The next morning Olivia woke up cuddled next to Fitz on the bed, she could feel his arms wrapped tightly around her and it was a welcomed change from the past few months, after all, she slept straight through the night without so much as a dream, her mind was completely blank and at peace.

She tossed a little to find her phone and in tossing, she woke Fitz up.

"Morning," he said with a smile.

She smiled and kissed him on the lips.

"Good morning."

"How did you sleep?"

"I slept beautifully."

Fitz smiled and sat up.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"That's what I was about to check but then I realized that I left my phone by the couch, it can't be past 6:30 though."

Fitz remembered he had his watch in his pocket and pulled it out to check the time.

"It is 6:16, which is great because that means I can take a shower before I leave."

Olivia got behind him and wrapped her arms around him.

"You aren't going anywhere," she said playfully.

"Why not?" Fitz said as he stood up.

Olivia didn't let go of him, instead she climb his back and wrapped her legs around him and held on tight for her piggyback ride.

"Because you're so warm, come back in bed and cuddle with me," she whined.

Fitz laughed and swung her around and then dropped her on the bed. Olivia squealed in delight and waited for Fitz climb in the bed and join her.

Olivia asking him to lay in bed with her a little longer was not something he was prepared to refuse. Once they were back in the bed, she snuggled beside him and covered them both with the blanket.

"So, what's your schedule for today?"

"It's light, I'm going to see Gerry then I have an intelligence briefing back at the whitehouse and then a meeting with my secretary of state and then I'll be back at the hospital in time for the procedure, I've had Sally standing in for me for the most part."

"Sally Langston, why would you pick her as your V.P., if for some reason you had to resign or something, would you trust her to lead the country, she's nuts?"

"I was too moderate, I needed a counterbalance in order to appeal to more far right voters, I was winning the primaries, she was losing but she was still my biggest opponent so we made a deal. I'm sure she still hates my guts though but she's counting on me to campaign for her when it's her turn to run, so that keeps her in line."

"Is her husband gay? There were rumors."

"Oh he is. He flirted with Cyrus' husband James before, right in front of me and boy was it uncomfortable."

Olivia chuckled.

"What about you and Mellie, what's been going on with you two since the divorce?"

"Well, it was pretty smooth, she moved out of the white house and went back to live in our house in Beverly Hills, well not our house anymore, she got it in the divorce along with a lot of money, 2 of my cars; my favorite cars at that and the apartments in New York and Florida."

"Wow."

"Yea and I don't really care about the apartment but my cars, that was low of her, she could have bought other cars but no."

"Which cars did she take and it's not like you can really drive them so quit whining."

Fitz eyebrows shot up as if Olivia had blasphemed against him.

"She took my Rolls Royce, it was a gift to me from the actual Rolls Royce company when I was working at my dad's bank and she took it, it was custom."

Fitz was starting to go off on a tangent about Mellie so Olivia decided to reel him in and change the subject.

"It's no longer your father's company, he gone."

"It's mine in deed only, I set it up in a blind trust until I leave office to avoid conflicts of interest."

"Oh okay well that's normal."

Olivia started sniffing him and Fitz thought it was odd.

"What do I stink or something."

She chuckled.

"No, you smell nice. What? You let a dog lick your balls but I can't sniff you."

Fitz burst out in laughter.

"Hey, I did not enjoy that, I was taken advantage of."

"Yeah right," she said laughing.

"You know I keep forgetting to ask you about your goddaughter, you never told me about her."

"It never came up," she said with a chuckle, "she is cute though isn't she?"

"Yes she is what's the word she uses for muffins again, I can't remember but she didn't say the whole word."

Olivia smiled.

"She calls muffins: 'fuff fuff', she calls me: 'va' and Abby: 'be'. Her mom wanted to name her after me but that would be too confusing so I told them to name her Sahara and give her my name as a middle name, thus my beautiful goddaughter is named Sahara Olivia Amaya."

"Amaya, I've never heard that last name before?"

