Elliot laid in his hospital bed, and he heard that stuff was happening around him, but he couldn't witness it with his two eyes. He could only see blackness, not even those brights dots that move in his vision when he rubs his eyes a little too hard.
"El?" A voice whispered, but Elliot couldn't tell from where it was coming from.
"Who's there?" Elliot asked as he reached out for whoever it was, and when they got closer Elliot knew it was Olivia. He could smell the vanilla in the air, and when her hands touched his he could feel the softness of her skin.
"Olivia." Elliot breathed before she even had a chance to tell him who she was.
"How'd you know?" She asked as she sank down onto the chair beside his bed. He kept looking forward, but he didn't release his hand.
"It's gonna sound like I'm a creep, but I smelt you. You have always smelt like vanilla." Elliot spoke. Olivia smiled softly, and she knew that the fact her face was turning red from what he said didn't matter since he couldn't see her and tease her about it.
"Have the kids and Kathy come up to see you today?" Olivia asked as she ran her thumb over the top of Elliot's hand.
"No. Kathy said that it's too hard on the kids to see me blind... I wish I could see them but what is the point? Phone calls are pretty much the same as them being here at the moment." Elliot replied.
"Elliot, I'll come to see you every night after work. Then you won't be lonely." Olivia breathed, and Elliot smiled. He didn't smile often because there didn't seem to be a reason anymore. And there wasn't until Olivia walked into his hospital room, smelling all good and being the person he needed to see the most.
"Not even my own wife will come and see me... it's sad. But I guess then I don't have to have her fussing over me." Elliot laughed.
"You like when people fuss over you, El. Trust me, you do." Olivia grinned. She continued to rub his hand quietly as Elliot continued to just lay with his head facing forward.
"They don't know if I'll get my vision back, Olivia. I might be like this forever." Elliot whimpered.
"Then I'll be your seeing eye friend," Olivia spoke. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, and she sighed before leaning forward and going to kiss Elliot's cheek. But he had turned his head quickly and their lips touched.
Olivia shot back quickly, and Elliot's face went red.
"Your lips are as soft as your hands are." He breathed.
///
Elliot laid in bed all day and just listened to the TV. He wishes that he knew what was being shown on the screen and not just what he heard. He waited mostly just to see if Olivia would come back at night as she promised, and he was so happy when he heard her walk into the room.
"Are you hungry?" Olivia asked, nervously.
"I'm not going to accidentally kiss you again, Liv... What did you bring me?" Elliot questioned, and Olivia blushed once again. She didn't mind the kiss, she just wishes that it had happened when he wasn't blind and actually wanted to kiss him.
"I brought you sandwiches from your favorite deli... I got you two... I know that you must be starving."
"I am. They fed me chicken broth twice today and it wasn't tasty." Elliot groaned. Olivia sat down beside him and slowly took the sandwiches from the bag. She unwrapped the first one and grabbed Elliot's hand before helping him hold it.
"You know what to do now, El." She spoke. Elliot awkwardly moved the sandwich to his mouth and took a big bite out of it. Olivia smiled, as she watched the mustard smear on his cheek.
"This is amazing, Liv. Thank you so much." He mumbled between chewing.
"Elliot, do you want me to go talk to Kathy? See if she wants to come up and see you? I could watch the kids. Eli is getting potty trained which would be my only small thing to deal with." Olivia spoke.
"The day I get my head slammed into the window... the day I went blind... Kathy and I signed the divorce papers. I didn't want to tell you because I know you would tell me to fight for my family. To get drunk with you for one night then fight for my family." Elliot spoke. Olivia reached out and gently touched his leg.
"You are unhappy, Elliot. I've seen it in your eyes a lot lately. So if you are happy now that you two aren't together, then I wouldn't have told you that. You just need to make sure that you are close to your kids even if you are no longer with their mother."
"I want to kiss you again," Elliot spoke, and Olivia's eyes went wide as Elliot sat his sandwich down on the table he knew was in front of him.
"You want to do what?" She asked, completely confused.
"Earlier it was an accident. Tonight it won't be." He spoke, before turning his head in the direction he heard Olivia's voice. She took a napkin from the bag and cleaned the mustard from his cheek and mouth before swallowing hard.
"What did you just do?" Elliot asked.
"You had mustard on your face, Stabler. I didn't want it on mine too." Olivia replied, before leaning forward. Elliot reached his hands out and found her face, before drawing her closer.
Their lips pressed together, and even without his sight, he still knew how to kiss Olivia the way she wanted to be kissed.
///
Elliot was released a week after the accident, and Olivia took him back to her apartment to take care of him. Olivia didn't mind having to wake up in the middle of the night to help Elliot to the bathroom, or how she walked around the apartment with him so that he got used to the floorplan.
But her favorite thing about having Elliot staying with her was when he woke her up one night, as he caressed her cheek.
"Do you need to use the bathroom?" She asked, as she rolled over and looked at him. But she didn't know why Elliot was making eye contact with her.
"El?" She breathed.
"You are 32 today, and my gift to you is the fact that I can see you," Elliot spoke, and her eyes went wide.
"You can see? Elliot!" Olivia cried.
"You are a little blurry, but absolutely beautiful." Elliot smiled.
"We need to get to the hospital. We need them to make sure that this isn't a fluke, but that you can actually see." Olivia spoke. Before she could even climb out of bed, Elliot was pulling her close and kissing her deeply.
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