Disentangling herself from her husband, Andy sat up on the bed and stared at the phone ringing in her hands. Robert looked at her worriedly then glanced at the caller ID. He frowned when he saw numbers instead of a name showing up on the screen. He moved his eyes from the numbers to his wife's face and grew even more concerned when he saw that she looked even paler than before.

"Aren't you going to answer this?" He asked. "Andy?" He added when she did not answer, not even moving a muscle to show that she had heard him. "Babe?" He said another second later, this time placing his hand on her leg, rubbing it gently. This seemed to get her attention because she snapped her head up and locked eyes with him. His heart sank when he saw her eyes brimming with tears. "What is it? Do you know who that was?" He asked in a soft voice.

"I…It's…Hum…" She cleared her voice in an attempt to buy herself a few more seconds to gather her thoughts. "I…Hum…It's a long story." She said slowly.

"Good thing I have time and nowhere to be." He said in a light tone, motioning to the hospital bed they were currently lying in.

"I'm not sure you want to hear that story just yet." She said, looking down at the phone, which had stopped ringing but was now buzzing with incoming texts.

"Why not?" He asked, trying not to feel hurt by her words.

"Because…" She looked back at him. She knew she had to tell him, she owed him that much. She knew she could not lie to him, especially not about that, but the memory of how things had gone the last time she had told him about her family's secrets was still fresh in her mind. She did not want to fight about her mom and her aunt once again. She had promised she would be there to support him, and for some reasons he had allowed her back in, so she did not want to mess things up again.

However, Robert knew his wife like the back of his hand. He knew when she was happy and when she was sad, he knew when she was honest with him and when she was holding back information.

"Come on Andy, it's me." He coaxed gently, his hand still rubbing her leg while the other plucked the phone out of her hands. He moved to place the phone on his small bedside table before focusing back on her. He placed his now free hand on the side of her face, his thumb running soft circles on her cheekbones. "It's me, Robert, your husband. Talk to me, babe." He said, leaning his face close to hers. Since they were sitting side by side, and she was not looking at him, he was mostly nuzzling her hair, trying to at least make her look at him so that he could read into her eyes.

Andy could hear the soft words he was speaking in her ear. She wanted to tell him everything, she needed her husband's support to process all she had learnt when she had met her aunt and her mom, but she also did not want to break her promise again. On the other hand, she knew that he had been perfect, that was why he had been so mad at her when she had left him when he needed her the most. So maybe she owed him that much, maybe she owed him the truth. Taking a deep breath, she shifted on the bed so that she was sitting cross-legged, her back resting against the bedrail. She gathered what little courage she had in her and looked up at her husband, immediately locking eyes with him, hoping it would bring her all the comfort and reassurance she needed.

"I…While they were operating on you, I got a call from Tia Sandra. That's why I left." She looked deep into his eyes and seeing there were no traces of resentment or anger, she kept talking. "She was not alone. I had planned to just ask her what had happened and come straight back to you. I got there and she opened the door and I started asking and that's when she came out."

"Who came out?" Robert asked when Andy stopped talking and made no sign indicating she was going to add anything else.

"My mother." Andy replied in a quiet voice. It was no more than a whisper, and since she had bent her head down to answer, Robert had to lean a little closer to hear.

"Wait what? Your mother?" He asked in disbelief, almost spitting the last word out.

Andy's throat was so tight she did not trust herself to speak. She simply looked up at her husband and nodded slowly.

"But how? I mean…I thought she was dead." He said as he tried to wrap his head around that new piece of information.

"She is…Was…She's not anymore." Andy answered in a dull voice.

"Is that her trying to reach you?" He asked motioning to the phone which had stopped buzzing and was now ringing again.

Andy nodded in answer, staring at the screen of her phone.

"She texted too."

"I saw." He said in a gentle voice. He was still trying to process, but somehow knowing that she had just discovered that her mom was actually alive helped. It did not make everything better, but it certainly helped him understand why she had not come back to the hospital in time. She had spent the last twenty years thinking that her mother was dead, and in the last few weeks she had tried to process the fact that she was an orphan, that her husband was the only family she had left. She could not be alright. He was having a hard time processing the news, so he could only imagine what was going through her mind since yesterday evening. "You should answer that." He said pointing at the ringing phone.

