A/N: I hope you enjoy this chapter. It shows more of what's in store for the future and how they handle it. Feel free to leave a review and thanks for reading.

Song: Smalltown Boy by Sanders Bohlke

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from ABC's Scandal or anyone/anything else.

I remember we got in the VA hospital unnoticed and my personal doctor, Dr. Carroll, got me behind a curtain within ten minutes. He knew I needed to be out of the public eye. The guys stood outside of my hideous blue curtain while the nurses began hooking me up to monitors and running tests. Mellie sat beside me and held my hand, worried sick about me. She always worried about me more than I ever did.

"Mels, don't worry so much. They're going to take care of me," I said, trying to reassure her. "If you worry too much, they might try to have you put in here with me," I joked.

"I know, they're doing a good job," she sighed, trying to get her mind off of it. "Who do I need to call for you?"

"Right now, just Mike," I sighed, going through the list of people in my head. "Just tell him I probably won't be there Monday and what's going on."

"Ok," she nodded, getting her phone out of her pocket and taking Chris with her to the nearest private bathroom so she could call Mike. I was glad for a moment alone.

Ben stepped in and asked if I needed anything. I told him I was good, I just needed Mellie to calm down. I smiled and he knew I was worried about her.

"She's just not used to having you sick is all," he said. "You'll be out of here in no time."

I had an MRI done on my leg, and it was definitely a blood clot. They couldn't tell how bad yet. I was put in a room on the second floor and I sent Chris home to get us a bag for the night. A nurse gave me medicine to thin it out, but eight hours and an ultrasound later, it was still there. No progress.

Dr. Carroll came into my room around eleven that night and gave us the results.

"Well, Fitz, dissolving the clot didn't work. The medicine has brought the swelling down a little, but it's probably blocking a main artery. I have surgery scheduled for six thirty in the morning to remove the clot. I just need you to sign a few papers that a nurse will bring soon, ok?" He explained.

"That's fine," I said, ready to sleep. I wanted to be out of this place.

"What's the success rate of this surgery?" Mellie asked, wanting answers.

"I've only ever had two patients in my twenty years that I couldn't remove the clot, so I would say it's pretty good," he said. "There's no need to worry, Mellie."

Finally. Someone else agreed with me.

"I'll see you in the morning. Good night."

"Night," I said, trying to keep my eyes open. I sighed and grabbed my phone off the bedside table and Mellie took my free hand in hers.

"Mels," I said quietly. "I would feel better if you went home tonight and got some rest, even if it is just for a few hours."

"I don't want to leave you here all by yourself," she said, stroking my hand. "What if something happened?"

"Nothing's going to happen," I told her. "If they were that worried about it, they would've done surgery tonight. And one of the guys will be here with me."

"I'm not leaving you," she shot me down. I sighed and scooted over, making room for her on the bed.

"At least get in your pajamas and relax," I suggested. "You could put up your hair all cute like you do it," I smiled. She smiled back and changed into her pink pajamas, then pulled her hair up into a cute little bun. She snuggled up next to me in the bed and I pulled the soft yellow blanket over both of us. She set an alarm on her phone for five a.m. and texted Ben for him to turn the lights off and for him and the guys to go get some sleep. She set her phone on her lap and put my hand beside her on her stomach, feeling our baby move.

"I love you, Fitz," she whispered, kissing my cheek and resting her head on my shoulder.

"I love you too, Mel."

Mellie waited patiently in a small waiting area outside of the operating rooms around nine Sunday morning, wanting to hear how the surgery went. She texted Jade to pass the time, but set her phone down when she saw Ben come and sit down beside her. He handed her a large sweet tea and fruit box while he sipped on his coffee.

"Hey," he said, looking rested compared to last night. "He'll be out soon. Eat a bite and you'll feel better."

"Thanks," she smiled softly. She looked up at the TV on an early morning talk show and took a drink of her tea. He could tell she was still nervous, and he put his arm around her, pulling her in closer and stroking her arm softly.

"Dr. Carroll is one of the best doctors in the state. He has this under control. The rest is up to the big man upstairs, and He's got it under control too. So you need to try to relax about it," he assured her. She sighed and knew he was right. There was nothing more she could do by worrying.

Dr. Carroll came around the corner a minute later and sat down in front of them with a concerned look on his face.

"He made it through the surgery fine. When we got in there, we found two more clots blocking the main artery. We still don't know exactly what caused the clotting; it could've been a number of things. In cases such as this, if clots are removed, new ones usually form and cause problems later. But after sending a skin sample to the lab yesterday, it's looking like most of his nerves in his lower leg are 85-90% damaged or dead. The lack of blood flow recently has also killed a lot of his healthy cells there. I would like to do some tests on him this morning, but it's looking like a partial amputation would be the best option," he explained.

Mellie's heart sunk and she gripped Ben's hand tighter as tears came to her eyes.

Fitz has already overcome so much. I don't want him to go through any more, she thought.

"What about electric shock treatments or something? Would that help?" She asked, wanting to do everything possible to save my leg.

"They might give him some feeling back, maybe increase the feeling to 15% more than what it is now," he explained. "Not enough to function safely."

"How did we not catch any of this sooner?" She asked, her hands shaking as her heart beat faster.

