"Thirty-Five fucking years and you couldn't tell me I have a daughter?" Eli's eyes blazed, his voice an accusatory whisper and hands wrapped around the metal bed-railing. There was no response from the woman lying on the bed - her blank stare seeming to go right past him.

"Lucid enough to call me, convince me to move all the way back here and hint that there was something here I would want to know about…" Eli scoffed, running a hand over his face. "You couldn't have just come out and said it? Told me that I have a daughter?"

"Eli," Maya finally spoke, her voice cracking and her absent stare falling on him. "What do you mean?"

Eli shook his head, his hands going to his head - fingers rubbing against his scalp. Pushing away from the railing, he paced the small area in front of the hospital bed.

"You should have told me about Olivia."

"Olivia? Who told you I'm pregnant? Was it my mom? She's the only one who knows what I'm naming the baby!"

Suddenly, Maya was hysterical. Reaching for the railing at the side of her bed, she was pulling herself up and glaring at Eli.

"You're not supposed to know! She's mine - not yours! You aren't going to corrupt her!"

"How, Maya? How would I corrupt her?" Eli moved around from the foot of the bed, backing against the wall as a nurse entered the room.

"Stay away from my daughter! She's mine! All mine!"

The wild look in Maya's eyes probably would have affected him at one point in his life, but not now. Sad as it was to see her in this state, he could appreciate the karmic elements to this position Maya was in. None of it made sense to him: the woman had broken up with him. She had disappeared right when they were supposed to be starting their life together and she had waited thirty-five years to send a message: begging him to return to Hillsborough. Hinting that there was something in the small town for him, he had never expected to find this - to find an ex-girlfriend with early-onset Alzheimer's and a daughter he never knew existed. Nothing made sense.

"Mr. Pope, your wi -"

"We're not a couple," Eli interrupted the nurse, his eyes travelling to the door. "This is my last visit. If she becomes lucid again and asks."

One last glance at Maya, still screaming about Olivia being hers - and only hers, was all that Eli needed before slinking out the door.

There really was no explanation for Maya.

"When are you planning on waking him?" Jerry glanced at the monitors above his son's bed, his words directed to the young doctor standing near the window.

"Tomorrow. I spoke with your daughter about it this morning."

"And that's still eating you alive, isn't it?" Mercedes smirked from behind the cover of the book she was reading: The Anatomy of Evil.

Jerry sighed, stuffing his hands inside his pockets and gave Mercedes a warning look. He had been just as surprised as Fitz's doctor to learn that his son had given his daughter the medical power of attorney.

"As I told Doctor Grant this morning, Mr. Grant -"

"Oh, he's a doctor, too," Mercedes informed the man, chewing loudly on her gum.

"Mercedes -" Jerry shook his head, raising a brow toward his daughter. "You don't like him. We know. Now can we move past that?"

"I don't know. Can we?" Mercedes turned her attention to Fitz's doctor - the corner of her lips curled upward.

"I'm trying really hard to be professional," the redhead admitted, straightening his lab coat.

Mercedes rolled her eyes, dropping her gaze back to the book in her hands. Jerry snorted - his daughter was going to be the death of him one of these days.

"Tomorrow you're going to start withdrawing the barbiturates?" Jerry questioned, drawing the doctor back to their original conversation.

"Yes," The doctor agreed. "I am hoping that, with no complications, he will be up tomorrow evening."

"There won't be any complications," Mercedes mumbled from behind her book, prompting a smile from Jerry. Always the optimist, that one.

"Physical therapy?" Jerry questioned.

"I'll be able to assess more once he's awake, but I most likely will refer him to pt. He will have a long road to recovery. It'll be a year or more before he's back to himself," the doctor warned.

"Fitz will love that," Jerry frowned - his sarcastic tone hiding the relief he felt that his son may wake soon as his attention turned toward the medical bed in the centre of the room.

"Hi Shelby." Eli stood before the granite tombstone, hands in his pockets and shuffling his weight from one foot to the other. "It's been a while."

"I...I, um, saw Maya." Eli pulled a hand from his pocket and rubbed the back of his neck. "She's...I never knew, Shelby. And she kept this from me?"

Eli shook his head and glanced toward the stone bench across from the headstone. Rolling his shoulders, he tilted his head back to look at the sky. Large, puffy white clouds floated above his head - offering some depth to the light blue.

"Why didn't she tell me? She said I would have ruined Olivia. How? How would I have done that?" Eli swallowed, hard, and began pacing behind the headstone. Biting his bottom lip, he placed his hands on the warm headstone and asked once more: "Why, Shelby?"

"She never answers."

Eli turned his head, glancing back at the source of the soft voice. Olivia stood behind him, a bouquet of colourful daisies in her hand.

"I suppose not." Eli patted the headstone and turned to fully face Olivia. How much had she heard?

"You're the new history teacher, right?" She tilted her head, walking toward the grave to lay her bouquet on the marble.

"Yes."

"I didn't catch your name."

"Eli," he offered, holding his hand out.

"Olivia."

She took his hand, shaking once before dropping it.

"You knew my nana?" Olivia folded her arms, her gaze drifting toward Shelby's gravestone.

"I did. She was a great woman."

"Yeah. She was," Olivia agreed, her hand caressed the warm stone - eyes drifting toward the engraved letters. "How did you know her?"

