"You are aware that there is a time difference between D.C. and Seattle, correct?"
"I do know that, but I need to talk to you without Liv around and she's in the shower now. When are you coming back?"
After a full weekend of lounging around the apartment, Fitz had made his decision on his relationship with Olivia. Knowing that she wouldn't be ready to get married, he would do the next best thing: promise to marry her. After their conversation Friday night, it would only be a matter of time before he could really make his commitment to her. With the divorce still pending (to Fitz), getting engaged to Olivia would just not be the same meaning. It seems less special to get engaged when you are still married. Plus, he didn't want to outshine Verna and Jerry.
"Tomorrow morning, we'll be headed back. Couldn't you ask that at a decent hour? It's five in the morning, Fitz."
"I told you, dad, I needed to get you when she wasn't around."
Sitting up in bed, Jerry's mind went running through why he would call so early. "What's going on? Livia's okay, right? What the hell is happening over there?"
Leaving the bedroom when Fitz heard the shower turn off, he closed the bedroom door and went out to the dining room furthest away from her. "Liv's fine. I just need to go to California probably for a couple of days. Which means I need someone to stay with Liv."
"She's not a dog, Fitz," Jerry laughed. "Livia is fine on her own for a couple of days."
"Except she wouldn't be sleeping."
"Then ask her to come with you."
"No, out of the question. Besides, Liv wouldn't get on a plane, even a private jet, without being forced to. And I don't want her to come with me. This is one I need to do alone."
"What are you talking about, son? If you're cheating on her, you'll have hell to pay on all fronts. You'll have all four of us to answer to aside from Livia."
"Are you out of your damn mind? I would never cheat on her! I don't have time to explain this to you. Are you coming home tomorrow or not? I'll call Cyrus to come stay if I need to."
"No, we'll be home tomorrow. I want an explanation before you leave though. Now, go take care of whatever it is and let me go back to sleep."
Letting her get ready for the day, Fitz started their breakfast and booked his flight out to California. Flipping over the pancakes for them, Fitz could hear her phone ringing on the charger in the dining room.
"Liv, your phone's ringing," he shouted for her to hear.
"Grab it, it's just Nicholas checking in. Tell him I'll call him from the car on the way in," she shouted back to him.
Picking up the phone, seeing it's not the name Nicholas on the screen. "Hello?"
"Good morning, is Ms. Pope available?"
"Could I tell her who's calling?"
"This is Leslie from Pine Rest Senior Care. Could I speak with Ms. Pope please?"
"One moment," putting the call on hold, he went to the bedroom to get her. Seeing her fastening the belt around her waist over the dress, Fitz held out the phone to her. "There's a Senior Care place calling for you." What are they calling you for?
"Pine Rest?" Taking the phone from his hand quick, Liv scattered in her mind for why they are calling her. "Victoria?... Leslie, sorry. What's wrong?... Is she alright?" Liv listened closely to her while walking out to the dining room to see the calendar. "No, don't! I'll get there as quickly as I can but whatever you do, do not sedate her… I get that she's panicking, I would be too. Just call Victoria to get to there… I don't give a shit if it's her day off! I'm paying you people to take care of her! I'll be there in about an hour."
Hanging up, Olivia called for Lucas to come get her and ran to her pile of files on the buffet in the dining room.
"Livie? Is everything okay?" Fitz put the food on a plate to go for her seeming she was in a rush.
"I have to get to Baltimore." Tossing a couple of the folders to the floor, getting to the right one, she stood up and looked carefully at him.
"Pine Rest is in Baltimore, Maryland?"
"Yes, it's about forty-five minutes from here."
"I am aware of how far it is."
Liv got the text from Lucas he was downstairs, getting her purse as she headed to the door. Pausing for a moment, holding the doorknob to leave, she turned back to see Fitz in the kitchen and stepped back to him. "You don't have anything that important today. Would you… would you want to come with me?"
"You can explain why we're going on the way," he told her, following after her.
Telling Lucas where he was headed and to hurry, Liv turned to Fitz and held his hand tightly. "You're trembling, Livie."
"It's going to be a rough day."
Before Fitz could ask why, her cell phone rang again. Taking it from her, looking at the caller's name from work, Fitz went in and diverted all her work group contacts to the office line. "We can deal with work tomorrow. So, who are we going to see?"
"Elizabeth. She likes to be called Beth. I haven't seen her in months."
"You've been going to Baltimore? I didn't know that. Who is Beth?"
"Beth is Beth Finch. She is Stephen's grandmother. I put her in Pine Rest because she has Alzheimer's. When Stephen died, I'm pretty much all she has left. I found Pine Rest and moved her there. She's getting all the care she needs. It's a fantastic place that has the best care and they specialize in her disease."
