"Dr. Pope we have a patient enroute to the hospital, we need your help."

"I'm sorry, I have a brain surgery in New York the day after tomorrow that I have to leave for right now and I also don't work here, where is the lead surgeon?"

"He told me to come and get you."

Olivia sighed, partly from exhaustion but also from frustration. She took the trip to D.C to help her friend Stephen operate on a patient with a part of knife blade stuck in the back of her head. They couldn't remove it without damaging her optic nerve, subsequently blinding her, so he called Olivia and begged her to get on a plane as fast as she could to perform an additional surgery for the patient. They had successfully completed the surgery hours ago but Stephen wouldn't let her leave. He often counted in her expertise, though he had been a doctor longer than her, she was a better doctor than him. While Stephen was a trauma specialist and operated on er trauma victims, Olivia was a neurosurgeon. A very good one at that, she had been recognized for performing impossible procedures all over the world on patients with dire odds. She knew the human body like she knew her own name and because of that, Stephen never second guessed her instructions.

"What do we have?" She asked.

"We have a white male, 45 years old, 6'3, 195 pounds. Multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Severe blood loss and going into hypovolemic shock."

"I need the procedure room prepped."

"Right away Dr. Pope. He is two minutes away."

Olivia still had her scrubs on, she ran to the doctor's lounge and washed her hands and grabbed some gloves and a surgical apron them she ran back out to the hallway only to bump into Stephen.

"Stephen what the hell, you know I have a flight to catch back to New York. You can remove bullets, why do you need me in this?"

"Liv, it's the president and he's in bad shape, I can do this but you can do it better, I'll assist but you've got to spearhead this thing."

"President Grant?" she asked with her mouth open.

"Yes, he was just shot at his birthday gala, he's a minute away."

In that moment, the paramedics burst through the double doors with Fitz on the stretcher. They both ran into the surgery room that was three doors down and once Fitz arrived Olivia was started working her magic. It was what she was known for.

"Get me a blood type on the patient, we will need a transfusion stat."

She used two fingers and tapped his chest at 4 different points.

"His chest cavity is not clear, get me a thoracostomy tube and a scalpel, I need to drain the blood from his chest. Turn him to the side, I don't want him suffocating on his own blood."

Right then Fitz began to flatline.

She grabbed the paddles from the nurse.

"Charge!" Olivia ordered and the nurse followed her order immediately. She waited for the paddle to charge to 200 joules and then shocked him.

"Clear," they yelled simultaneously.

His heart beat came back.

"Stephen drain the blood and get the bullet out of his chest."

"But Liv-"

"Steph do it now."

She moved toward his head and began inspecting the gunshot wound, she could see the bullet in the right frontal region of his skull.

"Okay, pass me the instrument stand, we're going to remove the first bullet."

The nurses hurried over with the instruments. She covered her mouth with her mask and made sure the light was shining directly on the wound. She took a deep breath and began. First, she removed the small bone fragment blocking the bullet, she did that as quickly as she could then she grabbed a pair of forceps to remove the bullet. Once she did that, she inspected the wound and made sure it was clear before she cleaned it and sewed it up. Then she went back to help Stephen, he hadn't been able to remove the bullet as yet but with a little help from Olivia, he did.

Olivia wasn't sure where time went but by the time they finished, a few hours had passed. She was so tired she felt like she was on autopilot.

She left the nurses to clean him up and bring him to his hospital suite then went back to the doctors lounge to clean herself up. She was covered in his blood and needed to get it off herself as quickly as possible. The secret service had been hovering over her to get an update on his condition, she heard the First Lady, chief of staff and the president's son were out there as well and she knew that they too, would want an update.

She took her surgical cover off and she washed her hands and headed back out.

She walked to the waiting area with Stephen in tow to the secret service agent that had been hounding her.

When Tom saw her coming, he began to worry, her expression was unreadable. He didn't know if she had good or bad news. He escorted both her and Stephen over to Cyrus and Mellie.

Once they reached over both Mellie and Cyrus stood anxiously, Gerry didn't move from where he sat but the grief he was feeling was written all over him.

"Hello Dr, how is he doing?"

Both Mellie and Cyrus stretched their hands towards Stephen.

"I think that question would be better posed to Dr. Pope, she was the neurosurgeon who took the bullet out successfully.

