Part 20

After Novak discharged Liv from the hospital, Fitz had insisted that she take a week off to fully recover at home with him. Liv needed to rest, and by her staying with him it also afforded her the necessary time and space away from her father. Plus, it was obvious that Eli required a period of cooling down too. And preferably before Liv subjected herself to his wrath.

Liv had been horrified when Fitz walked into the recovery suite sporting a visibly swollen and split lip… "Whaaat happened?" She managed weakly; she was still a bit groggy from the anaesthesia and feeling quite tender herself, yet, all she could focus on was the state of his face.

"Ssssh, don't you worry about me, it's nothing that won't heal…" he attempted to assure her, taking her hand into his own and kissing it softly… "I'm just happy that you and the baby are alright…" He had smiled, trying not to grimace, because his jaw hurt like hell. With heightened concern, Liv reached up and gently traced his jawline and cut lip, taking a full stock of his injuries… She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that this was her father's handy work, so she asked him, needing to know for sure… "Who did this to you?"

"Your dad…" he admitted to her regretfully. "I was expecting it really, from the moment I told him that the baby was mine…"

Her shock was evident; she could not believe that he had faced Eli alone… "You told him?"

He nodded his head. "Yes, and Maya too, they know everything now, I had to tell them Liv, I couldn't lie anymore…"

Suddenly bombarded by a fierce rush of admiration and love for this man, her eyes glistened over with unshed tears. Chocked up, she struggled to find the right words to express how she truly felt, so instead, she decided to show him, by pulling him in for a kiss, in which he returned with just as much passion. Despite the pain he felt, having Liv's love was worth every single minute of it.

His faith in her and their relationship also gave him courage to open up about his use of escorts. She deserved to hear it from him and not from somebody else, so when they got back home, he told her everything. To his surprise, she was far more understanding than he had envisioned her to be. By her own words… "Fitz, how can we start the next chapter in our lives, if we keep re-reading the last one… We've all made mistakes, or done things that we regret, but as long as we learn from it, surely that's all that matters, right?" Of course, she was right.

The rest of week passed by in relative peace after that, and before they knew it Liv was back at work. As it stood, Eli had not seen Liv or attempted to call her since leaving the hospital, which spoke volumes. Her mum, however, came to see her before she got discharged. It had been an emotional exchange. Maya had simply wrapped her up in a massive hug and just held her for a while; both succumbing to tears. Yes, Maya was worried about her, because the last time her daughter fell pregnant, it all ended horribly, and this time round it was by a man more than twice her age; a man that could have possibly taken advantage of her. With Eli still nursing his rage, he had fully convinced himself of this fact, but Maya did not want to believe that Fitz was capable of such a thing. Fitz may have been Eli's best friend, but she had also grown fond of him over the years, and therefore the pair had established their own friendship. And as much as her husband tried to sully his reputation further, by bringing up his use of escorts; a cheap shot by any means, it did not make Fitz anymore guilty of abusing her child in that way.

Of course, the only way to find out if something untoward had occurred, was to speak to Liv herself. Which she did; in fact, they spoke in length about her relationship with Fitz. By the time Maya left her daughter, it was clear that she had been the driving force behind them getting together in the first place. Olivia was relentless by nature; much like her father in that way.

Liv's willingness to be open with her, had allowed Maya to gain a lot more clarity on the situation. Not that it meant all was forgiven with regards to Fitz, because at the end of the day he could have dealt with matters differently; far better, if truth be told… At the very least, he ought to have expressed that he had grown romantic feelings towards Olivia long before getting her pregnant, and for that reason alone, Maya had every intention of addressing those misgivings with him face to face. Hopefully then, they can begin to clear the air and move forward. But until then, she was content in knowing that Liv was happy, and as crazy as it sounded, a lot of that happiness was down to Fitz. Which meant, the biggest battle they faced now was trying to get her ill-tempered husband to see things from their point of view and forgive.

Sadly, that was easier said than done.

It doesn't help that hospital gossip is rife; talk of affairs, escorts and throwing of punches were spreading fast. In fairness, Franklin and Quinn were doing their upmost to quell all the speculation, especially now that Liv was back, but even Stevie Wonder could see that something wasn't right between father and daughter.

Eli had barely said two words to Liv, and when he did (purely for the purpose of work) he was frosty and curt. To be honest, the atmosphere between himself and Maya wasn't fairing any better; the whole debacle was starting to take a massive toll on their marriage. He was incensed to learn that after speaking to Fitz in the week, she was now in support of this absolute farce-of-a-relationship. And then to make matters worse, she had the nerve to call him out on his pig-headed behaviour, accusing him of being selfish and not really caring about his daughter's happiness at all. This had left him steaming and inevitably led to their most explosive argument to date. How dare she accuse him of not caring about his daughter, if anything he was fiercely protective of her, which is why he refused to accept her relationship with Fitz. Had Maya forgot that this was the very same man whose own daughter used to have play dates with Liv, or that on numerous occasions Fitz and his wife would baby sit for them… To think, he probably even changed her diapers, and yet now he was having sex with her… How could that EVER be acceptable in his eyes, or his wife's for that matter?

