Chapter 52.

.

"We're on route to the ER with a labor, 36 weeks." Kelly said into the radio. "Mother's pushing and bleeding, baby is in distress. We'll need a doctor on standby…"

"Just keep lookin at me!" Elliot said. He held her head in his lap as they rushed to the hospital, running his fingers slowly through her hair to calm her fears but she cried still while Elliot's mind wandered. When he'd found her, she'd obviously been beaten; Elliot could see the bruises starting to develope on her face and there was a trace of blood that came from her nose, scratches on her chest and choke marks on her neck. Who had she been fighting and why was she only in a shirt? this severely torn shirt that barely covered her and that she had nothing on underneath.

As he sat here now, with her in his arms, thankful beyond all else that he'd found her but so fucking angry that this had happened to her again and under his nose! If he hadn't been so upset with her decision to give Serena up, he never would have left for so long that day, never would have…

"El, if i die..."

"You're not going to die!" He said, angry that she would even think it but he couldn't help but think it too. She was beaten, her placenta had ruptured and she was so weak! He hated to even entertain the thought, but, what if?

"Promise me you'll take care of her, that you'll let her know that she's loved!" She cried.

"Listen to me, you are gonna be fine! You're gonna pull through this and you're gonna hold this little girl and tell her and show her all those things yourself! That's what I promise you!"

"I can't feel her." She cried, so tired, through a contraction. She was exhausted and wanted this to be over but saw no end in site.

"Liv, you gotta hold on baby" He said as he caressed her face. "she's gonna be fine, I promise you, you believe me?" He spoke the words to her but inside he was terrified and when he saw that look on her face, the one that made her sit up, and told him that something was happening and in spite of all else, NOW she was in serious pain! "Liv?"

"Something's coming out!" she said, squeezing his hand as she felt it. The baby was coming down from her cervix, forcing its way out and with her eyes shut, crying out as she, against her will began to push while trying to catch a breath.

"Olivia; look at me okay, don't push, you gotta hold on!"

"I can't! ...oh my god, El, she's coming!"

"Liv don't! ...drive faster!" He yelled to the detective as he moved to get between Olivia's legs.

"We're almost there; just five minutes away!" The detective shot back.

"You hear that, Liv? We're just five minutes away!" He said, holding her face and trying to sound calm as he lifted the jacket and was shocked to see so much blood, and even more shocked to see the baby's foot! "Shit!" He said under his breath, scared and unsure of exactly what to do. They were less than five minutes from the hospital, he could try to delay her, try to get her not to push but with her bleeding like this, being in so much pain he wondered if that was the right decision.

"I don't care if we're five seconds away" She screamed. "Elliot...help her!" She pled through her tears. The pain was unreal at this point and she was fighting just to stay conscious. "Please!"

"Oh god! ...okay… We're gonna do this!" He said as he rolled his sleeves. " Kelly, hurry!" He said, catching the man's eyes and with all seriousness. Kelly knew that time was crucial and nodded his understanding, nervously. "Olivia, Baby, push!"

As Fennigan and Bradshaw stood with the Nassau PD, and now the ambulance, going through the room in the basement, they were at a sense of disbelief over what they thought had happened.

From the looks of it, this man had either raped or attempted to rape both Olivia and the other woman, who they still hadn't identified but found her to be barely alive when they got there and now the ambulance was trying to stabilize her before they took her to the hospital. This man however, he was as dead as he could be; lying on the bed with his penis out, a knife hanging from his neck and ten bullet holes in his body. They were further shocked to see what looked like the same amniotic fluid that Bradshaw had slipped on, on the bed but with more blood.

"What the hell went on here?" The Sergeant wondered aloud. Just then a detective came over the radio from upstairs.

"Sarge...you're not gonna believe this…"

"Believe what, Jannings?"

"Ma'am the body you have down there… It's Harlan Lewis!"

Trying to give birth to her baby; why did nobody tell her that she'd be hanging between life and death and that the pain would be unlike anything she's ever felt or would feel again? She knew that she had to get her daughter here; she was bleeding so much and the baby was coming but Dear God why did it have to hurt so bad? She would literally give her arm for some respite from the pain! Several times she wondered if she had died but even then, she hadn't felt anything like this.

In the middle of a long push and Olivia had nothing left to give and she was praying that Serena came because she couldn't hold on much longer. There was sweat pouring off her and she was finding it much more difficult than she anticipated. She was at the end of her rope, exhausted from the labor, exhausted from the pushing, and when she collapsed against the seat, she started to cry knowing she just couldn't go on. As much as she knew that she had to get her baby out, she couldn't!

