DISCLAIMER: Not mine. I promise I'm only borrowing them and will return them to their rightful owners whenever they ask for them back. My imagination took a flight of fancy.....my bank account stayed empty. (Seriously, the cast of SVU belong to NBC and Dick Wolf and I'm only borrowing them for some free daydreaming that I wrote down).
SPOILERS: None specifically, although good knowledge of what happens in general is required. There will be the occasional reference to a case seen on the show, with any eps up to 'Loss' (early season 5) regarded as fair game. It is from this point that the AU occurs, although back story from the show (should anything post Loss strike me (but not 'Ghost') will be incorporated where relevant/appropriate. In other words, I only play with the toys I like!
SERIES/SEQUEL: This piece is a standalone piece in its own right, but there is a
companion piece of the same name in the CSI fandom. These two fics will combine to be a crossover......eventually.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Cold Feet, Cold Case, Warm Hearts
By ncruuk
Part 3
By mid morning next day, Olivia was carefully installed on the couch in the apartment she and Alex lived in, courtesy of some very protective SVU Detectives. Alex had reluctantly left her hospital bedside some 3 hours earlier, needing to go home to shower and change before heading off to appear in court, unusually as a witness. She had inadvertently become involved in a sexual harassment in the work place civil trial involving one of her former ADA colleagues. Serena Southerlyn had, on leaving the DA's Office, gone into private practice quite successfully, only to then recently experience some problems with one of her new colleagues, problems that had resulted in his firing from the firm on the grounds that he was sexually harassing her. Now, Alex had been summoned as a character witness for Serena by her law firm, along with Liz Donnelly and a couple of other ADAs, to show how unfounded the accusations that the fired attorney was trying to level at Serena actually were. Olivia had spent much of their shopping excursion the day before, teasing Alex about being a witness, even going so far as to offer advice. After all, being on the stand was something that Olivia had all the experience at, not her prosecuting partner.
"You got everything you need there partner?" asked Elliot, moving to tuck the blanket around Olivia's bare legs once more. Before Alex had shot home briefly to collect some clothes for Olivia, it had been decided that loose running shorts were probably the easiest to wear, saving them having to worry about guessing how big the brace would be for the time being. Now, propped up on the couch, swathed in fleecy blanket, TV remote, newspapers and drink on a small table within arms reach, Olivia was just waiting to see how much longer her friends were going to cluck over her like Mother Hens before she could send them back to the Squad Room, when thankfully, Munch's cell phone intervened.
"Munch."
"At Benson's apartment."
"Benson? Cragen says you're not to show your face in the squad room 'til Tuesday at the earliest, though if you can hold out 'til Thursday he'd be happier" relayed Munch, not giving Olivia a chance to respond, turning back to his telephone conversation with the Captain.
"All of us?"
"Sure, we'll head over right now."
"42nd and Jackson, look for the crowd of cops."
"Sure thing Cap'n." before he then hung up. Looking to see everyone's expectant gaze focused on him, he took in the position Elliot had paused in, quipping,
"Come on Stabler, stop trying to cop a feel of Benson there, we've got work to do" prompting Olivia, who hadn't really noticed what Elliot was doing to the blanket until then, being more interested in Munch's call, to look down. In reality, Elliot was doing nothing more than check that there was enough blanket gathered at the back of the couch so that it wouldn't pull itself off Olivia and onto the floor, but she could see that, from Munch's position, he actually looked far from innocent. Smiling, she decided to mess with her partner, commenting,
"I don't think Alex meant for you to get 'that' involved in making sure I was comfortable" causing her normally tough partner to blush and stutter his apologies, along with references to having kids and respecting Alex as he straightened up. Laughing, Olivia decided to save her partner's face just a little by refocusing everyone's attention on the call.
"What did the Captain want John?"
"Oh, the three of us have got a case, over by 42nd and Jackson. Homicide caught a case that they think we should have, not like we haven't enough work of our own to do" griped John Munch good-naturedly.
"In that case….." began Olivia, experiencing the internal conflict of concern for whoever was affected by whatever the new case was, as well as relief that finally, her well meaning colleagues could leave her in peace to drink her soda and watch some TV until Alex came back with some lunch. She didn't need to finish her thought, as Fin was already there, beginning to hustle Munch towards the door saying,
"We need to go. Listen, Olivia, you need anything, call us and no matter what, we'll come blue lights and everything. Rest that leg Girl, we need you back on door busting duty, seeing as these two can't get it right!"
