A/N: Hi everyone! I know I haven't updated in a few weeks, I just got back from vacation where I had absolutely no internet access. But it feels so good to be writing again. So without further ado, please read and review. (I totally just rhymed). Anyways, Review!!!! It's like candy.
Disclaimer: Dick Wolf won't give up the goods. He's so stubborn.
It had officially been a week since the incident. Nobody really discussed it, anyway.
Everybody tried to see Olivia in the hospital, but their schedules made it hard to deal with. Casey came by at least once everyday. Munch also tried to a couple of times, but Elliot was in his own little world.
Whatever he was going through wasn't showing on the outside. Whenever Olivia's name came up, he acted like he didn't hear it or like she would be back at work any minute now. Everybody wanted to smack some sense into him, but it was hard. They all acted as if nothing was wrong. As if Olivia wasn't in intensive care having a tube breathe for her.
But it wasn't just Elliot. Somehow, the entire momentum of the squad was slowly crashing. Nobody looked each other in the eye anymore; there was no more going for drinks after work. Cragen wasn't giving any leniency; in fact, he was almost at the point that if someone pissed him off, he would recommend suspension.
Sometimes it was hard for the victims as well. The squad was mostly male by now, and a lot of the younger girls were too afraid or timid to speak. They needed a woman around. Cragen had been talking to the commissioner as well. If there was no improvement in Olivia's condition, than a new temporary replacement would be in order.
The only problem was how to tell this to his detectives.
It had been a long day for Fin; well actually it was only eleven o'clock in the morning. But it felt like an entire day. He had had to talk down Elliot a few times from doing everyone else's paperwork, which he never thought he would do in a lifetime. Munch had gone up to the crib and hadn't come back down, which inevitably left him stuck with Lake for all of his interviews. He also had a headache the size of New York.
The clock was ticking, and he couldn't focus. Then he suddenly had a thought.
"Hey, Lake," he said while putting his jacket on. Lake was pouring coffee and looked up.
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to the hospital. You gonna' be okay for awhile?"
Lake had a small amount of sympathy in his eyes, "Yeah, man," he said in his Brooklyn accent. "I'll be fine. You go ahead."
Fin smiled and exited through the doors of the quiet squad room.
Fin walked down the hallway of the hospital. He really didn't have a good reason to be there. Of course she was a close friend, and of course he would risk his life for her's. But in some small way, he knew why it had taken so long for him to want to come. It was the same reason why Elliot probably wouldn't come.
It was because Olivia was now a constant reminder of everything the squad had lost. They had lost not only a good friend, but also a bond, and a hope that someday they would change the world. But if a good person like Olivia could be in this position, than what the hell was the point? Why would they work so hard to protect the world if the world couldn't protect them? Maybe Olivia knew what she was getting into, but then again, how could anybody expect this?
He finally reached room 216 and opened the door. It was dead silent, with four white walls, just like it was when he first visited. The heart monitor was beeping slowly, and he could hear small wisps coming from the air ventilator. And just like before, there she was.
But something was missing, and Fin couldn't put his finger on it for about a minute. She was alone, that was the problem. Nobody else was in the room with her. Nobody. What the hell?
He understood that they hadn't been able to get a hold of Simon and he understood that Porter was now in an out reach program in California, but what about everybody else. But what got him mostly upset was Elliot.
If everybody else felt so damn bad about this, why weren't they here? He decided to take a couple of breaths and sit down next to her. Now was not the time to get pissed off.
Fin sat there for about fifteen minutes without saying anything. He just kept looking at her. This whole situation was incredibly awkward. Then, through all of the silence, he heard a voice speak. It was his own.
"Hey Liv," he started. "How ya doin'?" The monitors kept beeping, and the room was dead silent. Fin felt like he should talk about something more. She was a close friend.
"Ya know, since the trial, I haven't talked to my son, Ken. I just – I yelled at him over everything a couple of weeks ago. I shouldn't of, I know that. But it's hard with everything goin' on."
