gave him a quick squeeze on his shoulder before she left. It was so much easier not to get overwhelmed by it all with some quality rest. Getting it, though, was likely to remain a chore until she knew everyone was where they needed to be. Wherever that was. Time and space constraints meant that it wasn't with her. Olivia's job simply didn't give her enough time to make sure they got all the care and support they needed. Her apartment wasn't much, and a civil servant's salary left a lot to be desired.

All she could do was be there as much as she possibly could.

The door to Sara's room was still propped open. Olivia saw that and began to approach more slowly, not wanting to startle her. She rounded the corner and saw Sara lying on her side with her head tilted towards the door. Her eyes were closed. Debating whether she should enter, Olivia decided to stay for a little while and then leave without waking her up.

When she got a few steps into the room Sara's eyes opened. She flinched, but then settled back down. Sara looked relieved to see her.

"I didn't mean to wake you up," Olivia said.

Sara shrugged. She hid her arms under the blanket, and Olivia guessed the short-sleeved gown was very uncomfortable for her. "I wasn't really sleeping."

Her voice was still rough, but it was clear talking wasn't quite as painful as yesterday.

"Feeling better today?"

"Some," Sara replied.

Olivia sat down next to the bed. She smiled. "That's good. You're looking better today."

"The doctor said that I could be discharged in a couple days."

Olivia frowned. She thought Sara would be excited about the prospect, but her tone was conflicted. "You don't sound too happy about that."

"Where will I go? I don't wanna go back to that place," Sara said adamantly. She chewed on her lip, clearly concerned about where she would end up. And Olivia couldn't really blame her. There was bound to be some time when nowhere would feel particularly safe. Going back to the Lombard's wasn't an option anyway, so that was taken out of the equation.

Olivia put a hand over Sara's, separated by the blanket. "I'm going to take care of it, ok? I'll make sure you go somewhere good. And if you don't like it, I'll just look for another one. So you don't have to worry about that."

"What about A.J.?"

"I'm going to make sure he's just fine, too. Ok?"

"Ok," Sara replied.