Smiling at the joke, Olivia waved the two detectives out. Unsurprisingly, Elliot stayed to have a last, serious word with his partner.
"Liv, I'm so sorry I made a mess…." Elliot was still beating himself up about the fact that, as he saw it, he was the one responsible for the suspect getting as far as her, not Munch, because he lost his balance as he broke down the door.
"El, don't worry. These things happen. I'm ok, really. So my knee got banged up, it'll mend." Seeing her partner's slumped posture perk up a bit at the reassurance, she went in for the ultimate pep talk clincher when it came to Elliot.
"Now, get out there and put away whoever this latest bastard is!" which, coupled with an affectionate swat in his general direction, had him heading to the door, saying as he went
"I'll call by later…."
"No, it's ok, Alex will be back in an hour or so!"
"If you're sure?"
"I'm sure, now get out of here, the guys are waiting!" shouted Olivia, before finally relaxing back into the couch when she heard the apartment door slam and Elliot looking the double lock in place with his spare key, ensuring she was secure in the apartment until Alex returned and let herself in. Silence, she was beginning to appreciate, really could be golden.
After half watching a couple of episodes of some random drama that Olivia recalled deliberately seeing enough of previously, such that she could fathom what was happening now, she heard the magical sound of her lover's key in the lock. Moments after the door slammed in place once more, Alex's voice rang out through the apartment.
"Olivia, I'm back!"
"On the couch!" came Olivia's happy reply, quickly shutting off the TV, trying to suppress the wince that followed her attempt to turn so that she could catch sight of her lover that all important split second sooner than if she'd been good and just stayed put….
"How are you feeling?" asked Alex, as she came into the living room, putting down handbag, briefcase, keys…all the paraphernalia that a morning out of the apartment and in court made necessary.
"Not bad, considering," replied Olivia, dismissively, far more interested in hearing about Alex's morning.
"How long did it take for the guys to stop fussing?" asked Alex, unable to stop humour colouring her tone, as she slipped her shoes off and hung her suit jacket over the back of one of the more upright chairs.
"Only about 20 minutes – Cragen rang Munch and sent them all off to a case."
"Oh? I haven't heard anything yet" Not yet fully 'arrived' in the apartment, Alex paused and pressed a kiss to Olivia's lips by way of interim greeting, before continuing in her routine.
"Not sure you necessarily will. It was up 42nd Street way…..Uniforms called Homicide called us. Could turn out to be a false alarm, you know how Homicide can get….." Olivia raised her voice slightly, so that Alex could still hear her as she padded in stockinged feet through to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
"Sure….find a body without its pants and you call SVU," said Alex, returning with her drink to the living room and crossing to the couch, dropping another affectionate kiss, this time upside down on Olivia's forehead, before rounding the end of the couch. Putting her glass of water down on the table with Olivia's now finished soda, Alex sat down on the floor, leaning angled against the couch, extending her arm up along the seat of the couch, entwining her fingers with Olivia's.
"How was it?" Alex carefully tipped her head back, so it was resting against Olivia's extended legs and closed her eyes, revelling in the domestic calmness that was suddenly and unexpectedly available to them.
"You know I can't talk to you about it…." Began Alex, in a weary tone, making Olivia realise that she'd been misunderstood.
"Sorry, I didn't mean the case specifically, I meant being a witness….I never actually asked you if you had ever been one before. I just assumed…" Olivia removed her fingers from Alex's loose grasp and threaded them through the silky blonde locks that were just within her reach. Olivia didn't really need to ask Alex to know that the experience had been a trying one for her, the general weariness and tension manifested itself in Alex's shoulders just enough to enable Olivia to spot it.
"Trying….no, you're right. Despite being a witness worthy of federal protection, I never had to take the stand as one before today." Alex briefly alluded to the time that neither she nor Olivia liked to dwell on, namely the two-year separation they had been forced to endure when Alex went into Witness Protection. She'd never needed to take the stand on account of the Gang in question being wiped out by a DEA sting operation that had ended in a hail of bullets; by the time she was able to re-emerge, there were no gang members alive to try.
"I don't know how you cope with all the questions those idiots ask" elaborated Alex, enjoying Olivia's caress.
