Arms Around A Memory
AN: So new story! We'll see how this goes! Also fair warning I have no idea how hospital testing and patient requests work so just roll with it! and pretend like the Air Force Two hacking didn't happen I guess? Remember to review at the end!
It was bright. Too bright. Which was ironic because all she could remember was "Stand in the sun". But this was not the sun- this was artificial tube lights, shining down, with the bustling of a doctor and a nurse around her. Her mouth was dry as she tried to speak but nothing came out.
"Ma'am, it's nice to see you awake. Do you know where you are?"
She finally croaked out as her eyes wandered- "I- a hospital- what's going on?" She was so confused; she was just on the beach-how is she in this building? Olivia tried to move to get a bearing of her surroundings but her body felt weak and tired.
"Ma'am, Ms. Pope, I'm going to ask you to stop moving. You are in James Madison Hospital."
"James Madison Hospital? Like in D.C.?"
"Yes, you were in an accident do you remember anything?"
"No, I think you're mistaken I was just in Zanzibar. How did I get here? I need to talk to Jake? Where's Jake?"
"Olivia, you can't get up. If there is someone you want us to contact we can, but we are going to have to take you to get an MRI now that you've woken up."
"No, I'm not doing anything." That may have been her body's response rather than her own stubbornness as she could feel her eyelids getting heavy. "I'm not going anywhere and don't talk to anyone about me, please. Waking up like this, not only back in D.C., but in a hospital only made Olivia suspicious. She was on okay terms with her father before she got on that plane but she wouldn't be surprised if this was B613 or something having to do with Maya after Jerry's tragic demise.
"I need to talk to Jake Ballard" He was the only other person on the island with her and he will know how she got here.
"You were in a car accident, you're probably very tired."
"Ok, maybe you're right," Olivia replied, shifting to get in a more comfortable position. She tried to muster up as much confidence as she could so the nurses knew not to mess with her even though she was the one stuck in a hospital bed, "but when I wake up I want to see my friend Jake. I don't know if he has a phone with him," -they both got rid of theirs in Germany-"but you can call my friend Abby Whelan she may know. 202-654-3867" and started reciting the number she has had memorized since law school, hoping Abby was doing ok ever since she left.
The last thing she heard before drifting off to sleep was nurses talking about the "Chief of Staff" and wasn't surprised Cyrus knows she's somehow here back in D.C. He probably was outside asking questions or came instead of Fitz but she didn't want to see him until she got some answers on how she managed to travel halfway across the world.
And that is how the nurse- who had been working at James Madison Hospital for 10 years without experiencing something like this- walked passed a former press secretary, and, oh yeah, the former President of the United States, so she could call the Chief of Staff to the current President of the United States.
He knew. Not details, but because of Olivia's history and connection to the White House and B613, her accident made it on to his radar. It was all professional of course, he didn't have time to worry about her. Not when Mellie still needed 4 more votes to pass her new energy bill and she wanted to try to get them without his B613 resources.
What he wasn't expecting was the hospital to repeatedly be calling him, trying to reach him, even though he had his assistant Sadie inform them of his very busy schedule. Jake was sitting in Oval with Mellie when Sadie came by again and said "The hospital called again because they really want to get the MRI testing done ASAP but I don't know what that has to do with you?"
Before Jake had a chance to reply, the President piped up and told the assistant, "Thanks Sadie, let them know he's on his way."
"Wait, what? Are you serious? We have so much to do. I can't visit Olivia now. She's probably fine." He was no longer mad at her, he felt nothing, he felt numb. These days he was just going through the motions of life, his job, and planning possibly his own run for office in the future.
"I would say so too, but if they've called so much at least you can tell her face to face."
Jake got to hospital to see Marcus and Fitz waiting. He was surprised Olivia wanted him there too and if that wasn't awkward enough, the doctor, Dr. Kepner, came directly up to him before he even stopped to talk to the other men and asked him to follow her. "Olivia Pope only wants to see you. We need to do some tests but she won't talk to anyone until she talks to you and she explicitly said not to discuss her status with anyone else."
He entered the room and the first thing he heard was "How did we get from the island to here?" He suddenly felt assaulted from all over. The memories of his own time in the hospital, with the knowledge of his own sins to put others in the hospital, to all the questions pouring out of Olivia, who had apparently woken up with more strength, very confused, put him in a stand still while at the doorway.
Dr. Kepner looked back and forth between the silent Jake and very confused Olivia. "Now that Admiral Ballard is here, can we do some tests? You can sit down with him after."
Satisfied with seeing the familiar face of a man she had spent the last 2 months connecting with and baring her soul to, she agreed to be wheeled out to get her tests done.
Jake, still in shock from what he just heard, stopped the doctor before she left. "What is she talking about? We've been back for almost 5 years now."
"That's what I wanted to discuss with you. Olivia said she only wanted to talk to you. Her car crash caused a broken arm which will heal but also some memory loss. We'll let you know when we find out more."
Jake sat in Olivia's room as he waited for the doctor to return with Olivia as he didn't want to go back outside with more questions rather than answers. He was still trying to process what just happened. He came here because he thought Olivia was in a car crash and almost wanted to tell her to leave him alone, but now he was the only one she trusted and still believed they were standing in the sun. What was he supposed to do with that?
When the doctors returned with the results, Olivia asked Jake to stay and grabbed hold of his hand, not knowing the effect that it had on him. As she felt comforted, it only made him uncomfortable to feel this sudden barrage of affection from her.