"Blood clots are hard to catch early because the signs and symptoms don't show up until it's already formed and causing problems. Nerve damage is usually a long-term thing. It's probably just something Fitz has learned to cope with over the years. It could've all happened as soon as he lost his foot, or it could've slowly progressed shortly after. He probably didn't think anything of it since it wasn't causing him any obvious problems," Dr. Carroll explained. "After he wakes up, he'll be taken back to the room and watched closely to make sure the clots don't move towards his lungs. I've scheduled the tests for twelve thirty. I'll come talk to him once he gets back. You two can discuss what you would like to do and get back with me."

"Of course. Thank you, Dr. Carroll," Mellie said, wiping her eyes, watching him walk away. Ben helped her up and hugged her for a minute, knowing she was torn.

"They want to amputate his leg," Mellie cried into his shoulder. "He'll have to learn how to walk again with a new prosthetic and risk all this coming out."

"It'll only be part of his leg and he's a fighter. He would bounce back quickly. Just talk it over with him and pray about it, Mels," Ben said, stroking her hair. "I know this is a stressful time, but we are all here to help you no matter what happens. Just remember that."

She nodded and kept her arm around his waist as they walked down the hall back to his room to wait on him to come out of recovery. She didn't know what to do. She sat on the couch by the window and dozed off, exhausted from little sleep and worrying.

A nurse brought me back about thirty minutes later, and I was still out of it because of the anesthesia. But my eyes met Mellie's and she quickly sat beside my bed.

"Fitz," she whispered, kissing my forehead.

"Hey baby," I whispered, my throat sore from the breathing tube they put in for surgery. "I told you I would be fine," I smiled. The nurse stayed with us for a minute and gave me some water to sip on.

She smiled back and stroked my curly hair, seeming just glad to be with me. Something else seemed to be bothering her, though.

"You ok?" I asked, taking her hand and holding my water with the other.

"I'm fine," she said, playing with my brown, wavy hair. I could see it in her eyes. She wasn't fine.

"It just seems like something is bothering you," I said quietly. The nurse wrote some things down on a clipboard and told me to call if I needed her. I thanked her and turned my attention back to Mellie. I could tell she wasn't quite right even when I was groggy from anesthesia.

"I saw Dr. Carroll when you got out and he said he wanted to run some tests today. I'm just worried about that, is all," she said. She was good at hiding her feelings to a degree, so I knew this conversation wasn't over.

We played spades with the guys until noon, and that's when Dr. Carroll came in. I thought the surgery had gone well, but his face screamed concern. The guys were about to leave when I told them they could stay. Nothing about my foot was a secret with them.

"Fitz, how you feeling?" He asked, standing beside my bed with his clipboard in hand and stethoscope around his neck.

"I'm ok," I said, feeling much better from earlier, but still not a hundred percent. "What's up?"

"I came to talk to you about the surgery," he said, and I knew from his tone of voice that it couldn't be good. "We got in there and found out it was three large clots, not just one. They were all blocking your main artery," he explained.

"We didn't remove them because with your history and since they wouldn't dissolve, there's a good chance more clots would form again later and cause problems. Another reason is once I got the results back from the lab on the skin samples and the scan, they weren't good. It said about 85% of your lower leg nerves were dead and restricted blood flow killed most of your healthy cells," he told me.

My heart sank. Here I was with a half a dead leg on my body. Where had I gone wrong? It didn't really matter; I knew what he was going to tell me, what the best treatment would be.

"Most of the nerve damage was probably right after your accident. Your body could've just adjusted to it or it might not have ever caused you any noticeable problems. I want to run some tests and see how the rest of your leg is, but it's looking like amputation at the knee is the best option," he explained.

I sighed. I didn't want to go through the physical therapy again. It was more of a mental challenge for me. It was exhausting in all areas.

"You're already adjusted to using a prosthetic, but this would be different since you would bear more weight on it and have less of your own muscles to work with. You would start physical therapy the day after surgery and it would probably last at least six months. You would start looking at prosthetics in about two or three," he said.

"Six months?" I asked in shock, sitting up in my bed. "I can't be down and out that long. I have to go to work, I'm the governor. My wife is having our baby in less than two months, how am I supposed to care for them? I can't have my leg amputated," I said stubbornly.

"Fitz, it's either go through with the amputation or carry around this dead weight and be at risk for more dangerous, life-threatening clots in the future. I suggest you talk it over with your family after the tests and make necessary arrangements if you plan to go through with this," Dr. Carroll told me sternly. "A nurse will be in momentarily to take you for the tests."

He left and I was furious. I couldn't be down and out for six months. I would lose my job, I would miss out on our daughter's milestones, and it would damage mine and Mellie's relationship, both physically and emotionally.

"Fitz," I heard her say softly. "Don't be angry. It's not his fault. It's no one's fault, ok? It's just a part of life we have to deal with."

"I know it's not his fault, but I can't be out for six months," I roared. "I'll lose my job and the people's trust. I'll have to go find a firm in the city to work for, we'll have to move back to the house permanently. I won't be able to take care of our daughter much. I can't do it."

"There's nothing wrong with working at a firm. We'll hire help for the baby and you, if needed. And I enjoy our house, even if it is farther out than the mansion. We'll talk more when you get back," she said upon seeing the nurse come in with a wheelchair for me. I sighed and the nice nurse helped me get in.

I officially felt helpless.