"Grandma!" Jacob let go of Carisi's hand and ran into his grandmother's hospital room. Lola was awake, the back of the hospital bed propped up so she could eat. Jacob pushed the chair he'd been sleeping in the night before back to the bed and hopped up, bouncing up and down.

Carisi stayed in the doorway, giving them a moment. "Grandma, are you okay?" Jacob wanted to know.

"I'm doing just fine, baby," Lola replied. "The nice doctors told me you called 911, my brave boy."

"I was really scared," Jacob said. His eyes flickered to the doorway. "But I called Sonny and he told me to call 911 so I did!"

Lola turned and spotted Carisi. "That was very smart," she told Jacob, waving Carisi into the room. "Thank you so much, Mr. Carisi," she said.

"Sonny, please, ma'am," Carisi said. "We're just glad you're doin' better."

"I spent the night at Sonny's last night, and then this morning we had omelettes!" Jacob said. He frowned. "There was spinach in mine. It was weird, but I kinda liked it."

"Oh, you ate a vegetable?" Lola laughed softly. "Mr. Carisi is such a bad influence on you."

"When do you get to come home?" Jacob wanted to know.

Lola frowned. "You know, I don't know for sure, honey." She reached for a glass of water that was just out of reach. Sonny stepped into the room and moved it closer. She gave him a grateful smile.

"The doctors said it might take awhile to recover," he said, since it was something that he knew. "And ah, that you'll be on crutches while you do physical therapy."

"My building has all those stairs. I…I don't know if I can do them on crutches."

There was a gentle knock on the door frame, and the doctor who had met with Carisi the night before came in. "Good morning, Mrs. Rodriguez. I couldn't help but overhear," she added. "If you've got a moment and you're feeling all right, I would like to talk about what's coming up in the future."

"I can run down and grab a coffee-" Carisi said.

"No, please, stay," Lola cut in. "You're a lawyer. I might need some legal advice."

Carisi cracked a smile. "Yes ma'am," he said. He moved out of the way, taking up a perch near the window.

The doctor closed the door. "Mrs. Rodriguez, this type of injury has a little bit of a recovery process. Anywhere from two to eight weeks, including physical therapy to oil up that new hip."

"That's what Mr. Carisi was saying," Lola said. "My building doesn't have an elevator. Crutches might be difficult."

The doctor glanced at Carisi. "One option would be staying here in the hospital through that time. But another would be an assisted living home with staff that would assist in your therapy and recovery."

"Oh I don't know if I'd want to stay in a hospital," Lola said. She glanced at Jacob. "What about my grandson?"

"Uh," Carisi said. "I spoke with a lawyer and, Lola, if it's all right with you, I applied for temporary guardianship for Jacob. Just until you're back on your feet," he added quickly. "I wouldn't dream of taking him away from you. I just want you to be able to recover."

Jacob looked at Carisi, his eyes wide. "I would get to stay with you? Like a sleepover?"

"It would be a long one," Carisi told him. "Until your Grandma Lola got better."

Jacob looked at Lola. "Can I, Grandma?" he asked with a big smile. "Can I stay with Sonny until you get better?"

Lola was silent for a few moments. Then, she looked at her doctor. "I promise I'll be the best patient you've ever had to replace a hip for," she told her. "And I would really like not to stay in a hospital."

The doctor smiled. "We can make other arrangements, Mrs. Rodriguez."

"Good." Lola turned to Carisi. "This one is a handful, Mr. Carisi," she said. Tears welled in the corner of her eyes as she picked up Jacob's hand and curled his fingers in hers. "You'll be good for Mr. Carisi?"

"The best!" Jacob promised.

She looked up at Carisi. "You don't know how much I appreciate this….Sonny."

Carisi nodded. "We'll be all right, Lola. You take care of yourself."

"I know. And I will." She leaned back in her bed, a smile on her face. Carisi came over and took her hand with Jacob's still in it. "You two take care of yourselves."

"Yes ma'am," Carisi promised.

"We will!" Jacob enthused, grinning up at Carisi.

"Mrs. Amherst, thanks for meetin' with us," Carisi said, shaking the principal's hand. "I'm ADA Dominick Carisi. We spoke on the phone earlier this morning about Jacob's grandmother, Lola Rodriguez?"