Mellie's mouth opened slightly in embarrassment for her assumption that Olivia was a nurse.

"My apologies, Dr. Pope. How is he doing?" she said with the best fake smile she could muster to hide her embarrassment.

Olivia never got tired of embarrassing people, she fought off the smirk that tugged on the corners of her mouth.

"He's stable."

Both Mellie and Cyrus tell out a huge breath of relief.

"We managed to remove all the bullets from the head and chest. The swelling in the brain is minimal and is decreasing rapidly. Right now, he's in a coma-"

Mellie didn't let her finish.

"A coma? You can't be serious. How long is it gonna last? Will he be normal again."

"Every patient is different, in my experience, in these types of scenarios a coma for a brain injury can last indefinitely but I believe he will be awake in 2 weeks."

"Are you sure Ms. Pope? Do you think we should get a second opinion."

"Dr." Stephen corrected.

"I'm sorry, Dr., Dr. Pope." Mellie corrected herself.

Olivia could see that Mellie was frazzled and decided not to take offense, after all her husband was just shot in the head, she couldn't be in a good place.

"I'm sure. He will be alright, you are almost out of the woods, now it's just about waiting for him to wake up."

Olivia spoke with a confidence that calmed them both.

"And he will be normal right?"

"Well, if the bullet had peered any deeper and hadn't been properly removed, he might have been paralyzed, had permanent amnesia or lost his motor skills, luckily that's not the case. He will make a full recovery within 5 months. He might experience some headaches up until 2-3 months but with these types of injuries, that is normal. He can return to work after a month. He can exercise after 2 months."

"And his face is normal? He looks the same?"

She looked over at Stephen.

"Thank you, Dr. Pope and Dr.-?" Cyrus interrupted.

"Finch," Stephen stated.

"Dr. Finch, I can't tell you how much we appreciate your help today. You guys are miracle workers. Can we see him?"

"Yes, you can," Olivia affirmed.

Cyrus gave them an appreciative nod and stepped off to make a call.

Olivia and Stephen excused themselves and went back to the doctor's lounge.

"You're are on your own with her," Olivia chuckled.

"Don't leave me…" Stephen whined.

"I should have left last night but I stayed to help with your patient when I have my own patient in New York who needs me so now I'm leaving."

Stephen chuckled.

"Can you believe that we just saved the president of the United States life as if you weren't successful enough."

"Honestly, I think you could have handled it by yourself, quit doubting yourself man."

"It's not that I doubted myself but he had a gunshot wound to the head and you're the best neurosurgeon in the world, what the hell was I supposed to do."

"You have been doubting yourself since your patient died last month. Stop Stephen, you can't save everyone, sometimes people are beyond saving and you just have to accept that," her tone was softer, more nurturing.

"You're right but it was a kid, it's always hard to lose kids."

"Yea, I know."

"Shut up, no you don't, you've never lost a patient."

"Okay but I'm imagining what it's like and it must hurt," she laughed.

She went to the bathroom and changed out of her scrubs and grabbed her things to leave. She knew she would have to come back and fill out a few document in regards to the surgery but it could wait a couple days until she was finished with her patient in New York.

"Alright Stephen, good luck with all of this, you'll need it," she teased.

She gave him a quick hug and then made her way out the lounge only to bump into Tom.

"Excuse me."

"No worries," Olivia responded.

She tried to pass but he wouldn't let her.

"What's going on?" she asked him a little confused.

"I can't let you leave the hospital."

"And why is that?"

"Mr. Beene requested that you solely care for president Grant."

"It doesn't seem like he's requesting, it seems like he's telling me to."

Tom didn't reply.

"I don't have anything against the president, I'm sure he's a great guy but I have a surgery scheduled in 20 hours and it's in New York, I already made a commitment to do it so if you'll excuse me."

Tom blocked her again.

"I can't let you leave."

"Listen I haven't slept in 2 days and I really don't have the energy for this, let me pass," Olivia demanded.

Cyrus saw the commotion and walked over.

"Tom what's going on?" He asked.

"What's going is that I have places to go and I'm being told that I can't leave. Do you care to explain that?"

"I've just done a little research on you Dr. Pope, you are quite special, an anomaly, you are the being called the best neurosurgeon in the world and you just successfully took a bullet out of our president's head. We can't let you leave, stay a while, make sure that he's intact when he wakes up and his brain is functioning normally, we'll pay you whatever you want."

