Life Goes On Ch. 04

"It's going to be okay Livvy, I promise," Lucas said, sliding in next to her as his lieutenant hopped in the driver's seat and took off.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Is the baby okay?" Olivia asked the doctor as Lucas slid his hand in hers and squeezed it.

"It's too early," Lucas added.

"Your water did break, so there's no stopping your labor, I'm sorry," the doctor said kindly but gently.

"But it's too soon!" Olivia exclaimed, panicked.

"Olivia, I know you're scared, but you need to calm down. It's rare, but babies can survive, even at only twenty three weeks," the doctor told Olivia.

"You want me to calm down? After everything I've been through?" Olivia asked, her voice shrill.

"If you want your baby to even have a chance of surviving, you need to calm down," the doctor said firmly.

Lucas held Olivia's hand as she pushed hard; her face was covered with sweat and her eyes were full of worry and pain.

"You're doing great Olivia. You'll be seeing your baby really soon," the doctor promised.

"I love you," Lucas whispered. Olivia gave Lucas a pained smile as the doctor instructed her to push hard. Lucas winced at the pressure Olivia was exerting on his hand as she pushed and screamed loudly.

"It's a girl!" the doctor announced as the baby slipped into his arms.

"Is she okay?" Olivia asked, exchanging glances with Lucas.

"She's small, it's a waiting game," the doctor answered. Small gasping cries could be heard from the tiny infant in the doctor's arms.

"Please Doctor Ambrose, tell us what's happening," Lucas said, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Your daughter is very premature and she's being taken to the NICU for evaluation and an examination," Doctor Ambrose answered and as he placed the baby into the waiting incubator that would keep her warm on her journey, she let out a loud wail. Doctor Ambrose smiled. "That's a good sign," he added.

A nurse smiled kindly at Lucas and Olivia as she helped Olivia get cleaned up. "You'll be moved to a room in a few minutes," the nurse told them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lucas walked in the hall way to call Shawn and Sara. "Did you find Olivia?" Sara asked when she picked up the phone.

"She found me," Lucas admitted. "Where are you guys?" he wanted to know.

"We just got the rental car," Sara answered.

"We're at Beaumont." Lucas paused, swallowed despite the lump of emotion in his throat. "The strain of being taken by Patrick cause Liv to go into premature labor," he said finally.

"Is she, we'll be there as soon as we can," Sara told him before hanging up, deciding against asking her questions. These questions were better answered by visual proof then a phone call.

When Shawn and Sara found where Lucas was waiting, Sara gave him a tight hug. "How's Liv?" Sara asked.

"Nervous. The doctors took the baby to the NICU and haven't told us anything yet," Lucas answered as he led his future in-laws towards Olivia's room.

"Did he hurt Olivia?" Shawn asked, his voice tense. Lucas turned to the older man, a dark look in his eyes.

"He raped her several times in the two days that he had her." Lucas pounded angrily on the wall and stopped to get his anger under control before he returned to Olivia's room. "He rented a house a block away from mine using a fake name, I never even noticed him around the entire month we'd been back in town!" Lucas ranted.

"How did she get out?" Sara wanted to know.

"He got drunk the last night she was with him, Liv won't tell me what he did to her, but the physical exam said enough," Lucas said bitterly. "Thankfully, the person Patrick rented the house from kept it maintained and when Pat passed out, Liv stole his coat and left the house which dumbass had left unlocked. Olivia said until that day, she'd been kept in a windowless room, but he wanted her to cook him dinner," Lucas added. He couldn't look at Shawn or Sara, he knew he'd failed them, and worst of all, he'd failed Olivia and their child; he'd let a madman take the woman he loved and wasn't there to protect her like he'd promised to be.

Shawn could feel Lucas' anger radiating off of the younger man and placed a hand on Lucas' shoulder. "Let's go see Olivia, shall we?" Shawn suggested gently. Lucas took a ragged breath, nodded and led the way to her room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Olivia's face brightened up when her parents and Lucas walked in. "How are you feeling?" Sara asked her daughter.

"Sore, scared but I'm safe and happy to be back with Luke," Olivia answered. Lucas swallowed again and sat in the chair by the bed, slid his hand into hers. Lucas could feel the rage building in Shawn's body as he saw the bruises on Olivia's face and arms, evidence of Patrick's mistreatment.

"Have you heard anything about the baby?" Sara asked, giving her husband a warning look that she also turned to Lucas with.

"Not yet," Olivia's voice was soft, nervous and filled with exhaustion.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Shawn wanted to know.

"A girl. And if she makes it through this, a non male relative won't get with a 150 yards of her," Lucas announced. Shawn laughed at that.

"I think I said something similar about Liv," he reminded Lucas. Lucas grinned.

"But I have a badge and a gun," Lucas said, relaxing a little.

