Part 18

It had been a busy morning on AAU, but by mid-afternoon the pace has slowed enough to give Liv a chance to sort through her case files. Buried so deep in her work, she fails to spot Quinn approaching fast, eager to gain her attention. Distracted, and with her head still bowed, Quinn gives her a quick nudge...

"One sec", she replies, but Quinn doesn't let up… "Liv!"

"What?" she groans, finally looking up.

"Don't look now, but Franklin's heading your way…" she whispers discretely, before planting herself at the opposite nurse's station, in direct view of the impending exchange. To be fair, Liv had been expecting him. Franklin's time in Pediatrics was over and he was back on the AAU surgical roster, so it was only a matter of time before they bumped heads.

"Hello Liv."

"Hi Franklin, how are you?"

"I'm good thanks- Umm look, my shifts about to start, but I was wondering if I could have a word with you first?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Not here," he tells her; he would rather speak to her in private, so he motions her towards an empty office. After a quick glance at Quinn, who gives her a questioning eye... She follows him in.

He begins... "How have you been?".

"I'm doing well."

"And the baby?"

If she didn't know any better, he seems nervous… "As far as I know the baby is good, I've got my 12 week scan in a few days, so I'll find out more then."

"That's good…" He's staling, and he knows it- so he decides to just spit it out… "Last time we spoke, I was upset; the news about the baby had come as a huge shock and if I'm honest I was more disappointed than angry with you. What I said to you before I left, it was wrong of me and I want to apol…"

"Franklin, it's okay…" She tries to interject, but he doesn't want her to make any excuses for him… "No Liv, it was not okay- it was uncalled for and ungentlemanly of me, and I would really hate for that to be your lasting impression of me… I'm really sorry Liv. "

She gives him a wan smile, "Oh Franklin, if anything I should be the one apologising to you. As soon as i found out I was pregnant, I should have been honest with you from the start, but I was scared, and I didn't want to say anything until I knew for sure…"

He stares at her intently, "I've had a lot of time to think since then, and I get it, I really do…" He moves in closer… "I want you to know, that I'm here for you Liv, if you want me to be… Because, the truth is, I still care about you…"

Sensing the direction this is going in, Liv realises that she needs to put a stop to this right now, before it goes any further… "Franklin… you're a good man; I care about you too, and there's nothing I would like more than for us to put this all behind us and move forward, but as friends…"

"Friends… Oh, I see..." He's clearly disappointed, but she would be amiss if she didn't keep it 100% real with him; at the very least she owes him that… "Franklin, a lot of things have changed for me too since we last spoke…"

"Such as?"

"I told the father about the baby, and now, he and I are…"

"Back together…" He finishes off.

"Yes, we've decided to try again."

After a long pause, gutted, he says; "I understand, it makes sense- But I won't lie to you Liv, I was kind of hoping that maybe we could start over, baby and all, but obviously I've missed my chance now… Anyway, if he's the man who's going to make you happy, then I'm happy for you too…"

She feels bad because he really is a decent guy. She's certain that somewhere out there, there's a lucky girl just waiting for him to sweep her off her feet; she just wasn't that girl. At the end of the day, you can't make yourself feel something that you don't; she didn't love Franklin in that way, she couldn't, because she was still in love with Fitz.

Ultimately things have not worked out the way Franklin would have liked, but she's hoping it doesn't mean they can't still be friends.

As if reading her mind, he says; "So… friends it is then?"

Relieved, she smiles at him brightly, thankful that they can remain amicable… "Yes, I would really like that."

xXx

The rest of the shift flies by, and now both Liv and Quinn are in the girl's locker room, getting ready to leave… In the spirit of their newly revised friendship, Franklin offers to buy both ladies a drink, a soft drink for Liv of course, but either way the round was on him. Liv doesn't have plans with Fitz tonight, so she sees no harm in going. And Quinn, as far as she was concerned, when a handsome man offers to buy you a drink, you don't say no, so she was more than happy to tag along.

