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Elliot has been on edge since he first heard about the attack on Olivia. It’s only because Fin sounded so calm on the phone that he is able to keep himself in check. His first priority was to see Olivia with his own two eyes. He’d heard that it had happened right outside her building and partially in front of Noah and those details had spiked his anger to almost uncontrollable levels. He had, instead, pushed it down and came here to the hospital.
He follows the information Fin had texted him and finds his way onto a corridor that’s empty saves for Fin and Noah. The former is sitting on a chair almost directly across from a closed-door which Noah happens to be standing beside. Sucking in a breath, Elliot continues walking down the corridor towards them. He nods to Fin as he approaches but once he gets closer, he notices Noah moves to stand directly in front of the door and folds his arms over his chest.
“Hi,” Elliot says before glancing at Fin who only shrugs although the corners of his mouth are threatening to pull up. “I came to see your mom.”
“No one is allowed in,” Noah states determinedly, giving no room for argument. “You’ll have to go through me.”
At that, Elliot nods and moves over to sit on the seat beside Fin who chuckles. “Could tell he wanted to help so I didn’t stop him. He lets the staff into the room. Probably would let me in too and I’ll make sure whoever needs to get in gets in.”
Elliot notices that Noah has moved to stand beside the door again. “Oh. Right.”
“Look, she’s not gonna want you in there right now anyway and you’re practically a stranger to Noah.”
“No, I know.” Elliot scrubs a hand over his face. “You’re right on both fronts.”
“She’s as good as she can be,” Fin assures. “She took a beating but she was standing when I got to the scene. It could’ve been a lot worse and I bet she’ll be out of here today.”
“That’s good.”
Watching Noah makes Elliot’s heart lurch as he’s reminded of the fact this sweet, young boy witnessed what happened to his mother. It might not have been the whole thing but it was still something and in Elliot’s eyes, that’s too much. Taking a breath, he pushes to his feet and moves over to stand beside Noah and looks down at him.
“Mind if I keep watch with you?”
Noah cocks his head slightly and after a few moments says, “yeah.” He shrugs. “If you want.”
Elliot leans back against the wall, catching sight of Fin who is no longer containing his smile. It hurts Elliot to think that not only would he not be welcome in that hospital room by Olivia but also that her son doesn’t want that either. It’s another harsh, albeit deserving, reminder that he missed so much while he was gone.
As he keeps his position, his eyes fall over Noah, observing him carefully. Although determination had been what greeted Elliot, he now sees more beneath that. Fear and hurt. He’s doing his best to cover up just how worried he is about his mom and Elliot has to admit that he’s doing a pretty good job of it. It makes him ache to think of Noah feeling this way and it only adds to the pain and anger that was already there upon first hearing about the attack.
Not wanting to let his emotions bubble over, Elliot forces himself to contain them and instead redirects them. He puts it all behind his determination to put things right with Olivia and now, Noah. He feels like he’s been failing at making things right with her but now more than ever, he refuses to give up.