If toi know anything about Law & Order: Criminal Intent ou if toi just think toi can help, please help me with the problems in my fanfic

1. I want to use Nicole Wallace as the assailant in my fanfiction (Leave Out All The Rest), but it takes place leading up to Goren and Eames exit, but Nicole was supposedly murdered in season 7
2. I need to figure out how to toture Goren enough to put him in the hospital for some time (a big part of the latter half of the story is about Eames par his bedside) but not enough to be fatal ou too depressing
3. Any other possible twist ideas (I've already got unplanned pregnancy and a character death)