Your reviews make me SO happy. Thank you! I'm not sure if people will love me or hate me for this chapter. I am always a few chapters ahead in writing, and I absolutely love the last couple of chapters that I've typed up, so I can't wait to post them soon.

Even hours after Emma's revelation, Olivia could not stop thinking about it. The nurse had told her how Fitz had been waiting in her room when she was brought there after the surgery – and continued to stay with her the entire night and the following day. But it had not stopped there. According to Emma, the President had returned to the hospital every day for several hours, and it was anything but a coincidence that he was there when she woke up. He had authorized himself to all her medical information and had spoken to her doctors every day.

Olivia could not believe he had been so reckless, and the people he worked with – Cyrus especially – had simply allowed him to do this like in was no problem at all. She was angry with him, furious actually, but that was not all she felt. Deep down, Olivia also felt moved by the idea that a man – this man – was willing to risk his own safety simply to sit by her side. Shaking her head, she sighed. His actions were so stupid, so recklessly dumb that she wanted nothing more than to knock some sense into him.

It was also the sweetest, most selfless thing anyone had ever done for her.

By the time Olivia had gathered her thoughts and decided what she needed to do, it was already dark outside and her tray of hospital food had come and gone untouched. She watched her own fingers trace the screen of her phone that had never not been used for so many days, and she was thankful that she had remembered to charge it earlier. After what seemed like forever, Olivia pushed the call button, but before she even heard the second ring, she hung up. Groaning, she tossed the phone into her lap and began picking at her nails. She really needed a manicure, and a shower, and God knows she needed to fix the mess that was her hair. It was becoming increasingly uncomfortable to be not put together like she usually was. Her musings were interrupted by the shrill sound of her cell phone ringing in her lap. Olivia grabbed it and answered without checking the caller I.D.

"Hello?"

"Olivia, how are you?"

She sighed, slowly sliding deeper into the hospital bed. If she was being honest with herself, Olivia had hoped to hear a different voice.

"I'm good, Cyrus. Getting better every day. How are you? How's the baby."

"Grumpy. And drinking too much.", Cyrus snorted any Olivia knew exactly that he was referring to Fitz even though he knew she had been asking about the baby girl Cyrus and his husband had adopted not long ago.

"Cyrus…", she sighed. "I…"

"Sorry, sorry. I know he's not your problem anymore."

"He's not anyone's 'problem'.", Olivia interrupted, not knowing why she felt the need to defend the President.

"You know that's not what I meant. He's just not the man we helped put into office. And your accident almost pushed him over the edge."

Olivia felt a sense of guilt rise up within her, although she realized that she couldn't have done anything to avoid the accident or ease Fitz' worries. Still, maybe he would have been okay if they had kept up their mutual silence. Then Olivia realized that she had never been okay, even when she didn't have to talk to him or see him, so it only made sense that he had never been okay either. And now that they had been in the same room, that Fitz had even held her hand, they were basically back to where they had ended things ten months ago. After the long silence on Olivia's end became too heavy, Cyrus cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry. I really only called to check up on you."

"Thank you. I am going to be just fine in no time.", Olivia assured him, even though her words sounded unconvincing even to her own ears.

"I wouldn't expect anything else from you, Olivia Pope. Goodnight."

Smiling slightly at his words, Olivia bid Cyrus goodnight and waited to hear him hang up. She didn't allow herself to overthink things again and quickly dialed a familiar phone number. It only took a few seconds for her to absorb the information she was already familiar with. Then, Olivia hung up and waited. When her phone didn't ring after several moments, she almost lost hope and debated turning her cell phone off for the night.

Finally, the ring came.

"Hello?", Olivia whispered, holding her breath.

"Hi Livy."

His voice was so deep and smooth and she instantly felt a sense of calm wash over her. Olivia had been so on edge ever since her conversation with the nurse, and even though talking to Fitz made her extremely nervous, it also soothed her.

"She said you asked that I call you.", Fitz told her, referring to his assistant. "Are you okay?"

The concern he had for her and her well-being warmed Olivia's heart. Even after everything they had put each other through, he cared.

"I'm fine. I just… wanted to talk to you."

"I thought you said you didn't want to talk about all of this just yet.", Fitz told her, and even though he tried to mask it, she could hear the hint of accusation in his voice.

Olivia decided to opt for the direct approach, whispering: "You were here every day, Fitz? Why?"

He swallowed. Of course, people had witnessed his every visit, but Fitz had almost hoped nobody would ever tell Olivia about it. He had cared enough to risk being caught every day for nearly two weeks, but did he really want Olivia to know that he cared that much? After everything that had happened, Fitz wanted her to realize that nothing had changed – he was still so upset with her, still felt so betrayed. But now, she'd know that things had changed after all. That no matter what, he could never be mad enough to not come running when she was in danger, or sick, or struggling. Now, Olivia knew that he had come to her the second he had felt that she needed him. Suddenly, an unwanted thought crossed his mind. What if she hadn't needed him? What if he had only thought he was needed?

"Fitz?", she repeated.

"Who told you?"

"That doesn't matter. Answer my question, Fitz."

He almost smiled then. The fire was returning in Olivia Pope. She sounded angry. His thoughts sobered when he considered his answer.

"Because I still care, okay? I hate every single second of it, but I care about your well-being."

"You care? You practically called me your whore and now you're telling me that you care about me?", Olivia seethed.

"You lied to me. You betrayed me.", Fitz replied with an eerily quiet voice. "You made me a fraud, Olivia. You've lost your right to accuse me of anything."

"Dammit, Fitz! I did it for you. Won't you ever understand that? I did it because I always knew that you would be a good president – a great one even. And I am sorry for not being honest with you, but that doesn't mean you get to treat me the way you did!"

Olivia's anger was bubbling at the surface, ready to explode at any moment. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this conversation at least somewhat civil. On the other end of the line, Fitz was feeling equally as agitated. His anger seemed more subdued than hers, and he was a lot more quiet, but those who knew him as well as Olivia did, understood that he was much more dangerous when he was quietly upset over something. As much as Fitz was aggravated, he also felt alive for the first time in ten months. Olivia Pope made him feel alive even when she was driving him up a wall.

"You did it for yourself, Liv. Just like the others that were in on this. You committed a crime, Olivia, legally and morally, so every single person on that table of cool kids you guys seem to run could get something they'd always wanted."

"Don't you dare say that!", Olivia replied, raising her voice. "You do not get to say that! I did everything I did for you, to make your dreams come true."

"You think this was my dream? Being locked up in an office every day of my life, never seeing my kids, never being able to do what I want to do? That wasn't my dream, Olivia. It was Mellie's and Cy's. It was yours!"

"No.", she whispered, and he could hear the tears in her voice. "It was never my dream to have you where I can see you every day but never actually reach you. I wanted you to be president, God knows I did and still do, but this is not a perfect world for me either. This is not my dream, Fitz."

He listened to her taking deep breaths, probably to calm herself down and keep the tears at bay. Considering her words, he was reminded again that Olivia was suffering too. If nothing else, they were at least suffering together.

"You asked me why I was there every day.", Fitz reminded her. "I was there because I couldn't be anywhere else, Livy. I was there because I love you."

Then the line went dead.