Objection | SVU

Chapter 23

[A/N: Sorry for all of the POV changes! I just feel like it will tell the story more accurately. I'm supposed to be writing a paper that's due tomorrow, but oh well. I'm writing this instead.]

Jess's POV

I opened my eyes and immediately realized that was a mistake. My head pounded viciously as I tried to will the pain away, but nothing worked. I squeezed my eyes shut and gathered up the strength to open them again, and I saw that I was in a hotel room. I looked out the window and saw the skyline of Manhattan, as well as the buildings in Brooklyn, and my mind began to piece things together. My memory hit me suddenly, and I remembered that I had gone to the little café near the District Attorney's Office. I was cornered and attacked on my way back to the little hotel that Rafael and I were staying at... So much for that security detail that the NYPD gave us.

I suddenly realized that the familiarity of the Manhattan skyline wasn't such a good thing. It meant that whoever had taken me was confident enough to keep me in my own surroundings, where I knew everything. It meant that they had a plan to keep me hidden, and that they had a motive for taking me and keeping me in suburban Manhattan. I suddenly became worried, not just for my safety, but for Rafael's, too.

My thoughts were interrupted by a door closing and locking, and I looked up at my surroundings. I saw the door to the room that I was in open slowly, and I attempted to mentally and emotionally prepare myself for what was about to come.

Barba's POV

Jess had been missing for a little over 6 hours now, and I was worried sick. Liv and the squad were hard at work trying to get any evidence or clues as to where she would be, and they had called in favors from the higher-ups in the NYPD to help find Jess. I decided that I was staying at the precinct until we found and recovered Jess- I knew that I wouldn't be sleeping anyway. As I made another cup of coffee, I saw Rollins enter the break room. She tried to lighten the mood, saying, "Another cup of coffee, counselor? All that caffeine isn't too good for you." I responded with an icy glare, and Rollins backed off and left me alone in the break room.

A slight pang of guilt came over me, and I felt bad for being so rude to Rollins when she was trying to help find my wife. I decided that I would apologize to her later, and I finished making my cup of coffee. I sat down in the break room and tried to come to terms with everything that was happening so far today. As I felt myself begin to fall apart, I remembered Jess. She wouldn't want me to fall apart. She'd want me to stay strong and to remain hopeful.

I went back into the squad room, and I saw Liv burst out from inside her office. Her eyes immediately met mine, and she rushed over to me and said, "We found her. She managed to leave bread crumbs, and we found her." I saw a fire in her eyes, which told me that Jess was still alive. I began to follow her out, along with the rest of the squad, but she ordered me to stay put. I was forced to stay at the precinct with some of the other policemen and NYPD detectives while the SVU squad went to rescue Jess.

Liv's POV

We were speeding through the streets of New York City, tires screeching and sirens blaring. I was giving Fin directions, and Carisi and Rollins were right behind us. We approached a large skyscraper in Brooklyn, and we immediately entered the building. I hurriedly approached the front desk and said, "Lieutenant Benson, Manhattan SVU. I need to search the premises." Since we were in Brooklyn, the man at the front desk obviously retaliated, saying, "Manhattan? What're you doing around here? And where's the warrant?" I rolled my eyes and pulled out a warrant that Judge Catano had signed for us, and the man, who I had discovered was the manager, begrudgingly turned over his master keys. We each took one and searched the entire building, with SWAT teams in tow.

I heard banging coming from a room as I was scanning the thirty-sixth floor, and my heart shattered as I heard a piercing scream that I knew belonged to Jess. I called in backup as my SWAT team approached the door and knocked it down. We raided the room, and I heard Fin and Carisi behind me, followed by Rollins. We cleared all of the rooms besides the master bedroom, and I took a deep breath before I knocked down the door to the room, trying to prepare for what I was going to see.

What I saw was heart-wrenching. There were three men in the room, all surrounding what I could barely recognize as the unresponsive body of one of my best detectives, Jessica Mitchell Barba. "We need a bus, now!" I screamed as Rollins, Carisi and Fin made quick work of arresting and cuffing the three men that were in the room. The perpetrators were handed off to the SWAT captains to be taken into the precinct and processed, and the rest of my squad was at my side, attentively and nervously tending to Jess as much as possible. She had a weak pulse, but she was still hanging on.

I saw various wounds on her, ranging from deep cuts and red marks from some sort of restraints, to bruises and some pretty bad swelling. The medics got up there quickly and put Jess on a stretcher, and we took her to New York Presbyterian Hospital. I hopped in the ambulance with Jess, and I called Barba as I held on to Jess' hand. The paramedics went to work quickly, and Barba picked up on the second ring, answering with a quipped, "Where are you? Is she okay?" I shoved my emotions to the back of my head and answered, "We're on our way to New York Pres. She's still alive." Barba nervously asked, "What do you mean she's still alive? Is she okay? What happened?" I made the difficult decision to shrug off those questions that Barba had just asked me, and I said, "Just meet me at New York Pres, as soon as you can."

Jess' POV

I woke up in a small room, and I looked up to see monitors and wires all around me. I attempted to move my left leg, but a shooting, searing pain went up my leg, and I hissed in pain. I heard ruffling in my room, and I saw Rafael beginning to wake up. I instantly felt bad because he had spent the night waiting for me to wake up from what ever was even wrong with me. I saw Raf beginning to wake up, and I did my best to surpress the pain and smile at him. I knew that I was in a hospital room, but I didn't remember much.

But I did remember how lucky I was to have someone like Rafael, who, from what I heard, has slept here every night since I got into the hospital... How long was I out?