Chapter Nine

There was so much chatter from the McCord family that Russell Jackson wanted to throw all of them off the plane. While he understood their excitement, it was getting rather annoying. None of them had shut up since he'd walked into the room at the White House to inform them Elizabeth's rescue was in progress.

"But Mom's alive, so you were totally wrong," Alison argued.

"Being alive and being alive for now are different things," Jason retorted.

"Well, I believe in Mom and I know she's going to be okay."

Jason was still going with the cynical view he considered safer since they hadn't heard any details about their mom's condition and was about to argue further. Russell slammed his hand down on the table and turned to glare at the family.

"I get it. The Secretary survived. Hurray. Now will you stop celebrating so I can get some work done?"

Alison was the only member of the family that looked chastised. Jason simply rolled his eyes, and Stevie watched Russell calmly. She'd had enough experience facing down her mother's looks to easily face Russell's. Stevie was about to try and shut Russell down herself when Henry stepped in.

"Alright, guys, let's try and tone it down a little."

It was Stevie's turn to roll her eyes, but she did settle back in her chair without argument. Russell nodded to Henry after silence filled the cabin. Henry smiled softly. Given Russell was getting the whole family to Elizabeth, Henry was more than happy to do what he asked.

The silence didn't last very long though. After hours of wondering if their mother was dead, the excitement of knowing she was alive was too much. Chatter and laughter began filling the cabin again. Russell was considering whether he should bother shutting them down a second time when the in-flight phone rang. The kids didn't pay any attention as Russell headed across the cabin to the phone, but Henry was watching his every move. A phone call mid-flight could only be about serious news related to the rescue. The look on Russell's face drew Henry out of his seat. Moving as calmly as he could so he wouldn't alert his children, Henry headed for Russell. He didn't even need to ask.

"Change of plans," Russell explained as he leaned in close to Henry. "We're detouring to a French hospital on the border. Elizabeth's in emergency surgery there."

Henry's mind stumbled over those words. He'd thought the worst of the terror was over, but he'd been wrong. Getting Elizabeth back and then losing her would be too much.

"Emergency surgery?"

"Brain surgery apparently. I have to go let our pilot know."

He brushed past Henry, leaving him to process on his own. Russell had said brain surgery so nonchalantly, but it sounded like a huge deal to Henry. How it couldn't be a big deal, he didn't know. Anything could go wrong when someone messed around in the brain. There was nothing he could do for her though, and he couldn't get to her any faster. All he could do now was pray she'd survive the surgery and maybe hope she was already in recovery when they arrived. It would be easier that way.

Henry took a moment to school his expression before he headed back to his children. It was good enough to get past Alison and Jason, but Stevie was too perceptive. Thankfully she knew the importance of being subtle to protect her siblings. She shifted over to sit down next to her father.

"What's going on?" she asked quietly as she kept a close eye on her siblings.

Henry and Elizabeth had long ago stopped hiding or sugar coating situations with Stevie, and there was no point in starting again now. She was old enough. More importantly, she'd proved her worth so far.

"Mom's in surgery at a different hospital. We're going there instead."

Stevie considered that but didn't understand what was making her father so nervous. Surgery wasn't great news, but it didn't necessarily mean her mom had a life threatening injury.

"Dad?"

Henry's jaw clenched, and it was clear he was fighting not to cry. It absolutely shocked Stevie. She knew then that something was definitely wrong. Whatever surgery her mom was facing, it wasn't minor.

"Why don't you take a break, Dad? Mom's going to be okay. She's going to be okay."

Henry nodded to his oldest daughter and once again left her in charge. If everything went south she might never be stepping down from that role.

O . o . O . o . O

The noise in the hospital room was the exact opposite of what it had been on the plane. They had more people in the room than they should have thanks to Russell pulling some strings, but even so it was near silent. Henry almost wished Russell hadn't pulled those strings. His children had gotten an eyeful already. Even unconscious Elizabeth was a scary sight. Her head was bound in thick white bandages from the surgery, which was the worst part, but she had other minor injuries too. The cold had left a mark. Her face had red splotches still, and her fingers were wrapped due to frostbite. While it wasn't visible, she had also suffered broken ribs. Physically she was a mess. Mentally there were questions too. Elizabeth had regained consciousness three times since they'd arrived, but true consciousness might have been a stretch. She hadn't been aware any time. That was the biggest cause of Henry's questions about having his children in the room. Even though he'd been expecting some mental instability from Elizabeth, what he'd seen had unsettled him. There was no doubt it had unsettled his children. Henry couldn't have kept them away though. They wanted to be with their mother, and they were all keeping their hopes up.

The truth was they'd been lucky. Those words didn't even cover it really. All of the bad luck in the world must have been used up when the plane's engine had failed and it had crashed because fate or luck or whatever had been shining on Elizabeth since then. The brain bleed had been small. Even so, she'd gotten into surgery just in time. Hopefully that luck was still with her and she would recover fully.