"With a great deal of patience, Counsellor" Olivia couldn't help but tease Alex, stressing her title, pleased to see the faintest hints of an amused smile appear on Alex's face.
"I meant defence council" corrected Alex, deliberately ignoring the attempted bait by her lover.
"They ask lots of stupid things?" Olivia was sympathetic.
"They always do, don't know why they bother really, it rarely works."
"Because it would be no fun for you if you didn't have anyone to battle with" offered Olivia, glad to see that her lover was starting to relax.
"Hmm, you have a point there, Detective" conceded Alex.
"I occasionally do, Counsellor." Joked Olivia, before turning serious again, and asking carefully,
"You really didn't like answering questions, did you?"
"Not when I could have asked such better questions" came the sleepy reply, the sleepiness taking the edge off the question, turning what could have been an arrogant statement into, as far as Olivia was concerned, a rather endearing one.
"Come on you, lets go have a nap, you're tired" Olivia tried to rouse Alex from the beginnings of her light doze.
"I'm not tired…." Alex tried to protest, forcing her eyes to open, automatically preparing to make some protest about needing to go back to work…..after all, it was only 12.30 on a Friday afternoon, being at home with Olivia was a hitherto unexperienced decadence that surely could only exist in dreams.
"Hush, you're tired, so we're both going to go to bed for a nap. Donnelly rang to tell me to tell you that, since it's Friday and you're not in court 'til Tuesday, you could have the afternoon off to keep me company." Coaxed Olivia, hoping that Alex would wake up enough to take herself through to the bedroom, since the crutches made it impossible for Olivia to carry her through, which was something she did on the occasions when Alex really did fall asleep in the living room, generally when Olivia was working late.
"Liz really gave me the afternoon off?" Alex was now wide awake.
"Yes, and she specifically mentioned looking after me" said Olivia truthfully, wondering if Alex would believe her.
"Really? In that case, I think a nap sounds wonderful, you coming?" asked Alex hopefully, shamelessly using 'that' look, the one she knew that Olivia found hard to resist. She wasn't normally so shameless about playing Olivia to get what she wanted, but the combination of the lingering shock of rushing to hospital, not knowing how badly injured Olivia was, as well as the genuinely unsettling experience that being a witness had been for the Prosecutor, left her feeling rather unbalanced, something which her astute lover quickly picked up on.
"Of course I'm coming with you….you really didn't like being a witness, did you?"
"I've never felt out of control in Court before…..never felt so nervous about how I said what I wanted to say" Admitted Alex shyly, embarrassed that she had been so unsettled by something that her lover went through regularly.
"Hey, come on…..don't worry about it. It was your first time…..I threw up right before my first court appearance" offered Olivia, trying to remember if she'd told this story to Alex before or not.
"You did?" Obviously, thought Olivia wryly, she hadn't.
"Yes. I was a rookie, still in uniform and I had been dealing with a routine fender bender that descended into a fist fight. I was the lucky cop that saw the first punch thrown." Olivia couldn't stop the wry smile as she recalled her first court appearance, and the relative simplicity of her evidence, compared to some of the stuff she'd had to cope with whilst in the SVU.
"And you threw up before hand?" Despite her exhaustion, Alex's interest was thoroughly peeked by this opportunity to learn yet another little bit about her lover from her life before SVU.
"Yup, right over my training partner's boots. She was not impressed. It's funny, looking back on it, it was probably one of the most straightforward testimony's I've now given, but it was the only one I've thrown up before. I've thrown up after a few though." Came the honest admission, accompanied by a reassuring hand squeeze.
"You have? I never knew. When?" asked Alex, her own discomfort forgotten as her curiosity took over.
"Not for a while now, actually, not since you came back" Olivia referred, like she always did, to Alex's time in Witness Protection, by some oblique reference.
"I never knew…." Reiterated Alex, starting to feel guilt at what her lover had experienced.
"Hey, it's OK, it wasn't anything you did. Before you came to SVU, I used to throw up after some of my testimonies. Some cases, recounting either what I had walked in on, or found whilst searching, or even just what I'd had to listen to in interview, it was enough to make me feel physically sick by the time the defence had tried to turn what I had said in favour of their guy. By the time you joined us, I'd done enough cases with Abbie Carmichael that she'd helped me improve my technique so as to minimise the 'interpretation' that the defence counsel could do, not to mention she was an incredible prosecutor."
