Chapter 25
It didn't matter how fast they drove as they pulled up to the Stabler home and found Kathy being put in the back of the police car. Elliot cursed under his breath and the two exited their car the moment he slammed it into park in the nearest space.
"What happened?" Elliot asked as he flashed his badge.
"She took a swing at the shrink," Officer Sweeney said referring to the mental health NYPD representative.
"Are you arresting her?" Olivia wanted to know.
"No, I'm taking her to Bellevue for a psych exam," the officer responded.
"I'm going with you," Elliot told him.
"I'll give you a lift. Who is going to stay with the kids?" Sweeney asked.
"I'll stay," Olivia turned to him and gave him a reassuring look. Suddenly, they could hear Kathy screaming that she didn't want Olivia near her kids.
"Do what you gotta do. I don't want to put her in the system if I can help it," Sweeney said. Olivia nodded and headed inside to check on everyone while Elliot climbed into the passenger seat of the patrol car.
"Hey guys," Olivia smiled slightly at the kids. Maureen was on the couch in the living room holding onto Lizzie, who was crying. Kathleen and Dickie were sitting in the other chairs in the room, just shocked, and unsure what was next.
"Detective Benson?" a blonde woman about her age asked from behind her. Olivia turned around and gave her a once over.
"Yes and you are…?" Olivia asked as they shook hands.
"Doctor Hill, NYPD psychiatrist," she smiled slightly.
"What happened?" Olivia wanted to know as she ushered her to the kitchen table.
"I showed up with Officer Sweeney as per our arrangement and Mrs. Stabler became a bit unglued," Hill explained.
"What's wrong with her?" The detective asked.
"Regrettably, I can't give a diagnosis based off of my limited time with her. She was combative and refused to answer my questions, including simple ones, like how things were going. Then as I tried to press a little harder, she took a swing at me," Hill told her.
"You have to understand that Kathy is not like that normally. Elliot is concerned for her and the kids which is why he asked for help," Olivia said.
"This was a sudden change in behavior?" The psychiatrist was curious.
"Yes. For a long time I feel like she felt Elliot was cheating on her with me because he spent more time with me but it's the job. He loves his kids and for a long time he loved Kathy. It's just stressful when you're trying to catch rapists and then not bring it home with you," the detective told her.
"I could see that. Now, what behaviors did she display?" Hill pressed.
"Well she slapped me in the precinct, I didn't press charges. Then she tried to say that El lied on the divorce paperwork and dragged him into court. She tried to take custody of the kids away from him by being sneaky and underhanded. She believes that I'm trying to become their new mom. Then she got angry when the judge sided with Elliot. He has been avoiding coming into the house because he's concerned that she might start a fight when he comes to pick up the kids for their weekend visits," Olivia explained.
"I'm going to get a ride to Bellevue and share this information with the doctors there. It might not be a mental disorder but a physical issue," the psychiatrist said.
"We just want her to be healthy. Whatever it takes," Olivia said.
"I'll see what I can do. Thanks for your help," Hill smiled and walked outside to hail a taxi. Olivia then turned her focus to the kids. She wasn't sure how they'd react but she had to try and comfort them.
"What's going to happen to Mom?" Maureen asked. Lizzie has stopped crying but was still leaning on her older sister.
"They're taking her to the hospital to get checked out. Doctor Hill is going to help but I need a little help from you guys so I can pass along some information to her," Olivia said.
"What like snooping in her things?" Kathleen was glaring at the detective.
"It's not snooping if her medications are interacting. We need to give the doctors all the information we can," Olivia explained. She hated to do this but she also didn't have time to just go snooping around the house. Not only that, it would not look like help to the kids.
"Mom doesn't take anything except for when she's having sinus troubles or a cold," Maureen told her.
"Ok, that's good to know. Is she having troubles now?" Olivia asked.
"No. Other than her weird moods she seems fine," Maureen shrugged.
"I found a bottle of pills…" Lizzie spoke up and all the eyes in the room turned to her.
"Where sweetie?" Olivia wanted to know.
"I was helping with the wash and the bottle fell out of Mom's scrubs," she said.
"Do you still have it?" The detective was secretly hoping that the girl did. Kathy could be self-medicating or hiding a serious condition from everyone.
"No but I wrote down the name of it so I could look it up," Lizzie admitted.
"You're such a snoop!" Kathleen burst out.
"Lay off stinkweed! There could be something really wrong with Mom!" Dickie shouted back, protecting his twin.
"That's enough! It's not snooping; it might be the only thing that helps your Mom and the Doctors. Now Lizzie, please get the piece of paper that you wrote the name down on. Maureen, have you guys eaten lunch?" Olivia started to take charge as the youngest daughter headed for the paper she had.
"Yeah but it probably wouldn't hurt to get something going for dinner," the older girl said.
"Ok, you guys want pizza? My treat," the older woman smiled.
"Sounds good to me," Dickie smiled slightly.
"All right, call the place you usually go and ask for delivery. I'm going to call your father," Olivia told them. Lizzie returned and the detective thanked her before getting on her phone in the other room.
"El, Lizzie said she found this pill bottle in her mother's scrubs," Olivia told him.
"She's self-medicating?" Elliot sounded defeated.
"I have no idea but the medicine is called Levothyroxine," she said.
"Ok, I'll tell the doctor. It's time for your meds," he noted and her jaw almost dropped. In the middle of all of this he remembered that she needed to take her medicine.
"I didn't grab any when we left," she realized.
"In the console, in the car," Elliot said.
"Good to know. Call me when you know something. The kids and I are going to have pizza," Olivia told him.
"Great. I'll call you when I know something," he heaved a sigh.
"Good luck," she said.
"Thanks, you too," Elliot told her. With that the call was over and Olivia headed back out to the kitchen. She became lightheaded and steadied herself on the wall. Maureen saw that she was struggling and helped her to a chair.
"Are you ok?" The girl asked.
"Side effect of spending so long in the hospital and my medication, I'm afraid," she smiled slightly.
"I saw the news. I'm glad you're ok," Maureen smiled back. Olivia was a little surprised that Elliot and Kathy hadn't said anything but then again bringing up his partner might not have been such a good idea, giving the circumstances.
"I need a favor," the detective said.
"Sure," Maureen replied.
"My medication is in the car in the console. Could you get them for me?" Olivia asked as she handed her the keys from her jean pocket.
"Absolutely," the younger girl smiled and took the keys.
"Are you ok, Livvy?" Lizzie wanted to know.
"I'll be fine. Just going to take a little while for me to get back to normal, I guess. How about you Lizzie? Are you ok?" Olivia knew it was a loaded question but she wanted to really know.
"I have no idea," she answered truthfully. Olivia held out her arms and pulled her into a hug and the girl started to cry again.
"It's going to be ok sweetie. Your Dad is doing everything he can for your Mom. We'll get through this," the truth of the matter was, she had no idea if that was the case but that wasn't what Lizzie needed to hear. Dickie came into the room to return the phone to the cradle after ordering the pizza and waved it at her. Olivia mouthed "thank you" and he nodded. He then went about getting plates and napkins ready. Olivia noted that the only one missing was Kathleen. Maureen walked back in a couple of pill bottles in her hand. She seemed to notice that her middle sister wasn't in the room with everyone else. Setting the pills down on the table, Maureen moved into the living room and that's when everyone in the kitchen heard,
"That bitch is trying to replace Mom!" Lizzie started crying harder and Olivia just held her close.
To Be Continued…