After All This Time

Another Day Of Love...But A Night Of Heartache

"You love her." Sheila said softly, crossing her arms as she leaned back against the chair.

Elliot took a breath, not answering her. "What I don't love is four year olds being kidnapped." He seethed.

Sheila scoffed. "She's lucky I'm in here." She muttered, shaking her head.

Elliot raised an eyebrow, hearing her. Was this woman really that far gone? He placed his hands on the table, leaning over to get close to her face. "No, you're lucky you're in here. If you ever so much as make another threat against her or Noah, if you so much as dream about him, I'll make sure you spend the rest of your life in solitary confinement." He threatened.

"You can't do that!" She yelled, shooting up out of the chair as Elliot walked toward the cell door.

"Watch me." Elliot replied, smirking evilly as he waited for the guard to open the door and he walked out as Sheila watched him, her eyes wide.

End of flashback...

Getting into his SUV, he sighed again. How could someone become that psychotic? To steal a child from the only stable home he knows? Then again, he understood it in a way. He would do anything for his children. He would walk through fire for them. Crawl over broken glass for them. Whatever it took to make sure they were safe.

His thoughts were interrupted when his cell phone rang. "Captain Stabler." He answered, stopping at a red light. "Hey, Marshall. Actually, I'm not coming in today. I was just gonna call you. Yeah, I'm taking a personal day so you're in charge. Thanks, bye." He said, hanging up.

After about twenty minutes, he arrived at the hospital and went to the gift shop. He knew Kathleen was all grown up now but she was still his baby girl; she always would be, as well as Maureen and Elizabeth. He bought her a stuffed teddy bear and a bouquet of flowers, then made his way to her hospital room.

Once he made it to her room, he noticed that she was sleeping so he opened the door quietly and sat the flowers and teddy bear on the tray next to the bed. Then, he took out his cell phone and sent Olivia a text as he came up with an idea.

Hey, Liv. I'm gonna be spending the day with Kathleen so I won't see you for lunch but maybe for dinner? I'll be taking Kathleen to my mom's and the other kids will be there, too. You're more than welcome to join. Don't worry if you come late, we'll eat whenever you get to the house. Have a good day. I love you. -El

After sending the text, he put his phone back in his pocket and picked up the newspaper that was sitting on the edge of the tray. Just as he got engrossed in a story, his phone buzzed, signaling that he received a text message. He smiled as he read it.

Can't wait to see you and everyone later. I love you, too. -Liv

He put his phone back down and finished reading the article. A few minutes later, Kathleen started to stir in the bed, slowly waking up. When she opened her eyes, she smiled when she saw her father. "Hey, Dad." She whispered.

"Hey, honey." Elliot whispered back, gently squeezing her hand and smiling softly. "How do you feel?" He asked.

"A lot better, actually." Kathleen said, relieved. "I wanna go home."

"Okay, well, let's call the doctor in here and see what we can do about that." Elliot replied with a smile as he picked up the call light on Kathleen's bed and handed it to her so she could press the button.