"Alex" Dr. Mathews said as he entered the room reading Olivia's test results.
"Yes" Alex said pulling away from Olivia and smiling at the slight blush she saw crossing her face. There had to be a camera here somewhere where they could watch them and think it was funny to walk in on them.
"I have Olivia's test result in." He said finally looking up causing Olivia to cringe at the sight of his eye.
"Dr. Mathews, I'm so sorry about your eye." Olivia said feeling every muscle in her body tense. Alex must have felt it as well because she reached down and ran her hand up and down Olivia's arm. The simple gesture seemed to calm her immensely.
"It's no problem." He answered waving her apology away "Are you two ladies to hear the results.
"Do you want me in here to hear the results?" Alex asked looking at Olivia.
"Now you give me a choice?" Olivia asked with some laughter in her voice.
"Yes now I give you a choice." Alex answered squeezing Olivia's hand. She desperately wanted to be in the room when Olivia was told the results but deep down she was afraid Olivia would tell her to leave.
"Stay but please bring Elliot in here too."
Alex nodded and quickly left the room to retrieve Stabler. She was thankful that when she motioned him to come with her he simply nodded and followed her no questions asked.
"We ready?" Dr. Mathews asked once everyone Olivia wanted there had gathered around her.
"Go ahead." Olivia said grabbing Alex's hand and holding on to it as if it was a life line for her.
"There has been slight improvement since the first time I performed an EEG." Dr. Mathews said looking Olivia directly in the eyes "The part of your brain that was affected is what we refer to as the cognitive function of the brain. It controls your behavior, causes you to have problems concentrating, organizing thoughts, become easily confused and sometimes forgetful. You can experience difficulty in solving problems, making decisions, and planning. I have encountered cases where judgment has been affected. At times it can affect your balance as well."
"How do we treat it?" Alex asked "What do we need to do?"
"There have been some advancement's using what's called a hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The sessions would need to be about an hour long to start with and would decrease over time. The first week I would like to perform it daily."
"What exactly is hyperbaric oxygen therapy?" Alex asked
"It is a treatment where hundred percent oxygen is administered at a pressure greater than the atmospheric pressure at sea level. It allows for a much larger oxygen-carrying capacity in the blood even in the absence of red blood cells, which carries oxygen throughout your body. This is giving us a method to deliver oxygen enriched blood to parts of the body that would not normally receive any because of a traumatic injury. Therefore in theory allowing the body to build new tissue and rebuild itself."
"How soon would you want to start this?" Olivia asked feeling nervous about the experiment he wanted to do. She hated to be anyone's guinea pig.
"The sooner the better." He said putting his clip board down at Olivia's feet "Keeping you in the drug induced coma assisted your body in healing some. It allowed you to stay in a relaxed state which kept your blood pumping at a constant steady rate. I'm not going to lie to you I had hoped that it would improve the area more than what it had but unfortunately it did not."
"Does this mean the damage could be permanent?" Olivia asked scared that this could affect her job.
"Depends, the sooner we start the treatment the better chance we have at a somewhat full recovery."
"What do you mean a somewhat full recovery?" Olivia growled sitting up to get closer to the doctor.
"There could be a chance you could have some long term effects from this injury. Unfortunately we won't know the full extent until time goes on."
"Is there anything else we can do?" Alex asked placing a hand on Olivia's shoulder.
"Along with the hyperbaric oxygen therapy I suggest having a behavioral therapist and a physical therapist. When I finished with the EEG I tested her reflexes and noticed some delayed reactions along with some trouble with hand eye coordination. Despite all the earlier evidence" he said pointing to his face in a joking tone. "The behavioral therapists will assist her in gaining control of her emotions again. They will be able to teach her coping mechanisms when she feels her anger reaching its boiling point."
"Can I ask you something and you be totally honest with me doctor?" Olivia asked
"Olivia I will answer any question you have honestly and to the best of my ability as well. If I cannot answer it for you I will find you someone who can or do whatever research is needed."
"Not going into great detail my genes are half violent. My father was not the nicest person you would ever meet. How much of a bearing does that hold on my behavior? "She asked before looking at Alex "I need to know how much danger she is in by being around me?"
Alex stared at Olivia silently letting her know that no matter what she proved she was staying by her side and letting her know that no matter what she was helping her through this.
"Despite what several scientists have tried to prove there is no correlation between the so called violent gene and brain injuries. Olivia I have spent my entire career in this field and have seen the nicest people you have ever met become the most violent and vice versa. I have actually had a wife that said she thanked god every day that her husband received a TBI. He had gone from beating her on a regular basis to becoming the type of man he should be. I have also had cases where the person became violent and with therapy returned to their old self."
"Until my therapy is complete how much danger is she in?" Olivia growled spinning her head around to face the doctor "I have to know."
"Honestly there is no way of telling. That is another time will tell factors."
"Thank you doctor." Alex answered walking forward to shake his hand "I greatly appreciate everything you have done for Olivia."
"My pleasure." He answered shaking her hand. "Should I schedule her for the hyperbaric oxygen therapy?"
Alex and Elliot both looked over at Olivia waiting for her response.
"As soon as possible and I'll need a behavioral therapist ASAP as well."
"Very well I will start therapy at nine in the morning." He said turning toward the door "If you have any further questions you have my personal cell to reach me any time."
"We do thank you." Both Alex and Elliot said in unison.
"I think I will head back to the waiting room so you two ladies can talk." Elliot said heading toward the door noticing the looks the two women were giving each other.
"Alex…" Olivia started to say but was stopped by Alex raising her hand.
"Don't Alex me we've had this discussion and I am not repeating it." Alex said softening her tone as she spoke "I'm safe with you. You know it and I know. Now it's been a long morning already. Please lay back and relax while I work on finding you the therapists that you need."
Olivia just nodded as she laid back and closed her eyes. She really wanted to argue the fact that it was too dangerous for her to be near her but couldn't find the energy at the moment. She made a mental not as she dozed off to try to convince Alex to stay away until she spoke with the therapist.
A/N: I'm sorry it took so long to post this chapter but not only was this a difficult chapter for me to start but I had to try and research treatment options. Please remember I know nothing medically except what I learn off Gray's Anatomy and ER or from the internet. To the reviewer who let me know about the hyperbaric oxygen therapy I thank you so much.