"Yeah well her father is from El Salvador, it's a very popular surname there. Her mom is from Brooklyn, we worked together at Columbia and we became very close and when she gave birth, she asked me to be the godmother, at first I was reluctant but then I accepted and I'm glad I did because Sahara is a blast, she the funniest little baby ever and she's so bad too, she breaks my shit all the time and she goes in my closet and takes all my shoes of the racks and tries them on, she's crazy."

Fitz laughed.

"She's not bad, she's just exploring."

"One time she pulled down a rack of books off my bookshelf and I told her she had to pick them up before I counted to 10 and when I started counting she literally stared at me and counted with me, it was the funniest thing ever. Most of the times I just like messing with her, whenever she does something bad and she knows it, she runs off and sometimes, I chase her and she dies laughing because she thinks it so funny."

Olivia realized she was ranting and didn't want to bore him.

"Feel free to shut me up, once I start talking about her I don't stop."

Fitz smiled.

"No, it's pretty funny, you have to let me meet her again sometime."

"Really?" Olivia said with a smile.

"Of course, we could both wreak havoc on you."

As Fitz said the words his cell phone that was in the living room rang.

"Let me go get that," he said as he got out the bed and headed to the living room.

Olivia got up and headed to the living room too, just in time to see Fitz end the call.

"That was Gerry," he said as he turned to face her, "he just wanted to know what time you were coming by, I told him we'd be there soon."

"Okay, so why don't you go shower and stuff at the white house then meet me at the hospital."

"Deal but only if you give me a kiss first."

Olivia happily obliged, giving Fitz a soft, wholesome kiss on the lips. She waited as he threw his sweater and shoes on and then she walked him to the door and saw him out. Once Fitz was gone, she went to shower and ready herself to go to the hospital.

When she got to the hospital, she immediately kicked things in motion spending the morning making sure everything was in order so that once they had the sample it could be shipped off immediately. She was back and forth between Gerry's room and Stephen office (which she had been using as her impromptu office) until the procedure was only a few minutes away then Olivia headed back to Gerry's room with two nurses to wheel him to the operating room. As she walked into Gerry's room, she could see Fitz sitting at the side of Gerry's bed, mumbling something to him. She didn't want to interrupt them so she stood back but it was as if Fitz could sense her because he turned around the second she attempted to stand back.

"Liv's ready for you," he said to Gerry.

She smiled.

"Yes, I am, don't worry Gerry like I said, you'll be up and you won't feel a thing."

"I know, I'm ready."

Olivia turned around and signal for the nurses to take him. Fitz got up and allowed the nurses to take him.

"Where's Mellie?" Olivia asked.

"She went to take a call or something."

"Oh okay, well we'll see you in a half hour I guess."

"Good luck."

"Thanks," she said with a smile.

Olivia headed to the operating room right after. Everyone was ready and waiting for her so she quickly washed her hands and began. She had Harrison and one of the other nurses flip Gerry to his belly and then she cleaned the area she was going to extract the sample from.

Gerry was awake but he didn't say anything.

Once the area was cleaned she took the needles and proceeded to extract the first sample.

"So Gerry, what's your favorite band?"

She could feel him smiling.

"Are you trying to distract me?"

"Yeah."

He chuckled.

"My favorite band is Foster the people."

Olivia continued working as she spoke.

"I love them, pumped up kicks has to be one of the best songs ever recorded."

"Olivia it is the best song ever recorded without a doubt, there is no debate."

"There are a few that can beat it if you ask me."

"Which ones do you think could beat it?"

"Well Fluorescent Adolescent by Arctic Monkeys is pretty good, Four Horsemen by Metallica is good too, I could keep going."

"Olivia you are insane, Metallica is good but they're not that good and The Strokes are better than the Arctic Monkeys, Julian Casablancas is a rockstar."

"I agree, I love The Strokes, I saw them live in New York, they were amazing."

"You did! No way!"

