Chapter 3

CopyCat

Rollins sat next to Olivia getting ready to hit play on the video footage of Elliot's shooting.

"You sure you want to see this?"

Olivia gave her a curt angry eye brow, and Rollins took the hint and pressed play.

The women watched it several times, each time Olivia held back her emotions, and then all at once, as if she couldn't take one more second of it, she stopped it and sat still in deep thought.

"It has all the pieces of a BX9 attack. Black hoodie, motorcycle, gold chain, there's even a tag a block away. Though the tag isn't spot on. It's unfinished. Sloppy. Did you get anything on the gun?'

Rollin's nodded and handed her the intel. "We did. And here's the weird part. The gun has European markings on it. Specifically Italian. Old Italian. This gun was made in the 80's. Which is an odd gun for a Dominican American gang to be walking around with. Not to mention, this guy is pretty fair skinned…from what I can tell in this video. We talked to Oscar Papa and a few Bx9 guys, and got nothing."

Olivia pulled her glasses from her face and let it all sink in. "So…are we saying this is a copycat of Bx9? And if so why?"

Elliot opened his eyes 3 days later. He was hooked up to all kinds of machines and his head was throbbing.

Kathleen jumped from her seat. "Dad."

His eyes searched the room. Light and movement were making the pain worse.

"Liv…"

"She had to run out," Dickie said from the other side of the bed. "I'll call her now."

"My head…is killing me."

He blinked and then closed his eyes again.

Kathleen squeezed his have. "I'll get a nurse," she nodded and rushed from the room.

Olivia was running on no sleep and she looked it. With overnight bags in one hand, her phone to her ear, and Noah by her side, she pushed through the roundabout doors into the hospital lobby.

Rafael Barbar was unexpectedly waiting on the other side of the door.

"Liv," he said at the site of her.

She was on the phone though. "I need my hands. I'll be there in a minute," she said as she dropped the phone to the ground along with her briefcase, which spilled all over the floor.

"Shit."

"Language," Noah scolded as he looked at Raffa and dropped his bags to help her.

Raffa immediately bent to the ground to help them.

"Hello, Mr. Barba," Noah smiled.

"Hello, Noah. I can't believe how big you are," he warmly smiled back.

"Yeah," Olivia responded, out of it.

"Are you okay?," He asked, noticing her lack of make up, unkempt hair, and wrinkled blouse. Not that she needed those things, but it was so out of character for her to be flustered and messy.

"I'm fine," she lied. And she could tell he knew she lied, but was in no way shape or form going to cry in a hospital lobby today. "We have to…get upstairs."

"I heard about Elliot. How is he?"

"He just woke up. I actually have to get up there…"

"Oh. You should go," he said, handing her the papers he collected from the floor.

"Yeah," she half heartedly smiled as she jammed her briefcase together. She looked up at him from the floor. She was beautiful even with the messy hair and the age spots around her eyes and mouth.

"You got married? Did I hear that?"

"Yeah, she's married now," Noah answered as he balanced two heavy bags.

"Yes. Married," she sighed with exhaustion. "Who'd a thought! And then she grew flush as she looked Barba in the eye for the first time. "Ah..Why are you here? Is your mom sick?"

Raffa now mirrored her flush and nervously stood up from the ground and averted his eyes. "I…no. Mom is good. I have a client. Needed to get a signature."

Olivia's phone was going off again and she began to pull up the bags and Noah's arm "Raffa, we should all…get coffee…maybe…when this is all over. I'm sorry I have to...Bernie. Eli is on his way."

He hesitated to end the meeting. Wavering between helping her and just getting out of there as fast as he could. But she was his weakness.

"Let me help you. Give me your bags, and go on up. I'll walk up with Noah."

"Really?," she practically shattered. "Noah, is that okay?"

"Mom. Go," he shook his head at her.

And before another moment could pass she was headed to the stairwell. "Thank you, 4th floor. 407. You'll have to check in. Noah knows how. Bernie this is a bad time. I just got here. You'll just have to...wait, " she said with as much patience as she could as she jogged away from them.

Raffa looked at Noah and then at the pile of bags he was now responsible for. "Lead the way, young man. Preferably to an elevator."

Elliot's mother caught the news for a third time as she waited for one of her grandchildren to bring her to the hospital. The news about Elliot had her in a fit of anxiety. She was pacing the hallways of the assisted living facility and chatting up anyone who would listen to her. When she had exhausted the door man and the people in the activity room, she was calling Olivia, who only answered half of the time and seemed angry at her for calling.

The activity room television blared at decibel 50.

"Five shots were fired around noon in the lower Manhattan area last week striking NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler. NYPD officers are still working the case behind this shooting. The Organized Crime unit is searching for any information on the man in this picture who was seen by several nearby witnesses. Suspect appears to be male, caucasian, approximately 5'8", and was wearing a black hoodie and may be gang affiliated. Detective Stabler remains in critical conditions. If you have any information on this man please contact-"

"Is that your son?," the woman who aided the residents asked, as she walked past with some board games.

"Yes," Bernie replied. "That's my Elliot. I'm going in now. Eli, my grandson will be here soon to pick me up. He's awake. Thank god. I wasn't the best Catholic, you know, but I do pray. And I really do find that it helps. Do you pray?"