"I must thank Abbie for breaking you in so well next time I see her" observed Alex dryly, prompting a teasing swat from Olivia, very aware of the tensions that existed between the two ADAs, before asking,
"So if Abbie and I cured you, why did you start again when you had Novak as the SVU ADA?"
"Partly because I wasn't coming home to you, so demons weren't dealt with as I got them" admitted Olivia honestly, remembering some of the nights where, instead of talking through a horrible case with Alex and a glass of wine, she mulled on it with a bottle of scotch. Alex refrained from pointing out that technically, they didn't start going home together until after her return from Witness Protection. Now was not the moment to be technical about the evolution of their relationship.
"But also because Casey Novak was at times, a bit of a ham-fisted prosecutor, in comparison with Abbie and you. She left us open to more intensive cross examinations….." Olivia wasn't quite sure how to explain quite why this made it harder for her to remain detached from the case, but thankfully, she didn't have to.
"Oh Liv, my dear sweet Olivia….." Alex got up from her seated position and was now kneeling by the couch, threading her fingers through Olivia's hair, before pulling her into a loving kiss, trying not to cry, a reaction prompted as much by what Olivia hadn't said, rather than what she had. It was strange, at times she thought she knew everything there was to know about her lover, only for something new to emerge at the oddest of times, reminding her that, no matter how well she knew Olivia Benson, there would always be something else to discover.
"Hey, it's ok. It doesn't happen anymore, the last time was well over two years ago….." Olivia gave up trying to explain away Alex's fears when her lips were consumed once more. Melting into the kiss, Olivia decided that some explanations were more effective communicated through actions, not words. When they finally separated, Olivia quirked an eyebrow, deciding that they needed to distract themselves, saying flirtatiously,
"Did someone mention bedroom?" earning her a half hearted 'punishing' tap on the right thigh from Alex, before they both carefully manoeuvred their weary bodies through to their bedroom, a gentle, lazy, long weekend ahead of them being the best possible tonic for them, marred hopefully, only by the need to cancel the reservations for two weeks holiday in Aspen.
"Elliot, you got a second?" Cragen gestured for his detective to come into his office.
"Sure, what's up?"
"Have a seat" Elliot sat in the chair opposite Cragen's desk as Cragen lent against his desk.
"Captain?"
"What do you want to do?"
"Do about what?"
"Your partner. She's not going to be going out of the stationhouse for the next couple of weeks."
"Ok" Elliot wasn't quite understanding what Cragen was saying.
"You don't have enough paperwork to keep you busy for the next couple of weeks Elliot."
"Neither does Olivia."
"Yes, she will do. She'll get some of this" here, Cragen gestured at his desk.
"Oh, Sergeants stuff" Previously, when Olivia had been away or sick, Elliot had 'floated', catching up on his paperwork, looking at cold cases, appearing as required in court and backing up the other detectives when the needed the extra man. Judging by this conversation though, Cragen obviously anticipated this time would be different.
"You ok with that?"
"With what?" Despite the fact that Elliot had known Cragen for many years and regarded his Captain as a friend, his partner was always first. The relationship between him and Olivia was special, one which he would always protect, whoever was asking the questions.
"With your partner being the Sergeant; it's not that long ago that she was still the rookie in the squad" admitted Cragen, loosening his tie.
"You mean, am I ok with my partner, who joined the squad after me, being my boss one day?" asked Elliot neutrally, looking Cragen in the eye.
"I guess."
"Don, we went through this."
"I know, but I think I want to go through this again" muttered Don awkwardly.
"Why?"
"Elliot, you remember when we had that Serbian war criminal case? Almost ten years ago, Olivia had been here about a year?"
"Yes" Elliot remembered the case well. It had been the case in which Olivia had somehow managed to tiptoe between being kicked off the squad and being the best detective in the squad, having to cope with her incredible compassion and understanding with the living victims balanced against the facts of the case. It was the one of the few times he could remember there being a risk of her being taken out of the unit.
"She came close on that one, didn't she, closer than any of the others?" asked Don, alluding to how near Olivia came to losing all perspective on a case, but also recognising that if anyone would ever know when Olivia Benson had come closest to the famed 'burn-out', it would be the man sitting across from him now.
"Apart from Alex" admitted Elliot quietly, remember those harrowing times whilst Alex was in WPP when his partner struggled at times.
"Those two are something special" agreed Cragen, surprising Elliot for a moment, so unusual was it for Cragen to comment on it.