"I did yeah, when they were on tour back in 2008, they played all their hits."

"I wish I could see them live."

Olivia chuckled.

"I thought you like foster the people?" Olivia teased.

"Yes but The Strokes are legends."

"I don't disagree with you there."

Gerry was quiet for a while and he wondered when Olivia would begin.

"Hey Liv, did you start yet?"

"I'm done, let me just bandage you up and we'll take you right back to your room."

"Wait seriously?"

"Yeah, I told you it would be short, it's not my fault you didn't believe," Olivia said jokingly.

"Wow, it's really done."

Olivia bandaged him and and finished a few other postoperative protocols and then they took him back to his room.

Olivia and Harrison stayed back because there were things they had to do with the sample before it was shipped off.

Fitz expected to see Olivia right after the procedure but to his dismay, she didn't come back to hospital room until almost 6 in the evening.

When she came back, Gerry was asleep and Mellie was gone.

"Where's Mellie?" she asked as she walked into the room.

"She left when Gerry fell asleep."

"Oh okay. Are you staying here tonight?" she asked.

"Yeah, I don't want Gerry to wake up to an empty room."

"That's not unreasonable," she joked.

"Will you stay with me?"

She smiled and walked closer to him.

"Of course I will, but only if you feed me okay."

"What do you want to eat?"

"I'm thinking mexican maybe?"

"Okay, I'll have Josh go pick some up for us."

"I'm surprised Gerry went to sleep so early."

"I don't know what you did to him but when he came back he wouldn't shut up about you."

Olivia chuckled

"He got poped, no one's immune to it."

Fitz smiled.

"Well thank you, he seems really optimistic about the surgery."

"No problem baby, I'm just glad I can help."

Fitz turned and faced her.

"Get your ass over her so I can kiss you."

"What?" She asked shyly.

"You heard me."

She look to the door then back to Fitz.

"What if someone walks in on us?"

"Get your ass over here."

She slowly stepped towards him and smiled when he held her face and planted a wet kiss on her lips. She felt a shiver shot up her spine at his sheer touch, it was something she couldn't imagine getting used to. She held his hand up to her face so she could feel his palm against her cheek.

"One more kiss," she said softly.

Fitz gave her another kiss on the lips but this time he let his lips linger on hers.

"You're beautiful, I can't tell you that enough."

"You shouldn't tell me that enough."

Fitz chuckled.

"You are something else."

Olivia smiled and completely changed the topic.

"Where's Josh so we can order this food because I'm hungry."

Fitz shook his head.

"Okay let me get you food."

The day of the surgery.

Fitz made sure he was by Olivia's side throughout the night to make sure she got a good night's rest. He had asked Mellie to stay with Gerry and although she wasn't happy because she surmised that the only reason he wouldn't be staying with Gerry was because he'd be staying with Olivia but she agreed anyway.

Olivia was anxious all morning. She wasn't sure if it was nervous anxious or excited anxious but she was ready. She was relieved that she had a migraine during the night because that meant that the chances of her having one at least for the entirety of the day was very slim.

She was fully dressed in scrubs, a surgery apron and a surgery hair cap.

She paced back and forth in the doctor's lounge repeating a mantra, something she often did before surgery as a pre game warm up but this time she really needed to hear herself say the words.

She paced until she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," she called and then began repeating the mantra again.

Fitz walked in, he saw her pacing by the window, not erratically but in a measured way and he could hear her mumbling but he couldn't tell what she was saying.

"Liv sweetie, what's going on, are you okay."

"Yeah, I'm not crazy or weird, I promise, it's just this Tibetan mantra I like to recite before a surgery."

Fitz chuckled and walked over to her by the window.

"You're going to do great. I have complete faith in you."

He caressed her cheek. She had no idea what it was about Fitz but every time he touched her she felt warm all over.

"Thanks."

Fitz sighed.

"I'm still a little worried about you, you know, after your headache last night, I guess I kinda forgot how bad they could be."

