Ayanna turned to Barba. "We've been assigned to the case."

Barba chuckled a scoff. "Today just isn't my day." Seeing the look Olivia tossed him, he rolled his eyes but shut his mouth.

Seeing that her partner made no indication of speaking, she continued. "We will be handling the investigation of your attack. There will be two officers at your door once we leave."

"Wouldn't want them to come finish the job." Stabler muttered.

Barba narrowed his eyes at the man. "I am not that easy to get rid of detective."

Shepherd shivered at the sudden drop of temperature in the room. It was safe to say these two were no friends. "I am sure you three would love to continue this conversation, but I need to examine Mr. Barba. So unless you are my nurse, I need you to leave the room."

Ayanna held up a camera. "I need pictures for the file."

"I am not leaving him." Olivia jumped in.

Elliot looked up to see all eyes on him. With a huff, he walked out of the room. "I'm getting some coffee."

Still not content with the extra bodies in the room, he pushed that aside and got to work. Pulling the sheets back, he revealed the upper body. Grabbing a pair of scissors he cut along the aide of the bandages. Once that was done, he grabbed a wet towel and wet the skin as he pulled the bandage off.

Barba growled at the pain shooting up his abdomen to his chest. Regardless of how gentle they were moving, it felt as if someone was skinning him alive. With each pull, a new wave of pain shot through him. Gripping the edge of the bed, he bit his tongue halting any noise trying to slip out.

Olivia stood by his side watching over the nurse and doctor's every move. With every hiss or tension of his body, she stopped herself from lunging at them. She understood the necessity of what they were doing, but she didn't like it. It seemed to be causing him more pain than he already was in. Looking over at him she ran her eyes down his arms, to his hands. The veins were popped from the amount of force he was using, as he gripped the edge of the bed. His knuckles turned paler than his face. Reaching over she placed her hand over his, entwining their fingers together.

Barba snapped his head over to her, both in shock and great fullness. Looking down at their hands, he looked up into her doe eye. The pain began to ease for a moment. Everything seemed to slow down once more. Only this time there were no conflicted emotions, at least not right then. His eyes followed her other hand as it reached out towards him. He let out a shaky breath as she pushed his hair back from his forehead over and over. Keeping his focus on her touch and smell, he laid his head back and closed his eyes. He just wanted this to be over with.

Shepherd looked over at him for a moment, thankful to see him settling down if only for now. "Benson was it?"

"Olivia." She whispered.

"Olivia." He turned around to grab the swabs and cleaning equipment. "He's your husband?"

Again with that question. "No, a long-time friend." Was she though? Did he even still consider her his friend? Or had he finally given up?

Leaning closer to Barba's chest he ran the swabs around the stitches, pausing at the slight jerk Barba gave. "Well, whatever you're doing now, keep doing it. It seems to be doing the trick." He glanced back at Ayanna. "You want those pictures? I suggest you do it now."

Ayanna raised the camera and froze. Olivia was still holding the man's hand and running her fingers through his hair. "Benson?"

"I am not moving." She muttered low enough as to no disturbance the peace Barba had managed to find.

"Very well." She stepped up to the foot of the bed and proceeded to take a few pictures. Walking over to the doctor's side, she moved them out of the way to get closer to the wounds. "Done."

"I assume those will be the only ones you need correct?" Shepherd grumbled.

"Yes." Ayanna nodded looking over the pictures. Popping her head out into the hallway, she called her partner back in. She decided to ignore the strained growl Stabler give at seeing just how close Benson was to Barba.

"Alright, Mr. Barba can you try and sit up for me?" Nurse Diaz spoke with a soft almost maternal voice.

Seeing him not respond, Olivia leaned down to his ear. "Rafa?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you sit up?" She asked.

Fluttering his eyes open, he was suddenly drawn back to his reality. "Yeah." With the help of Olivia and Shepherd, he sat up with a near yell. His entire body was protesting against the moment. It was like a recoil trying to pull him back. "Fuck!"

"Language, mijo." Lucia walked in with two cups of coffee in hand. "What will the doctor think of me? Raising such a bad mouth child."

Barba clenched his jaw as the bandages were wrapped around his abdomen and chest once more. "I'm sure they have heard worse than that mother."

"Still, comportate." Handing one of the cups to Olivia, she took her seat in the chair. Taking a sip of the warm drink, she spotted the two new faces. "Hmm, forgive me. I am Lucia, Rafael's mother."

"Pleasure, I'm detective Ayanna and this is detective Elliot." Ayanna offered her a warm smile. "We will be handling your son's case."

"That's good to hear."

"We will need to change that in three hours. Nurse Diaz will be back in a few with your meds." Shepherd removed his gloves and tossed them into the bin.

Lucia stopped him before he could walk out. "How is he?"

"Can't say much at the moment." He sighed. "It's too soon after the surgery. There is still inflammation around the wounds and the stitches are fresh. He's still bleeding in a few of them, which is why we need to keep it clean."

Barba took in a breath only to exhale it in the form of a cough. "I'm fine mami." He chuckled at the eye roll she gave.

"Visiting hours are over in two." Shepherd opened the door allowing Nurse Diaz to walk out with the tray of equipment. Holding the door open he popped his head back in. "I want everyone except for his mother and wife out of here before then."'

"Wife?" Both Stabler and Barba spoke at the same time.

"I am not hi-" Olivia huffed. Once again, they left before she could fix that. That man was just adding fuel to the fire. She had already made it clear who she was in Barba's life. "Paramedics assumed I was your wife at the crash site."