"I can't do it." she wept. Her voice weak and threading "...oh god!" she cried in that same weak tone as another contraction came and her eyes were closing.

"Liv, Liv, don't close your eyes, baby you have to stay awake" he pled desperately, trying to keep her awake. "you're bleeding a lot and I have to get the baby out, you have to help me."

"I'm trying…I swear!" she cried.

"Try harder! You can do this, Liv, she needs you!" But at this point she was thoroughly exhausted and begging for it to be over. Elliot felt as if his heart were breaking but he knew that they had to get the baby out; if she could just give one more push. "Liv, one more and I got her! Come on baby, please!"

"Elliot I can't!"

"Liv please…" He begged, knowing that time was against him. "just one more push baby, I promise just one more; please! I know you're tired, I know, but you have to do this for Serena!" He said with tears in his eyes. He was so scared for them both and he didn't want to have to be here, in this police car, delivering a baby but circumstance said otherwise. Now as he looked at Olivia, just utterly weakened from all this he prayed that she could find it in her to just push one more time. "Olivia...PLEASE!" He cried. When she moved forward, preparing to push for the final time, she didn't scream. She focused all her energy on that push. She didn't think about Elliot or Harlan or anything except getting her baby out. And as tears fell from her eyes from the pain being so intense, she pushed with all her strength, Elliot took the baby gently by the middle and pulled, hoping to get her out.

"I got her Liv! She's almost here baby!"

"We're here!" Kelly said, a wave of relief in his voice as he turned around and immediately regretted it, his stomach ready to blow when he saw Olivia, spread wide with a bloodied baby being pulled out of her! Olivia let out the breath she'd been holding and fell back, exhausted.

"Get a doctor! Hurry!" Elliot yelled, bringing Kelly back to his senses and he raced from the car!

As Fin and Nick were just making it to the house…

"This better be good, Fennigan, we supposed to be at the hospital!" He said as he and Nick got out of the car.

"Trust me, you guys are gonna...I still can't believe it!" Fennigan said, disbelievingly.

"Believe what?" Nick asked.

"Your Sergeant, she…"

"She…?" Fin said.

"That dead body we got down there; I don't know how, but it's Harlan Lewis...and I think he raped your sergeant again!" Fin and Nick turned to look at one another then looked at Fennigan, hurt and rage on their faces.

"Breathe Olivia!" Elliot said as he delivered the baby. Although she was in a tremendous amount of pain, he finally managed to pull Serena free amidst the blood and miraculously, the baby took a breath and came out wailing as Olivia broke down, crying tears of happiness when she heard her baby. She'd just given birth, given life and she was not prepared for what that would do to her. She suddenly forgot all the pain she had been in and the blood that was pouring out of her and focused instead on her daughter; she was alive!

"Serena..." She cried weakly as Elliot handed the baby to her, her hands trembling as she received her and held her close. Olivia was so pale, so fragile and she was fighting to keep her eyes open as she kissed Serena. "I love you baby girl!" She sobbed as the child screamed but seemed to calm down once she was in Olivia's arms. She and Serena looked at one another and the baby quieted as Olivia smiled and Elliot looked on, tears in his eyes and so happy and thankful but worried as he looked at the blood. He was relieved when he looked and saw the doctor came rushing towards the car with the nurses and a stretcher.

Olivia touched her daughter's cheek and passed out, the baby on her chest and crying.

"Liv…?" He cried as he lifted the baby from her and tried to find a pulse. The doctor and nurses made it to the car with detective Kelly and Elliot quickly got out, holding the baby close with bloody hands as the nurses took her from his arms. "You have to help her!" He cried as they lifted Olivia from the car and rushed her inside.

"This is some sick shit!" Fin said out loud but to no one as he looked around Harlan's room. He was shocked, to say the least, he and Amaro both were. The walls were plastered with pictures of Olivia throughout her pregnancy and articles on her.

By his bedside, he kept articles on Brian ever since he had his accident and went into that coma, sort of like Harlan was checking to make sure he stayed that way!

"Don't take a genius to figure out what happened to Brian!" Fin said.

"I can't believe it!" Bradshaw said, still in shock.

"This fuck was under our noses the entire time and we didn't know!" Nick spat with a kick to the wall. "He was alive all this time, Fin! He raped her...again..." He said with tears in his eyes.

"We don't know that…" Fennigan said. "We're just assuming."