"They're not so bad, not anymore, anyways I'm glad it happened last night, it means I'm all good for today."

"I suppose but I still worry about you. You're the woman I'm in love with, I want you to be happy, safe, healthy and most of all I will make sure you want for nothing but all of those things can't happen if we don't figure out a way to cure you."

"I've tried Fitz, for years and nothing works, the only time they've been seldom was when I was locked in that room- but I don't wanna bring that stuff up, I don't want it to throw me off, I tend to get sucked in once I go down that road."

"You're right, this is the last thing you should be thinking about, I'm sorry I brought it up."

She smiled and wrapped her hands around his waist and leaned into him.

"Don't think on it baby," she chuckled, "you know what you should be thinking about?"

"What?" He said with a smile.

"What you'll be doing for the next plus or minus 13 hours while we're gone."

"I'll spend all plus or minus 13 hours on the verge of a nervous breakdown."

She laughed and checked her watch.

"It's time."

Fitz stepped back.

"Remember Livie, you are the best in the world, you'll do great."

"Thank you, I won't disappoint you, I promise."

"You can never disappoint me okay, now go do god's work."

She nodded with a smile and rolled her eyes as she headed to the door. As she was walking Fitz stopped her.

"Hey Liv?"

She turned around to face him.

"Yes."

He smiled slyly.

"You've got a great ass."

Olivia laughed.

"You're the worst."

She turned and headed out to the sanitation room that was down the hall. Harrison and Stephen and the team of nurses that were assisting in the surgery were there washing their hands and getting ready for the surgery, she joined them and washed her hands as well.

"Are you ready wiz kid?" Harrison teased.

"Yes I am, are you ready?"

"I was born ready girl."

Stephen laughed at Harrison's comment.

Olivia held her hands out so they could air dry, Harrison and Stephen followed. Everyone was doing their own little thing in preparing to go to the adjacent room to begin surgery. Once everyone was fully ready the team gathered around Olivia.

She took a deep breath.

"We're gonna keep a good, steady pace and get this thing done - Stephanie do you have my playlist?"

"Yes, 13 hours of listening to classical music will be fun," Stephanie said sarcastically.

"Hey, it's keeps me focused."

Olivia looked around at everyone.

"It's showtime everyone, lets go."

They filed out of the sanitation room and into the operation room.

When Olivia walked in, Gerry had already been put to sleep by the anesthesiologist.

He was in his belly, his back was bare, all the tools for the surgery was laid out for them on the surgical tables.

Stephanie put the playlist on the portable speaker and Debussy's Clair de lune played.

The first thing she did was make an incision from the base of Gerry's neck down to his coccyx and then used surgical separators to hold the wound open.

She worked diligently and at a steady pace. Everyone switched shifts and took breaks but she wasn't that fortunate. She screwed and drilled into his back, working her way carefully up and down his spine. It took her about 6 hours just to insert the rod down his back because she had to be so careful about causing further damage to his back. She had to remove a part of his nerve root and screw different sections of the vertebra back in place because they had been out of alignment.

Once the structure of his back was stable, she implant his stem cells into his spinal column.

She was going on hour 13 when she began sewing his incision up. After 14 hours and 10 minutes, she was done.

The staff wheeled Gerry out of the operating room to the recovery room.

She went back to the sanitation room to clean herself up. She needed some time to herself because she was feeling unbelievably mentally and physically drained after the surgery. The long surgery times was something she'd gotten used to but after her long break it took a greater toll on her than she anticipated.

She wasn't sure where Harrison and Stephen were, some of the other surgery staffers were in the sanitation room with her, cleaning blood and removing their gear. As soon as she finished washing her hands and removing her bloody gear she headed straight to the doctor's lounge. She didn't see Fitz, she assumed he was with Gerry. The moment she walked in the lounge she saw Harrison, Stephen and two other doctors conversing. They stopped their conversation to speak with her but she completely ignored them and walked over to the couch and plopped down and fell into a deep sleep.