It takes everything Cragen has to get Elliot to agree to be checked out by a doctor. He's been starved for three days and malnourished for over two weeks and outside in freezing weather for hours in only a t-shirt.

Predictably, Elliot protests vociferously. He's been taking care of Olivia for hours, making sure she's stayed alive, and the news that she is pregnant has only compounded his sense of responsibility for her as well as his guilt that he forced her to submit to his escape plan. Cragen knows all this, which is why he's not hard on him when he insists on a merely perfunctory examination so that he can be with Olivia.

Olivia, meanwhile, has regained consciousness but she's groggy and they've pumped her with so many drugs she keeps going in and out. The doctors have confirmed she didn't lose the baby and that she wasn't assaulted – physically, at least – but the pneumonia is advanced and they've had to put her on oxygen. She's gravely ill.

Elliot's been completely useless about giving them any information about the kidnapping. He never saw the rest of the facility, and spent their entire time in captivity in the room in the basement. Also, he can't understand why they want to pester him about the kidnapping when all he believes matters now is how Olivia and his baby are doing.

x-x-x-x-x-x

"Captain?" Olivia opens her eyes, but they're heavy and the light bothers her. She squints up at him for a second, then closes her eyes again.

"I'm right here," he reassures her. "And Elliot just went to get some coffee. He should be back any minute."

"Okay."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm… all right. Captain, the baby?" she asks hoarsely.

She was already told several hours ago when she woke up the first time, that the baby is okay. But that wakefulness only lasted a minute before she started coughing and they had to give her oxygen.

Cragen frowns. He knows it's just grogginess, that this is to be expected from her, but it's jolting nonetheless to see her so out of it. "The baby is fine, Olivia. It's you we've all been worried about."

"What… what happened to me?" she asks dazedly.

"You have pneumonia. Doctors say it probably started as a flu, but since you're pregnant and were starved, your immune system was weakened and you were more susceptible to complications." He grasps her wrist. "But you're gonna be fine, okay?"

"Did you figure out… who… why they took us?"

"Not yet." He squeezes her wrist in comfort. "But we think your kidnappers are dead, okay? We think they were killed a few days before you were found. At some point, when you're feeling up to it, we'll show you their photos and you can confirm that it's them."

She nods faintly. "Makes sense."

"What does?"

"Mmm…" she mumbles, her eyes fluttering closed.

"Olivia?" he prompts, and taps her wrist.

She seems to startle awake. "What?"

"What makes sense?"

"What?"

"That your kidnappers are dead," he answers patiently. "You said it makes sense."

"Why… why they stopped coming, to give me food." She closes her eyes again.

He wants to let her rest, but his ears have perked up at her statement. "Wait, to give you food? Were you separated from Elliot during your captivity?" He frowns, not liking where this is going. This was not at all his understanding of the circumstances under which they were held.

She nods weakly, her eyes still shuttered. "We didn't… didn't understand why. All of a sudden they started taking me out of the room and feeding me well. But not Elliot."

"And they didn't…" The inflection in his voice leaves the question hanging. He doesn't know how to ask her.

Even in her dazed state, she understands what he's asking. "No, they didn't. They never touched me, Captain."

He nods gratefully. Elliot reported the same; it was, in fact, the only information he divulged. But Cragen knows that if Olivia was alone with the kidnappers, there's no real way for Elliot to have known for sure. And so it's good to hear it from her. "Can you tell me more?"

"The first few days they were only feeding us candy bars. And then one day out of nowhere they took me upstairs and gave me this meal."

"What kind of meal?"

"Full course. It looked like it came from some restaurant. Then they let me take a shower. They did this three days in a row before they stopped coming."

"That's because they were dead," he nods thoughtfully. "Did they say anything to you? Tell you why they were doing this?"

"No. I asked at one point, but they ignored me. They had my gun pointed at me the whole time so when I saw that they weren't so talkative…. I shut up too."

"It was your gun? You're sure?"

"Yes."

He lets a moment pass. "Did they know you were pregnant?"

She shakes her head. "I don't see how. Nobody knew." She pauses, and Cragen catches the look of guilt that passes over her features. "Not even Elliot."

He nods kindly, waits a beat. "Olivia, can I ask who the father is?"

She draws in a sharp breath and looks down at the bed cover, avoiding his eyes. "I, uh…" she starts.

"You're not sure, are you?" he says softly.

She blushes fiercely.

He feels terrible. Whatever rules she might have broken with her partner, it was not his intention to embarrass her. "It's okay," he assures her, "it's none of my business anyway."

"Captain, please don't tell –"

"I won't say a word," he promises.

Elliot comes in with coffee just then, and is elated to see she's awake.

Cragen excuses himself to leave them alone. He decides to head back to the sheriff's station, where his squad has set up a command center.

Something about Olivia's story troubles him.

He just can't yet put his finger on what.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Elliot takes a seat by Olivia's bedside, his hand gently clutching her wrist. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm all right," she answers. "Elliot, I, uh, I have something to… I should've told you, I… I –"

"I know, Liv. And it's okay."

"You do?" Porter must be hanging around, she thinks. "You're not upset?"

He sighs. "I'm surprised, I guess. That you didn't tell me. But no, I'm not upset. I'm just glad you're okay. And that the baby is too."

"I was so scared to tell you. I thought you would be upset."

He leans over and looks into her eyes. "Honey, I love you so much and this is our baby. How could you think I would be upset?"

She closes her eyes, and nods faintly at her own misunderstanding of his understanding. She aches all over and wishes she could be in her own bed.

And that she doesn't have to keep living with fifty percent certainty.

x-x-x-x-x-x

In spite of his vehement protests, a stern nurse shoos Elliot out of Olivia's room because she needs to rest. Elliot is left roaming the halls, biding his time until the next shift, when he intends to slip back into her room and spend the night there. He has no intention of leaving her.

He is idly pacing the hallway when he spies a familiar face and frowns.

"What the hell are you doing here, Porter?" Elliot demands.

"Hey, man!" Porter protests, hands raised defensively in the air. "I'm just here to see how she's doing. No crime against that."

"You've got some nerve," Elliot growls.

"Hey, I care about her too!"

"Like hell you do! You nearly got her killed that day at JFK and then you betrayed her. I don't call that caring where I come from."

"Hey! I was only doing my job. And anyway, she and I got past that."

Elliot subtly moves in front of the door to Olivia's room, blocking it with his body. "Yeah, well, I don't think she'll be crushed if she doesn't see you today."

Porter sighs. "Look, Stabler, she's carrying my baby. I think I have a right to be here."

Elliot blinks, takes a moment to replay Porter's words in his head. Yes. The man said what he thought he said. He narrows his eyes. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I'm the father," he states matter-of-factly. A smirk forms on his face. "What, she didn't tell you?"

Elliot's eyes become slits. "Are you saying… are you saying you fucked my partner?"

"Is that some sort of crime?" Porter laughs. "Besides, I wouldn't call it fu–"

"You bastard," Elliot snarls.

And then he's on top of Porter and all he can see is red.