"You should not have canceled the trip. Jerry is going to be there, and I'll be done in an hour. There was absolutely no reason for you to cancel it."
"The last time I checked, Jerry was not your boyfriend. And I did need to cancel the trip because you do not take care of yourself."
For two weeks Fitz and Olivia had argued back and forth about her surgery and his trip to Miami. Every time one was brought up the other appeared right after. Fitz was trying his best to not let the fact that she had not planned on telling him about the surgery get to him, but he wasn't doing that well at it. Lately, whenever she was on the phone with Jerry, Huck, or Cyrus, Fitz tried to eavesdrop on her conversation. He did not like being left out of the loop.
Sitting in the back of the car as Lucas drove them to the hospital, Liv was tired of talking about the surgery. She just wanted it to be over and the recovery to be done with so she could get back to work.
"And you are just going to sit there in the waiting room with your father for an hour or more and do what? Argue with him some more?"
"Of course not! I'm going to sit in the waiting room and worry about you. And I'll be checking your emails and your texts and your phone calls as we have already agreed. I'll be taking notes and responding as needed. Everything else will wait until after your two days of recovery, or more if needed."
Arriving at the front door, Fitz got out and helped her out of the car, leading her into the department they needed to be. Looking for a place to sit down to wait for her to be called back, he spotted Jerry coming towards them and rolled his eyes.
"Great, you're here," Fitz sighed and went to take a seat.
Ignoring his comment, Jerry rounded him to get to Liv kissing her cheek.
"Already checked you in, Livia. I see someone is still upset," he motioned towards Fitz as he helped Liv take her jacket off.
"He's still upset that you're the one who has my power of attorney. He thinks it should be him."
"He is your boyfriend, dear. I think it would make sense."
"What part of my life has made sense? You have my power of attorney and I refuse to take it and give it to someone else. It's my choice. I believe I still have that right."
Jerry took her hand and led her over to where Fitz was sitting. "Of course, you do. And that is your choice."
"A stupid choice," Fitz muttered and looked away from them.
"You really want me to give you the choice to kill me?" Liv asked looking over at him. "Because that's all that is. It's the right to kill me."
"Don't be so morbid, Olivia," Fitz scolded her. "It's the right to make decisions for you when you can't. Had I wanted to kill you, I would have found a better way."
"Fitzgerald! That's not funny," Jerry growled at him.
Looking at his father as if he was a little boy in trouble again, he caught the look on Liv's face and instantly hated himself. "Liv, I didn't mean that. I'm sorry. I'm just… irritated."
Getting up, she moved to the seat next to Fitz. "I get that you don't like hospitals, and this isn't what you had wanted to do this week, but for me it has to be done. I can call Lucas and have him come back and take you to the airport right now if that's what you want."
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm here for the long haul. So, whatever you need, tell me and I'll do it."
"I need you to stop acting like a child and get along with your father at least for the rest of the day. And just…"
"Olivia Pope?"
"Just watch my phone," Olivia told him when they called her name. Handing him her phone, Fitz grabbed her wrist before she stood up and leaned in, kissing her lips. "I'll only be gone an hour."
"One hour. That's all," Fitz said letting her go.
Giving Jerry a quick hug, she leaned up to his ear, "don't let him go crazy," she told him and watched him nod before she walked to the nurse.
For nearly ten minutes, Jerry and Fitz sat across from each other without saying a word. Though he could feel her phone blowing up in his hand, Fitz ignored it and kept bouncing his leg impatiently.
"She's going to be pissed when she sees you aren't responding right away to those," Jerry waved at her phone in Fitz's hand. "At least see what it's about."
"I can't worry about work right now, Dad. I'm too focused on what's happening in there. Why haven't we heard anything yet? What is taking so long?"
Fighting the smirk and losing, Jerry shook his head. "She's not even under yet, son. You have to calm down. That leg is going to go down three pant sizes by the time they call us back."
