Olivia stayed in the room a moment to compose herself. It was time for her to step up and be there for Fitz. He had held them together all these years. Now it was her turn.

She went back to the waiting room where everyone was. She asked Huck to email her all the cases that Fitz was working on so she could get up to speed.

Abby came over to let her know that the media had caught wind of Fitz being in the hospital. They were beginning to ask a lot of questions. Olivia knew she was telling her because they had a lot of big name clients. They needed to ease the panic.

Olivia asked for a press conference to be set up in an hour where she would address them about Fitz's condition.

Abby & Harrison left to get things set up. Before he left he reminded Olivia that she has been a silent partner in the firm the whole time so she may want to use that when she addresses the media.

Quinn sent her an email letting her know that they had received calls from some clients. It seems that Fitz had informed them of her, and she had been silent partner, but would be handling cases with him.

That was a good thing because she did not have to convince the clients who she was. Now she just had to show them that she was capable of doing the job.

Olivia sent an email out thanking them for helping her. She sat down and began to work on her statement. Shortly after she began working she receives a call from the operating room. Dr. Price was calling to tell her that they would have to replace his valve. He assured Olivia that there were no more risks. They would call her if they ran into any complications.

Olivia kept it together. Dr. Price was one of the best in the field. She had to keep Fitz best interest at heart. Keeping what he and her friends work so hard for was critical. As she was finishing her statement Jenny came in the room with a suit to change into.

Olivia got up and thanked her. She went and changed. Olivia looked in the mirror. This was her time to show them who she was.

Olivia stepped outside in a Giorgio Armani Iconic One-Lapel Jacket Pantsuit. Her hair was done neatly in a bun. The makeup that she had on was natural. Behind her was the team in addition to her mom and Jenny.

When she stepped outside to speak to the media they were throwing questions at her left and right. Abby & Harrison were nervous for her.

Olivia stepped up to the podium and put her hand up.

"Ladies and Gentlemen I will be happy to discuss things with you if we can all act like adults. I know that many of you are not familiar with me in this capacity. Let me assure you that if you want a statement you will not only respect me but each other."

Everyone was stunned silent. Maya & Jenny smiled. They had no fear. They knew who Olivia was. In addition to the fact that she was now taking care of Fitz that made her even more fearsome.

Olivia thanked them.

"I am going to read you a statement and then I will answer a couple of questions. Our time is precious right now as WWG& Associates main concern is our clients and Fitz."

"My name is Olivia Pope. Until recently I have been a silent partner in the firm that was started by my best friends, Abby Whealan, Harrison Wright, and Fitzgerald Grant. I received my BA in Political Science at Harvard University. I went to law school at Stanford University. I passed the bar and I can practice law in California and the District of Columbia. As you all know until recently I did not work directly with the clients because of my marriage to Jake Ballard. My friends allowed me the opportunity work with clients now that my relationship with Mr. Ballard has ended and I can devote my full attention to the clients. I have spent the last couple of months getting up to speed with our clients. They are aware of who I am. Although I have not met directly with any of them I will in the next couple of weeks. The speculation is true. Fitzgerald Grant is a patient here at George Washington University. We are not releasing tha nature of his illness as that is private. It has been disclosed to those we have deemed necessary. The firm will continue and handle our current clients and any new clients to the best of our ability. While it is unfortunate that Mr. Grant is ill, professionally it does not change anything. Privately we will be by his side until he is ready to return to work."

Olivia took a breath which allowed them to see that she was done with her statement. Everyone raised their hand to ask a question.

Olivia pointed to Kimberly Mitchell

"Are you only working with the clients until Mr. Grant gets well or is this permanent?"

Olivia answered, "This is permanent. My divorce will be final soon and I look forward to being more than a silent partner."

James Novak

"Why are you choosing to keep Mr. Grant illness a secret? Are you hiding something?

Olivia answered, "There is nothing to hide. He is here in the hospital being treated. I suspect that he will be here for at least a week. At the end of the day Fitzgerald Grant is a human. He is a citizen and since he is not the President of the United States the public knowing his personal business is not necessary. The only reason I am addressing you today is because many are not familiar with me. Mr. Grant has been the face of our crisis management firm. I want to assure everyone that they are still in safe hands with us. When Mr. Grant gets better and he wants to tell you what is wrong that will be his call to make. My call says that it is not the public's business."

Olivia said last question. She pointed to Gideon Wallace.

"There has been speculation that you and Mr. Grant are more than friends. He has been by your side since you left Jake Ballard. We know that you have been friends since high school and Mr. Grant has not dated anyone seriously since college. Is there any truth to these rumors?

Olivia put her head down and took a breath. She was unsure of how to answer this without putting too much pressure on herself, their relationship, and making sure that Fitz did not think she did not care about them.

Olivia looked up with tears in her eyes.

"What I can tell you is that Fitzgerald Grant has never left my side and always had my best interest at heart. I unfortunately can not say that I have been the best friend that I should have been. Fitz & the rest of my family and friends saved me. I would have died if it were not for them. He has been nothing but kind and considerate during my time of need as I have made adjustments in my personal life. Our friendship has always been important to us. I can tell you that we love each other, but as of now we have yet to explore a relationship. That could change in the future. Our main priority is our firm. I will tell you that I will never leave his side again.

