Chapter Forty Four – The Ground Gives Way

Olivia's eyes were locked on the red stream running down Suvi's leg. The blood was turning his pale fur a dark color, and as his coloring darkened, Olivia's paled. She knelt and clung to the chain link fence in a useless effort to reach him. If she wanted to get him out she would need to head to the gate, and they would have to separate for a short time. The thought of not keeping him in her sights sickened Olivia.

"Oh, Suvi…"

He looked up at her with liquid, pain-filled eyes. Tears threated Olivia's eyes at the sight of his. Her little boy was looking to her to take away the pain, and she wasn't doing anything to help him. That needed to change. Working at SVU had given her the skills to do what was necessary even if her heart was struggling to deal with what she was seeing. Olivia brushed the tip of Suvi's nose with her fingers before standing. She was going to get him out of there without letting him leave her sight (or her side if she could help it).

"Come on, buddy," she pleaded as she began following the fence-line.

He limped after her, being careful to keep weight off his right front leg. Head and tail drooping, he was a picture of dejection. At least now that they were reunited he looked better than he had in that one moment when he'd been out there alone and confused. Olivia had to move slowly so he could keep up, but that was alright since she could keep an eye on him. She didn't notice any of the other owners watching her and Suvi with pity. All that mattered was Suvi, getting to him and getting him help, so that was the only thing she focused on. Finally, after more than enough heart wrenching steps to feel like an eternity, they reached the door. Manners were so far outside her realm of consideration at the moment that she simply pushed her way through the gate and other people to reach her dog. She knelt in front of Suvi, and he immediately pressed his head into her chest. He was still trembling, and with how hard he was pressing against her she suspected he was terrified. After what had just happened it wouldn't be surprising. After all, she was terrified too. Once she'd taken a moment to simply reunite with Suvi Olivia led him out of the play area and found a place where they were alone. Again she knelt down, though this time it was so she could inspect his injuries. As her fingers threaded their way through his bloodied fur in search of the source Suvi whimpered. Each whimper tore her already broken heart further apart, leaving it in tattered strands.

"I know, Su. I'm sorry," she soothed.

She hated the fact that she was hurting him more, but she had to find the source of the bleeding to see how bad his injuries were. He continued whimpering and whining as she parted his fur until her fingers touched the upper part of his leg. It was a soft touch, but he yelped and nearly jumped out of his skin. Olivia pulled her hand away immediately and fought back another flood of tears. She stroked his head to try and calm him and could feel him trembling even more violently than he had been.

"It's going to be okay."

Olivia pulled Suvi's vest out of her bag and began rooting through it. She'd never expected the med kit she'd stored in his vest for emergencies would be used for Suvi and not her. A wrap of basic gauze was going to have to do for now. After it was secure however they were catching a cab and heading straight to the vet. If she could carry him out to the street she would. Unfortunately he was way too heavy for her so they would both have to suffer through him limping his way over. It had to be done though. He needed to be taken care of.

"Come on, Suvi."

Together they headed out of the park. Suvi was nearly glued to her leg as he limped along. He only whined softly a few times even though Olivia knew he had to be hurting. When they finally reached a street that had a chance of producing a cab Olivia stopped. Suvi was more than happy to do the same thing. She crouched beside him, and he leaned most of his weight against her. Before turning her attention to taking him to the vet she gave his ears a quick stroke. It was the least she could do to reassure him. She didn't want to waste too much time however, so she pulled his vest out again and started to get it clipped on. Halfway through she realized the clip of his vest would rest right against his injury. The last thing she wanted to do was aggravate it further. He would just have to go without his vest, and she would get him into a cab one way or another.

"My brave boy," she whispered.

There was no way she was going to get a cab with a dog standing next to her so she ordered Suvi to stay and moved forward to flag one down. Thankfully it didn't take very long. When the cab pulled up and slowed to a stop she held the door open and called to Suvi.

"Lady, I don't take dogs in my cab."

"He's a service dog," Olivia explained as she watched Suvi slowly make his way over. "This is his vest. He's hurt, and I need to get him to the vet."

"I don't need a dog or anything bleeding in the back of my cab."

