28

Olivia fiddled with the strap of her purse, her fingers running over the stitches in the leather. She couldn't organize her thoughts, so focusing on something small and dumb helped her forget for a moment.

"Olivia?" a woman spoke. Elliot caressed his wife's hair until she looked up at him.

"El?"

"It's time to go see the therapist, baby. Do you need help to get in there?" Elliot asked.

"N-No, I can walk," Olivia whispered. On shaky legs, Olivia stumbled towards the receptionist. She followed her down a long hall to an open door at the end.

"Dr. Douglas?" Olivia asked, tears threatening to spill over. For the past week, she had been so uncomfortable and barely slept. Now she had to face all the scary thoughts that had consumed her.

"Olivia, it's great to meet you. Please sit wherever you are comfortable," Dr. Douglas smiled, as she gestured towards a couch and armchair.

Olivia stared at the empty spots before lowering herself into the armchair. She shifted until she was comfortable.

"Would you like a glass of water or a piece of candy? I have lots of hard candy," Dr. Douglas chuckled, but Olivia wouldn't even make eye contact with her.

"N-No thank you," Olivia whispered, her eyes focused on her purse strap.

"Olivia, you are safe here. Everything is going to be okay. We need to discuss what's bothering you," Dr. Douglas breathed, her face covered in worry for the patient she just met.

"I don't feel safe anywhere," Olivia whimpered, tears streaming down her cheeks. Dr. Douglas quickly leaned forward and passed her a box of tissues.

"Why not? Is it your husband?" 

"No!" Olivia exclaimed, her eyes finally leaving the stitches.

"No?"

"No, Elliot is amazing. I love him and our life together... It's my ex-husband..." Olivia trailed off.

"Where is your ex-husband?" Dr. Douglas asked.

"He's in federal prison. You've probably even heard of him. Hugo Wilson? A big drug dealer in Florida," Olivia sighed.

"I have heard of him."

"I was married to him and had two kids with him. He tried to kill me when he found out I was taking our daughters... I am in protective custody right now, but I was in witness protection for over a year before I had to take matters into my own hands and drive down to Miami to rescue my girls. He told them I was dead! Like fake headstone and all!" Olivia cried, her voice getting stronger with each sentence. Dr. Douglas wrote quickly on her legal pad as the words spilled from Olivia's lips.

Olivia paced the office as hot, salty tears streamed down her cheeks and shaky fingers raked through her hair.

"He's in custody now, Olivia. That's a good thing."

"He still has people on the outside, and that means I'm in danger. My family could be killed at any moment because I went against him. I gave up my entire life in Miami to ensure I lived, but it made matters so much worse," Olivia rambled.

"The government is working on arresting those people, right?"

"I doubt it because they couldn't even arrest Hugo until I went down to Miami and took my girls back! They kept dragging their feet and coming up with excuses as to why he was still free. I finished the job and got a very dangerous man off the streets, but all of his workers are walking free. I had a nightmare..." Olivia trailed off as she stopped pacing and sat back down.

"What was the nightmare about?" Dr. Douglas asked, since she wanted to keep things going.

"I think I'm pregnant," Olivia spoke.

Dr. Douglas looked up from her legal pad and eyed Olivia.

"What?"

"With each of my girls, I had dreams before I got a positive pregnancy test. This time around I'm having nightmares because I'm scared this baby and I will get killed."

///

Olivia's appointment went over by an hour, and she left exhausted. Elliot carried his wife into the house and laid her on the couch as she snored loudly. He knew she hadn't been sleeping, so he was thankful she was finally asleep.

"Elliot?" Bernie asked as she came out of the kitchen. She had watched the girls while Olivia was at her appointment, and so she could finish unpacking what Olivia and Elliot hadn't gotten to.

"Hey, Ma. How were the girls?" Elliot asked as he walked to his mother and turned her back to the kitchen.

"They were very good, but are worried about their mom. Is she okay?"

Elliot turned back and saw his wife still sleeping.

"She's really struggling, Ma. Dr. Douglas wants to put her on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medicine. I'm supposed to keep a close eye on her, so we might need to take more time off work to get her back on track," Elliot replied softly.

"Maybe she needs to get inpatient care," Bernie whispered. Elliot quickly shook his head as he turned back to his mother.

"I'm not putting my wife into a mental hospital. I can help her here and she'll get better. Until then, we need to support and love her. I'm going to take her upstairs... Thanks for watching the girls, but I have them now. All three of them will be fine with me."

///

Not only was Olivia a mess, Elliot was worried about his wife and her well-being. He got even more worried when he woke up in the middle of the night and found Olivia outside on the back porch. He sat beside her and wrapped his arms around her body.

"Are you okay?" Elliot asked.

"I had my physical today," Olivia whispered.

"They found something, huh?" Elliot breathed as tears welled in his eyes.

"When I was pregnant with both girls before I even knew I was pregnant... I had dreams. With Rory, it was Hugo and I walking on the beach with a little baby in our arms. For Maci, we were in bed and Rory and a baby were lying between us. With this baby, I dreamed Hugo cut them out of my womb and left me to bleed out as he hurt them."