Tangled Webs II: Normal For The Spider - An SVU fic

16.Aftermath part II

Hospital...

"It's not the most unusual thing I've ever seen" the older doctor said after examining Paul Faust who was now wide awake.

"There's a bullet in his brain!" The younger doctor reiterated anxiously as if his older colleague didn't understand.

"...and there have been many cases in which people have taken bullets, even spears to the brain and not only lived to tell about it but lived normal, productive lives."

"But should he?" the younger doctor asked

"Should he...?"

"Get to live a normal, productive life? That woman upstairs, his latest victim...she's six months pregnant and he raped her, beat her, stabbed her and stabbed her three year old daughter, not to mention the seven other women he killed."

"We're doctors, we're here to heal"

"Yeah? Well if it were up to me..."

"But it's not." The older doctor reminded him. "He's stable, I better call county and let them know it's okay to move him." he said before walking away and leaving the younger doctor standing in the corridor outside Faust's room.

"I hope they fry this sick fuck!" the young man said under his breath as he looked through the window at Faust who lay in his bed with a sinister smile on his face. An eerie chill went through the doctor as he walked away

"You and me both!" The agent who stood guard outside Faust's door mumbled in agreement.

...

Upstairs, Olivia's room...

"...the ventilator, yes. But do you think it's absolutely necessary to keep her under for 24 hours?" Trevor asked the doctor as they sat discussing Olivia's treatment in the doctor's office.

"For her comfort, we think it's best"

"I have to make decisions on my wife's behalf because she can't right now and I know my wife; the baby's safety, not her own comfort would be her priority and the baby has already dealt with the trauma of the attack, then being exposed to anesthesia for hours during surgery and now you want to keep her sedated for another 24 hours; I can't...the baby's already been exposed to too much...Olivia wouldn't want this, she'd be too worried about the effects it would have on the baby and she wouldn't allow it. I have to do what I know she would want - we can keep the ventilator but no more drugs."

"You're sure about this? She'll be in a considerable amount of pain when she wakes up" the doctor reminded him.

"I'm sure that this is what she would want... you said that you expect a full recovery whether or not she's under, correct?"

"I did and I do"

"Then I'm sure."

He'd replayed the conversation with the doctor again and again in his head and prayed again and again that this was the right thing but as he sat here looking down at his wife, he was quietly assured that his decision was the best. He couldn't risk anything going wrong with this pregnancy, causing it to fail. He hated the idea of Olivia being in even the slightest amount of discomfort but she would kill him for not putting the baby's wellbeing first - no matter what the consequence to her. The baby would be alright, the doctor had promised him and Trevor wouldn't do anything to upset that outcome.

"This time when you wake up..." He couldn't bear the thought right now. Drew's surgery had been going well but she wasn't out of the woods yet; until she was off that table and in recovery, Trevor knew his fears wouldn't rest. They had been in danger of losing not one, but two children tonight. He couldn't even begin to wrap his mind around what that would have done to Olivia - to their family. He was beyond grateful that his parents had spared no time in getting here from Connecticut and that Noah and Jamie are with them, safe.