Waking Up

"BRADLEY!", Alex is screaming, so I hold him flush to my chest as I apply as much pressure to Bradley's arm as possible.

"MOM, IT HURTS! OW, MAKE IT STOP!"

"Its gonna be okay, baby, I promise.", I try. I find a burner cell on the table by my bed and call a bus. "This is Lieutenant Benson, SVU. I need a bus at 622 Bayson Ln. My daughter has been shot."

"Is the shooter still in the house, Lieutenant?", the operator asks calmly.

"She's dead, the shooter is dead.", I drop the phone, pulling Bradley into me.

"Ow, ow, ow! Stop, that hurts!", the bullet went straight through her arm. Maybe I shouldn't have shot Victoria. Maybe Bradley wouldn't have gotten shot. I lay Alex on the floor, surrounded by pillows, and rip part of the bed sheet. I wrap it around her arm, just below her armpit, to stop the bleeding. By the time an ambulance arrived, the girls had vanished, guards, too. We rushed to the hospital, and I called Nick.

"Nick, Bradley got shot."

"What?! When?", he asks in a panic.

"I-It-we just got to the hospital, they rushed her to surgery."

"Listen to me, Liv. I'm on my way there, okay? Just try to stay calm.", he can hear my cries through the phone. "Talk to me."

"I'm scared. She-she was holding the baby and then she fell and-"

"It's going to be okay. I promise, everything will be okay."

(Two and a half hours later)

*Bradley's POV

As I open my eyes, everything is a little blurry, but soon clears up. I'm in a hospital, I know the environment all too well. The last thing I remember is holding Alex while Tori held a gun to my head. Mom was pointing hers at Tori, trying to keep anyone from getting hurt. Then, I was shot. In the arm. My mom called an ambulance and then everything went black. I must've had surgery or something because I feel way too good for someone who just got shot. I groan softly as I turn my head to see my parents sitting next to me. Mom is sitting in my dad's lap, asleep, or she was sleeping. The both of them shoot up.

"Hiiiii.", I say softly.

"Hey, honey. How do you feel?", dad asks.

"Fantastic."

"Yeah?", he chuckles.

"Mhm.", I look up at mom and grab her shirt.

"What's wrong, sweetie?", he covers my hand with hers.

"Am I drunk?"

"No, sweetie. Its just your medicine.", they both laugh at me.

"Damn..I really wanted to be drunk."

"Language.", dad reminds me.

"I feel like I just smoked a bunch of weeeeed. Am I high, momma?"

"No.", her and dad laugh. Over the next half hour, I had asked the most ridiculous questions. I had also fallen asleep, but woke up shortly after.

(Two days later, at home)

"Daddy, can you make me something to eat? ", I ask. "Pleeeaaase?", I shoot a cheesy smile which sealed the deal.

"Yeah. What do you want?"

"Anything's fine.", he kisses my forehead and leaves mom, Alex and I in the living room. Mom is bottle feeding, now. Its actually kind of strange seeing her do so. I've never seen her feed him formula..ever. Its odd.

"How does your arm feel?"

"Like a bullet went through it.", I groan. "Its fine, though. It hurts a lot, but the meds are helping.", the meds are actually really great. I mean, REALLY great.

"Yeah? I think I'm gonna talk to your doctor about those."

"What do you mean?", she looks up at me, in all seriousness, and grins.

"They're addictive and I can tell when you take them."

"Huh?"

"I mean that when you take them, it should decrease your pain, not get you high.", dad comes in with a sandwich and chips for us both. Mom and I have both been eating a lot lately. I know I'm just really hungry because that's just me, but I don't know why she eats so much.

"Okay, but I'm not."

"Bradley..", dad budges in. "..you don't realize it, but you are and we just don't want you to-"

"Okay, fine, whatever. Can I just eat my food?", I snap. They both sigh in unison. "I'm sorry."

"Its okay. How about you eat and then head off to bed?", mom suggests.

"Alight.", I finished eating and then went to my room. I got ready for bed, which wasn't easy, and then got on instagram. It's seriously my life. I got a bunch of notifications, so I checked them and then scrolled through my newsfeed. Nothing was really interesting. Just the same old, same old: Taylor Swift's cats, girls and their coffee/food. The norm.

*Nick's POV

Olivia is sitting in bed, looking over files. She's so beautiful, so smart and funny. God, I'm one lucky son of a bitch. I crawl into bed, nudging her, getting her attention as I do.

"What?", she removes her glasses, which makes her even more seductive, and sighs. I kiss her shoulder and rub her thigh.

"Nothing. I just wanted to tell you that I love you."

"Awe.", a smile appears. "I love you, too.", we share a short kiss before she resumes reading.

"Why don't you take a break? You've been on that case all day."

"I know, I just..I need to close this one.", I take her glasses off and move everything to the bedside table.

"Liv, we can close it in the morning. You need a break.", she opens her mouth to protest, but nothing of that nature comes out.

"Okay. I'll take a break."

"Thank you.", she slips under the blankets and curls up next to me.

"Nick?"

"Yeah?", I run my fingers through her soft hair, trailing my hand down her back.

"I think I might be the luckiest person in the world.", her head rests on my chest, her leg over the two of mine, she pretty much laying on top of me.

"Really? Why's that?"

"I have an amazing job, the best kids I could ask for..I have you..the greatest husband in the world.", she raises up to kiss me, but hits my chin instead.

"I love you, Olivia Benson."

"I love you, too, Nick.", and with that, she fell asleep. I just kind of..watched. She's so adorable. Her silent snores, her breathing..the way she laughs or smiles in her sleep. I love that. I love her. More than anything else.