The buzzing of her cell phone against the wooden night stand startled Olivia awake. She was used to it while she was working, often getting called out in the middle of the night on cases, but since she'd adopted Noah they rarely called her, knowing she couldn't just up and leave…and since she wasn't working at all now, there was no reason for them to call. It took a few seconds for her to open her eyes and realize that if her phone was ringing in the middle of the night that it wasn't because of work…and once she realized that she grabbed it quickly, seeing the ICU number and fearing the worst.

"Ms. Benson…" the nurse's voice was calm, but Olivia couldn't read her voice well enough to know if it was good news or bad.

"What's wrong?" Olivia's voice shook. "Is something wrong with Elliot?"

"No…not at all," the nurse said gently. "You asked us to call with any change."

"What change?" Olivia asked.

"Ms. Benson…he opened his eyes," the nurse told her.

"He what…" Olivia asked in disbelief.

"He opened his eyes," the nurse said again. "Just for a little while, but he did open them."

"Did he say anything?" Olivia asked.

"We told him he was in the hospital…that he'd been hurt and had surgery," the nurse explained. "But he didn't say anything in response. That's not unusual though. It takes time to fully become aware after a coma. It'll get better…"

"I want to see him," Olivia said, already getting out of bed and pulling on her shoes, not bothering to change out of Elliot's Marine Corps t-shirt and sweats she'd taken to wearing to bed every night in an attempt to feel closer to him. "I'm coming up there…"

"Ms. Benson, it can wait until morning," the nurse said gently. "He's not awake now. It could be hours or even days before he opens his eyes again."

"Please…" Olivia begged. "I need to see him."

"Alright," the nurse agreed. "I think we can make an exception on the visiting hours…but just you right now. If he does wake up again we don't want to overwhelm him with a lot of visitors."

"Okay," Olivia smiled. "I'll be there soon." She walked over to the crib and checked on Noah who was sleeping peacefully. "Your daddy's going to wake up," she whispered. Then she headed down the hall toward Maureen's room. She hated to wake her up, knowing that she'd want to go to the hospital as well when the nurse specifically said only Olivia should come, but she needed her to know she was leaving so she could listen for Noah.

She was startled when Richard walked out of the bathroom unexpectedly, "Olivia…why are you up? Is something wrong?" he asked nervously.

"No," she shook her head and smiled, "The hospital called. Your dad woke up…just for a few minutes. But he was awake."

"Oh my God," Richard smiled. He was one day from heading back to school, and he had been sure he wouldn't get any good news before he left. "Can we see him?"

"I'm going up there now," Olivia said gently. "She said he could only have one person with him…but as soon as he wakes up again I'll call you. When the doctor says it's alright, you kids can come…okay?"

He nodded, "But call…as soon as he wakes up again. I don't care what time it is."

"I will," she reached out and hugged him close. "Dickie…I'm so glad you and Lizzie are still here. I'm glad you're going to get to see him open his eyes before you go back to school."

"Me too," Richard smiled. "Now you should get going…in case he wakes up again…someone should be there."

Olivia nodded, "I need to wake up Maureen first. So she can listen for Noah."

"I'll go in with Noah," Richard insisted. "And I'll wake Maureen and Lizzie up after you go. If you do it, you'll spend another half hour trying to explain everything and you'll probably have a fight on your hands trying to keep Maureen from going with you. Just go…I'll take care of things here…don't worry."

Olivia glanced at her watch, noticing it was already two in the morning and sighed, "Okay…thanks," then she rushed down the stairs, stopping to grab her coat and purse and headed out the door.

The hospital was quiet so late at night. The rooms were lit with the blinking lights of the monitors, and an occasional beep or ding broke through the silence, but compared to the hustle and bustle of the day, it was quiet. Olivia sat in the chair next to Elliot's bed and watched as he slept, and even though the nurse had explained to her that he had fallen back into the coma within minutes of opening his eyes, it felt more like he was just asleep for the night, like he might wake up and ask her where she'd been earlier or why she wasn't in bed herself, something normal he might say if they were in bed at home…something that would let her know he was still the same Elliot…that the bullet hadn't taken him away from her. So she sat, and waited for it.