"Assuming? What, you livin in denial now? That's her blood on that bed, hers! That fuck died with his penis out; his blood covered…" he turned away from the men in the room and collected himself before turning back around while Fin went out of the room, feeling overwhelmed and ready to hurt something. He thought back to Pennsylvania all those months ago, how Olivia was destroyed then, could barely get words out and it was because of Harlan Lewis. Now they find out that he hadn't died all those months ago, he's been alive in this mansion, doing god knows what and finally after stalking her for months, he again, kidnaps and rapes… Angry, he made his way downstairs.

"I swore never to touch a woman in anger but, if that bitch Bronwyn makes it, I'm gonna choke her out with my bare hands!" Nick swore. "Does Elliot know about this?"

"We got here, we found Sergeant Benson. She was in the living room on the floor; b…" Bradshaw suddenly stopped himself when he caught sight of Fennigan behind Amaro, shaking his head and Bradshaw realized what he was saying.

"What?" When Bradshaw looked at Fennigan and then Nick looked at them both.

"Look…" Fennigan said, realizing that Nick would find out anyway. "When we found her, she was beaten and her shirt was torn… she was just out of it. She said they were in the basement, me and Fennigan went down and Elliot left to get her to the hospital."

"Son of a bitch!"

In the basement, Fin came straight for Harlan's body but the detectives there stopped him.

"Don't do it detective." Eastman said, obscuring Harlan's body as he stepped in front of Fin.

"Get out of my way!"

"And what? Let you beat a dead man? Fuck up the ME's autopsy, get yourself in a bunch of trouble? Not for this guy, he's not worth it!" Eastman said.

"Do you know what this man has done? How many people he's hurt?"

"I know exactly what he's done and it's taking everything in me to not do the exact same thing you came here to do but he's not worth it! I'm sorry for what he did to your Sergeant but she got him, she got him and he's done, he's never gonna hurt anybody again. Take some comfort in that!"

At the hospital, Elliot sat in Olivia's room by her bedside holding the baby while he waited for her to wake up. The baby had thankfully checked out fine, 6lbs, 11ozs and she was beyond okay in spite of what Olivia went through and as Elliot sat holding her, he thought she was the most beautiful little girl he'd ever seen. That was saying a lot for a man with three daughters of his own but she was as beautiful as they came. A head full of dark hair, Elliot remembered he'd heard an old wives tale years ago that said heartburn in a pregnant woman means lots of hair for the baby. He'd never known if it was true however, since all of his kids were born bald. But now looking at Serena, he laughed.

"So this is the result of all that heartburn, huh?" He said to a very alert Serena. She watched him under the beautiful long lashes of her big brown eyes which were open and taking in the new world around her; as much as she could. Being a little more than an hour old she was still pretty exhausted from her birth and let out a giant yawn.

"Your mommy went through a lot to get you here" He said as she looked up at him. "Yeah, she did. Maybe one day she'll tell you all about it- leaving out the unnecessary parts of course but you, little beauty, you are a fighter just like her!" Serena yawned again and Elliot looked at her. "Am I boring you already, Serena?" He laughed as she smiled and closed her eyes.

"It's okay, you sleep and hopefully when you wake up we'll have mommy awake too!" He kissed her head before lying her down in her bassinet beside Olivia's bed and making sure to cover her. "Welcome to the world, kiddo!" He said before He turned and kissed Olivia on the mouth. "I love you!" He stood over her for a moment and there were tears streaming his face as he said it.

"I love you so damn much; and when you wake up, we're gonna have a fresh start the three of us, wherever you wanna go!" He caressed her cheek, her color already starting to return and he kissed the top of her head before he left the room.

He was outside for less than a minute, in spite of everything he took a moment to smile and send up a prayer of thanks that everything turned out okay. The prayer was literally leaving his lips when Nick and Fin came around the corner. "Where the hell have you two been?"

"We stopped by the crime scene." Nick said. "How's Liv doin?"

"6lbs, 11ozs!"

"She's here?" Fin asked. Finally some happiness came from this situation and he and Nick couldn't help smiling.

"Here and beautiful!" Elliot said as he took his phone from his pocket to show the guys pictures.

"Before you do that, El, we gotta talk to you"

"About?"

"Liv's abduction; El, it's worse than we thought." Nick said. Elliot stood looking back and forth at he and Fin, not understanding.

"I think we need to sit down..." Fin told Elliot "you're gonna need it!"

So I decided on sooner as opposed to later; well, the urge hit me. See y'all next time, maybe some Amanda? We'll see.