Thanks for the reviews, glad you all seemed to like the last chapter. Some of you wanted to see Elliot in this and I had no plans to actually have him in this but I came up with something that should hopefully make those of you who wanted to see him happy. I hope.

Thanks again guys.

Disclaimer: Not mine if you've seen them on SVU.

Chapter 8

Olivia opened her eyes but quickly shut them again, god the light was bright. She tried opening them again but still the light continued to burn her eyes. "Liv! Olivia, can you hear me?" she heard.

She tried to speak, tried to say 'yes', but her mouth and throat were bone dry. "Water?" was all she could say, her voice sounded raspy and almost like a man's.

She blinked her eyes open and saw the cup that was being held by her face, a pink straw sticking out of it. She moved her head forward and took the straw between her lips. She took two hungry gulps of the water before she began coughing.

"Easy, partner." She heard as she felt a hand begin to rub soothing circles on her back.

She hadn't realised she had come to be sitting forward because of the pain she was feeling. Coughing had made stabbing pain shoot right through her entire body. She slowly lay back down and remembered how she had become so injured.

She now opened her eyes fully and looked around her. She knew she was in a hospital room. She turned to look up at Amaro who stood beside her bed. He then sat down on the edge of her bed and said, "Bout time you woke up."

"How long have I been out?" she asked, her voice weak.

"Three day's on and off. Let me get a doctor." he said as he stood up.

She reached out and grabbed his wrist, wincing at the pain the movement caused her.

"Hey, I said take it easy." he reminded her.

"Tell me what happened first?"

"You can't remember?" Amaro asked.

"The last thing I remember was being in the pool room. Martin stabbed me…again…" her eyes widened as she thought back, "He was on top of me…oh my God, did he?"

"No!" Amaro quickly told her, "We got there as he was about to. They did an exam to be sure but it was negative, Liv."

She looked at him, tears in her eyes. "Thank God," she choked out. "Guess I should thank you for saving my ass." she said.

"I just shot Martin. Richard is the one who dove into the pool to save you from drowning."

"Richard…" Olivia said, thinking back to how wrong she had gotten it, and the price she had nearly paid for being so wrong. "I bet he hates me?" she said.

"I doubt it. It's actually kinda ironic that you've woken up now because the guy hasn't left your bedside except to call his kids and yell at the doctors and nurses to take better care of you."

Olivia smiled. She wanted to see him, but before she could ask Amaro to find him a nurse walked in. She saw Olivia awake and called for a doctor. Amaro was pushed out of the room and for the next thirty minutes Olivia found herself being tested and questioned by doctors and nurses.

~0~0~0~0~

She had been grateful to see the back of the doctors. They had checked her wounds; at least that's what they had called it. She preferred the term 'prodded and poked'. She was sorer than she had been when she had actually being stabbed. She lay there feeling sorry for herself and waiting for pain meds she had just received to start working.

She looked up when she heard a knock on the door and said, "Come in!"

When she saw who it was she felt her heart skip a beat. "Richard…"

Richard smiled as he walked over to her. He hesitated before he sat down in the chair beside her bed, clearly familiar with it. "Nick called me to tell me you were awake. I had gone home to shower and check on the children."

"How are they?" Olivia asked. She knew it may be out of line but she couldn't help it. She cared for them.

"They're good. They're being spoilt by my mother who is staying with us." he told her, making her smile. "They keep asking me about you. They miss you." he told her.

"I miss them too." she said a little sadly.

A silence fell upon them for a while, and when it finally got to a point where it had to be taken they both spoke at the same time. Their words became a tangled mess.

"Richard, look, I just want to say sorry to you. I should have known you were innocent." Olivia said.

"But you were doing your job, Detective Benson. Olivia Benson. I knew there was a reason I didn't think your name suited you." he said with a smile.

Olivia smiled back, "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Nichole is a nice name but Olivia…well, it's you, a beautiful name for a devastatingly beautiful woman." he said.

"A Detective." she reminded him. "I was lying to you." she said.

"You were doing your job." he said again. "But, well…?" he began, clearly struggling with whatever he had to say. "I meant it when I told you that I loved you…"

Olivia sighed loudly and turned her head. She raked her fingers through her hair and turned to face him. "And I wasn't lying when I told you that I loved you." she said to him, tears in her eyes. She hated that they were there but she couldn't control them.

Richard stood up and sat back down on the edge of the bed. He placed one hand on her side, the side that hadn't been stabbed, and then reached up and brushed away a tear that had fallen. "You have no idea how good it feels to know that you didn't lie about that." he said.

She nuzzled her face into his palm and then placed a kiss on it too. His touch was so warm and gentle. Richard leant forward and she turned her face into his, resting her forehead against his for a moment before he placed a soft lingering kiss there. He pulled away only to then place another one there. "God, I was so scared that I was going to lose you." he whispered to her.

Olivia couldn't speak to him because of a wave of emotion that washed over her. All she could do was wrap her arms around Richard's back and hold onto him as her tears fell, tears of fear for her life that she had almost lost, tears for the rape that she had come close to falling victim to and tears for the love she felt for Richard.

She leant back and looked into his eyes. Richard looked back at her until he could no longer resist the urge to kiss her. His lips met hers in a gentle and loving but passionate kiss. He gently held her face, placing a soft kiss on all her bruises, wishing he could kiss them away.

"Forgive me!" he whispered to her.

"I think it's me who should be asking you to forgive me." she said.

"I mean forgive me for letting Martin hurt you. I promise you I will never let anyone hurt you ever again." he said to her before they kissed again.

~0~0~0~0~

Olivia woke up a few hours later and looked over at the door. She was sure she'd seen it close. She figured it must just have been a nurse or a doctor or maybe Richard, but when she turned her head she noticed the biggest and newest bunch of flowers in the room, Lilies, her favourite. She saw the card in them and pulled it out. It simply read, 'Liv, feel better soon, all my love always, El.'

Olivia felt her heart begin to pound hard against her chest! Had he been the one to leave her room as she woke up? She jumped up out of bed, yelping in pain, but she darted over to the door as quickly as she could, the card still in her hand.

She pulled open the door and looked down the corridor. It was empty. She turned and looked up the corridor only to find that too was empty. She felt gutted, she had so badly wanted to find him out in the corridor.

She walked back over to her bed, regretting having wasted the time moving and having put herself in more pain. She climbed back in and read the card again, then once more. She turned and looked at the Lilies and smiled. She loved them, she just wished she had gotten to say hi to her best friend when he had dropped them off, but for both their sakes she knew this way was easier and probably for the best.

"Thanks, El." she muttered to herself before she closed her eyes and let herself drift back off to sleep.

TBC

Thanks for reading. Please review and let me know what you think. I'm thinking only one, possibly two more chapters to wrap this all up, but maybe three if I take this to a happily ever after place.