A few hours later Olivia opened her eyes, realizing she had fallen asleep herself and stood from the chair, arching her back to work out the kinks. Sleeping in the chair had done a number on her back and she moaned a little at the pain. The nurse walked in, smiling as she looked at Elliot's vital signs, "He's doing well," she said. "You don't have to sit in here. Maybe you should go home for a while…we'll call…"

"No…" Olivia insisted. "When he wakes up again, I'm going to be here. You said I could stay…"

"You can," the nurse said gently. "But you need to take care of yourself and that baby too. He'd want that…"

Olivia nodded, "I'm fine…the baby's fine…I just shouldn't have fallen asleep in the chair. I guess I didn't realize how uncomfortable it is sitting here since I've only been able to stay an hour all the other times." She rubbed her hand over her stomach, "I'll just stand for a while, walk around some…it'll be okay." She winced a little at the pressure she was feeling from the baby, "I need to use the restroom," she said, heading toward the door, "But I'll be right back."

When Olivia came back in the room she looked questioningly at the nurse, as if she expected Elliot to wake up while she was gone. The nurse shook her head, "You didn't miss anything." She assured her and she watched as Olivia walked slowly across the room, her hand on her back, trying to relieve some of her pain. "Why don't I see if someone from maintenance can bring a more comfortable chair down here for you? We have some nicer ones…recliners…we have them on the maternity ward and in the children's wing. We just don't keep them in ICU because visitors can't stay long, but since we made the exception for you…we can at least give you a comfortable place to rest."

"Thanks," Olivia nodded, as the nurse left the room. She walked over to Elliot's bed, watching intently for any sign that he was going to wake up. It was almost six o'clock and the day was starting…the day he was going to come back to her for good…she could feel it. "El…" she whispered. "Just open your eyes…please." A noise from behind surprised her and she turned her head to see a man carrying in a chair and she smiled, "Thanks for bringing that."

"No problem ma'am," he looked at Elliot, unconscious in the bed and gave a sad smile. "Use it as long as you need."

Olivia scooted the chair over as close to Elliot's bed as she could without disturbing the cords and tubes that were attached to his body. Then she sat down, and let the recliner fall back, wadding up her coat and placing it to her side to support the swell of her stomach and turning her body, laying on her side so she could face him. She could reach his hand with hers, just barely and she stretched a little more so she could rub her fingers across his. She felt closer to him than she had in days and the tears she felt stinging her eyes were less sad and more joyous because of it. "Please…just look at me…" she said again. She was overcome with exhaustion and as much as she tried she couldn't keep her eyes open.

She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep when her eyes fluttered open again, and she didn't know what had awakened her either, but as she groggily rubbed the sleep from her eyes she heard his hoarse whisper, "Liv…" he said, his voice barely audible and she turned to look at him, tears clouding her warm brown eyes when she looked into his clear blue ones that were staring back at her. "Liv…" his voice scratched, "What happened…"

"You're awake…" she cried, sitting up and standing over him. "Oh my God…you're really awake," she remembered the nurse saying he would be overwhelmed and she should stay calm, so she tried to take away some of the anxiousness from her voice, "You were hurt, but you're going to be okay. How do you feel?" she asked. He didn't answer her and she wasn't sure if he could, so she took his hand and held it close, "El…I'm so glad you're awake." She pushed the buzzer for the nurse, knowing the medical team needed to see him as soon as possible and then she smiled, "Can you talk to me? Please…" she pleaded.

His eyes fluttered, open and closed and she thought he was going to fall back asleep, but then he looked at her and his breath was heavy, "What…what day is it? How long…"

"It's been ten days," she said. "It's…uhm…"she pulled out her phone to check, suddenly unable to remember the exact date and she smiled when she realized, "It's February 14th," she said. "Happy Valentine's Day." Then she watched as his eyes closed again, and this time he didn't reopen them. As the doctor and nurse rushed in, she filled them in and they assured her that it was good he had spoken to her…had asked a question…that it looked well for his recovery.

Then she walked out to the waiting room to call the kids. She sat in a chair and pulled out her phone, but before she could make the call she was overcome with emotion and she cried, unable to stop her tears from flowing. As much as she'd tried to stay positive, she could admit to herself that she was starting to question whether or not this day would ever come, whether she'd ever hear his voice again…and that brief moment when he had come back to her after ten long days, was the most precious gift she could have received.