In the Blink of an Eye

The elevator door dings and I walk up the deep gray and silver-floored hallway, turning into the SVU squad room and making my way towards the door which reads CAPTAIN CRAGEN in large letters. I smile and nod at Olivia, Fin, and John, but do my best to keep my eyes away from Elliot as I knock on the door. I hear Don's voice on the other side, telling me to come inside, and, stepping over the threshold, am shocked to see Dr. George Huang standing there beside the desk. I grin at him and cross immediately to embrace him; it had been about two months since I'd last seen him; November had dawned, and all Edythe could talk about now was Thanksgiving break, Christmas vacation, and being the Flower Girl in Derrick and Esmerelda's wedding.

"You look great, Maggie," George proclaimed, gazing down at my stomach; I was nearly seven months, I was officially in maternity clothes and completely exhausted half the time.

"Desk duty really does wonders, doesn't it?" I say, giggling as Don indulgently leads me to his comfortable desk chair and urges me to sit down. "So what do I owe the pleasure? I hardly think this is a social call..."

"Well, I figured that since I had an emergency case down in Jacksonville the day that Hunter proposed, I thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to see you and to congratulate you," George says, and I raise my hand so as he can admire my ring. "That's beautiful, Maggie. You must be so happy."

I nod. "I am," I reply. "What's the case in Jacksonville? Everything go all right down there?"

"Thirteen-year-old boy brought a knife to school," George replies, shaking his head and shuddering ever so slightly. "Goes into the rectory, and stabs the priest as he's preparing for morning mass..."

"Let me guess—the priest had been abusing him?"

"Well, yes," George says, "but apparently the boy's parents were in government-funded housing and used their son as a bargaining chip."

"If they were in government housing, how the hell could they possibly afford a Catholic education for their son?" I ask.

"That was my first question, too," George says, perching on the edge of Don's desk and folding his hands in his lap. "Apparently, the boy was a scholarship child and the parents wanted desperately to have a proper home, as their son had three younger sisters. So they told the priest about their troubles and the priest agreed to use some emergency church funds to buy them a home which would accommodate them and their five children, as the mother is pregnant again. The only catch was that the priest be allowed to sexually abuse their son..."

"Which of course the priest didn't put into those terms," I say, shaking my head. "I bet he just asked for company or for an altar boy to help out around the church... I mean, am I right?"

"Afraid so," George replies. He sighs a little, turning to look at Cragen, who nods to him, before turning back to look at me. "Maggie, I have to tell you the real reason why I'm here in your meeting with Cragen..."

"Why?" I ask.

"I have to give you a psychological evaluation based on your attack with Elliot a few weeks ago," he replies.

"Why didn't I get one before?"

"I figured I'd let the dust settle for a while. What with you wrapping up some cases being on desk duty, the engagement, the pregnancy, and the whole sexual harassment business with Detective Partridge, Don and I figured the best thing for you was space and time to digest everything..."

I sigh. "Jo Partridge has been fired and is prevented from entering a career in law enforcement for the rest of her life. She took a plea deal," I tell him, leaning back ever so slightly in Don's chair. "No jail time, provided that it doesn't go on her record after three years and that she hands over her badge and promising not to enter law enforcement ever again. Can't think of what she can do now, besides write a bestseller for bored mom's and do a piece of self-indulgent crap Lifetime movie called something along the lines of How I Was Wronged: The Jo Partridge Story..."