"They work well together" agreed Elliot, recalling how they were the night before in the hospital, teasing each other, showing a side of their relationship that their work colleagues rarely saw, so professional they were.
"Donnelly thinks Alex will take her job in a few years, unless she goes for DA."
"That makes sense, but not the DA's job" spoke Elliot determinedly, recalling words he'd had with Olivia some years before on the subject.
"No, I think you're right. The pair of them will make a great team for the city."
"You talk like you're about to retire Captain" said Elliot sharply.
"One day Elliot, yes, but not for a few more years…" Cragen trailed off again, running his hand over his head in an attempt to try and find the words he was grasping for. Elliot, years of interviewing behind him, recognised the motion for what it was and decided to ask the direct question.
"What are you really asking me Captain? Why are we talking about Olivia being Sergeant again?"
"Because…because things are going to change now I think, at least for a little bit"
"Excuse me?" Elliot wasn't following.
"Elliot, Olivia's your partner. As long as you're out on the streets solving cases, nothing changes. It's Benson and Stabler, like it has been for the last decade or so." Again, Cragen paused, wondering if Elliot would work out what his point was, which he did.
"But she's on desk duty for the next month, so we're not going to be out on the streets, are we?"
"No. You're going to be here most of the time, unless Munch and Fin want you" Cragen watched as the powerful man stood up and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Turning to look out at the squad room, the only sign that Elliot was anything other than totally calm was the cording of sinuous muscle in his forearms as his concealed fists clenched.
"And Police Plaza's going to expect you to use your Sergeant like a Sergeant?" he asked, suddenly understanding what Don was talking about. Their squad was about to get caught up in politics… again.
"Yes."
"Is it going to be permanent?" Considering how important the question was to Elliot's future, he was remarkably calm.
"I hope not."
"But you don't know for sure" stated Elliot hollowly, wondering if he could really face ever having anyone other than Olivia as his partner.
"No."
"She's my partner Captain."
"And she always will be Elliot."
"But if she gets tied to the Sergeant's desk…"
"You said she said it was desk duty for a month, right?" asked Cragen, trying to sound positive.
"Yes, crutches for two weeks, take it easy 'til she's back fully fit. Knowing her, she'll be back inside the month."
"She's got leave in two weeks, you sure she's still going to take it?" Out of nowhere, a possible solution formed in Cragen's mind, filling him with real hope for the first time since he'd heard about her fall.
"She and Alex were talking about the Caribbean instead, seeing as skiing is out. They need the time off" stated Elliot resolutely.
"So she does two weeks here on crutches, goes away for two weeks leave and comes back here fully fit" summarised Don.
"Hopefully, yes" agreed Elliot, looking to Cragen to see what his point was.
"And when she comes back from vacation, she's back on the street with you" decided Cragen resolutely.
"Thank you Captain" Elliot looked relieved.
"Don't thank me just yet Elliot, you've got these two weeks to get through first."
"I know Captain, but still…."
"Right" Cragen glanced at the clock and saw it was past six.
"Don't you have the kids or something on Friday nights?" he asked, moving to sit in his chair.
"Dickie comes round and we watch the game."
"He old enough to have beers yet?" asked Don, intrigued, trying to remember how old Elliot's son must be by now.
"Old enough to have one, with me" agreed Elliot firmly, causing Don to smile.
"Get out of here Elliot, go spend the evening with your son."
"Thanks Captain."
Elliot took his hands out of his pockets and moved to the door. Just as he opened it, he paused and turned back to Cragen who was seemingly engrossed in a file. Toying with the idea for a moment, he decided to risk it, and said,
"Call her Don, she understands it better than you think she does" before he left the office to collect his coat and head home to watch sports with his son. He didn't wait to see how Cragen reacted.
"That was a good movie" commented Alex as she removed her glasses and placed them on the bedside table, not needing them now.
"Hmm" Olivia sounded distracted, prompting Alex to turn in the embrace Olivia was holding her in so that she could look at her lover.
"What are you thinking about darling?"
"Hmm?" Olivia came out of her thoughts.
"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking" she admitted.
"So I saw. What about?" asked Alex carefully, snuggling back into the warm body of her lover.
"Work."
"A case?" queried Alex, enjoying the feel of the soft worn cotton of Olivia's t shirt against her face.