Had everyone around him lost their goddamn mind?!

As for Fitz, he had not laid eyes on him since that day in maternity, and if that man had any sense at all, he'd better keep it that way, because the magnitude of his betrayal had Eli seriously considering prison time. He wanted to castrate him.

It was coming to the end of her first week back, and Liv had grown increasingly weary of her father's attitude, his point-blank refusal to even discuss the issues with her, had her mirroring his behaviour in kind, so much so, that when it came to her taking her break early to attend her follow up examination and scan with Novak, she didn't even give him the courtesy to run it past him. It was in the work diary; if he was that bothered to care.

"So, everything is looking great, the stiches have done the trick; your cervix looks healthy and from examining you it also feels soft, as it should do at this stage. Baby's measurements are spot on for 13 weeks, and as you could hear for yourselves, his or her's heartbeat sounds very strong." Novak relays with a smile, and then tells them that he's happy to give them the all-clear for "other" activities… It was a relief to hear, finally they can relax a little. Still beaming from the positive news and from seeing their baby on the monitor, Liv and Fitz walk hand in hand as he escorts her back to the ward. Once he's dropped her off, he has another appointment to get to, this time with the medical director, Sally Langston, about possibly getting his old job back. He and Liv have decided to remain in DC. Liv wanted to remain close to her mum throughout the rest of her pregnancy, plus all her friends lived here; and as for Fitz, when it came to work, he missed the interesting and colourful patients that working in the city brought to the job. Obviously, with them choosing to stay, their strained relationship with Eli was not ideal, although both hoped that with time and a lot of perseverance on their part, everything would fall into place and eventually Eli would come round to the idea of them, or at least start looking forward to becoming a grandfather.

Unfortunately, Eli is nowhere close to acceptance, and after what transpired on his ward this afternoon, he's prepared to blow up again.

You see, in the time that Liv was gone, the police had been called to arrest her patient from bed 3; whom, in her absence had physically attacked another patient. Unbeknownst to any of the staff, these 2 teenagers were from rival gangs; with a grudge to settle. They despised each other, so when Liv left for her appointment, and her patient regained consciousness before the other did, he took the opportunity to exact his revenge, causing all hell to break loose. As far as Eli was concerned, this was Liv's fault, because if she were here doing her job properly, and regularly checking in on her patient, she would have taken note that he had woken up, and maybe even pre-empted the attack.

30 minutes had now passed since the fray was dissolved by the police, and the ward was finally beginning to settle down again; unlike Eli, who was becoming increasingly infuriated, because he still had no clue as to where Liv was.

So, when she eventually waltz in, with Fitz in tow, it had been the straw that broke the camel's back, and he immediately flipped out. "Where the hell have you been Nurse Pope?!"

Liv looks at him startled. "Excuse me?" She does not understand why he's talking to her in such a manner, and neither does Fitz, who has not taken kindly to it either… "I don't know what is going on here Eli, but I suggest you re-evaluate the way you are speaking to Olivia…"

"Oh really? Funnily enough, I happen to recall that you no longer work here Fitzgerald, so therefore, you have no jurisdiction over how I choose to address my staff…" he rudely dismisses and then homes back in on Liv… "Nurse Pope, my office… NOW!"

Protectively Fitz moves in front of Liv and continues to challenge Eli's appalling behaviour… "I'm sorry, but when you're acting like this, Liv is not going anywhere with you…"

Provoked, Eli approaches him, almost willing him to do something… "I assure you, there's no acting involved, and if you continue to interfere with the running of my ward, I will have security remove you from the premises…"

That's it! Enough is enough, Liv tells herself and approaches her father head on, raising her chin in defiance… "Liv…" Fitz tries to stop her; but she's got this… "Dad, if you bothered to acknowledge that I was carrying your grandchild, or dare I say, showed some resemblance of interest for my welfare, then you would have known that I was attending an appointment in maternity…"

"Well, you neglected to inform me of this!" It sounds petty, even to his own ears.

"I'll have you know, that I did not neglect to inform you, because if you happened to look in the nurse's diary it was there… But, if you really want to know why I didn't remind you in person, then I shall tell you that I simply didn't care to do so. Why would I, when all you do is cut me off and berate me in front of patients and staff? I'm sick of it!"

"Olivia…"

"Oh, so it's Olivia now…" She can feel her emotions rushing to the surface, but she doesn't let it deter her from what needs to be said… "For days now, I've been begging you to talk to me. I understand that you're unhappy Dad, but you have no right to treat me this way, I'm a grown adult, free to choose who I want to be with, and who I wish to spend my life with, and I chose Fitz… I know that's hard for you hear or accept right now… but know this- at this point in my life, there is nothing you can do or say to change my mind, and not only because I'm carrying his child, but because I love him." She's tearing up now, "I can't help who I fall in love with, as much as Fitz can't help falling in love with me… but you dad… YOU have a choice as to whether or not you will continue making our lives miserable… and not just ours, but Mum's life, your future grandchild's- and even yours too… So, tell me Dad, what are you going to do?!"