Love & Order (A Law & Order:SVU fanfic)

The Crib

10: 38 am Thursday, April 21, 2010

Liv? Liv come on wake up! We’ve got a break. Det. Olivia Benson’s eyes snapped open as she woke. She grabbed her jacket with one hand and rubbed the remnants of sleep from her eyes with the other. “Got it, let’s go”. She stood up and the grey walls of the SVU crib swam in front of her. “Oh”, she swayed slightly on her feet and Elliot caught her by the arm. “Woah, hey, Olivia…” his voice deepened to a serious tone; “what’s up with you lately? This must the third time I’ve had to come get you from the crib this week. You need to go see a doctor”.

She shrugged away and brushed off the comment, “I’m fine El just a little run down, this case has got us doing crazy hours, nothing new. So what did Kim have for us?”.

“Nice change of subject Liv, and no, it is new when you can’t keep your eyes open on the job.” Olivia shut the car door and grinned wryly at her partner in the driver’s seat “damn you know me too well, that subject change would’ve worked on anyone else.”

Twenty minutes into the drive, Elliot did a double take as he looked over at Olivia who he saw had turned an interesting shade of greyish green.  She grimaced and put a hand on the dash in front of her. “Uh, El. Could you uh, eurgh, um pull over for a second?” Elliot swerved the car to the curb of the suburbs they were searching and pushed open the door for her from his seat. Immediately she leaned over and threw up violently into the gutter. She slouched back inside the seat before jerking forward again. Elliot unbuckled his seat belt and kept a steady hand on her shuddering shoulders.

“Damn, I knew that leftover Chinese was a bad idea”, Olivia leaned back in the seat and accepted the piece of gum Elliot was offering her. “Olivia”. Elliot fixed her with a knowing look, you looked like this yesterday as well, what’s going on with you? She just shrugged. “Fine, fine, I’ll make an appointment with the doctor, I’m sure it’s nothing though” she grumbled as an afterthought. Elliot just shook his head and kept driving.

2:24 pm. Back at the station

Olivia exhaled sharply and tried to focus on the papers in front of her on her desk. She swallowed drily but the sour taste in her mouth rose up in the back of her throat and her stomach clenched and rolled. She rested her head in her hands and tried to breathe through her nose, waiting for the feeling to pass.

Once she was sure she wasn’t going to throw up all over the court documents she opened her eyes to see a concerned Elliot beside her staring at her oddly. “Liv, you okay?” She opened her mouth to respond but another rolling vise of nausea had her clamping her mouth shut and shaking her head.

 She moved her hand away from her mouth, “I’ve gotta get out of here”. She swayed a little as she stood and put on her coat; “Come on, I’ll drive you home”: Elliot pulled his coat off the back of his chair.

“Thanks, lemme just go tell Cragen we’re heading out” Olivia straightened up and headed towards their Captain’s office. But with the next step she stopped again and bent over slightly at the waist. Elliot gently pushed her into a chair; “wait here, I’ll just be a sec”.

He knocked twice on the glass etched door with the backs of his knuckles. The door swung open easily, “Cap – I’m heading out a little early to take Olivia home, she’s not feeling well”.

 The older man covered the lower end of the phone with his hand, “Sure, go ahead – tell Liv to feel better”. He frowned slightly as his two best detectives left, it wasn’t like either of them to leave early or ever take a sick day.

“Hey are you sure you’re going to be okay?”, Elliot pulled up to the entrance of her apartment building and looked into her eyes. “Yeah El, I’ll be fine” she insisted – running a tired hand across her forehead impatiently. “I’m sure I’ll be fine tomorrow”. “All right, take care of yourself Olivia”. He waited until the front door locked behind her before he drove off to his own apartment, empty now since the divorce had become finalized.