Fitz was informed that he could see Mellie after about an hour. He was not prepared for seeing her battered and bruised body. She looked so small and helpless laying there motionless with tubes coming out of everywhere and machines beeping. Small and helpless was never a way that he imagined he would ever use to describe Mellie. She was always larger than life and a fighter, tenacious, strong willed. A ghost of a smile crossed his features when he thought of her, his wife. Fitz sat next to the bed and gently took her left hand into his. He immediately noticed that her wedding ring was missing and he wondered if it had been lost in the accident or maybe the doctor's had taken it off or maybe she hadn't been wearing it. The last thought caused him great distress. He looked at her face, cut and bruised and very swollen and she was still the beautiful woman he fail in love with. He frowned not sure where that thought came from. He hadn't thought of his feelings for her in a long time and chalked it up to the situation they were now in.

Fitz sat next to her bed staring at her, willing her to open her big blue eyes, willing her to wake up and call him an idiot or idealistic or anything, but no matter how much he wanted it she lay, still, and quiet and she would be that way for weeks.
After it became apparent that the First Lady would not be waking up soon, Fitz arranged for her to be moved back to D.C. so that he could resume his duties but she would be close enough for him to visit. Karen and Gerry had come to visit their mother for a few days and gone back to boarding school. They were upset that she had not awoken despite repeated assurances from the doctors that it should happen at any moment. Fitz's heart broke when Teddy constantly asked for his mommy and he was shocked at the connection that he seemed to have with Mellie. He never thought of her as a particularly warm mother, but if truth be told she was always there when her kids needed her.

Fitz had not visited Mellie for about a week. He'd been with Olivia trying to keep up pretenses that her condition wasn't affecting him greatly, but it was. Every day that she stayed in the coma was another day that she may not ever wake up. The swelling had gone down and there really was no reason why she wouldn't wake up. Fitz wondered if she wanted to wake up, maybe she was punishing him. He hated himself for those thoughts, but he was frustrated. He wasn't sure what would happen once she did wake up, but at least for the kids she needed to. He knew that it would look bad if he didn't go see her after being absent for a week. He waited to late in the evening to appear. After getting an update on her condition from the doctor he entered her room. The bruises and cuts on her face had almost healed and disappeared, but still she lay there motionless.

He sighed and sat down next to her bed.
"Why won't you wake up?" He stared at her waiting for what he didn't know. "Teddy's been asking for you. Every day he becomes more despondent that you are not around. I can't make him understand..." Fitz exhaled a deep breath. "The doctor's are saying you should be awake. So why aren't you? Is this a punishment for how I've treated you. If it is then it's very selfish of you to do this to our kids." Fitz knew that he shouldn't be saying these things but he was angry and he needed to get it out. "How could you cheat? And not only did you cheat you were so careless as to not make sure you didn't get pregnant!"

He stood from the chair and walked to the window to try to calm himself. He knew that his voice was becoming loud and he did not want anyone to overhear what he was saying. He turned back around and she still lay in the same place. He shook his head frustrated. The doctor's had suggested that she be moved to a rehab facility as there were no longer any medical reasons for her to remain in the hospital. Fitz had decided that was what he would do, move her away. Somewhere that he wouldn't have to visit and he could just continue on with his life as if she didn't exist. It was clear to him that she was being her usual selfish self and she didn't want to wake up. He looked at her one last time and left her room. He made arrangements for her to be moved to a rehab facility. Her parents had requested for her to be moved to North Carolina and despite Cyrus' objection Fitz agreed that would be best.