Author's Comments: Okay, right about here I thought I was almost done with this story, but I have to tell you guys, I have up to Chapter Eighteen, and the real awesome parts of the story are coming up—let's just say it has to do with how Elliot and Olivia try to resolve their issues…
Too Close
Chapter Thirteen
Part 1.
Fin and Amanda had come to take Moses away while Elliot was trying to find the victim, so he had no other choice than to leave Olivia alone for another night in the horrid place and return to the precinct. He rested his head in his hands while the other detectives whispered bits and pieces about the case to one another, and he knew they were discussing Olivia's stay in the psych ward, the news fresh to most of them.
Fin emerged from the interrogation room to announce, "Well this guard isn't giving anything up. He's a real piece of work—been fired from two other security jobs for sexual harassment, and has a juvenile record for raping a much younger girl."
Elliot pounded his fist on the desk, frustrated at their inability to get the case off the ground. "It's all my fault she's in there," he mumbled.
Fin bent over him and said loudly, "It's not all about you, Stabler."
Nick snickered his agreement, but Elliot ignored them, too miserable to care about their opinions of something they knew nothing about.
George Huang ventured in and joined the discussion, saying, "Well, I finally heard back from the Office of Mental Health, and they aren't going to start an investigation until tomorrow. In the meantime, there's nothing I can do to get Olivia out of there."
"This is bogus," said Amanda. "You mean they have a right to just shock her into compliance? It's barbaric."
"I agree," said George. "Mental patients have a right to refuse ECT, and I'm completely against the procedure. It causes the brain to seizure, which is what leads to memory loss, and even loss of brain function. Plus, they aren't supposed to administer it without anesthetic and muscle relaxers, which is why her ankle fractured to begin with. The medications keep the body from convulsing with such intensity."
"I wish everyone would stop referring to her as a mental patient," said Elliot.
Amanda ignored the comment and said, "So what do we do in the meantime, to ensure that this doesn't happen again?"
"Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do until the state conducts its investigation," said George. "Their practices may be archaic and unethical, but they are still legal, as long as the hospital can provide some sort of justification."
"Well, I can't just sit here and do nothing," said Elliot, standing up and grabbing his coat. "I can at least park outside the facility, in case something does happen."
"How would you know if something does happen, Stabler?" said Nick.
"I have my ways," he yelled back over his shoulder.
Part 2.
Olivia lay in the darkness as memories began to flood back to her in no particular order. She recalled Dr. Romanov's face staring down at her as she was bound up in the basement, and then she remembered talking to Rita and handing her the note. An image of the entire trip downstairs to receive ECT came back to her in scattered pieces—the restraints, the elevator ride, the terrifying moment right before the nurse flipped the switch. She began to shiver, and pulled more blankets on top of her, to no effect.
And then she remembered the rape she witnessed. As clear as day, the scene played out in her mind, and she knew she had the key to leaving this place. Unable to sleep, she spent the rest of the long night huddled under the covers, trembling while she waited for 7 a.m. to arrive.
As soon as it did, she stumbled out of the bed and maneuvered her clunky cast over to her wheelchair. She wheeled herself into the common room, searching for the one face that she trusted to help her. "Rita," she said, spotting the woman now, "I need your help again."
"Sure," said Rita, and Olivia told her what to do.
As Olivia finished with her, Roberto appeared in the doorway and said, "Miss Olivia—I've been looking for you. Ready for your second round of treatments?"
"Second round?" she said, a wrench of fear tightening around her heart. "No."
"What do you mean no?" Roberto said, smiling. "Your treatment plan says daily ECT, so that's where we're going."
He got behind her and began to push her wheelchair, and she dragged her hands on the wheels, trying to slow their progress. "Man, am I going to have to call the nurse to sedate you?" he said.
Casting one last glance back at Rita, eyes pleading for her to hurry, she reluctantly raised her hands up and let him roll her to the elevator. "Roberto, can we just talk about this?" she said. "Maybe we could put this off for a little while."
"You'll have to take it up with Dr. Romanov," he said. "He's waiting for us in the basement."
As soon as the elevator doors closed, the world closed in on Olivia and all the blood drained from her head, and she thought she might pass out. She couldn't force herself to voluntarily get on the operating table again, and she knew that if it came to that, they would have to sedate her. She would fight this time, she was sure of it, and it might take twenty men to wrestle her onto that table if they didn't drug her.
Dr. Romanov was waiting for them in the procedure room, and she tried talking to him first. "Doctor," she said, her tone conciliatory, "I'm asking nicely, can I please have a break from ECT today? My foot hurts pretty bad, and I'm afraid I might reinjure it."
The evil doctor grinned and said, "I'm afraid we have to put your mental health above everything else. Isn't it more important that you no longer feel the urge to hurt yourself?"
She sighed and put her head down in resignation, and the doctor said, "I am thinking you could benefit from an extended stay here at the hospital. I will be petitioning the court to keep you longer so we can keep up with your treatment."
She looked up at him, her mouth falling open. "You're kidding me," she said.
"Not one bit," he said. "Roberto, will you get her ready?"
As Roberto helped her to her feet, adrenaline rushed through her, knocking out the mental fog that had held her down. All she had to do was take one look at the restraints, and she knew she could lift a Mack truck to get out of here if she had to. She glanced down at Roberto's side, honing in on the Taser on his belt, and then her elbow flew up and knocked him right in the nose, causing him to bend over in pain.
As Roberto tried to stave the stream of blood coming from his nose, Olivia leaned over and grabbed the Taser from him, steadying it in her hand and firing at him. He dropped to the floor, writhing in pain. She turned her head to see a stunned Dr. Romanov watching her with wide eyes. Then he began to move in on her as well, and she held the Taser toward him. "You stay away from me," she said, "or you'll get the same treatment you gave me."
Taser pointed squarely toward him, she sat down in the wheelchair and pushed herself awkwardly to the elevator, cursing at it to descend to the basement faster. Dr. Romanov stayed a few feet from her but followed her, stopping short when the elevator doors opened and she wheeled herself onto it. As the doors closed behind her, he charged the elevator, trying to get to them before they shut all the way, but it was too late. She sat waiting an eternity for the elevator to ascend, knowing that there had to be stairs, and nurses with syringes to boot.