Coming Home [A Bensler Fan Fic]

Twenty-Nine

Olivia went back to sleep after Bernie took the girls home with her. She slept for hours, and no one could wake her up. Sara was worried that Olivia had taken something and may never wake up.

"Olivia." Sara spoke, as she gave her niece a shove. Olivia let out a weak snore before opening her eyes and looking at her aunt. Olivia was still a little out of it, so she didn't know where she was.

"What's happening? Why are you here?" Olivia asked as she sat up.

"Liv, you scared me." Sara admitted.

"Huh? What is happening?" Olivia asked again.

"Do you not remember last night? Or what you said? Because if you took something... you gotta tell me."

Olivia sat for a moment, before frowning when she saw a few bags sitting near the foot of the bed. Everything from the last few days flooded back, and Olivia started to feel bad again. She felt like getting up and running away forever.

"Olivia Mar-"

"Aunt Sara, I'm done. I can't do anything right, and clearly my husband hates me. I gave the girls to Bernie and Joseph because at least I know they will be loved there. They will be taken care of long after I'm gone." Olivia whispered. She climbed out of bed and went to one of her bags.

She opened it up before turning to her aunt.

"Can you give these back to Elliot? Or his parents? He will probably want to sell them and get his money back." Olivia frowned as she held her engagement ring and wedding band out.

"Liv-"

"I'm a lost cause, so please just do this last thing for me."

"No! Olivia, I'm not letting you give your children away and toss away your marriage and life! Your sisters lost their mother and father, and they can't lose you too!" Sara yelled.

Olivia swallowed hard and raked her fingers through her hair as the door opened.

"What's wrong?" Colleen asked, as she slowly looked between her aunt and big sister.

"Nothing, Colleen. Can you just go downstairs?" Olivia breathed.

"No, because I heard what Aunt Sara said, and it doesn't sound good..." She trailed off nervously.

Olivia looked at her little sister before biting her lip.

"Elliot and I are going to be getting a divorce and his parents are going to be raising the girls."

"Did they steal them?! Because-"

"No, Colleen, they didn't steal them. I gave the girls to them because I can't do this... not anymore."

///

While Sara, and eventually the rest of the girls, tried to get Olivia to talk and change her mind, Bernie was sitting the girls down for their lunch. 

"Where's Mama?" Lou asked, as she sat her cup of milk back onto the table.

"She's with Auntie Sara and your other aunts." Bernie replied softly.

"What about Daddy?" Lou sighed, as she watched as her grandmother sat a plate in front of her.

"Baby-"

"Please, Grandma... where is he?"

"Your Daddy isn't allowed here right now. He is being mean, but I pray that it stops soon. That he gets better so your whole family can be here together."

Lou nodded weakly before frowning deeply. 

"Daddy isn't going to be my Daddy anymore... just like my other Daddy isn't anymore either... is it my fault?" Lou sniffled, and Bernie quickly shook her head.

"No, baby! This isn't your fault! Things just get messy sometimes, but we will figure it out in the end! Please don't beat yourself up over something that wasn't even close to your fault. Okay?"

///

Bernie and Joseph were sitting together in the kitchen that night when the phone rang. Joseph stood and answered it, before passing the phone to his wife. He rushed to go upstairs and get changed, while Bernie talked to whoever was on the other line.

"Hello?"

"Is this Mrs. Stabler?" The man on the other side asked.

"Yes, sir. Uh, who is this?"

"I'm Dr. Cortez with Bellevue. I currently have your son here on a hold because we believe he has had a mental break and is in a manic episode."

"Elliot?" Bernie breathed.

"Yes, Elliot. I called to see if you and your husband could come to the hospital so we could discuss some things. And if you could reach your son's wife, that would help too."

"Uh, they are on the outs... do I still need to grab her?" Bernie breathed, and Dr. Cortez sighed softly.

"He has been talking about her a lot, Mrs. Stabler. She is in charge of making medical decisions on his behalf, so we need her here too."

Bernie finished talking to Dr. Cortez before dialing Olivia's number. She paced the kitchen for a long moment before Olivia answered.

"H-hello?" Olivia whispered. She hadn't planned on answering the phone, but even if she wasn't with her daughters right now she still loved them and wanted to make sure this call wasn't about them.

"Olivia! It's so great to hear your voice!"

"It is?" Olivia asked weakly.

"Yes, honey. It is. We are all so scared! And especially now."

"Did something happen to the girls?" Olivia questioned rapidly.

"No, they are okay. Lou is a little confused and thinks that this is all her fault. But it's actually Elliot."

"Bernie, he doesn't want me around. So I don't think we should be talking." Olivia mumbled.

"He's in the hospital, Liv."

"What do you mean? Did he hurt himself or-"

"They think something is wrong with him mentally. That he might be manic right now... so baby, we need you to go to the hospital. Joseph and I are going to meet you there."

"Pick me up at my aunts house... I'll be waiting."

///

Elliot sat in an empty room, as he rocked back and forth. After the fight with his father, it was like his mind was killing him. He had thoughts in his head that he had never had before, and it was scaring him. 

Dr. Cortez, Bernie, Joseph, and Olivia all stood on the other side of the wall and watched Elliot on several screens.

Olivia was in tears as she watched her husband lose himself.

"Do you think he's bipolar? Bernie is, and I know it runs in families." Olivia breathed, as she held on tightly to Bernie's hand.

"I have been a doctor for a long time, and this is a very clear case to me... so yeah, I do believe he's bipolar. I need permission to start treating him, and quickly. We don't want anymore damage to be done." Dr. Cortez replied softly.

Olivia nodded, before turning to look at her in-laws.

"Are you both on board?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, Liv. We are... he needs help and a lot of it."