"How can you be so calm? They are cutting her open back there and we don't know what's going on!" Fitz nearly shouted at him, making a few people in the room turn their heads to him.
"Let's take a walk," Jerry demanded, leaving no room for arguments. Standing up, he took Olivia's phone out of his hand and scrolled down the list making sure it wasn't any emergencies. Leading Fitz out to the hallway, he took him towards the cafeteria. "Livia's going to be fine. She's a pro at this. Fitz, just take a deep breath. Remember, there's nothing that Olivia Pope can't handle."
"Except she's not the one cutting herself open. They could mess up or something could happen to her."
"Nothing is going to happen that isn't supposed to. And in about forty minutes you'll see."
"I guess you'd be the one to know, now wouldn't you?" Fitz snarked.
Jerry shook his head getting it now. "Ah, you're not mad about me being her proxy, you're mad because she didn't want to tell you. That it?"
"Liv has all these damn secrets, and she won't open up to me about any of it without forcing her to do so. Why didn't you make her tell me? Or tell me yourself? You know we're in a relationship and you don't make her tell me about something major like this. That's what I'm pissed about."
"Let me know how and when you can make Olivia Pope do something she doesn't want to do. I'd love to see how that can be done," he told Fitz taking a seat in the hallway with coffee for both of them. "I've told Livia many times that you could be trusted to know details of her life. She told you about Stephen. And she told you about her sleep issues. That's progress. She's never told anyone about that other than me, Huck, and Cyrus. Kim probably knows through Huck though. If I told you about her surgery, she'd never trust me again. And with her, I need to know what's going on. She's complicated until you know about everything. She's not going to say things to people she doesn't trust."
"Then she doesn't trust me?"
"She trusts you. If she didn't, you two wouldn't be together. Now, let me ask you this. Why are you so pissed off at me about her?"
Fitz sighed, not knowing how to really explain himself. Was it really Jerry he was mad at? Or was he mad at Liv, and he was taking it out on him?
"I don't know. You two are tight lipped and close that it worries me you know so much more about her than I do. I want it to be me she turns to when she's in trouble or worried or something happens to her. But instead, it's you. I could understand if it was Huck or Cyrus. But it's you. It's just… weird."
"Well, you've never dated someone who was friends with your dad first. I can tell you though, I have been trying to get her to talk to you first. I'd be put off too if I was in your shoes. She typically tells Cyrus everything though. He's not only a friend, but he's like a father to her as well. Eli hasn't been around in a while and who the hell knows where Maya is. As for Huck, they've been friends since junior high school. I swear he knows exactly what she needs before she does. Livia and I have a history, but we've passed that. You might not know it, but she does love you, Fitz."
"Right, she's got a hell of a way of showing it then."
Pulling out Liv's phone, Jerry looked at the picture she had as her background of her and Fitz at a dinner party a few weeks before. Going through her gallery of pictures, Jerry noticed something and handed the phone to Fitz.
"Look at her pictures. What do you see?"
Swiping through the pictures, he didn't notice anything out of ordinary. "There's pics of her and me, Huck, Javi, Cyrus, you, what am I missing?"
"She put the pictures of Stephen in a separate file. It's her friends and family and her boyfriend. If she didn't love you, there would only be pictures of Stephen on that phone. Check her contacts list."
"You know we're invading her privacy."
"Check the list."
"There's no Stephen on it."
"Wait, really? Damn, I didn't think she'd actually do it."
"So, what is all this supposed to mean to me?"
"It means she's moving on from Stephen. It's been three years and you are the first that she's dated since him. I think she's improving. She's always had his number on her phone. She used to keep his phone in a box she has of some of his things. She'd call his phone just to hear his voicemail. But if his number is gone from her phone, makes me think she's not paying the bill anymore."
"She was paying the phone bill of a deceased person?"
"Livia wanted to be able to hear his voice whenever she wanted."
