Adding Fuel to the Fire: An Elliot Stabler Story

Chapter Twenty-Two

Olivia sat on the couch near Elliot's bed, flipping through a magazine she picked up from the gift shop while Johanna sat on the chair on the other side of the bed, writing in her data binder. The machines around the bed still beeped basically nonstop, but Olivia tuned them out a long time ago. She glanced up on occasion to see if Elliot had moved at all, but he hadn't.

It had been five days since the shooting. Elliot spent three days in the induced coma, and it seemed as if he was healing well and on his way to a speedy recovery, so Dr. Reed began to gradually wean him off the barbiturates to bring him out of the coma. He mentioned that it could take anywhere from days to even months for Elliot to wake up; it was up to his body to heal and regain consciousness once the medicine was out of his system. So far, two full days had passed without any change in the patient.

Olivia would've been lying if she had said she didn't feel guilty and responsible for the lack of life on the hospital bed in front of her. She spent most of her time at the hospital, graciously accepting the fact that her captain gave her half of her workdays off. She couldn't sleep well at night, and she knew she wouldn't be able to rest until it was confirmed that her best friend would be fine. She would never be able to live with herself if things didn't go back to normal for everyone when the whole ordeal was over.

Johanna was thankful that Olivia remained at the hospital most of the day, watching over Elliot. Grace kindly took over most of Johanna's clients, but because she had clients of her own, she couldn't cover them all, so Johanna still had to go into work for a few hours each day. She felt better leaving, knowing Olivia was with Elliot while she was gone – not because she suspected anyone would attempt foul play, but because she knew his partner would take care of him the same way she would.

A knock on the door brought the two out of their dazed thoughts.

"Come in!" Johanna called.

The door opened, revealing Munch and Fin.

"Hey guys," Olivia greeted as they walked in.

"Hey Liv," Fin replied then turned to Johanna. "You must be Johanna."

"I am," she replied, closing her binder and standing up.

"I'm Fin, and this is John," he introduced.

"Oh I've heard quite a bit about you two," Johanna teased with a smirk as she shook their hands.

"Don't believe anything Elliot or Olivia told you about me," Munch joked. "They're lying."

Johanna laughed as Olivia rolled her eyes teasingly. Munch and Fin visited Elliot in the hospital at least once a day, but Johanna was usually at work while they were there. She was glad to finally meet them, and they had been looking forward to meeting her as well.

"How's he doing today?" John asked.

"No change so far," Johanna sighed, looking over at Elliot, who looked peaceful in bed.

"He looks like he's getting some color back in his face," Fin commented.

"Yeah, a little," Johanna replied.

"He'll pull around soon," John assured.

"Hey, we've got some good news," Fin said, trying to turn the mood around.

"Yeah?" Olivia responded.

"Bardwell cracked," Fin answered.

"He was losing his mind all alone in that jail cell," John explained. "He flipped out and confessed to everything. Killing his daughter, raping her, and even another child."

"Wow," Olivia's eyes widened.

"Casey said he'll plead insanity," John told her.

"Hey, won't have to convince me," Fin replied. "He's definitely insane."