Holding onto her hand, he could see why this would be a rough day. She doesn't want to talk about Stephen any time. But today she'll have to. Maybe I can get a bit more insight into him. "You did the right thing, Livie. I know you wouldn't just leave someone so close to him alone. You're not like that. Do you know why they called today? Did something happen? I heard you tell them not to sedate her."
"She's freaking out. I don't really know what's going on."
"Does that Victoria woman know?"
"She'll have an idea better than Leslie does. Victoria is Beth's main caretaker. I talk with Victoria at least twice a week. Leslie runs the care center. She doesn't know what she's doing, apparently. I haven't talked with Beth for about six months."
"Six months? Why not?"
"When I went to visit her, she was upset. I just made it worse. Beth didn't know who I was and kept yelling for Adam to come in. And explaining to an Alzheimer's patient that he isn't coming just makes them more upset. Beth thought we were holding her hostage and demanded we take her to see Adam."
"And Adam is?"
"Her husband. He died years ago from a heart attack."
Half way through the car ride, Liv's phone lit up again. "Victoria?... Sorry, Leslie, has Victoria made it there yet?... Good. I'll be there in about twenty minutes… Keep me updated. I'll see you soon."
Giving her hand a light squeeze, Fitz wanted to let her know he was here for her, however she needed him to be here. "Victoria's there?"
Sliding the phone into the cupholder in front of her, she nodded her answer. "She's assessing what's happening to Beth right now. Leslie said Beth is still panicking and she's hit a couple of the nurses while trying to get out of the building. Beth wants to go home. And she's looking for Adam and the kids. Victoria will be able to calm her down and understand what's going on."
"Do you know what's going on? I know you aren't a doctor, but I've seen the way your mind works. I'm sure you did research when you found out about her disease. Maybe you read something somewhere and this will remind you of it?"
"It isn't unusual for an Alzheimer's patient to get aggravated and physical. They can get physical with someone if they don't know where they are or who they are. There's also a possibility that they are mentally trapped at another time. Even though it's 2023 for us, for Beth it could be 1987. We just have to go with what Beth thinks it is."
"Why? Why not correct her?"
"That's a useless point. If you tell her now that it's actually 2023, she might remember it for the day or she might remember it for five minutes. The mind is a tricky thing. It's easier to let her believe that it's whatever date and year she thinks it is and go with it. Beth can tell you great stories of what happened in her life. And she can remember it like it just happened."
Watching her pick at a spot on her dress, Fitz noticed the nervous habit, he took hold of both her hands and turned her head to make her look directly at him. "Why are you nervous?"
"It's unpredictable. I don't know what I'm walking into."
Fitz picked up her hands and brought them to his lips gently, kissing the back of both. "That's true. But not knowing what's going to happen isn't going to change. Alzheimer's is a terrible disease that changes so quickly it would make your head spin. One minute it's 1987, then the next it could be 1942. No one knows, Livie. I know very little about the disease, but I know it is awful." Turning her head back to him when she turned away, he pushed the side of her hair back behind her ear. "I know Stephen is going to be a big topic today and you aren't going to want to discuss him. But we are going to get you through it, if not for you, then for Beth. It's okay to talk about him. Talk about Stephen with her; whatever you need to do. And I'll be here to support you whenever you need it. If you need a break from it, I'll get you out of there for a breather. Whichever way you think Beth can handle it, just do it and I'll back you up. Tell her he's gone or not. Because, sadly, she probably won't remember what you say in a while anyway."
Leaning forward to him, Liv gave him a soft kiss and pulled back. "I knew there was a reason I brought you with me."
"Ms. Pope, we're here," Lucas announced before stepping out of the car.
Getting out of the car, Fitz rounded to her side and helped her out. Taking a look around at the building, the path in front of them led up to the former hotel turned assisted living for memory care. Holding out his hand for her to take, she led him inside and checked in.
This place is too grand. But it's Liv, she's only going to accept the best, Fitz thought looking around the lobby. Grand piano, nice touch. Daily activities. Never a dull moment around here, I guess.
Waiting in the lobby, Liv stood beside the piano with her arms crossed. Before she could get too irritated with waiting for someone to show up, the elevator door opened.
"Ms. Pope, you made excellent timing. The traffic wasn't terrible then?"
"It was fine, Leslie. Where's Victoria? Has she finished assessing Beth?"
"Olivia!" Liv and Fitz turned toward the yelling voice behind them at the elevator doors opening again. A young brunette in scrubs rushing towards her with open arms, giving her a tight hug. "Beth is lucid."