Olivia turned to give the cabbie one of her fierce interrogation glares. The same look had broken numerous perps before so getting one cab driver to give in was easy. She climbed in and Suvi followed after her without another word from the cabbie. Suvi sprawled across the back seat, injured leg up, and rested his head on Olivia's lap. For the entire ride out to their vet's she stroked his ears and worried. With how he was acting now he could be more seriously hurt than she'd originally thought. It made her stomach tie itself into a tighter knot. After everything he did for her on a daily basis she'd let him down. Part of his job was to protect her, and part of her job was to protect him in return but she'd failed. She'd let him get hurt. His pain was all her fault.

The cab hit a deep pot hole, rocking the entire vehicle and the occupants. Suvi cried out in pain, moving for the first time since they'd gotten into the backseat. Olivia immediately looked down at him and saw blood staining his bandages. Apparently his sharp movement in response to the car's jerk was enough to irritate his leg and cause the bleeding to increase. Olivia rested a hand on his shoulder to hold him down and continued stroking his head.

"Oh, Suvi. It'll be alright. I'm going to get you taken care of so it doesn't hurt anymore."

He continued whimpering, and she tried to hush him and calm him. It was really more to reassure herself than it was to reassure him though. Even with what had happened he was staring up at her with such trusting eyes. He knew that she was going to take care of him. Instead of blaming her he licked at her fingers comfortingly. Despite his reassurances Olivia was flooded with relief when they pulled up outside the vet's office. She paid the cabbie and helped Suvi inside. Thankfully the office was empty of other patients.

"I need to see Dr. Sparn," Olivia said as she struggled to hold her voice steady. "Suvi was attacked."

Even though he was standing still Suvi refused to put his front paw down. He whimpered softly, and Olivia glanced back at him sadly.

"Please. He's bleeding," she almost begged.

"Let's bring him back, Olivia."

Dr. Sparn met them in the exam room quickly and together she and Olivia got Suvi up onto the table. Suvi yelped and dug his nails into Olivia in an attempt to hold onto her. It tore her insides up even more. When they finally got him settled she continued stroking his head so he would know she was right there with him.

"Let's get these off and take a look," Dr. Sparn mused and began unwinding Olivia's makeshift bandages.

What she revealed concerned her. Most of the fur on Suvi's leg was matted with blood. She began cleaning off his leg to try and find the source. While she did she needed to find out what had caused the injury.

"What happened, Olivia?"

"We were at the park and a big fight started. Almost all of the dogs were dragged into it."

When Dr. Sparn's fingers touched Suvi's injuries he tried to pull away and began trembling. Olivia moved so he could look directly at her and tried to calm him. As the vet poked around at his leg Olivia continued stroking Suvi's ears. Dr. Sparn frowned, and terror rushed through Olivia. That was not a good sign.

"What? What is it?"

Her control was audibly cracking, and she was staring at the vet with undisguised fear.

"I know he's your service dog but I'm going to need you to wait out in the waiting room while we clean this up and check for other injuries. Can you do that?"

Olivia didn't say anything and turned to face Suvi. Leave him? There was no way she could do that. He needed her. Dr. Sparn touched Olivia's arm and she jumped, her head snapping around to look at the vet.

"Olivia? I need you to wait in the waiting room. Okay?"

There were no options left to her. If she wanted Suvi to get help quickly she had to simply do what she was being asked. Questions would only keep Suvi in pain longer.

"Okay. Take care of him."

"I will."

When Olivia stepped into the waiting room alone she felt lost. Her best friend was hurt and alone. Slowly the realization that there was nothing more she could do set it. While she'd been focusing on getting Suvi help she hadn't had time for panic. Now with nothing left to do she was drowning. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to keep her breathing slow. When her partner had been shot she'd been able to remain calm and collected. That should have been the case this time too, but she was about as far from that as humanly possible. She felt the darkness closing in around her, and even the colors she was seeing were bland and faded. It felt like she was breaking apart, and she didn't know what to do.

Author's Note: That's it for this section, (I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!) but I may move right on to revising the next section before writing anymore. I haven't decided yet...