This is where it gets interesting! I hope everyone is still enjoying the story. Thank you for the reviews. Keep them coming!
On day three of the ordeal, Fitz returned to Olivia's hospital room to find her breathing tube removed. After questioning her doctors, he learnt that she had begun breathing on her own a few hours ago, which was a good sign and showed that her lung was healing well. Despite that, she did not wake up.
On day five, her bruises were beginning to fade in color and although they continued to be clearly visible, they no longer looked quite as angry. However, Olivia showed no obvious signs of coming out of her coma.
On day six, Fitz didn't make it to the hospital until almost midnight, and when he finally got there, he talked to Olivia for over an hour. He talked about his day, his children, the White House, and he talked about them. He whispered the story of their first meeting into her ear, retelling their story from his perspective, and he quietly told her that he loved her. That night, Fitz found the courage to kiss her lips for the first time in nearly a year. He held her face between his large hands carefully, and simply rested his own lips against her dry ones. Gently nuzzling his nose with hers, he told her goodnight.
On day eight, Fitz was nearly ready to give up. He could not concentrate on work, he felt on edge, and people were beginning to notice. Most days, he was quick to snap at people, and even Mellie had begun to stay away from him. Alcohol became his only confidant.
On day nine, at 3:14 in the afternoon, his office door flew up and then quickly slammed shut behind Cyrus.
"She has not woken up, but they have noticed movement in her fingers and a fluttering of her eye lids over the last couple of hours."
Immediately, the President was out of his chair and putting his suit jacket on.
"I'm going to see her."
"Fitz, it's the middle of the afternoon. Sneaking you out every damn night is bad enough, but you absolutely cannot walk out of here right now.", Cyrus hissed.
"Listen to me, Cyrus.", Fitz replied, stepping closer to his Chief of Staff. "Olivia may be waking up as we speak, and I will not allow her to be alone when it happens. So you can either figure out a way to get me out of here quietly within the next 15 minutes, or I can walk out myself."
Cyrus turned on his heels and walked towards the door, mumbling: "I could have taken early retirement, I could be gardening every damn day of my life, but no, instead I'm here, sneaking the damn President of the United States all over Washington."
Fitz knew that Cyrus Beene was the sole reason for his ability to walk into the hospital like it was the most normal thing in the world. Taking the elevator up to Liv's floor together with Tom and Hal made him more anxious than he had been any of the previous days. For a little over a week now, he had known what to expect when he came here. Today was different. He hoped and prayed that maybe Olivia would greet him with open eyes and one of her sweet smiles when he walked through her door.
When he did enter the room, his heart sank and his face fell. Olivia looked no different than she had in the nine days since her terrible accident. She was no longer attached to as many needles and the swelling of her face had gone down considerably, but she was still as asleep as she had been every other day.
He composed himself quickly and walked up to her bed. Fitz took a seat in the chair he had become so accustomed to and scooted close to her.
"Hi, beautiful.", he smiled. "I heard you were moving your fingers today? I'm here now, Livy. Open your eyes for me."
For a long time, he simply stared at her, hoping to catch any kind of movement. When nothing happened, Fitz did what he had been doing every time he came to see Olivia. He shrugged off his jacket, grabbed her hand with one of his own, and wrapped the other carefully around her head so he could comb his fingers through her hair. Then he began to talk about his day.
"… he is being very difficult, as expected. I wish you were awake to help me fix this, Liv."
He almost missed the barely-there touch, but suddenly Olivia's fingers twitched beneath his own. Holding her hand tighter, Fitz moved impossibly closer.
"Livy? Come on, sweet baby. I'm right here, just open your eyes for me.", he pleaded.
After a long, silent moment, her fingers moved again, slightly stronger than the first time. Fitz did not dare to take his eyes off her face. Finally, her eye lids twitched.
"That's it, Liv. I know you can hear me. I need you to wake up so I can tell you how sorry I am and how much I love you."
An agonizing two minutes later, Olivia Pope opened her eyes for the first time in nearly ten days. Her vision was blurry and it took her a moment to focus on the figure sitting next to her. When she tried to speak, there was nothing but a hoarse noise leaving her incredibly dry throat.
"Shh, shh. Don't try to talk just yet, Livy.", Fitz interrupted her, placing a finger against her lips carefully while his other hand was already reaching for the call button that would bring the nurse to her room.
Olivia watched him, confused. Fitz was smiling brightly at her, but tears were streaming down his handsome face. He brought her hand up to his lips and placed loving kisses against her palm over and over again. His tears were wetting her hand, and Olivia could feel her own eyes begin to well up at the sight of him.
"My sweet, beautiful Livy.", he cried quietly. "I was so afraid."
Before Olivia could try to talk again, two nurses entered the room. Fitz was asked to step away from the bed, and it took everything within him to not remind them that he was the President and should be allowed to stay right where he wanted to be.
"Miss Pope, I will give you a couple of ice chips and then you should be able to talk, alright?", a young nurse named Emma, who Fitz had seen many times over the last week and a half, advised.
Olivia nodded her head slowly and took too small ice chips into her mouth. As they began to melt on her tongue, she became aware of how raw her throat truly felt. Turning her head to the left a little, she found Fitz' across the room and met his eyes. He smiled at her encouragingly. Olivia didn't get a chance to talk before one of her doctors entered the room, greeting her with small smile and a nod.
"It's good to see you awake, Miss Pope. My name is Dr. Stuart and you have been in my care for the last few days.", he introduced himself. "Do you know where you are?"
"Hospital…", she rasped, having recognized the tell-tale white walls and clinical environment immediately.
"Correct. Do you remember what brought you here?"
Olivia shook her head slowly, trying to figure out what had happened to her. She felt a dull pain radiate throughout her body and her entire being felt weak and completely exhausted. Her eyes moved between the doctor and Fitz, and she realized the latter was no longer smiling.
"Ten days ago, you were in a car accident. To my understanding your car collided with a truck and you suffered severe injuries. You have been unconscious since you were first brought in. We performed surgery to repair excessive internal damage and also treated you for swelling of the brain. It's a good sign that you are awake and not disoriented, but we will have to run tests to see if any damage remains.", Dr. Stuart explained. "Let me tell you, Miss Pope, you are a very lucky woman. It was touch and go for a while there. If you have any questions or concerns, we will be more than happy to address them. For now, the best you can do is rest. Emma here will up your pain medication slightly to make you more comfortable."
"Thank you.", Olivia whispered, watching the doctor leave the room, his words beginning to sink in.
After several minutes, the nurses followed him outside and Olivia and Fitz were left alone. He reclaimed his seat by her bedside immediately and took hold of her small hand again.
"Hi.", he whispered, a handsome smile lighting up his tired face.
"Hi.", Olivia breathed, her eyes welling with unshed tears. "What are you doing here?"
She sounded so small, so sick, but still so much like his Livy. Fitz smiled at her.
"I wanted to be here when you woke up. Liv, I was so scared that you wouldn't pull through. Don't ever do this to me again."
"We're even now.", she whispered with a small smile, referring to his brush with death not too long ago.
"There's my Livy. Never afraid to say the things I don't want to hear.", he scolded lightly.
"Fitz?", Olivia asked carefully. "Why are you really here?"