Abby, Harrison, Jenny, and Maya came over to her. They walked off together and back into the hospital. Olivia changed back into something more comfortable.

When she came out Huck had brought food. She wasn't really hungry but she knew that she needed to eat something.

Huck brought her over a salad and a bottle of water and she thanked him.

Huck got up to leave but turned around, "He is proud of you. He will be proud of what you did today. I know you are scared, but you are enough for him. You are enough for all of us. Forgive yourself once and for all and move on with us all. I promise when your back is turned that we are not mad. I'm mad that we didn't fight harder for you. That is what we are mad about especially Fitz. I can assure you that we will never made that mistake again."

Huck turned around and left. A little over four hours later Dr. Price came out and told her that the surgery was successful. He was being transferred to ICU where they expected him to stay for a couple of days. When you see him do not be alarmed. He has a lot of tubes and monitors on him. Right now he is hooked up to a ventilator that is breathing for him. Only two visitors are allowed at a time in is room. Visiting hours end at eight. However Mr. Grant asked that you be allowed to stay at night if you wish so we are putting him in one of the few private ICU rooms that we have and we will bring you a fold up bed to sleep in.

Olivia nodded, "Dr. Price was it the stress that caused this to happen?"

Dr. Price came over and sat beside Olivia, "I'm going to be honest and tell you that yes the stress that he was putting his body through recently just became too much. However I think that his primary doctor would have eventually noticed other symptoms and they would have sent him for test to show the problems with his valve. His father's side does have a history of heart disease. Since Mr. Grant is otherwise healthy, does not smoke, and is only a social drinker he will bounce back from this. Just make sure that he remains healthy and gets rid of some of the stress. He needs to rest more and eat."

Dr. Price got up and turned back around, "I'm going to tell you this Ms. Pope because Mr. Grant didn't restrict me from telling you. I have seen your story in the papers. I admire your strength and so does Mr. Grant. When we got him stable and I was paged he told me that he didn't regret a single thing he has ever done for you. As long as you are safe and happy even if it is not with him it will be enough. As a doctor I'm telling you that he needs to slow down just a little, but as a man who would go to the moon for the woman I love I understand him putting himself last. I get the feeling he won't have to do that for much longer, but it was worth it for him."

Olivia got up and hugged Dr. Price, "Thank you for your care and everything that you have done for us. I will take good care of him, and you are right he no longer has to put himself last.

Olivia went out and updated everyone. She allowed everyone to spend time with Fitz since she was going to be spending the night.

She checked her email and phone and responded back to their clients. She made appointments to meet them over the next couple of weeks to assure them that they were still being taken care of. Those that Olivia had not heard from she made calls to them. She reached a majority of them. Since Fitz had made them aware of her there were very little concerns. The ones that had concerns she was able to discuss and most of them said that her press conference let them know they were okay.

They tried to get Olivia to leave the hospital and get some air. She let them know she would get some air when she went out to meet the clients, but other than that she would stay at the hospital. They made sure to bring her food to eat.

Fitz remained in ICU for two days. He was then transferred to a regular suite where he stayed for another week. They made sure that he got up and walked around to get air in his lungs. He had a lot of chest pain, but that had gotten better through the week.

During the day Maya and Jenny stayed at the hospital with Fitz for the most part. Abby, Harrison, Quinn, and Huck would help out in the afternoon and early evening.

Olivia was in her element handling the cases. The clients loved her as much as Fitz. They all commented that they were an excellent team. Olivia was able to get two of their clients mergers complete.

The companies were thrilled with the work of the firm. Olivia handled the PR part and assisted in the negotiations. Abby & Harrison would come in and make sure that the contracts were signed.

They received a lot of calls asking them to take them on. Olivia had informed them that once Fitz had returned they would be able to take on more clients. She did not want to stretch herself too thin, and not be able to give their clients what they needed.

At night Olivia became Livvie and took care of Fitz. She helped him take his baths, washed his hair, made sure he ate. They did not talk about their relationship. I think that everyone knew where it was headed but did not discuss it.

After nine days Fitz was able to go home. He would not be able to return to his normal activities for six weeks. They had sent him home with prescriptions for pain and he had to take a blood thinning medicine.

Harrison had come over to help her get Fitz in since he was still a little weak. Once they got him settled Olivia got him his meds to take.

Olivia had decided to work from home for the next week.

She had got up to go check Fitz. He looked so peaceful sleeping. It was in that moment that she was able to let a lot of things go. This man had almost killed himself to make sure that she was okay. Here was their chance to get their happy. She had to move on. She had to at least try for him.

A/N-I hope that you are still with me. The next chapter is going to be emotional. There was no way I could have them move forward without discussing everything Olivia had been through. Specifically what Jake said and done to her. I promise you that it will not break them up or cause them to go backwards. Oh and Cyrus will show up at some point.