Chapter Text
When he heard his cell ringing Barba spent a few moments shuffling through some papers on the desk in his office, before finally finding the thing and answering it distractedly.
"ADA Barba…" He sighed.
"R-rafa?" An unfamiliar voice asked him a little timidly.
Now the call had his undivided attention, only two people in his life ever called him that.
"I'm sorry, who is this?" He asked a little sharply.
"I…" the voice paused and then continued, sounding a little more professional, "My name is Adele, I work in the office of Dr Sandra Hilton and I'm calling with regard to her patient…" another slight pause, "…Ms Olivia Benson?"
Barba arched an eyebrow, "Is Liv okay? She's at the doctor's?"
"The dentist, Mr Barba…and I can assure you that she's absolutely fine. However, Ms Benson had a little dental work done this afternoon and had an unusually severe reaction to the pain medication. It's getting toward the end of our day and Doctor Hilton is not comfortable with allowing Ms Benson to leave on her own."
"So you called me?" Barba asked a little tentatively.
"I…" Adele sighed, "…Dr Hilton said that she talked with Ms Benson when she arrived and she mentioned that her son was having a sleepover with a friend tonight. We have asked her who we should call on her behalf and the only name we could get out of her was yours, she handed me her cell and…well, she just repeated 'Rafa, Rafa, Rafa' and then started counting the cotton balls again."
"She did what?" Barba asked, clearly baffled.
"Ms Benson is rather 'out of it', Mr Barba," she explained.
Barba could hear the obvious humor in the young girl's voice and he frowned.
"Okay, can you send the address to this cell and I'll be there as soon as I can?" Barba asked as he started to pull on his jacket and close up his files.
He made an excuse to Carmen, jumped into a cab and was across town in a surprisingly short amount of time. He found the surgery empty apart from two young members of staff at the front desk.
"You really close up this early?" Barba asked as he approached.
"Mr Barba?" Doctor Hilton asked as she walked through from one of the consultation rooms.
"Yes," he nodded and reached out to shake her hand.
"My wife is a medical doctor, I schedule Friday evenings so that I can take care of our daughter while she's on call," the doctor explained succinctly. "I'm sorry that we had to call you, I just didn't feel comfortable putting Ms Benson into a cab alone, especially as no-one is at home."
Barba nodded, "No, of course."
"You're a…boyfriend?" The doctor asked.
Barba shook his head. "No, no, a colleague…well, a friend. Olivia really asked you to call me?" He enquired.
The doctor looked a little concerned, "Oh, I'm sorry, Mr Barba. I think I might have made a potentially awkward assumption."
Barba frowned now. "Awkward?" He asked.
The doctor sighed and glanced toward the ceiling. "You're a good friend?" She finally checked.
He arched an eyebrow. "How is my relationship with Ms Benson relevant to my picking her up? Or for that matter, how is it any of your business?" He asked a little sharply, he was starting to get worried now.
"Rafa!" Olivia said with the joy of a five-year-old who had just been presented with a pony. "Rafa! Rafa! You came ta vis-it! Rafa! Look at all these fluffy things! White and fluffy, and the nice doctor said I could take them all home!" She peered at the cotton balls in her hands. "I counted 22! All fluffy! Rafa, can you help me take them home?!"
She looked up at him with pleading eyes and Barba gaped at the doctor. "Seriously? What the hell have you given her?!"
Olivia gasped, then dropped all of her new friends to the floor and covered her mouth in shock. "Rafa! You said a bad word!" She looked at him sharply, then unbalanced a little and had to lean against the wall. "Is Noah here? You can't say bad words if Noah is here!" She suddenly looked at the floor with an expression of horror and for a second Barba was terrified that she might cry. "Rafa! I dropped all my fluffy things!"
The two girls on reception burst out laughing and Barba shot them a death glare.
"It seems Ms Benson has had a reaction to the drugs," the doctor explained calmly then followed Barba's horrified gaze to find Olivia edging down the wall to her knees before carefully and thoroughly beginning to collect the cotton balls. "You can see why we needed to call someone…"
Barba shot her a look that screamed 'No shit?!', then stepped cautiously toward Olivia.
"Liv, you ready to go home?" Barba asked and crouched down a little in front of her.
Olivia stared at her collection of cotton balls for a second then at Barba. "I can bring these home?" She asked solemnly.
Barba's mouth quirked up in amusement. "Sure you can, Liv, you can bring whatever you need," he assured.
"You're so nice, Rafa," she told Barba as he held her forearms and carefully helped her up, "…you liked to pretend like you're an asshole, but you're really so nice!"