"I appreciate the offer but no thanks, my colleague Dr. Finch is more than capable of caring for the president."

"It wasn't an offer."

Olivia chuckled at his absurdity.

"You're serious?"

"I am. You can leave the hospital if you wish but I will have you escorted by two agents to make sure you come back."

"I'm not agreeing to this, the president's life isn't more important that the 3 year old who will die if I don't fix her brain, now if you'll excuse me Mr. Beene, I have a plane to catch."

"It's unfortunate that I have to do this."

Cyrus sighed.

"Tom please detain this woman."

Tom took out a pair of handcuffs from the holster and attempted to handcuff her.

"What the hell? Are you crazy?"

Tom grabbed her hand and put one cuff on.

"What are you charging me with?"

"Nothing, yet, maybe a couple weeks in a cell in the pentagon will help me figure it out."

"That's illegal."

"You're a lawyer now?"

Olivia scoffed. She had both hands handcuffed now.

"Take her away Tom," Cyrus said with a smirk.

"Fine, I'll do it," Olivia relented.

Cyrus smiled winningly.

"It's gonna be great working with you Dr. Pope."

Olivia didn't reply she just huffed.

"Take these cuffs off before anyone sees me like this," she demanded.

"Right away ma'am."

Once Tom took the handcuffs off, Cyrus had her sign a standard non-disclosure and contract then she made her way back to the lounge get to get the keys to Stephen's apartment so she could shower and rest for the night. She was pissed.

Two weeks later.

Fitz woke up to an empty room. The last thing he remembered was walking out of the limo and waving to the crowd, everything after that was a blur. He knew he should have called the nurse but he wanted to take a minute to appreciate the fact that for however long he was asleep, it was the best sleep he could remember getting since his teens. He liked the quiet as well, he hadn't gotten any peace and quiet since he became president a year and a half ago. He was content to just sit in his hospital bed and stare at nothing in particular.

Meanwhile, Olivia made periodical checks to see when Fitz would wake up. Two weeks ago, she told told his family he would be waking up now and she was usually on point with her predictions, it was just about the time now.

She walked into his suite, to find him awake.

When Olivia walked into the room, Fitz breath got stuck in his throat. He'd never seen a more beautiful woman. He was almost a little embarrassed by his reaction, it was unusual for him. He was used to seeing beautiful women all his life, when he got married to Mellie he learned to ignore them but he couldn't ignore her.

She had a clipboard in her hand and she didn't look directly at him as she walked in. She seemed annoyed and apathetic to Fitz, he thought maybe she was tired.

"How long have you been awake?" She asked as she jotted down some notes.

"Half hour maybe," his voice was raspy and hoarse.

She pulled a small medical flashlight out of her lab coat pocket and walked over to him. When she looked up and caught his eyes, she was stuck on them, she couldn't look away. Fitz was just as captivated, moments went by and neither of them moved.

Olivia fought a strenuous inner battle to look away but her attempt was futile. It wasn't until they paged her over the intercom that they were able to break the spell that bound them both.

Since Cyrus had her marooned in D.C, she had been working on trauma patients in the hospital to help Stephen while she waited for Fitz to awake.

She cleared her throat and flick the light on. She shined it in his eyes and checked his response to it then jotted something on her clipboard.

She turned away from him so she couldn't see his eyes.

"Why didn't you call a nurse?"

"I've just woken up from the best sleep I've had in 20 years, I wanted to take a while to appreciate it," he chuckled softly.

He seemed so kind and laid back, nothing like Cyrus and Mellie, whom she'd had the displeasure of working with for the past 2 weeks. Based on her experience with them she had made him out to be even worse in her mind but now she felt a little bad for judging him for their behavior.

"Any pain or discomfort?" she asked, a little kinder this time.

"A little discomfort in the chest and a slight headache."

"I'll have the nurse give you a slightly higher dosage of ibuprofen."

Olivia stood in the middle of the room, jotting down notes but she had a hard time focusing on exactly what she was writing, she couldn't stop thinking about his eyes. She stood there for some time, Fitz watched her, he decided to get her talking again.

"What happened to me doctor?"

