Sorry for the (relatively) long delay, folks! A little case of real life and feeling sick coming before fanfiction. Without further ado, here is the next chapter for you. Yes, we're at 47 (short) chapters and not even a whole week has passed in the story. Enjoy!

...

47. The Key

Elliot smiled at the nurse. It probably wasn't the first time she'd come into his room since he and Olivia had fallen asleep, because she quickly retreated, also smiling. Elliot tried not to move too much and only turned his head to look at the sleeping woman in his right arm, with her head on his shoulder.

She was beautiful. And knowing who she was, made her the most beautiful person in the world to him. He still couldn't understand how he could ever have forgotten her. He must have seen or heard her public confession about police brutality somewhere but it hadn't jogged his memory then. He felt bad, knowing that Olivia had thought all this time that he wanted nothing to do with her anymore. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was the one he had been looking for all along and he was grateful that she was letting him into her life again.

Although he remembered their joint past clearly again, those five months between Jenna's shooting and his birthday were still a blur. They had told him he'd been a mess but he didn't remember that part. Yet. Having so many memories come back to him in just a few days, gave him hope that more of his memory would return. He wanted to be able to tell Olivia what being apart had done to him, and why it had taken him months before he'd been ready to contact her again. It couldn't have been easy for him. Now that he remembered her, he couldn't imagine ever living without her in his life again.

They had had their issues over the years, and they both weren't the easiest to people to live with. But throughout their turbulent partnership, their friendship - their love for each other - had always prevailed. No matter how hard they'd fought sometimes, they would always come out as a strong unit, unbreakable, ready to face whatever awaited them together, and ready to fight for each other. He trusted that they would also be that strong, unbreakable unit now that they were going to pursue a relationship. They would fight, definitely, but they would always find each other again. Just like they always had. He was glad now that he had told her about his feelings for her before he remembered their complicated history. He wasn't sure he would have had the nerve if he had remembered ... He grinned at his own thoughts. Maybe they would have fumbled for a bit longer, but it would have come out eventually. It was always going to happen.

Olivia began to stir and he looked at her face. Her eyes were still closed, but she was frowning. Her hand, that was resting on his chest, balled into a fist. Elliot put his left hand over her fist instinctively, sensing that she needed reassurance that he was still there and she was safe. Olivia let out a small sound of discomfort and Elliot rubbed her back with his other hand, that had been resting on her shoulder. Olivia groaned softly again, and Elliot decided to wake her up. She must be having an unpleasant dream.

"Liv," he said softly, shaking her a bit. "Liv, wake up honey. You're dreaming."

Olivia's frown deepened, and then she opened her eyes. She seemed a little shocked to find that she wasn't waking up alone, and he talked to her softly.

"Liv, it's Elliot. We took a nap, remember? It's okay."

Olivia lifted her head and looked at him, and he could see the unrest slowly leave her eyes, relief taking it's place.

"Bad dream?" Elliot asked her, raising his hand to wipe some hair off her forehead.

"Yeah," Olivia sighed.

She propped herself up on one elbow and studied his face while she was visibly relaxing.

"You relapsed and had forgotten me again."

Elliot bit his lip so he wouldn't smile too widely. She'd been rattled and he didn't want it to look like he was laughing at her. He had expected her to have a bad dream about Lewis maybe, not about him. He felt honored that she would dream about him in stead of the traumatic events in her life that they had discussed before she fell asleep. But while it meant a lot to him that he was apparently more important to her now, he realized that her dream reflected a real fear. Her fear of losing him again.

"I'm not going to forget you again, Liv," he said reassuringly, stroking her cheek with the back of his fingers.

"How can you be sure?"

"Because you're the key to everything," he said firmly. "As long as you're around, I can never forget. You brought it all back and you always will."

His words put a small smile on her lips and Elliot was relieved.

"So I'd better stick around permanently then," she said quietly.

"That's the plan."

Olivia nodded and her smile now reached her eyes.

"I like that plan."

...

They were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. Olivia sat up and swung her legs out of bed, not wanting to be found in bed with Elliot by a visitor.

"The nurse was just here," Elliot said, wondering who else it could be.

The door opened slowly and the visitor stepped into the room hesitantly. Olivia blew out a breath slowly when she saw who it was.

"Elliot," the older woman said when she spotted the patient in the bed.

"Mother," Elliot answered.

"And Olivia, I see."

Olivia stood up and stood at the right side of Elliot's bed.

"Hello Mrs Stabler."

"Oh no. I told you before dear, nobody calls me that anymore. Call me Bernie."

Olivia didn't know what to say, think or feel. Here was the woman she would have expected to tell Elliot about her, and to tell her about Elliot. That Kathy wouldn't tell them was one thing. That she would convince her children not to, was understandable too. But Elliot's mother wouldn't let someone else tell her what to do. And yet, she hadn't told Elliot about his special bond with his partner either, and she hadn't contacted Olivia.

"My poor baby," Bernie continued, walking up to Elliot and taking in his condition.

She took her son's hands in hers and squeezed them.

"Why didn't you call me, Elliot?"

Elliot glanced at Olivia but then focused his attention on his mother.

"You know I like being alone, mother. It's not like you or anyone else could do something for me."

"O, he's still so independent, isn't he Olivia?"

Olivia didn't know what to say to the older woman. The few times they had spoken in the past, she had thought they'd had a connection. That Bernie had somehow understood how much her son meant to her. She didn't understand why Bernie never contacted her after Elliot lost his memory. Bernie was looking at her attentively, and before Olivia could decide what to say, she spoke again.

"You blame me for not telling you about it, don't you."

Olivia glanced at Elliot, who was now looking at her as well.

"I understand, dear. But I had my reasons."

...

Hmmm. What reasons could she have had?