I'm right here....

Chapter 5

Mariska pov

A few weeks pass and life goes on as usual, Cheylee still staying with us under the temporary custody agreement. Its nearly 11:30 on a Monday morning about two weeks after the initial appointment with her physician when Kelli gets a call during one of our runs. I'm the first one to see the call come in so I hand it to Kelli who answers it and immediately turns as white as a sheet.

"Honey, you're as white as a sheet, what''s wrong?" I ask quietly, alarmed and on guard.

"I-I" she whispers, tears falling down her face, "I have a cyst".And at that moment my heart breaks, my whole world is turned upside down as those four words were said.Trying to control the quiver in my voice and the overwhelming need to cry, I clear my throat and ask " okay, what do you want to do",

Her voice is thick with tears but she says "I just want to call Cragen and tell him, ask him what he wants me to do" "alright babe, we can do that. Lets just finish out this run and then we can go back" Kelli nods, pushing back the tears and pressing down the gas, wanting to get it over with. We arrive at the scene, the victim is a little girl around the age of 6. Soon I learn her name is Hannah and that the perp is her uncle Mike. Knowing what he did by the blood on her panties and her overly frightened stance I call in to the hospital to let them know we are on our way, as I am able to get Hannah out of bed and dressed again she stops me when I reach her pelvic area " N-No," she whimpers " Don't hurt me!!"

"Baby I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm a police officer, a good guy... Lets get you feeling better yeah?" I ask, wanting her to trust me and feel in control.

She nods slightly and lets me finish getting her dressed, as we walk out she stops "wait I forgot teddy!" She cries and runs back to grab the tattered one-eyed dog. As I head to the hospital with Hannah, I pull Amanda aside telling her she can go home and I will meet her there when I am done with Hannah and social services is there.

We arrive at the hospital in less than five minutes, but in those 5 short minutes she becomes increasingly anxious and shut down. "Hannah babe, what's wrong?" I ask, hoping she will give me an answer with even a slight bit of information on Mike. " I-I" she says quietly, " I don't want him to get me "

"Oh sweetheart, he's not gonna get you. He's locked up and my people are making sure he doesn't escape." I soothe her as she whimpers "promise?"

"I promise honey, now lets get in there so we can get done yeah?"She nods and takes my hand securely, walking in to the ER. As the nurse conducts her exam on Hannah I am able to text Amanda and see how she is holding up.

Amanda pov

Liv has been on the case since noon and its around 4:30 now, all I've been thinking about is the fact that I have cancer. I can't get the thought to go away even if I am completely immersed in doing something. Cheylee is here with me and has been nothing but a sweetheart, I do wish that I could tell her what's wrong because she has asked but I want to wait until Mariska is home.

So we sit on the sofa and binge watch old episodes of SVU. Watching myself on TV has always been weird, but I never noticed how I gesticulate when talking with the "suspects" and that just makes it more hilarious. Before we know it, its 7 and Liv walks through the door of the apartment, startling us both.

"Hey hey!" Liv exclaims, undoing her coat, dropping it on the chair and coming around the island to where we are sitting and kissing me hard.

"How's Hannah?" I ask as we settle in for the night.

" good, shaken up but good" Liv responds, then both Liv and I take a few deep breaths before reaching to hold Cheylee's hands to tell her Kelli's diagnosis.