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Darkest Nights	By : Bucken-Berry Category: G through L > Law & Order Views: 1451 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own SVU or it's characters and I'm not making money from this.

Chapter List
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"Mmph... Elliot…" George murmured in his sleep.
Elliot cursed silently. George's fever was finally breaking, evidenced by the fact that he was shaking and sweating, but that also meant that George would be disoriented and confused when he woke up.
Just as he was about to sit down, a doctor came in to look George over.
"I was worried that we might have to do another round of intravenous antibiotics, but he should be fine with pills. The central IV can come out and be replaced with one in his wrist, and he can leave tomorrow or the day after."
"He'll be happy about that," Elliot stated. The doctor smiled and updated George's information before tugging the IV out. George woke up and looked around.
"Better?" Elliot asked.
"Hmm? Oh, I guess so," George muttered distractedly. Elliot looked at the doctor who was readying a new IV for George and got a reassuring nod. Nothing to worry about.
The doctor quickly put the IV in George's wrist before leaving. George rubbed his eyes, trying to focus.
"What's goin' on?" George mumbled, disoriented.
"Nothing," Elliot lied. He sat down next to George and handed him a glass of water, which George drank quickly.
"What's going on?" George repeated insistently, more alert now.
"Do you remember evaluating someone named Eric Keyes a few years ago?"
George took in a sharp breath, which triggered a bout of coughing. He took a sip of water and blinked at Elliot. "He was one of the first perps I evaluated after I transferred here. He was sadistic and very...open about his desire to hurt others. Not that it would be a bad thing if he did it out of a desire to be helped, but he did it because he wanted me to be afraid of him. Did you find something linking him to the case?"
"I checked VI-CAP. His MO is similar to that of the guys who attacked you. Does he look anything like any of the group members?"
"I don't remember, but I could identify him in a line-up. The thing is, he never seemed interested in attacking with a group—"
"Don't profile right now. Relax." George complied and leaned into Elliot. He noticed that he was shaking and he frowned.
"It's because your fever's coming down." Elliot answered his unspoken question. "Now that your temperature is returning to normal and your antibiotics are done, they said you can leave soon."
"Good," George said, relieved. He settled against Elliot, resting his head on Elliot's chest. Elliot's arms wrapped around him. He found that his body didn't seem to care that he'd spent more time asleep than awake lately, and was demanding more sleep.
"Will you be here awhile?" George asked.
"Yeah."
"If it looks like I'm having a nightmare, wake me up," George requested. He relaxed into Elliot's embrace and drifted off with the sound of Elliot's heartbeat in his ears.
Elliot frowned, watching George carefully. Even though George didn't look like he was an inch away from death anymore, it would be a long time before Elliot would use "healthy" to describe him. He gently laid George back down before looking him over, taking note of his condition.
George had slept almost constantly at first, sometimes nearly 20 hours a day, but he'd been started staying awake for longer periods of time. George still slept excessively, but it was an improvement.
He had begun eating light foods, so he was gaining some weight back, and his skin was starting to look a little less pallid. George's chest was rising and falling steadily, a sharp contrast to the labored breaths that he'd been taking when he'd been found. Touching two fingers to George's jugular vein, he felt a strong heartbeat, although it was too fast. Unlike the pulse he had felt in the ambulance, this one was reassuring. It felt like a heartbeat should—a strong, unwavering proof of life.
But the cuts and bruises still looked awful, even more so because of the sickly skin tone. And his lungs were still infected and inflamed, causing asthma-like symptoms and a painful cough. There had been times where Elliot had worried that George might snap a rib, though that fortunately hadn't happened.
Elliot was more or less satisfied with George's physical progress; he would soon be back to normal, minus the scars. His main concern now was George's mental state. He had a lot of problems he would have to deal with— his recovery couldn't be judged on his body's health alone.
Just after he reached that conclusion, George grabbed at Elliot as though trying to find something. Elliot shook his shoulder gently.
A fog was around him and he tried in vain to escape, but nothing worked. He saw Elliot and began to walk towards him only to find one of his attackers. He turned around and managed to get away, but total darkness greeted him. He couldn't escape it; he was completely lost in the dark.
"No!" George yelled as he jolted awake.
"George, it's ok!" Elliot exclaimed. The look on George's face was heartbreaking— panic and a myriad of other emotions ranging from confusion to despair.
"Relax; it was just a fever dream," Elliot said, stroking George's face. Beads of sweat clung to the skin.
"What was it this time?"
"I was in a fog and I tried to find you… but I got, um, lost." Elliot frowned and eased George back down.
"Do you feel any better physically?" Elliot asked, feeling George's forehead.
"No," George said, shaking his head.
"You don't feel too warm anymore," Elliot noted.
"I still feel awful," George complained. Elliot took it as a good sign that he wasn't too listless to care about the sickness he felt. George's lethargy had been a cause for concern the last few days, and he hadn't been able to figure out whether it had been the infection or an apathetic depression. He was glad that it was the former.
"You'll feel better," Elliot said simply. He kissed the top of George's head and George closed his eyes. Elliot felt an equal amount of relief and worry as he watched George.
Suddenly he remembered why he had come here in the first place. He quietly left the room to make a phone call.
"This changes everything, detective!" Mike exclaimed as Elliot informed him about he had discovered.
"One of them mentioned that they knew he was FBI and now that I know he may have been treated by Huang in the past, I think this could very easily have been a personal attack."
"Why would they attack others?"
"It is possible that they 'practiced' on the others, so to speak, before they got him."
"Does that mean George missed a profile? And that they won't attack again?"
"Not necessarily— sadists enjoy hurting anyone, but they may single a person out, too. They will probably attack again, although now that their MO has changed, we might not be able to go on that anymore."
"What do we do now?"
"Hope that Huang can provide a decent sketch and hope that these guys come to the city at some point and are identified."
"All right," Elliot said in resignation.
"Good luck, detective," Mike said simply.
Next, Elliot called for a sketch artist to come to George's hospital room the next day. With that taken care of, Elliot hung up and walked back in the room. He sat down next to George again and grasped one of his hands, holding it between both of his.
The memory of George's night terror was still clear. He closed his eyes, trying to shake the thought away. He hoped making George describe his attackers wouldn't make him worse— he would never forgive himself if it did.
Doubt entered his mind. Should he force those memories back for George? Then again, testifying in court would be even harder than producing a sketch, so if George couldn't handle that... Although, he still hadn't asked George about testifying. He assumed the doctor would want the closure that came from getting justice, but for all he knew George could have already decided to do what many victims did- simply move on without seeking justice. Elliot realized that he should have asked before arranging for George to talk the sketch artist.
Elliot sighed and watched the steady rise and fall of George's chest. Besides Elliot's need to see justice delivered, and George's possible feelings, there was the indisputable fact that these men needed to be taken off the streets. They were dangerous and George was the only person who could stop them. It was an incredibly unfair burden, Elliot knew. He wanted to place it on someone else, but there was no one else he could turn to.
It was difficult, it felt wrong, and it made Elliot feel heartless, but Elliot made George's choice for him.
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Darkest Nights