The doctors informed the two of the retroactive amnesia Olivia was suffering from as she has lost her memory from about the past 5 years. They recommended therapy, and gentle reminders of her past, but otherwise they would have to wait and see if or how much of her memory would return.
Olivia turned to Jake and quickly informed him, "You have to tell me everything. Why did we move back? When-"
The doctor interrupted her to remind the both of them to ease into it, as to not overwhelm her body and her mind all at once. She finished informing the two of them of the medicines for Olivia before leaving and giving Jake and Olivia a moment alone.
Olivia was watching from the corner of her eye as the doctor was talking and saw Jake tense in the chair, seemingly trying to get away from her and this mess. He was acting weird and hadn't really said anything to her yet. He's probably trying to get used to all of this too. She didn't even know, but this was the first time the two of them had been alone in a room together, surprisingly not arguing, since the morning after she returned from Vermont.
Olivia, in her own inadvertently oblivious way, only wanted to get closer to Jake. She didn't want to admit it but it felt like everything hurt, and not just her body and all she wanted to do was pull Jake in closer like they would on the island when she would get in her head about her messed up past and they would just cuddle, but Jake made it a bit difficult for her when he quickly stood up and informed her that he had visitors to fill in.
"Oh who's here?"
"Fitz and Marcus. Oh wait, you don't know Marcus"
Ignoring the new name because she figured she'll get filled in soon, Olivia asked-"Where's Abby and Quinn and Huck and Harrison?"
"They couldn't make it…yet"
Jake quickly called out that he'll be right back, and rushed out the door. Once he got out of the hospital room that was starting to feel like it was getting smaller as each second passed, he made eye contact with Fitz and knew he couldn't avoid it anymore.
"What happened? Is everything alright? The doctor wouldn't say anything and wouldn't let any visitors in until you got here. I want to see her. "
Jake got annoyed at the former president's questions- he didn't even know what was going on and was already making demands. "Well, it's complicated."
"What happened? We saw them wheel her back and she looked mostly fine. A little banged up, but nothing too bad." Marcus interjected, knowing a brief history of the two men, not wanting things to escalate in a hospital.
"Can you call QPA and ask them to come here? Olivia is asking about them."
"Oh?" Fitz was slightly surprised the first people Olivia had asked for was Jake and her team, especially considering the icy relationship she had with each of them right now. Perhaps she wanted to apologize?
"Yeah, Olivia doesn't remember anything, she has retrograde amnesia and maybe some familiar faces will help." Jake said, before turning around and returning to his ex, not wanting to answer any more questions he didn't have answers to, at least not answers he liked.
Olivia had been sitting alone with her thoughts as she replayed the last bit of her memories, trying to grasp something from before the hospital, but after the island. Jake had mentioned Fitz waiting outside for her and she wondered if this had anything to do with him. "Was Fitz still President? No the doctors said it is 2018 and 5 years have passed, so who is? Did Sally run again? Had Fitz forgiven her for leaving? This was ridiculous. I don't even know if we're on speaking terms since I left and there's so much going on. Olivia felt a tightness in her chest building, but was distracted when she saw in the window, Jake talking with her doctors before walking in.
Jake gave her a polite smile when he entered before sitting down in the chair next to her. "So the doctors said to start slow with talking about memories because they could come back on own, there's a couple more tests you'll come back in a couple days to do, as well as therapy, but for now you can go home."
"I know you're first question was why we came back," Jake hesitated as he looked Olivia in the eye, "Harrison died, that's why we came back. For his funeral, and I think, it was time."
Olivia was still processing what Jake had just said, with more questions running through her mind, "What? Why? How?" when the nurse came in with her discharge papers.
"Do you want to go back to your place or Rowan's?" Jake coaxed out, as he saw the disorientation from what he just revealed in Olivia's face. That turned to confusion before he brought her up to speed. "Sorry, you're on better terms with Rowan now, so I wasn't sure," he remembered how Olivia camped out in her childhood bedroom the last time a traumatic event, like killing her kidnapper, occurred. She felt she needed to get back to what she was sure about and that was her apartment, her own turf.
"Ok, let's go home."
Olivia and Jake got off the elevator and approached her door when she noticed all the extra locks put on the door. Luckily only the main lock was locked and she entered to find her apartment unpacked and set up exactly like the same, as if she never changed, the only thing new was a mauve couch in the middle of the living room.
"What do you want for dinner? Are you going to be ok? I have to go-"Jake started before Olivia turned to him, interrupting him.
"Thanks, but you don't have to worry about it. I'm not really in the mood for going out and I doubt my cooking skills improved over the last 5 years, so we can just order in." She replied with a peck on his lips. Olivia again picked up on the lack of reciprocation, the almost chilliness.
"I'm really sorry I have to get something from work," Jake said walking closer to the door, going to open it again. He put his hand on the doorknob, and that's when she saw it.
The glimmer of gold, and with it, a rush of emotions and thoughts overcame her- from alarm, How could she get married? What happened to Fitz? , to confusion, Why didn't he say anything earlier? to a glimpse something close to elation or excitement in finding out how they got here and what the future holds. She anxiously looked down at her own hand to see nothing, not a wedding ring, nor a tan line, not even Doux Bebe.
Olivia looked up and stared at Jake in shock. He knew that she had seen it, but had nothing to say.
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