"I'm good." She said curtly.

"Andy…" He sighed. "I can't even imagine what you're thinking right now, but I'm pretty sure you need answers. You've been looking for answers ever since we started going through your dad's stuff. We've been fighting over that whole situation, over you digging into your family's past."

"I know. I know you've been trying to help me through this and…"

"We talked about that yesterday." He cut her off. "We said we needed to work through this. You're here, that's the first step. You didn't fly away the moment the phone rang, now please let me do my thing. I said I would support you, and that's what I intend to do. Let me be there for you." He said in a soft yet firm voice.

They looked at each other for a minute. Andy could barely contain her tears by now. She was tired of this mess.

"Alright. You're right." She told her husband. "Let's try and be better at all this marriage thing."

She moved to lay beside him once again. He immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulders and puller her closer to him. She rested her head against his shoulder and looked at the now quiet phone.

"Open the texts first." Robert said softly. She had not said a word, but he could literally hear the wheels turning in her head.

Andy nodded and unlocked her phone. Robert smiled when he saw that the picture of herself and Ryan on the lock screen turned to a picture of themselves, with her dad. It was one that had been taken on their wedding day. He did not know that she had changed her picture, he was pleasantly surprised. He moved his eyes from the phone to his wife's face. She looked stressed and even more tired than the last time he had seen her. The arm he had previously wrapped around her shoulders had slid down so that his hand was now resting on her midsection.

"Nice picture." He said with a smile, absentmindedly rubbing her belly. "So, what about those…" He was interrupted by the now familiar ringtone. "Answer it." He gently coaxed her.

Andy looked into his eyes as she pressed on the green button.

"Hello." She said in a wavering voice. "Yes, no I can't right now." She said, her eyes still fixed on her husband's. "I can't because my family needs me…No, you haven't been in my life for a long time. I built a life for myself." She continued, blindly reaching for Robert's hand, squeezing it tightly when she found it. She waited until the person on the other side was done talking. "Just…Hold on a minute." She pulled the phone away from her ear and covered the speaker with her hand.

"What's happening?" Robert asked since he had only heard bits and pieces of the conversation, not enough to understand.

"She wants to meet again."

"Alright…" He said trying to read her. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't want to leave you." Andy replied immediately.

"Except we're talking now, you can go and figure things out there. I only wish I could come with you."

"I don't want to face them alone. Not again." Andy stated firmly.

"Then I guess they will just have to come here then." He replied.

"What? Wait…No…You need to rest." She said, her voice breaking a little at the end.

"If they come here, I will still be resting though." He said, giving her a pointed look. "And I would be resting more if you were there with me to face them. If you go and see them at their hotel or at the coffee shop, then you'll be all alone over there, and I would be driving myself crazy with worry over here." He explained.

"You…" She sighed and looked sweetly at him. "Alright, you've got a point."

She put the phone back to her hear, reaching once again for her husband's hand, squeezing it tightly.

"Alright, if you want us to meet, then you will have to come to the hospital." She said in a strong firm voice. "No, that's not up for discussion. I'll text you the address." She said before hanging up. She let out a big sigh, letting her head fall back on her husband's shoulder.

"Are they coming?" He asked, pressing a kiss on top of her head.

"Yes. I have to text them the name of the hospital." She said. "I'm not sure how I feel about all that." She said after a few minutes of silence.

"We'll cross the bridges together, one at a time. Don't worry." He said in a reassuring tone.

Andy shifted her head on his shoulder so that she could get a better view at his face. Her heart melted when she saw the pure look of love on his face. That look only made her lean closer so that she could kiss his lips.

"I love you." She whispered when she pulled back.

"I love you too."

"Are you still mad?" She asked, her eyes never leaving his.

"A little. But you telling me about your mother, you not leaving my side the moment the phone rang, it helps." He said, leaning in to kiss the tip of her nose. "We'll get through this, I promise. I'm still a little mad at how you handled things, and how I handled things, but I believe in our love."

"I do too." She smiled, leaning in to steal another sweet kiss before snuggling against his side. "For the record, I really am so sorry." She added.

"I know. I am too." He pressed a kiss on the top of her head, physically putting an end to that conversation.