Henry ran his thumb along Elizabeth's arm and watched her closely. For as sick as she looked, there was some peace in her face too.

"I still don't understand why we can't use our phones," Jason moaned.

"Because we're in the ICU, nerd," Stevie explained again.

They'd been over this more than once already, so Jason saw no point in continuing to argue. Besides, it wasn't like he didn't understand the reason. He did. He just didn't like it.

"Why do you want to use your phone so badly anyway?" Alison asked.

"Research."

Jason had bowed his head and mumbled the answer, not wanting to reveal how worried he actually was. There was no point in trying to hide it though. His siblings already knew. Stevie reached over and rubbed Jason's back.

"It's probably better you can't. It might scare you."

"Yeah, because that's more reassuring than anything I would find."

"That statistics probably aren't, but would you ever bet against Mom?"

Jason snorted. It was one of the stupidest questions he'd ever heard.

"Yeah right. That's just asking to lose."

Stevie grinned. She'd known that would be his answer. Like he'd said, it couldn't possibly be anything else.

"See? You're just going to have to trust that."

That drew a tiny smile from Henry. Stevie had been fantastic so far. She was keeping her siblings' spirits up as much as possible and hadn't given up once.

When Henry turned back to his wife he found her watching him. Immediately his heart soared. Her eyes were clear, though tired. That didn't mean she would have mental clarity though. He wanted to hope, but she was still just staring at him in silence.

"Babe?"

"I'm dreaming, aren't I? Have to be…"

The smile that split Henry's face actually hurt. That was the clearest part of a conversation he'd heard from her. Maybe, just maybe, she was going to come out of this accident alright.

"You aren't dreaming, babe. We're right here."

"We…"

She started to turn her head to see who "we" was, but Henry stopped her.

"Don't move your head."

"Why?"

That thought was quickly discarded as she saw her children gather nearby. They were grinning at her and nearly lit up in their excitement.

"Hey… my babies."

"Mom!"

"You're okay!"

They were so excited to see their mom awake and coherent that they forgot they were in the ICU and that Elizabeth had just had brain surgery. As fantastic as this was, they were going to need to reel in their excitement a bit. If they didn't their mother would be the one to pay for it.

"Easy guys," Henry warned.

They immediately lowered their voices, remembering once more that their mom had a head injury. The need to be quiet didn't dampen their happiness whatsoever. All three kids were beaming, though Alison was crying too. Now that Elizabeth was awake all of the kids' concerns had gone out the window.

"Thank goodness you're okay," Alison sniffled.

"I'm okay, baby."

Elizabeth tried to reach out and brush her daughter's tears away, but it was too hard. She only had the energy to get her fingers off the bed. Jason, surprisingly, was the only one to notice. He lifted his mother's hand off the bed and cradled it gently between his own.

"You aren't in pain?"

"No, Noodle."

Pain definitely wasn't a problem. The medication was handling that very well, but it was making her even more tired and muddled than she already was.

"Babe?"

Elizabeth took a long time to respond to Henry. She didn't want to take her eyes off her children, but eventually she pulled them away. As much as she loved looking at her children, it didn't take long for her to get sucked into Henry's eyes. Her husband could make everything better. When he stroked his thumb along her cheek, her eyes fluttered closed. It wasn't the best move if Henry wanted to talk to her.

"Babe."

"Hmm."

"Come on, babe."

Slowly her eyes opened and focused on him again. Henry could tell she was fading. Before long the medication would win and she would fall back asleep.

"What do you remember, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth's forehead wrinkled as she considered that. Most of what she remembered was fuzzy at best. It all had such a dream-like quality that she really wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't.

"It's alright, babe," Henry assured, assuming she didn't remember anything and was frustrated by it. "Not remembering anything is normal after what you've been though."

"No… I remember some." Not very much, but at least enough for an answer. "Cold, pain, someone singing…"

A smile flickered across Elizabeth's face as she met Henry's eyes.

"The singing could… all be in my head… though."

She was drifting away so fast that she couldn't even get the words out all in one go. Henry laughed softly and kissed her forehead with a feather light touch.

"Don't worry about it. You just get some rest so you can heal."

"Don't… go."

"Not going anywhere. Now sleep."

He hadn't even finished the sentence before Elizabeth's eyes had closed and she'd settled into sleep. It was a sleep she would definitely wake up from. Once she did they would know more about the repercussions of Elizabeth's injuries. Whatever they were though, Henry knew she would find a way to overcome them. That was just what Elizabeth did. Very few things out there could beat his wife, and this definitely wasn't one of them.

"Dad?" Alison asked. "Mom's going to be okay, right?"

Henry beamed and this time was able to answer Alison with complete confidence.

"Yes, baby. She's going to be okay."

It might take some time to recover completely, but she would come back better than ever. Her family and her country needed her. Elizabeth wasn't going to let them down.