"Your mom was…" Eli cleared his throat, refusing to meet Olivia's gaze. "Maya was one of my best friends. There were five of us: me, your mom, Guin, Jim, and Tommy. Your grandma used to call us -"

"The flock," Olivia laughed. "Aunt Guin and uncle Tommy used to visit me all the time when I was a kid."

"They were good people. I wish I would've kept in touch."

"It's never too late," Olivia suggested, "Aunt Guin lives by the flower shop on Elm Street and uncle Tommy's always drifting around the park."

"Tommy drifts around the park?" Eli raised a brow.

"He's involved with a lot of community programs," Olivia offered. "I'm surprised the two of you haven't run into each other yet."

"I haven't been out and about much." Eli shifted uncomfortably under Olivia's gaze.

"He's the ag teacher," she stated.

"Oh." Eli shook his head - he hadn't exchanged a single word with the man during the last nine weeks he had been teaching. It all made sense now, though: the stares and feeling that he knew the man.

"So, um," Eli cleared his throat, "You still talk to your mom?"

"I haven't seen my mother since I was seven."

Eli narrowed his eyes at the frosty tone that had suddenly crept into Olivia's voice - a complete one-eighty from the warmth when she had talked about Guin and Tommy.

"What happened?" He was digging for information - and it was probably obvious, but he needed to know.

"She left in the middle of the night. My nana never told me why - I don't think she knew why. After a while, I quit asking questions and I quit talking about it. I wasn't about to become the poor, pitiful girl who didn't have either parent."

Eli nodded, admiring the hard glint in Olivia's eye - she was a fighter. He wouldn't expect any less from someone who shared his DNA.

"That doesn't sound much like the Maya I knew."

"Well no offence -" Olivia's hands made their way to her hips as she turned to face Eli. " -I don't think anyone ever knew my mother."

"You're killing me, Sadie," Jerry complained, watching as his daughter added the bright yellow squash to his shopping cart.

"You say that," Sadie sighed, "but mom would kill me if I let you come home with a shit ton of carbs and, well, I'm more afraid of mom."

"One check-up and it's all downhill from there," Jerry mumbled, turning his attention to the display of vibrant red tomatoes.

"Really?" Sadie tilted her head, offering a produce bag to her father, "Your A1C was 12, dad. 12."

"Because I didn't have time to prepare for it."

"Okay, old man." Sadie rolled her eyes, moving past Jerry and toward the selection of lettuce.

"Jerry! Hey."

Jerry turned his head, eyes settling on the man with a black shopping basket slung over his arm.

"Hi, Eli."

"I saw Olivia today," Eli shared.

"She - Where did you see Olivia?" Jerry shook his head as Sadie came sauntering back with her bounty of lettuce.

"At the cemetery. She had questions about how I knew Shelby. I didn't lie to her, but I also didn't tell her the whole truth. I feel like I should have, but -"

"Well, that's your decision," Jerry interrupted the man's rambling, rolling his eyes at his daughter as she placed even more vegetables and fruit into the shopping cart.

"I know, but you know her better than I do," Eli insisted. "It seems like she's been through a lot lately. I don't want to add any unnecessary stress."

"She has been through a lot. More than you know. Olivia is the only one who can decide if she is ready for this, Eli - you can't take that choice from her. Maya already did once."

"Yeah," Eli rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not Maya's biggest fan right now. All these years I had a daughter and...I missed a lot."

"Hold up. Wait a minute." Mercedes held her hands in the 'time-out' position as she waited for the two older men to glance in her direction. "You're Olivia's dad?"

When Eli nodded, Sadie chimed in with:

"Perfect. Just what we needed. More drama."

"Did you stop by the hospital?"

Olivia turned her head to glance at Athena - the tall pre-teen was lounging in one of the rockers, her cell ever present in her hand.

"I did. They're going to start weaning your dad off the medicine tomorrow. He should be awake by this weekend."

Olivia smiled to herself at the excited glint that entered her daughter's eyes. Athena missed Fitz like crazy - and refused to plan her birthday party until her dad was awake.

"He'll be awake for my birthday."

"It looks that way," Olivia replied, patting the potting soil she had added to the green, ceramic pot on the porch step. She stumbled forward at the unexpected impact of Athena tossing her arms around her.

"I miss him," the blonde admitted, resting her chin on her mother's shoulder.

"I know you do, Ath." Olivia raised a hand, patting the girl's arm once Athena released her.

Both had their attention drawn to the drive as a grey truck rolled to a stop in front of the sidewalk. Olivia frowned when she saw Eli step out of the cab.

"What's he doing here?" Athena wondered, crossing her arms.

"I don't know. I barely know him. He knew my nana." Olivia shrugged, brushing her dirt-stained hands against her denim shorts.

"Weird," Athena commented, glancing at her phone. "I'm going to go in. Maxson's calling."

Olivia nodded, listening as Athena padded across the porch and opened the door, slamming it behind her. How many times had she told that girl to stop slamming doors?

"Hi Eli," Olivia greeted, plastering a smile on her face. It seemed she was plastering a smile for a lot of unexpected visitors these days.

"Hello Olivia," Eli took a deep breath, fidgeting with the silver watch on his wrist and clearing his throat, "We need to talk."