"I suppose I can't blame her for that." Fitz looked at the time on Liv's phone seeing they'd been gone for over an hour from the waiting room. "We need to get back; she might be done by now." Getting halfway back to the waiting room Fitz stopped and turned to Jerry, "It's not you I'm upset with. I get that. But from now on, when she says that she isn't going to tell me something that's important, especially something like this, could you just tell me yourself? At least then I know a little about what is going on. The only reason I knew about this was because I overheard Cyrus telling her to tell me."
Giving himself a minute to think about his son's request, Jerry couldn't find a reason to deny him. "If something comes up that is similar to this type of a situation, I will tell you but only if I can't convince her to do it herself." Just as they were heading back in, Jerry felt his phone going off and answered it. "Hey darlin', everything okay?"
Fitz gave him a questionable look but went to the nurses' station only to be told she was still in surgery.
"Livia's going to be fine," Jerry continued his conversation. "Haven't heard anything yet… No, Fitz's is here with me. She couldn't make him leave town… He'll be with her tonight, and I'll come over to you. She's in very capable hands… Okay. I'll see you tonight… Love you too."
Hearing his father say 'love you' to another person, made Fitz's ears perk up. The smile on Jerry's face was the same that Fitz got whenever he talked with Olivia.
"Are you going to clue me in on who that was?" Fitz asked him.
"A friend."
"A friend who you say I love you to. I know it's not Liv. Are you… wait, are you dating someone again?"
"If you must know, yes, I am dating her again."
"Again? Please tell me you aren't back with the slut who tried to take everything, Zena. She was bad the first time around. That gold digger almost wiped you clean."
Jerry laughed remember how much he hated that girlfriend. "No, I haven't heard from her in a few years. What'd the nurse say?"
"Liv's still in surgery. They're almost done though. And you aren't going to change the topic on me. Who are you dating?"
"Verna."
"Verna? Verna Thornton? Damn, I haven't heard her name in nearly a decade. How is she?"
"She's fine. She's back living in Maryland. Her practice is up and going again. Verna's just worried about Livia. She wanted to come down here and be with me, but I told her it wasn't necessary. She's got clients all day. I didn't want her backing out on them."
"Verna knows about Liv? She knows that you've been sleeping over at her place?"
"Of course, she does. Verna and I have no secrets. She knows I also sleep in bed with her."
"And she's okay with that?"
"Fitz, Verna knows everything about Livia. She's her…" Jerry started but realized what he was about to say wasn't something Fitz should hear from him.
"Her what? Her friend?"
"Livia will kill me if I tell you. She really doesn't want anyone knowing."
Shaking his head, Fitz tried to think it over. "Wait a minute. You said Verna's in Maryland. Liv was in Maryland a few weeks ago when I tracked her phone. Verna is Liv's psychiatrist?"
"You did not hear that from me and don't ever let her even think that you heard it from me."
"What's wrong with seeing a psychiatrist?"
"Lord, please don't ask her that. You will have a three-hour argument with her. And all she's going to tell you is that her mental health is fine."
"Mr. Grant?" Jerry turned hearing a nurse say his name, as did Fitz. Both came up to the woman at the door. "Ms. Pope is in recovery right now. She's a little out of it, but she'll be fine in a bit. She'd like to see you though."
"Which one?" Fitz asked ready to push through the doors to find her.
"You both can go. She's asked for both of you."
Following the nurse to her, Fitz immediately went to her side and kissed her temple. The nurse was right, she was out of it. Liv looked confused to both men standing beside her.
"Where's my phone?" she asked them, trying to sit up in the bed.
Jerry knew that would be her go to when she woke up as it always had been. "Rest up, Livia, Fitz has your phone. I highly doubt you are getting it back anytime soon."
"Okay," she nodded and laid back.
"Can we get whatever she's on right now to go?" Fitz smirked looking over at the nurse. "She is never agreeable like this. When can she go home?"
"In about an hour. The doctor will come back to make sure the anesthesia has worn off. He'll release her after."
