What You Wish For

Chapter 18

Phew! I finally had a spare minute to write the next chapter! It's been busy as heck at the moment! For those that don't already know, I'm a teacher, but also run my own business so free time is a rarity. But here it is! The next chapter! I will try so, so hard to get another one written this weekend!

It's been a couple of weeks since Olivia was shot and has been lying in the hospital in a medically induced coma. She's had plenty of visitors, including Elliot maintaining constant watch over her. But maybe it's time for her to come back down to earth and wake up. Read and review and encourage me to write more, faster! They aren't mine – they belong to Dick Wolf!

Elliot stretched his neck as he resumed his vigilance over Liv's bedside. He'd been an almost permanent fixture for the two weeks she had been in the hospital; leaving only to occasionally shower and to return to the precinct to help with the case. He was rarely gone more than a few hours and was becoming well known with the orderlies and nurses. He'd learned to control his temper around them when they asked him to leave Liv's side. He'd worked out that keeping on their good side meant that they let him stay well past visiting hours, and would bring him meals so that he didn't have to leave her and go to the cafeteria.

Elliot had had the stitches out of his leg a few days prior and spoke with the same nurse from the day he'd received the injury. There was a tender line of healing flesh on his calf; one that would probably leave a scar. He had already caused it to bleed once due to overexerting himself and he had to remember that he was meant to be "taking it easy". Those were Cragen's orders and the Captain had been vigilant in instigating them. Even if Elliot hadn't been glued to Liv's side he would have been on restricted duty. Cragen wanted Elliot to speak with Huang before he was placed back on active duty.

The Captain was still under the impression that Elliot was the father of Liv's child and would need to be assessed and given bereavement counselling before being allowed back to work. Elliot had not found it in himself to explain to the Captain the parentage of Liv's unborn child, and didn't feel that it was his place to do. As much as he and Fin were at each other's throats at the moment, it wasn't for Elliot to out the other officer's relationship with Olivia.

Elliot looked up as the day nurse came into the room to take Olivia's vitals. She gave him a smile.

"How are you today, Detective Stabler?"

"Hanging in there, Marcie. How are the kids?" Elliot's eyes followed the nurse's movements as she routinely checked the IV port in Olivia's hand, the drip bag, and took Olivia's vitals.

"Oh, they're good. The little one is already counting down the days till Christmas. There's no telling him that it's only September. You know how they can be."

"Don't I ever. When my twins were that age I had to stop them from putting out their stockings in August." He shared a small chuckle with the nurse, remembering just how excited for Christmas Dickie and Lizzie used to get when they were younger. Now, they were too old for that childish excitement. At 15 it wasn't "cool" to put out stocking and cookies and milk. Of course, they still got excited about presents. Elliot felt a bittersweet sense of sentimentality at the thought that Christmas wasn't the same when children grew older. It lost some of the magic. His thoughts trailed to what it would be like to celebrate Christmas with Liv and a baby. His lips tugged into a smile at the image. As the realisation hit him that Liv wouldn't be spending Christmas with a baby he also realised that this would be his first Christmas since the divorce. His first Christmas without the kids. He needed to talk to Kathy and work out what they were going to do. He wondered if Liv would be well by then. If she would have forgiven him by then.

"Kids, eh?" Marcie gave him a quirky smile as she jotted Liv's pulse down onto the chart. "Will you be here all day?" She asked him. As soon as she asked she almost rolled her eyes as if to say of course he would be there.

"I plan to be. Why?"

"The doctor is going to be coming in soon to assess Detective Benson's condition. They might be waking her up today." She gave him a supportive smile, hoping this small piece of good news would lighten the detective's spirits.

All the nurses were aware of the situation and there was a lot of gossip regarding the two detectives and the baby the Detective Benson lost. It had been the most interesting thing the staff had had to talk about in months. Marcie, herself, wasn't usually one for gossip but she did have a soft spot for Detective Stabler and she admired his vigilance over his partner. It was admirable, and the romantic in her swooned whenever she caught the look in his eye as he gazed at his partner. It was like some kind of tragic love story. Star crossed partners destined to be together and all that.

Of course, Marcie knew the reality and she knew enough of inter-office relationships to know that these two detectives had a long, hard road ahead. Despite all the office politics surrounding partners engaging in a relationship, there would be Detective Benson's recovery to consider. She was not yet out of the woods and she would have a lot to deal with when she woke up. Her injury was healing, and the doctor hoped to remove the drainage tubes in the next few days. But there were the emotional injuries that she had yet to deal with. The trauma of being shot, the loss of her baby – these would all take time.

So yes, she was a romantic, but Marcie knew that it might not be a happy ending for these two. That didn't stop her from hoping, though.

"They're going to wake her up?" Detective Stabler's voice pulled her from her reverie.

"Yes, that's the plan. The doctor wants to check the progress of her wound, as well as her vitals and then will hopefully start the process of waking Detective Benson. It would be good for her to have a friendly face here when she comes to."

Elliot nodded. He hadn't had plans to leave Liv's side but now he was definitely going to be staying in place.

"I'm going to call my Captain to let him know what's happening." Elliot slowly stood, stretching his limbs and feeling his joints creak as he uncurled from the chair. His body was certainly not thanking him for keeping up his vigil over Liv.

Stepping out of the room he placed a quick call to the station to inform the Captain that they were hopefully going to be waking Liv up. The Captain thanked him and promised to be at the hospital as soon as he could. Elliot knew that the older man looked at Olivia as a daughter and had been worried sick the entire time she was in the hospital. He was about to re-enter the room when a thought crossed his mind. Pulling his phone out once more he quickly typed a text message to Fin, giving him a condensed version of the information he'd just given Cragen. Fin had a right to be there, too, if he chose. If nothing else, he deserved to know that Liv was hopefully going to be awake in the very near future.

With a sigh, followed by a deep breath, Elliot went back into Olivia's room and took his place beside her. He took her hand in his and waited.

A short time later the doctor arrived. He was professional and brief. He checked Olivia's vital signs, her wounds and gave the all clear. He administered the drugs and left Elliot with a nurse to wait. And they waited.

Cragen arrived, looking tired and worn. Elliot filled him in, his eyes rarely leaving Olivia's face. He watched her intently, looking for any sign of wakefulness. And they waited.

Fin arrived, stern faced and tight lipped. Cragen had given the detective look, before nodding and accepting that he should expect the whole department to arrive, considering how much they cared for Olivia. And they waited.

As the afternoon bled into the evening there was no sign or change in Liv. She continued to lie there, motionless and pale against the white linen. The evening became the dead of night and then, early morning and, still, the three men waited. Eventually Fin and Cragen left, having to go back to the precinct. But Elliot maintained his watch. He sat and he waited for Liv to come back to him.

He waited two days.

Yes, I left it on a cliff hanger. Want the next bit? Write a review and tell me so! What's going to happen when Olivia wakes up? Is she going to wake up? How are her injuries going? Is there any permanent damage? Is she going to forgive Elliot and Fin? How is she going to handle the news about the baby? Argh so many things to know! Let me know what you think!