"You received three gunshot wounds. One to the frontal lobe, and two to the chest cavity. I removed the bullet from your brain with minimal damage, right now you will have fatigue, irritability, headaches, aphasia and difficulty with impulse control but it won't be permanent. As for the chest wounds, in the two weeks you were asleep, they have healed quite well. You can be out of here within a week."

"That's great to-"

Fitz looked up in confusion and wondered why the word he was looking for wasn't coming to him then he chuckled.

"I'm sorry, I forgot what I was about to say.."

"Don't worry Mr. President, like I said, it isn't permanent," she added with a small smile.

Her smile, made him smile.

She walked to the end on the bed and poked the sole of his feet.

"Did you feel that?"

"Yes."

She walked over to the table and picked up a chart with pictures.

She pointed to the first image.

"Mr. President, do you know what this is?"

"A ship."

She pointed to something else.

"This?"

"A butterfly."

"What about this?"

"A pebble."

"Okay good."

"Where is my family?"

"Your son was here this morning but he had to leave for summer school, he's been here everyday, he pretty much just listens to music and stares at you." Olivia said with a smile.

"That sounds like Gerry. Do you have a phone, I'd like to call him."

"Sure."

Olivia pulled her cell out and gave it to Fitz. She thought having him remember the phone number and physically dial it was a great way to test his motor skills.

She watched as he dialed the number and gripped the phone in his hand. She jotted down some notes in response.

Fitz put the phone on speaker and placed it in his lap.

"Hello?" Gerry answered.

"Hey Gerry, it's dad."

"Dad, you're awake!" Gerry said excitedly.

"Yea, I woke up not too long ago."

"It's a about time dude. You know how long I've been waiting, oh god I'm so happy."

Fitz chuckled.

"Dad, I'm gonna see if I can get out of school early, I wanna come see you, you know how worried I've been. Are you in pain or anything?"

"Nope, they have me on the good stuff."

Gerry laughed.

"Does mom know you're up, it's weird that she didn't call."

"No, I called you first."

"She left the hospital?"

"Yea, she hasn't been here since I've been up? Was she supposed to be?" Fitz asked.

"She told me she was gonna stay with you but I'm sure she left to go to the white house instead. Her, grandad and uncle Cyrus are out fighting some death match with Sally Langston."

"Is that so?"

"Yea but don't worry, I'll be there as soon as I can. Love you dad."

"Love you too Gere."

"Wait dad, whose phone are you calling me from? I don't recognize the number."

"My doctor's phone."

"You mean the hot doctor with the curly hair? Dad she's so-"

Fitz face flushed red.

"Gerry, I think you're breaking up. I can't really hear you."

"Okay, don't worry. I'll be there soon."

Fitz waited for Gerry to hang up then handed Olivia her phone.

"Sorry about that."

"No worries, he's actually the only pleasant one out of the bunch."

Fitz chuckled.

"Who's a part of the bunch?"

Olivia pretended to think.

"Well, let's see, your wife isn't very pleasant. Your chief of staff threatened to throw me in jail if I didn't stay here and treat you and your guard Tom handcuffed me because he told him too, so let's just say they've left a bitter taste in my mouth."

"Cyrus tried to arrest you."

"He didn't try, he did."

"Wait why?"

"Well after I so flawlessly removed the bullet from your head and saved you from being paralyzed among other less favorable outcomes, I wanted to be on my way to help my actual patient who was waiting for me in New York but he wouldn't let me leave the hospital."

"I'm really sorry, no one should be forced to do anything against their will. I'll speak to Cyrus about this."

"Talking to him isn't going to bring back the 3 year old who is now brain dead because they had to find a last minute replacement doctor who couldn't correctly perform the procedure needed to save her life."

Olivia realized she was being a little harsh.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so harsh. It's not your fault."

"I can understand why you would be. I am really sorry that happened to your patient because of me."

"Hey, I didn't mean to drop all that guilt on you, don't worry about it okay."

She absent mindedly caressed his leg but then she realized what she was going and stopped herself. A little embarrassed by her unprofessional behavior, she quickly excused herself.

"I'll have one of the nurses call the rest of your family and let them know you're awake."

Before she could completely vanish from the room, Fitz spoke.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."

"I'm Olivia, Olivia Pope."

"Thank you, Olivia pope, for saving my life. I can't imagine what I would have done without you."