Law And Order: SVU One Shots

Power of Attorney

This is based on the end of an SVU episode where Olivia is given the POA of a little girl who is very sick in the NICU. In the end, Olivia never said her choice, so this is what I was thinking she'd do.

Olivia stumbles from the NICU as tears run down her already flushed cheeks. Never once did she think she'd be given to power to either continue the life or stop the suffering of a baby that isn't even hers.

She looks around for a spot to sit, and once she gets there she almost falls down onto it. Having to make a choice like this was taking a lot out of the detective. But even if this case had caused tension between her partner and herself, she knew that she had to make a choice.

"Elliot?" Olivia whispered as Elliot picked up his cell. She knew that he was at home with his family, but she needed her best friend and she knew that he'd drop everything to be there for her, even if it made his wife angry.

"Liv? What's wrong? Are you crying?" Elliot questioned quickly. His voice was huskier than normal, and Olivia hated herself for waking him up. Having to deal with the case and everything that came up with Gladys really helped everyone not to sleep.

"I'm at the hospital, and I really need your help. I don't know what I'm doing." She whimpered, as more tears streamed down her cheeks. God, there were so many tears.

"Did you get hurt? Liv, just tell me what's wrong!" Elliot exclaimed. He hated to hear Olivia in this much pain, but she couldn't say any more words that made any sense to him. So he climbed out of bed with his wife and hung up. He was going to go to Olivia even if Kathy may be angry about it.

///

Elliot, who was just dressed in plaid pajama bottoms and a sweatshirt came running into the hospital, he saw Olivia standing near the coffee, as more tears streamed down her already wet cheeks.

"Liv!" Elliot exclaimed as he sprinted towards her. The brunette detective looked up and quickly sat her cup down before meeting Elliot halfway. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close as she started to sob.

"Livvie, tell me what happened!" Elliot exclaimed, as he held her away from his body and stared at her. He hadn't seen his friend this small looking in so long, but now she just seemed weak and fragile.

"Gladys left me the power to decide what to do with her daughter! The baby has a brain bleed, and I told the doctor to save her life. But what if I made the wrong call? What if I'm the reason why that baby suffers her whole life?!"

"God-"

"Stop this whole god thing! Okay?! Just stop because we can't play god or doctor but I have to make the choices now and I don't think I'm making the right ones." Olivia whimpered. She walked back and grabbed her cup, before heading towards the neonatal waiting room.

"Okay, well you did make a choice."

"But what if it was the wrong one?" She sniffled, as Elliot followed her. Elliot only knew the Olivia that had all the answers, but now she didn't even have the one she wanted.

///

Elliot sat with Olivia for hours as the small baby girl got operated on. Olivia was really hating Gladys at the moment because she was forced into making choices that the mother and father should make, not just some random detective. And what if the baby survives and eventually can go home? Where would her home be, because Olivia didn't know if she also had to power to decide that? She was hoping she didn't.

"Olivia." The doctor breathed, as she walked out of the NICU. Olivia and Elliot had been so zoned out that they hadn't even noticed the baby be moved back into the NICU.

"Is she okay?" Olivia asked as she stood quickly. Elliot stood just as quickly but didn't move up right next to Olivia.

"She made it through the surgery, but I fear that her brain will start bleeding again."

"Okay, then you'll fix it again."

"She's suffering, Detective." The doctor replied as tears welled in Olivia's eyes again. She was going to start panicking. These choices were too hard for her to make by herself.

"Just do what you have to for now, and when it comes for another decision, Olivia will decide then," Elliot spoke, as he stepped up next to Olivia, and wrapped his arm around her waist. It was something he never did, but right now she needed to know that there was someone on her side.

"She-"

"She is a human. She has a mother who loves her. I'm not giving up on her now. It may sound selfish, but Gladys trusted her with me, and I don't want her to come back and find out her daughter is dead." Olivia spat, before grabbing Elliot's arm and tugging him back to the spot they had been sitting.

She was going to be stubborn of this all, but that meant the little girl was going to get a chance to live, even if everyone but Olivia gave up on her.

///

Kathy was strongly against all of them time Elliot was spending with Olivia at the hospital, but Elliot could care less. He and the crew were the only family she had, and she needed someone there to help her decide, even if it wasn't her child that was a risk. Olivia was making decisions as if this baby was her own.

"If she gets even worse, to the point where surgeries will only hurt her more than anything, I'll make the humane choice." Olivia breathed, as she sat in the cafeteria with Elliot. She had barely left the hospital and had finally used some of her vacation days because she couldn't leave the hospital in case the baby took a turn for the worse.

"Liv, she's doing decent." Elliot breathed, as he reached across the table and grabbed her hand. He ran his fingers over her palm, and she looked up at him.

"Thanks for being here for me, but you should go home." Olivia breathed, but Elliot shook his head as he leaned across the table and kissed her lips softly. She leaned back as he sat back down and swallowed hard.

"You are just making me more confused. Thanks a lot."

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