Beautiful Disaster Chapter 1

Elliot walked out of his wife's hospital room, sighs, and smiles at the exhausted woman standing in front of him. "How's the baby?" she asks softly. "Great", he replied, still grinning from ear to ear, still trying to come to terms with the surreal turn his day had taken. Everyone was going to be okay. Thanks to Olivia, Kathy was safe, and he had a brand new son as part of his family. He took a deep breath, trying to come back to reality. It is only in looking at her now that he notices what he did not see the moment he rushed through those swinging doors not thirty minutes earlier. Her blue sweater stained with the blood of his wife and son from where she held him close to her heart in an attempt to keep him warm and comfort him during the mad rush to the hospital. She looked exhausted. In those fleeting moments, Elliot realized that he owed his partner so much. All these years of working together, he had known that she'd always had his back, both in and out of the field...but today she had gone above and beyond the call of duty to save what he held most dear-his family.

They had started to walk away together when he stopped and turned, pulling her into an embrace. He held her close, because there were no words that could possibly express the gratitude that he felt. Olivia let herself be enveloped within her partners arms and closed her eyes, enjoying for just a moment the feeling of security and comfort that it gave her. She was reeling from the days events, trying to come down from the adrenaline rush that still coursed through her veins. She took a step back, resting her hands on her partner's arms in an attempt to steady herself. There was a loud rushing sound in her ears, and the hallway seemed to be spinning. Olivia looked up into his eyes, but as she opened her mouth to speak, felt herself start to fall, and then her world went dark.

Elliot felt her pulling back from the hug, and reluctantly loosened his hold on his partner to release her. He stared into her eyes as she looked up at him with a smile then watched in disbelief as her eyes rolled back in her head, her knees buckled, and she crumpled in his arms.

"Liv? Olivia!" he shouted her name as he caught her before she hit the floor, scooping her up to hold her close. Her head flopped back limply against his arm, and his stomach dropped. Panicked, he called out "I need help over here!"

Two nurses were immediately at his side with a gurney, and he laid his partner on it gently. "What happened, Sir?" the first asked, while the other shined a penlight into the unconscious woman's eyes to check for a reaction. "I don't know...we were standing here talking one moment, and the next, she just collapsed". Elliot replied, his voice shaking slightly.

By this point, an ER doctor had appeared, asking what was wrong. Elliot briefly explained that she had been involved in an automobile accident a few hours earlier. He then stepped back and his heart sank a little as the doc began giving instructions to his team.

"I need a complete blood panel done, CT of the abdomen to check for internal bleeding, and also an MRI to look for any signs of a closed head injury. Also get me an X-ray of the left wrist, there is some bruising and deformity starting to appear." Orders complete, the team of nurses and techs quickly whisked Olivia off to the elevators toward radiology. Elliot was briefly aware of a nurse returning to give him consent forms to sign for the tests. Then he sank disbelieving into a chair near the nurses station for a moment to catch his breath. He glanced at his watch, unable to grasp the fact that it had been a mere fifteen minutes since he had left his wife's bedside. So much had changed in that short time. He was so certain that everything was and would be fine.

Dazed, he walked back to his wife's room, pausing at the door to look in on her holding their hours-old son, lovingly nicknamed 'Eli'. She was covered in bruises and scratches, but thanks to Olivia, she was alive. Hearing the door open, Kathy looked up at her husband and smiled. "Back already? I would have thought you and Olivia would have needed to go back to the station for a bit" seeing the look in his eyes, she reached out her free hand to grasp his. "Elliot?" she questioned again. "What's wrong?"

"Its Liv." he whispered. "We were out in the hallway talking, and next thing I know, she passed out. They have her down in the ER now". Kathy squeezed her husbands hand in sympathy. There were so many aspects of his job that she did not understand, the dynamics of his partnership that did not make sense, and while she had never before had an issue with any of his prior partners who were men, the fact that Olivia was a beautiful, competent, and courageous woman intimidated her and brought out insecurities she wished she didn't have. But looking into her husbands eyes, she knew what it was that he needed. He was already blaming himself for not driving her to the appointment, so she knew that guilt had now increased even more with Olivia was injured as well, as she had stepped up in his place. Settling her son in the bassinet next to her hospital bed, she took her husband's hand in both of hers. "Go" she said quietly. "Go to the ER and wait for word on her, then come up and let us know how she is doing". Giving his wife a grateful smile, Elliot leaned forward and gave her a brief kiss, then headed out the doors to the elevators that would take him to the hospital's emergency department.