"Alright boys, that's enough," Sara told them, exchanging an amused look with her daughter. Olivia covered a yawn with her hand. "We'll go find a hotel Liv, you should rest. We'll come back in a few hours," Sara said gently. Olivia sighed but nodded. She was tired, exhausted really but she didn't want her parents to leave.

"We'll see you around dinner time, and don't worry, we won't make you suffer through hospital food. How does Chinese sound?" Shawn asked.

"Perfect," Olivia said with a smile. Her parents hugged her goodbye and left the room, leaving Olivia and Lucas alone with their thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lucas watched Olivia as she slept fitfully while they waited for information on their daughter's condition. They didn't even know if she was still alive, if she would live, if she had Cystic Fibrosis. Lucas closed his eyes as he fought the nausea and the rage that was welling up within him. Never in his life had he ever wanted to kill somebody, to take the law into his own hands and become a vigilante but Patrick had pushed him to the breaking point when he'd take Olivia and endangered both her life and the life of the innocent baby she carried.

Lucas took a deep breathe and tried to calm himself down; he wouldn't do Olivia or the baby any good if he was in jail for Patrick's murder. Lucas looked up as Lieutenant Murphy walked into the room. "What's happening?" Lucas asked quietly. Lieutenant Murphy motioned towards the door and Lucas followed him out into the hall.

"We found Patrick passed out in the house and gave him one hell of a wake up call. What ever he took in combination with the alcohol had knocked him out cold. He didn't even hear us bust the door down. He made a full confession after seeing the pictures we'd taken of the house and of Olivia." The Lieutenant watched Lucas' reaction and gave the younger man a kind smile. "You have a tough girl in there Luke. It's a shame she ever went with scum like Patrick," he added.

"His loss is my amazing gain," Lucas said with a shrug. The Lieutenant nodded.

"How is she doing?" he wanted to know.

"She's hurting a little and she's really scared about the baby, we both are." Lucas sighed loudly and tore his hand through his hair. "I know babies are small, but shit Lieu, they aren't supposed to be that small. She was three and a half pounds and breathing, that's all we know," Lucas said. His voice cracked and the dam that had been holding back the tears broke and he broke down, not caring that many would see his tears as a sign of weakness. Footsteps in the hall had Lucas pulling himself together as his occasional partner Suzy and her husband, fellow police officer Blythe Lee walk up to them.

"What are you a girl now?" Blythe asked with a teasing grin.

"Bite me," Lucas growled.

"I think it's sweet," Suzy said with a smile. "How's Olivia?" she wanted to know, giving her husband a scolding look.

"Physically, she's doing okay. Emotionally, we're both a wreck," Lucas admitted.

"I can understand that. We've all been there," Blythe told Lucas. Luacs nodded; just five years before, Blythe's ex-wife and their son had been victims of a drunk driver. Blythe's son had made it, his ex-wife had not. To this day, Cooper wasn't the same boy he'd been and while he was making strides with his new step-mother, he was still an angry young man.

All conversation stopped as Doctor Ambrose walked over to them, a chart in hand. "Mr. Cohen, could we step inside Miss Reed's room and talk?" Doctor Ambrose asked.

Lucas swallowed hard. "We'll be out here if you need us," Suzy promised. Lucas nodded and followed the doctor into Olivia's room.

"Luke, what's going on?" Olivia asked sleepily.

"The doc is back," Lucas said softly, sitting down next to her. Olivia pushed herself up in the bed quickly, slid her hand into Lucas' as the doctor pulled up another chair and sat down.

"Please tell me that she's okay," Olivia whispered.

Doctor Ambrose smiled. "Do you have a name for your daughter?" he asked.

"Callia Grace," Olivia answered.

"Callia is small, as you know, she only weighs three and a half pounds. That's a bit smaller then we like to see, but while she isn't breathing well on her own, she is able to breathe without assistance. We do have her on some oxygen to help with her breathing."

"Does she have CF?" Olivia interrupted.

"No, she does not," Doctor Ambrose answered with a warm smile.

"Is she going to survive?" Lucas wanted to know.

"Barring more complications, yes, she'll survive," Doctor Ambrose told them. He smiled at the look of relief on both Lucas' and Olivia's faces. "She'll need to stay in the hospital for an unseeable amount of time," he added.

"Thank you," Olivia whispered, her eyes filled with tears of relief.

"My pleasure. Rest up, you can see your daughter in just over an hour," Doctor Ambrose said before walking out of the room.

Lucas pulled Olivia into his arms and held her tight as she cried, but this time, instead of tears of pain or fear, they were tears of joy. "Do you want me to call your mom?" Lucas asked after a moment.

"No, I'll call her. Why don't you go tell Suzie and Blythe. I'm sure they're out there waiting," Olivia answered. Lucas smiled, kissed her gently, walked out into the hallway and let out a whoop as he pumped his fist into the air. Olivia laughed at his antics as the door swung shut behind him.