Barba rolled his eyes and chuckled a little. "So you're allowed to swear?" He asked.
Olivia gasped in surprise. "Who said bad words now?" She looked around urgently.
"Shall we go?" Barba patiently entreated her.
"You're so handsome, Raffle," Olivia smiled and then lay her head on his shoulder as he tried to guide her toward the door. "No that's not right...Razzel?" She frowned then thought carefully before coming to a conclusion. "Rafa!" She announced proudly. "He is handsome isn't he, doctor? I told you that he is pretty, didn't I?"
The doctor looked a little concerned now that she knew that they weren't actually a couple. "The pain medication might mean she's a little…unreserved," she warned Barba.
"You don't think my Raffle is pretty?!" Olivia asked the doctor with indignation, then stumbled and braced herself on Barba's shoulder.
"Of course I do, Ms Benson," she placated her patient and then looked at Barba empathetically, "…you'll be okay? I mean, you can look after her?"
"Raffle is my bestest friend in the whole wide world," Olivia informed the doctor distractedly, as she went about carefully inserting her cotton balls into all of the 'Raffle Pockets' that she could find - there sure seemed like a lot! She pulled out a pocket square, glared at it with frustration and then balanced it on top of Barba's head before refilling the pocket with four cotton balls. She smiled with satisfaction at successfully securing her haul, before looking up at Barba and going slightly cross-eyed. "Ra-fal-el, you wearing a funny hat? I've never seen you in a funny hat before. I like it!"
Barba groaned and then rolled his eyes when Olivia snagged the pocket square from his head and placed it carefully on her own.
The doctor smiled at him and shrugged apologetically.
"Come on, Liv," he said with a soft laugh and slipped his arm through hers, "I think we need to get you home to bed."
Olivia curled close into his side. "Raffle, I thought you'd never ask!" She replied happily.
Barba walked Olivia carefully along the hallway toward her door.
"You have your keys?" He asked with a weary sigh.
This had been a painful and nearly endless journey. Olivia had spent most of the cab ride with her face against the window giving him a rambling guided tour of New York as though he was a fucking tourist.
Olivia turned and placed her hands on the wall, then spread her legs as though waiting to be searched. Her forehead rested against the surface and then she inclined her head slowly to grin at him.
"Liv, can't you just give me your keys?" Barba asked pleadingly. "Or maybe open the door yourself?"
Her smiled dropped into a frown but she remained in the same position. "Why do you never wanna touch me, Raffle? Am I all that repul-repul-repulsive?" Olivia turned and leaned her shoulder against the wall, her knees buckling a little as though she was suddenly very tired. "You just never wanna touch me…"
Barba frowned sadly then stepped forward, gently resting his palm on her forehead to check that she wasn't too warm. "Olivia, you're not feeling well right now…" he told her soothingly.
Olivia looked up into his eyes, gazing at him a little unnervingly. "Raffle, your eyes are so pretty…" She frowned and then shook her head a little tearfully. "No that's still not right... Rafa! You're my Rafa!" She gifted him a completely unguarded smile. "Rafa, why are you so handsome? You get to be so handsome every single day, yet I still don't get to touch you…how is that fair?" She breathed in deeply and closed her eyes. "I think if you're just gonna walk around not letting me touch you, you could at least be less good-looking. Don't you think that would be fairer?"
Barba didn't know what to say, his mouth opened and closed a few times.
"If I'm not allowed to touch your chest, it probably shouldn't look so good under those sus-penders. Your arms shouldn't be so distracting, it's really rude. Your hands, you play with things in your hands too much, Rafa. You shouldn't do that, you know? Not when you're just never-ever-never going to touch me with them." She leaned forward and dropped her face against his shoulder with exhaustion. "You smell so good, as well, it's really mean to smell so good when I'm not allowed to taste you…"
Barba was wondering if it was time to call himself a coroner.
"And talking…" she murmured into the soft weave of his shirt, "…you shouldn't talk all the time…not ifffffffffs…" she hummed and rested more of her weight against him, "…not if I'm never gonna get to kiss your lips."
"Olivia...?" Barba finally attempted speech.
"Mmmmm?" She murmured and curled against him.
"Y-your keys?" He stuttered.
Olivia groaned and then heavily lifted her arm trying to reach into her pocket.
Barba ended up sighing and carefully reaching into her jacket, getting the keys and opening the door. He walked her through to the couch and helped her to settle down, looking up at the window and noticing that it was already starting to get dark.
Olivia snuggled up on the couch and smiled happily. "My Rafa brought me home to sleep," she muttered contently, "…my Rafa..." She repeated and then her breathing changed as she finally dropped off to sleep.