"No, the squad" Olivia absently stretched her uninjured leg out further along the bed.
"Ah…" There wasn't much Alex could say in response to that. Despite having worked with the squad as long as she had, and despite having loved Olivia for as long as she had, there were some things that she was still always going to be on the outside of, set apart from. The intricacies of the group dynamics between the SVU detectives was one such topic.
"Elliot and I, we've never had a period when one of us is on desk duty like this before…"
"But what about when one of you goes on vacation?" asked Alex carefully, smoothing her hand across her lover's firm stomach, enjoying the faint hints of muscle.
"That's different, because you're on your own then, so you generally help out the other detectives."
"And Elliot won't be doing that this time?"
"Yes, he will be."
"I don't get it" admitted Alex finally, when it became clear that Olivia wouldn't be elaborating any further on her final statement.
Smiling, Olivia looked down at Alex and ran her fingers through the long blonde hair.
"Don't worry about it, I think I'm just thinking too hard…" began Olivia, moving her head to kiss Alex. Just as their lips touched though, the telephone rang, causing Olivia to throw her head back in frustration.
"Why would Cragen be ringing me now?" she groaned, reaching towards the nearby phone.
"You don't know it's Cragen" reasoned Alex good naturedly, sitting up to make it easier for Olivia to take the call.
"Isn't it usually?" asked Olivia, her own good nature returning as she picked up the phone, making Alex smile.
"Benson."
"Captain, what a surprise!" answered Olivia brightly, causing Alex to laugh, earning her a playful thump from Olivia.
"No, this isn't a bad time. What's up?" Listening intently to her Captain, Olivia decided to push herself up further against the headboard. Forgetting all about her injured left leg, she bent it, ready to use it to propel her up the bed. The sudden sharp pain however, quickly reminded her of her injury, causing the normally well spoken detective to scream out,
"FUCK!" and drop the phone, which landed on the bed, the line still open to Cragen, who could be heard calling out to Olivia.
Gathering Olivia into her arms, Alex helped Olivia settle back against the headboard without stressing her knee again. Leaving one arm around her shaken lover, Alex reached for the phone.
"Don?"
"No, she's fine. Forgot about her knee and tried to use it. Surprised her a bit" explained Alex calmly, all the while watching her normally lightly tanned lover gradually recover her colour, the shock having momentarily rendered her a ghostly white.
"No, of course she can still talk to you."
"Don…" Olivia watched as Alex tried to talk to her Captain who obviously had something he wanted to talk to her about. Mindful of her now throbbing knee, Olivia reached forward and signalled to Alex to give her the phone.
"Don?" Olivia's rare use of her Captain's name stopped his rambling.
"It's Friday night. Why don't you come over for dinner?" Olivia looked at Alex and to her relief saw her smile and nod in agreement.
"Sure you do. Come by in an hour?"
"I insist, we insist" Olivia smiled at Alex as she listened to Cragen's half hearted protestations.
"You've got the address?" asked Olivia finally, prompting Alex to grin as she realised that Don had finally given in.
"Yeah, that's it. See you in an hour then."
"No, really, it's fine. See you later Captain" Olivia returned the phone to the bedside table and let her head drop back against the headboard, a slight sigh crossed her lips.
"He coming to dinner?" asked Alex quietly.
"Yes, you mind?"
"He sounds like he needs to talk to you about something."
"Yeah" Olivia closed her eyes and swallowed before exhaling deeply.
"Any idea what it might be?"
"I think so."
"Was it what you were thinking about during the movie?"
"I think so" Alex took a deep breath of her own as she reminded herself that this was her lover, and not one of her detectives she was talking to right now. The problem with her job sometimes was knowing, when they were at home and not working, how to ask questions of Olivia without making her feel like she was on the stand. Sometimes though, Alex couldn't help but think that her lover did it deliberately, as if enjoying watching Alex battle with herself about asking questions.
"Do you want to shower before Don comes?" asked Alex, deciding to change the subject. Olivia would tell her what was obviously bothering her and Don soon enough.
That question prompted a more forthcoming response from Olivia, who opened her eyes and grinning, counter questioned,
"Fancy sharing a bath Counsellor?"
"I'll go start the water" agreed Alex, getting up off the bed, leaving Olivia to grab her crutches and follow her through to the bathroom. Whatever the worry or problem was, it was nothing they couldn't face and fix.
To Be Continued