His Last Breath

Olivia looks like something is weighing on her. And I know exactly what it is.

It kills me that our relationship does this to her.

She feels so guilty that I'm cheating on Kathy. She hates being the other woman.

My phone starts to ring and I look down at the caller id. Kathy. I do not want to talk to her. I'll call her back later.

"Liv, Elliot!" Cragen yells.

We both get up and walk into his office.

"I need you two to go get the vic's medical records from Dr. Wellington." He says, "After you're done at the hospital you can go home. He has them waiting for you at the desk. Shouldn't take more than 10 minutes for you to grab them."

We nod our heads and leave together.

My phone rings again and I answer it with a groan.

"When are you gonna be home?" Kathy asks. "Why haven't you been answering your phone?"

"We caught a case. I probably won't be home for a couple days." I say, "I gotta go."

I hang up the phone not waiting for a response from her.

There's a small smile on Olivia's face as I rest my hand on the inside of her thigh.

"You didn't have to do that." She says.

"Even if we weren't sleeping together I'd still be going home with you tonight, I'm not leaving you alone while Eric Plummer is on the loose and after you." I say.

She smiles softly.

"You always were too damn over protective." She says, shaking her head, her curls bouncing lightly on her shoulders.

"I am not to overprotective." I say. "You are the love of my life. And you put your life on the line everyday, every second that we're at work we're both in danger of getting shot or stabbed or killed. All I want to do is protect you, keep you safe."

She has tears rolling down her cheeks.

I pull up in front of her apartment and she gets out of the car without me.

"Olivia..." I say jumping out of the car.

"What, Elliot?!" She asks angrily.

"What the hell just happened?" I ask.

"You said it. You said it." She says.

"Said what?!" I ask.

"I'm the love of your life, Elliot." She says, "You said it. I knew you loved me. But you finally said. If I'm the love of you're life then why are you still married? Why haven't you left your wife? If I'm the love your life, and you can admit that to yourself then why?"

"It's not that easy." I say, running a hand.

"Leaving her, the woman you say you don't love anymore, that would be hard. But cheating on her with your partner, never seeing your kids so that you can spend days at a time with me in my apartment, that's easy." She counters.

"No, Olivia, of course it's not." I say. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to pick!" She yells. "Me or her. Her or me. Pick one woman. It's not fair to Kathy and she's not fair to me."

"Okay..." I say, wiping the tears of her cheeks, "Okay, I pick you, Olivia. You. I pick you, over and over again. You are the one I want, always and forever. You are the one I love."

She wraps her arms around me, kissing me before burying her face in the crook of my neck.

"I love you..." She says quietly. "I love you so much."