"Yes, I remember. How is she doing?"

Carisi outlined the extent of her injuries and her treatment plan. "I'm in the process of applying for guardianship for Jacob," Carisi explained. "I just wanted to introduce myself and give you my contact information in case anything happens at school."

Mrs. Amherst accepted his card. "Will Jacob be joining us in class today?" she asked him.

Carisi turned to Jacob. "That's up to you, Jacob. Are you feeling up to a half day today?"

Jacob looked from him to Mrs. Amherst. "Is Grandma okay?" he asked.

"She's gonna be just fine," Carisi assured him.

The boy turned to the principal. "Then I kinda want to go to school…if that's okay with you?" he added, looking over at Carisi.

He nodded. "I think that's a great idea," he said. "Um, what time does school let out?"

"We're done at 3:10," Amherst told him. "Jacob is released at door 10, that's around the other side of the building. Will you be picking him up?"

Carisi nodded. "That's the plan. My office and cell number are on the back of the card. If I'm in court, the cell will go to voicemail, but otherwise my admin assistant Leah will pick up the office line. They can get me out of court if there's an emergency."

Mrs. Amherst smiled at him. "I'm sure we'll be just fine." She stood up again and offered a hand. "Thank you very much for looking out for him."

"He's a good kid," Carisi replied. "So I'll see you later, buddy, okay? I need to pick up some stuff if you're gonna be staying with me awhile." And finish dotting i's and crossing t's on the paperwork.

After a quick stop at Amanda's empty apartment to grab the stuff he'd left there the evening prior, he returned back to his place for a cleanup job. CPS was sending someone over for a home visit, just to make sure his place was kid-liveable. When he got there, a man was already waiting outside his door. "Are you Mr. Carisi?"

"Yeah. Sorry, I was just dropping Jacob off at school and got caught in traffic." He shook the man's hand and unlocked his door.

"I'm Patrick Grayson with CPS. We're aware of your application for temporary guardianship, and we just need to make sure everything is on the level."

"I used to work with SVU," Carisi told him. "Whatever you guys need." He stepped out of the way so Mr. Grayson could get inside. "How many bed/bath?"

"Two bedroom, one bath. Gas stove, water heat."

"You're an ADA?"

Feeling like it would be awkward to just follow the guy around, Carisi parked himself on a kitchen stool and watched. "Yeah. Manhattan."

"What are your hours at work?"

"Normally 8-5, but I can get called in on warrants and some other legal issues for SVU anytime." He wondered if that would be a strike on his record. Or two, considerin' the nature of SVU… "My boss has been made aware that I'm applying for guardianship, and let me know they're willing to work with me for the foreseeable future."

Mr. Grayson made a note on his clipboard. "That's good to hear. How about any family?"

"Mom, Dad, three sisters. They all live out on Staten Island. I got a niece at Hudson, she's a senior this year."

"Pre-law?"

Carisi shook his head. "No. Social Work. Trust me, my family ain't ready for another lawyer in the family."

"Imagine your Thanksgiving dinners," Mr. Grayson replied. He looked over at Carisi. "Mr. Carisi, if you're this nervous in court you must not do very well. Take a breath. It all looks fine so far."

He kept a straight face, tried not to let the relief show. "Sorry. I'm just-"

Grayson smiled. "I'd be more worried if you weren't." He shook Carisi's hand, left him with a list of things he'd need to fix-most of it was simple things, for safety purposes. Carisi got Lola's super to let him into her apartment so he could grab a few of Jacob's things and let him know what was going on. He also agreed to pay her rent so they had a place to come back to when she was better.

On his way back to his place, he called Amanda at SVU to let her know what was going on.

"That's great news," she told him. "How about you guys come over tonight and hang out with us?"

"You know I normally wouldn't turn that down," Carisi said with a smile, "but I think tonight should just be the two of us. Just to get used to the new normal."

"Makes sense. Hey, you know we've got you if you need anything."

"Yeah, I know. I'll talk to you guys later. Tell Liv not to call me tonight with any warrants." Carisi hung up and parked on the street opposite Door 10 of Jacob's elementary school and checked his watch. 3:00.

Ten minutes until his life changed.