As Quinn finishes applying the final touches to her makeup, Liv pops into the toilet for a wee… "I still can't believe how well he's taken all of this…" Liv says to Quinn across the bathroom stalls… "I know, right? He's kinda perfect that Franklin…" Quinn muses, pursing her lips in the mirror, but then immediately spins round at the sound of her friend gasping in horror.

"Liv?" Frantic, she knocks against the toilet stall door… "Liv are you okay, open the door…."

Visibly shaking, pants still at her ankles, Liv manages to lean over from the toilet stool and let Quinn in. Worry is etched all over her face, as she holds out her hand and shows her friend the tissue she had just wiped herself with; it is covered in bright red blood… "Call Fitz."

xXx

Franklin, who had been waiting for the ladies outside, is now wheeling Liv straight up to maternity, followed in close pursuit by Quinn, who as just got off the phone to Fitz… As soon as he gets through the doors to maternity, Franklin yells at a nurse to get Doctor Novak, whilst he and Quinn set Liv up in an empty patient room.

She's in shock and is barely speaking. "It's going to be okay Liv", Franklin tries to reassure her. However, growing concerned about how much she is bleeding, he tells Liv he's going to track down Doctor Novak himself, leaving her alone with Quinn.

Quinn quickly helps to undress her, gets her into a hospital gown and back up onto the gurney, ready to be examined… "I'm scared Quinn," Liv chocks out… Quinn squeezes her hand tightly, "I know…" she replies, struggling to keep her own emotions in check.

"Did you get through to Fitz?"

"Yes, he's on his way Liv, he'll be here." she assures her.

Not long after, Franklin returns with James Novak in tow, the head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. James is quick to examine her, and after performing an internal scan, it doesn't take him long to work out what the problem is… "Liv, the baby is fine, but it appears that you have a polyps growing outside of the womb which is causing the bleed, it's not life threatening, however it's caused your cervix to dilate, which is why you are in discomfort. I will need to take you into surgery immediately, to assess the site and to place a few stiches into the cervix- if not, your baby will be born, and it won't be viable…"

She eagerly nods her head in consent… "Go ahead, please… just save my baby."

Without further ado, Liv is prepped and taken straight into surgery.

Meanwhile, feeling like spare parts, only wishing they could do more, Quinn and Franklin make their way to the waiting room. Although Quinn, who is fully aware that Fitz may show up at any second, tries to persuade Franklin to go home and get some rest before his next shift… "Go on Franklin, I've got Liv covered", she tells him, but he refuses to leave; he's not prepared to go anywhere, not until he knows for certain that Liv and her baby will be okay…

This is not going to end well she thinks, and then, as if things couldn't get any more complicated, she spots Maya and Eli rushing into maternity, or in Eli's case storming in. Down on Olivia's notes as her next of kin, both of them had been paged to maternity, having been informed that their daughter is in surgery. If looks could kill- Franklin would be dead right now. Clearly assuming that Franklin is the reason as to why his daughter is even in the maternity ward, Eli immediately goes in on him. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Sir, please, I can explain…"

Eli is seething… "Explain what exactly? How you carelessly got my daughter pregnant? Or why my daughter is currently in surgery?!"

Maya, places her hand on her husband's arm, in a bid to calm him down… "Eli, stop it…"

"I will not stop it!" He turns his attention back to Franklin… "Go on then, explain yourself…"

Not knowing what to say for the best, Franklin looks to Quinn for guidance… But she's now staring at Fitz, who has just entered the ward. She actually feels scared for the man, but to her surprise he walks straight over; no hesitation, ready it seems to face all four of them.

Bravely, Fitz places himself in front of Eli, successfully drawing his concentration onto him and away from Franklin… "Leave him alone Eli, he's done nothing wrong… I'm the one you have the quarrel with, not him…"

Eli looks at him utterly perplexed, not quite registering what it is his friend of 30 years is saying to him, so Fitz takes courage and clarifies himself once and for all; leaving no question in his best friend's mind… "Franklin is not the father of Liv's baby- because I am!"