They enjoyed the comfortable silence in the room until Andy yawned.

"You should sleep."

"No. The girls should be back soon. They've been gone a while now."

"About thirty minutes, I think. Give or take."

"It seems longer." She said with a yawn, cuddling even closer to her husband.

"Close your eyes. Try to sleep a little." He said, holding her tight against him. He laughed a little when he felt her gentle nod. At least, this time, she was not fighting him. It felt nice to have her listen to him for once, he thought as he closed his eyes, resting his head on top of hers.

Back in the cafeteria, Vic and Maya were finishing their coffees.

"Aargh…I'm so tired." Hughes groaned. She pushed her cup to the middle of the table and let her head fall on her folded arms. "I could sleep right here."

"I kinda am too." Bishop agreed. She had one arm on the table, her head propped on her head, while her other hand was holding the coffee cup in place. At this point, she felt like her hand was the only thing holding her head up.

"How long has it been? Maybe we should go check up on them." Vic said, her voice muffled by her arms.

"It's been at least thirty minutes, I think?"

"Don't ask me! My brain is fried. It needs to sleep."

"Well, maybe we should go check up on them then. See if we can go home and sleep till tomorrow or if we need to take Andy with us." Maya stated, downing the rest of her coffee before getting up.

"That's what I just said." Hughes groaned as she forced herself to her feet.

They walked slowly to the elevators. They stepped into the cabin and were surprised to find it already occupied. In the last few hours, they had used it way too many times to count, but they were pretty sure they had not seen so many persons.

"Oh, hi again." Said one of the doctors.

"Hi." Vic and Maya answered simultaneously.

"I'm Meredith. Grey. We met earlier." She clarified, noticing the confused looks on both women's faces.

"Oh, right, right." Maya said.

"How is Herrera doing? Really?" She asked right away.

"She's fine. They're working things out right now." Vic replied.

"We're actually on our way to check on them." Maya added.

"Good." Meredith said with a smile.

As soon as the words left Grey's mouth, the doors opened. Hughes and Bishop wished a good of the day to Meredith before exiting the elevator. They walked down the now almost familiar corridor. When they got to the room, Maya moved to go in first, but stopped dead in her tracks, making Vic bump slightly into her.

"Hey! Why did you…" She started to say while looking over her friend's shoulder to find the reason why they had collided. "Oh…" She said in realization.

They both smiled at the view in front of them. They knew Captain Robert Sullivan, Battalion Chief Robert Sullivan, and they knew he had become Mr. Andy Herrera, but apart from the night before, they had barely ever seen that husband side of him. So, the sight of their chief lying in a hospital bed with his wife cuddled up next to him while he was holding her tight and resting his head on top of hers, was both sweet and weird to them.

"I never thought we'd get to witness that. I mean, yesterday was enough witnessing." Maya half whispered.

"This creeps me out a bit." Vic whispered back. "That's our boss and our best friends."

"And they're married." Maya said in a flat tone.

"Right…Still not used to it." Vic replied dryly. "What should we do? Should we wake them? Or leave without Andy? Maybe we'll leave without her anyway…"

"Or you could come in." A voice interrupted, which made both women snap their head up in direction of the bed.

"Oh, we don't want to intrude." Vic stammered.

"I told you earlier you could stay, and I meant it." The person said pointedly.

Hughes and Maya looked at each other before deciding to enter the room. They stood awkwardly at the end of the bed.

"I'd like to let her sleep some more. She fell asleep only a few minutes ago." Robert explained in a quiet so as not to wake the sleeping woman beside him.

"It's ok. Do you need us to drive her back home?" Maya asked.

"If it's possible. I don't want to force you to look out for her…I'd do it but…"

"It's alright chief, we'll take care of her." Vic cut him off.

"Thanks." He smiled.

An awkward silence soon surrounded them. None of them felt comfortable in that situation. Robert felt a little self-conscious about the fact that his colleagues were seeing him at his worse. Hughes and Bishop felt just as weird. They were used to strong and stern Battalion Chief, not cuddly Robert.

"Hmm…How are you doing today sir?" Maya finally dared to break the heavy silence.

"I'm good thanks."

Maya's bravery seemed to work because soon enough, they were more or less casually talking about the chief's operation and how things had been going at the station during his leave.