The silence kept answering him.
"I know that a little over a year ago, you helped him out. I guess that's why you should know. Besides, I heard that people in comas can hear things. So, I hope you hear this."
Fin looked at her long and hard. Her hair was spread across the pillow, and the breathing tube was held in by a piece of tape. This wasn't right. She shouldn't be here.
A tear almost caught him off guard but he quickly wiped it away. He didn't like people seeing him cry, even if there was nobody in the room. Fin squeezed her hand and continued.
"I'm sorry nobody's here. You know us; we try the best we can. But, I don't think that's an excuse. And I'm sorry about Elliot. He isn't himself lately, and I'm pretty sure that's because of you. He's just not the type to admit it."
Fin Tutuola continued to talk. It wasn't anything special, but he needed to let things out. About the trial, his family, his work, the cases that effected him. He sat in there for about two hours, and when he got up to leave, this feeling of relief hit him. He had let everything out, and even though it was to a person that couldn't respond, it was the best talk he had ever had.
But he also felt sad that he would now be leaving her in an empty room with nobody to be there. In fact, it made him really mad.
"Night Liv," he said before exiting the room.
Fin was almost through the squad doors, and as he got closer, he got angrier. Why the hell is nobody with her? Why not her partner? Of all people, why not her partner?!
His fists started to clench, and as he walked into the silent, sad squad room, he couldn't stop himself.
Fin walked right past Munch, who looked at him puzzled. Fin went right up to Elliot, and before anybody could say anything, the inevitable happened.
Fin cocked back his fist and punched Elliot in the face as hard as he could.
"You son of a bitch!" Fin yelled as Elliot bent down to hold his nose. By now, Munch and Lake were holding Fin back with all they're might as Fin tried to swing another punch.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Elliot said standing up and pulling himself together. There was a small amount of blood coming from his nose, but it wasn't that bad. Shock was what hit Elliot more than anything.
"You want to know what's wrong with me?!" he yelled. Fin pushed Lake and Munch off of him, and stood in front of Elliot with his finger pointed accusingly at him.
"I'll tell you what's wrong with me. I just sat in a small hospital room for the past two hours, talking to someone who can't talk back. And then it hit me, why the hell isn't anybody else with her? Why not her partner?"
Elliot looked more hurt by the statement than by the punch, but fin wasn't finished.
"Oh, come on Stabler! Out of everyone in the squad room, you are basically the closest thing that she has ever had, and you haven't visited her once. And I know that we haven't said anything because you are going through some kind of breakdown, but this is enough. Everybody else is just too chicken to say anything."
"Fin -" Munch tried to say calmingly.
"No," Fin continued, "I'm tired of treating him like some cop baby. He should know better. Olivia did nothing to be in that hospital and Elliot won't even come and see her 'cause he's so sad about his own pathetic life."
Fin turned back to Elliot, "Oh, what's the matter Elliot. Are you sad because you feel like all these things keep happening to you? Well here's some information, it takes two people to get your wife pregnant. Also, I thought it was you that tried to cover your daughter's DUI."
Fin actually began to get emotional, and as Elliot looked at him dumbfounded, he couldn't help but notice Fin's eyes glisten over with tears.
"So," Fin finally stated, "Let me just say that I'm glad she isn't awake right now, because if she was, I don't know how I would tell her that she has such a crappy friend."
With that last statement, Fin walked back out of the squad room doors. Everybody was quiet. Elliot stood grounded in the floor, not being able to move. He looked up finally, to see the angry faces of Munch, Cragen, and Casey, who had seen the entire ordeal.
Suddenly, it hit Elliot that the angry faces weren't directed at Fin. Instead, they were directed at him.
The whole squad room looked at Elliot with disgust. In a way, they had all agreed with everything Fin had said.
"Elliot," Cragen said breaking the silence, "in my office, now."
Elliot began to move slowly, and as he did, things turned back to normal.
A/N: So, what did ya think? I will try to update a soon as possible! Review!