Barba chuckled. "Where did they get that idea?"

Olivia shrugged. "Don't know."

"Hate to interrupt, but we have a few questions." Ayanna stepped forward. "Mr. Barba what can you tell us about the attack?"

"I was at a red light. Drove forward at the green light. Felt the impact, never saw the car that hit me." Barba r thought back to the scene, but nothing was popping out.

"The shooting?" Stabler asked.

"Not much. I was just getting my focus back from the crash when I heard some yelling. Seconds later the shots rang out. Didn't see anyone approach the car. Much less shoot at me." Barba pushed himself up into a sitting position, growling as the pain settled down. "I don't remember anything after that."

"Before?" Stabler asked. "What were you doing?"

Barba tilted his head like a confused puppy. "Not sure what you mean by that?"

"Before you got in the car." He elaborated.

He thought back. "I was at the bar. Had a drink."

"You were with Olivia, correct?"

"What's that got to do with any of this?"

Stabler's eyes flickered to their joined hands. "Just setting up a timeline counselor."

"What did you and Captain Benson speak of?" Ayanna asked.

"Rafael helped with a case." Olivia jumped in. "I met him at the bar to thank him for his help."

"Is that all?" Stabler pushed.

Barba rolled his neck. "Yes. Now, how about we drop this subject? What I was doing before the crash is irrelevant at the moment detectives. If I was their target, I doubt it originated minutes prior at the bar."

"Any new cases?" Ayanna jumped in to stop Elliot from snapping back.

"No."

"Old cases?"

"Hundreds."

"Known enemies?"

Barba shook his head. "If I do it's usually in the political area."

"Threats?"

"Really?"

Stabler placed his hands on the foot of the bed, leaning in close. "How about you drop the attitude and tell us what we need to know. Your life is on the line here not ours."

"Forgive me but after getting pumped with lead 12 times, I am not really up for talking." Barba growled.

Sensing the change in Rafael's body, Olivia reacted. "Rafa needs to get some rest." Squeezing in between Stabler and the bed, she pushed him back. "Call Fin, he will give you anything you need. He will also give you the number to Barba's office, Carmen will get you any files or names you want." Moving to the right she stopped Ayanna from speaking to him. "You want to talk with Rafael again, call me. I will be with him at all times."

Ayanna sighed pulling her disgruntled partner out of the room first. "We will come back later when you're ready to talk."

Time jump: Later that night

"Can you give him a kiss for me?" Olivia was currently on the phone with Lucy. She had called the nanny to ask if she could watch Noah for the night. Glancing over at the man, she felt a chill at seeing his eyes on her. "He should be asleep, but you know men. They make the worse patients. Thank you, Lucy."

Waiting until she lowered the phone, he spoke up. "Go home, Olivia."

"I am not leaving you here alone." She huffed.

"I'm a big boy." He sat up, stiffing the groan. "I have two cops at my door. I doubt anyone would try anything. Go home to Noah."

"You were ambushed and shot." She snapped. "I am not leaving you. Besides what if you need something? Your mother isn't here."

"I have been doing pretty well for myself this past year." Running a hand through his hair, he exhaled heavily. "I should have stayed home. Porque carajos regrese."

"Where is home exactly?" Olivia asked.

"California." He muttered. "San Diego to be exact."

"Oh." His words suddenly hit her. "You didn't want to come back?"

He shook his head. "I had put all of this behind me. The job, the squad...you. It was nothing but a painful memory."

"Yet you can to the aid of Rollins." She pointed out.

"Your aid."

"What?"

"When I left I told myself nothing would ever make me come back. Besides my mother that is. I had given up on trying to get you to forgive me." He looked down at his hand. "Rollins called me and stated it was you that needed help. Told me to meet you at the bar so we could talk. I figure we would finally be able to move on and I would have my friend back. But one look at you I knew that was impossible. So I played it off. Sad it was Rollins that called in the favor."

"Rafa I d-"

"I don't understand." He scoffed out a laugh. "I don't get what is this hold you have on me. For a year I was finally in a good place. But the moment I hear your name I can't stop myself. You call me and I come running like a fuck dog. They tell me you need me and I drop everything for you. I don't get."

"You are no-" She was cut off by a soft knock. "Co-come in."

"Sorry, Mr. Barba it is time to change the bandages." Nurse Diaz stated.

Barba nodded. "Let's get this over with."

Olivia stood back watching the whole ordeal once more. This was the third time that night. She had come accustomed to the sight, but it still made her blood boil. His skin was angry red around the wounds. Blood still leaked through some of the stitches, making him look like a character from a slasher movie. The only time she intervene was to help sit him up and wrap the bandages around him.

"All done." She tossed the pair of used gloves and equipment into the bin. "The inflammation had gone down. And the stitches are still intact." Writing a few things in his chart, she looked up at him. "I added a few extra bandages. That way you won't be bothered until after breakfast."'

"Thank you." For that he was grateful.

"Get some rest." Patting him on the leg, she turned to leave. As she exited the room she scurried into the break room. Grabbing her phone she made a quick call. "He's still alive."

'Not possible.'

"I'm just telling you what I know."

'I emptied an entire clip in him! I'm on my way. This ends now.'

"No!" She slammed her hand over her mouth, hoping no one heard that. "There is a detective in the room with him and he has two cops at his door."

'The moment he is alone you call me understood?! Screw this up and your little girl will pay for it.'

"O-okay."