Rebel (SVU Fanfic)

34

"Everyone, out," Elliot ordered. Olivia gave him a confused look, but listened to him.

Olivia shuffled the kids out of the room and waited.

Elliot stepped closer to the teenage brunette and pulled the chair over.

"Nicole, w-"

"Shut up! Leave me alone!" she yelled, about to sit up, but pain and dizziness went through her. She rested back in her bed, severely annoyed.

"Shh, no. Nicole, you don't have to talk to me about this. But you can't do this. Your mother needs you."

"She doesn't need me. She has you. And her better children and her new baby."

Nicole was just able to turn to her other side, so she did. She didn't want to see Elliot's face. She didn't want to see disappointment or sadness. Or anger or disapproval. Or shame. Or anything, really. She wanted to be alone.

"Your mother needs you more than you could ever realize. You're the only one who was there when your fath-"

Nicole flipped back over and cut him off. "You don't ever talk about my father. You don't mention him to me, you don't talk about him like it's nothing. He's dead to me and my mother now. And no, I wasn't there for her, I was knocked out against a wall while Rick helped her. So don't tell me I'm needed. I'm really not. You can leave now."

She put her head back in her pillow, hoping Elliot couldn't tell she was crying. He could, but didn't mention it.

He sat up and moved the chair back to its place.

"Fine, I'm sorry," Elliot said. "But the entire family needs you too."

"You need my mom," Nicole retorted. "So go be with her."

Not understanding woman anymore than he already had, Elliot gave up, touching her shoulder as a goodbye.

When he left, Olivia wanted to go in there, but Elliot stopped her.

"You don't want her yelling at you. Let's come back later."

"No, I'm staying here," Olivia said.

"I wanna see Sissy!" Paige said firmly, stamping her foot.

"We'll see her later, Paigey."

Everyone left, but Olivia stared at Nicole's door for a moment. Then she exited through the first set of doors. The ones that read "72 hour psychology holdings". When those closed behind her, she turned and stared at those too.

How could Nicole end up here? she thought. I thought she was getting better.

She supposed she was wrong and left through the hospital's exit doors.

Elliot was waiting for her, standing outside the car. Olivia walked up to him and leaned into him. He held her and pressed his lips to her collarbone, where they originally touched when they embraced.

"She's going to be o-"

"No, she's not! If she was gonna be 'okay' she wouldn't be here! My baby almost killed herself and she doesn't care! She wants to die! That's my baby!" Olivia started to disappear into fits of sobs. "That's...my...baby."

Elliot started feeling helpless. How could he get her to see they would fix Nicole? She could be happy again, somehow, someway. But if Olivia didn't see it, it wouldn't happen.

"I know," Elliot said.

That's when he got the idea.

"Crying isn't gonna help the other babies though. Or the one that isn't even born yet."

They looked between each other at the baby who was only 10 weeks away.

"10 weeks," Olivia murmured. "How can I take care of this baby when-"

"That baby is 15 years old. She can use a little independence. This-"

"We gave her independence! She stuck a blade in her arm!"

"I meant that we stop controlling her."

"We aren't controlling her!"

"All I'm saying is we back off a bit. She won't feel like we are always in her face, and she can relax around us. Then, when she wants to, she can talk to us."

Olivia nodded. "What do I do now? While she's in there? She's under a 72 hour psych hold."

"Let the doctors take care of her. And if she needs to stay here, so be it. It'll helped than it will hurt."

"But therapy-"

"That was one of many options we have yet to try. When we talk to the doctors later, they can direct us. But for now, I'm getting you home so you can rest. Stress isn't good for the baby who really needs you."

Olivia said, "okay," and let Elliot kiss her. As the kiss grew deeper, both realized how starved for romance they both had been.  Olivia gripped Elliot tighter, only to be interrupted with the car horn.

With a laugh, both adults got in the car and drove away.

When they got home, Paige stayed stuck to Olivia's side, scared for her sissy. Why couldn't she see her?

The little girl obviously didn't know the answer, but wanted to.

The twins and Zach went to Dickie's room, wanting to be scared together. None of them admitted it, but they all thought that the eldest of the children was going go die.

As Olivia trailed up the stairs to go get some rest, Elliot tried to take Paige from her arms.

"Let's let Mommy get some rest," elliot told the little girl.

"It's fine, El. She needs a nap anyways."

"Yeah! Mommy said its fine!" Paige crossed her arms.

"But- Nevermind. I guess it's fine. Sleep good."

Elliot pressed a kiss to Olivia's cheek and went back down the stairs to the living room.

He turned the TV on, but they looked over to the bathroom. The door was still open, but the smell of stale blood was strong.

Elliot got the bleach out and scrubbed the tile until it was white again. Where the tile met carpet, there was now a white spot on the grey carpeting. It was better than red, Elliot decided, and put everything away.

Back at the hospital, things weren't as serene at everyone at home was. Serene wasn't even the right word, but it was when being compared to how Nicole's life was at the moment.

Forcing nutrients and food into her that she didn't want, not allowing her to get up, and having psychiatrist doctors talk to her. It was more babying than she could handle and yelled at everyone who came in her room.

At the end of a very long day, all she wanted to do was sleep. So she curled herself up in a strange place, with stranger noises surrounding her.

The rhythmic beeping that the monitor copied from her heartbeat was what she fell asleep to.