The woman nodded. "Oh, I sure do. I'll make sure to add him in there. Say…that black hoodie. I've seen them in my neighborhood. BX9? Or something like that."

"You think it's a gang that did this," Bernie asked.

"I mean…maybe. I don't really hang around people in gangs."

"Elliot tries to keep all that stuff from me, but I know all about the gangs from when my husband was in the force. They go undercover with these people and think they can just shave their beard and step back into their life like nobody will know the wiser. He probably pissed somebody off. Like father like son."

The woman nodded with a hint of laughter behind her grin. "Well. That all sounds intense. I hope he has a quick recovery and that they catch that man who did this to him. We all miss seeing him visit. So tell him we're all thinking about him over here, okay?"

Bernie nodded.

"Oh, looks like your grandson is here."

"Hi Grandma," Eli flipped his hair out of his eyes.

"Have you seen him yet?"

"No. Elizabeth said he's acting funny. Saying weird things...I guess."

"Oh dear," Bernie gasped as she followed him to the car.

Raffa uncomfortably waited outside of Elliot's room. He had no intention of getting in the way or being in the room, but Olivia handed him a pile of files and looked at him the way she does, and asked him to see if he had any intel on the men in the case files.

He assumed they were suspects involved in Elliot's shooting. While he sat there, he couldn't help but overhear everything in the other room.

"I love you," Elliot would whisper.

"And I love you, Elliot," she said a fourth time, but now with a placation in her voice. "You need more ice chips."

"I just want to go home. Don't make me eat those. It's so horrible," Elliot sobbed.

"Shhh," she whispered. "It's okay. Just rest."

"I shouldn't be here," Raffa thought to himself, nervous that someone would see him, and revolted and completely unsympathetic towards Elliot's situation. Angry that he never tried harder with Olivia.

Elliot wasn't himself. The brain injury was swollen and causing him to cry and act almost like a child. It was hard for Olivia and his children to see. He grabbed for her hand and held it to his chest while mumbling odd things.

"I'm so glad you're here. Will you be my nurse now. That other nurse made my kids leave. She's a real bitch. She has terrible bedside manners. And she has a big ass."

"Dad," Dickie yelled out, embarrassed by the remark.

"Okay, let's just all calm down." Olivia tried to gently defuse his comment and change the subject. "Your family is here with you always. We're going to get you through this, okay."

She could tell he wasn't right the moment she walked into the room. She gave Dickie and the kids a silent glance to ignore the behavior, and they all sat back down calmly.

"Kathy's going to be mad if she sees me holding your hand," Elliot would whisper one moment, and then he would cry and hold her tight. "I'm so sorry I left you. I promise I'll never leave you. Please, you have to forgive me."

"I forgive," she said as she whipped the tears from his face with a tissue.

"No...really forgive me, Liv. Liv..please."

"Elliot, sweetheart, I married you. You're forgiven."

"I love you so much," he sobbed and then. "Where is Kathy?"

Kathleen looked at Olivia with panic in her eyes, but Olivia remained calm and mouthed a "It's okay" to her and Dickie.

Maureen had just walked in from being on the phone with her husband. "The Doctor pulled me to the side just before you got here. He said dad will slowly get back to himself, but that the drugs and the brain swelling may cause him to behave differently.

"Yes," Olivia nodded. " I know."

Raffa couldn't stand to listen to him babble between thoughts of his dead wife and Olivia. He stood like a fool outside of the door pacing. Trying to figure out how to give these files back and quickly get out of there. He was foolish for taking them. He should have given her any excuse as to why he couldn't look at the files, and now he was standing here like an idiot in the hallway.

He peaked his head in to get anybody's attention.

"Noah," he whispered.

But as he said that the whole room looked over at him, including Elliot.

"Barba," Elliot snapped. His whole body tensed up like a surprised wild animal. "What's he doing here?"

"Hi, Liv," Raffa started in, flailing for any kind of place to set the files down. "I have to go. I'm just going to set these…"

"You coward! You come to finish me off!"

"...set these somewhere."

"Barba, you can't even look at me. You know what you did. You probably helped kill Kathy too."

"Dad, stop," Kathleen grabbed Elliot's hand and tried to pull him back down, while Olivia left the room with Raffa.

"I'm so sorry," Olivia said as she rubbed her tired face.

"It's fine. I just…I have to go," he nodded.

"You know any of these men?"

"No," he said too quickly, she caught the lie. "I mean, I know the one guy, but he didn't do it."

"How do you know?"

"Because you put that man in jail a year ago. I picked him out of a line up."

She looked at the files again with crossed eyes and then fumbled for her glasses. "Which one?"

"Felipe Heredio."

"Oh…my god…I forgot. Eh…everything is just starting to look the same," She sat down heavy on the chair. "Well…thanks..for being my second set of eyes."

Raffa stopped his exit and sat next to her for a moment instead. He placed his hand on her back and rubbed her neck and shoulder. "You should get some sleep."

"That feels amazing."

She was so exhausted she didn't even flinch at his touch.

"Were you happy?," Raffa muttered.

Her whole body tensed.

"What?"

"Before all of this. Were you happy? To be married?'

Olivia's blood boiled at his words and she pushed him away.

"You should go."

"Liv…I didn't mean it like that."

"Go. Now."