Please review!

James reached the door to Doug's hospital room, hearing him talking to a nurse inside. "Where is James? I need to see her and make sure she's okay. I know she's here." He grunted out in pain, sounding like he was trying to get out of the bed.

The nurse stopped him though. "Mr. Stamper, you need to stay in this bed. We have informed the first family that you have asked for them. They will be here as soon as they can I'm sure."

"I hope now is a good time." James said as she entered the room. The nurse looked relieved to see her, but she felt like a a weight had dropped against her stomach. The only light on was behind Doug, probably to help with his concussion. A large bandage covered the right side of his forehead where the gun had hit him, and his eyes were dark and sunken in almost as if he hadn't slept in days.

"Make sure he doesn't get out of that bed. He's been trying to since he woke up." The nurse directed as she tidied up her things and headed towards the door, passing James and agent Evers standing just outside. "Call if you need anything, Mr. Stamper."

James let the door close before turning back to Doug, almost afraid she'd hurt him further by getting closer. "You look like hell."

Doug smiled, dropping his head back against his pillow. "Your bedside manner has taken a hit as well." He reached out his arm, his fingers itching to touch her. "I won't bite. I promise. It looks worse than it actually is."

"You were shot. I don't think it could've been worse." James breathed before taking his hand into hers and squeezing it. "How are you feeling? The doctor said you had a concussion, that you needed physical therapy for the leg."

"I'm fine. I'll be good as new in a month or two. But, I feel like I'm the one who got off lucky." Doug let go of her hand and cupped the side of her face. James closed her eyes when his thumb stroked over her cheekbone. "What did he do?"

James opened her eyes to meet his, thinking about Garrett's hand on her upper thigh before fighting against him for the gun. She thought about kneeling on the floor by Garrett's feet when her parents walked in, seeing the shock on their faces at what had transpired in just a few short minutes. Then to kneeling by Brighton's feet with Claire beside her, watching the chaos unfold. "He shot Daddy. He's out of surgery, but we don't know if he's going to be okay yet."

"One of the agents told me when I woke up." Doug whispered before brushing her hair back behind her ear. "What did he do to you?"

"Nothing." James shook her head. "He tried, but Mom stopped him. The moment he pulled the gun away, I fought him. She killed Brighton and shot Garrett. We haven't heard if he's still alive though."

Doug pulled her down by the wrist to sit next to him. "If he's alive, I'll take care of it."

James rested her hand on his chest. "I don't want to talk about him. I'm just happy you're awake. They wouldn't let me come in and see you because I wasn't family. The doctor even mentioned that Gary would have to give us permission to visit you if you didn't wake before then."

"Yeah, Gary is on his way." Doug sighed. "I'll make you family one day. You'll be the most important family. Officially, that is." He frowned when she smiled, the light not reaching her eyes. "What's going on? Tell me what's wrong."

She resisted the urge to rest a hand over her flat stomach. As much as she wanted to talk to Doug about the possibility of her being pregnant, she knew the stress of waiting for the answer would prolong his recovery. "I'm just worried about Daddy. I'm sure Mom is going to fall apart the moment she's alone. She's been holding things together for me, and I know waiting to hear about him is probably killing her. We aren't people who like to wait idly."

"I've noticed." Doug smirked before they heard a knock on the door. It opened to reveal Claire with a hospital gift shop bag in her hand. She smiled in at the two of them, and Doug felt slight relief seeing that her anger towards him since finding out about Rachel seemed to be set aside for the time being. "Look at that. You and your mom match."

"We had some help with that." Claire winked at James before closing the door and approaching them, setting the gift bag aside on the visitor's chair. "What did the doctor tell you? He mentioned a concussion and physical therapy to us."

Doug glanced down at his leg, covered with a bandage and his blankets. "Yeah, they're going to keep me up for a while for the concussion. After I get some rest, they'll have me start walking around. I guess the gun shot didn't damage much other than some tissue." He looked back up at Claire. "Nothing on Frank?"

Claire shook her head, pursing her lips together. "They said he's doing well so far, but they can't determine the full extent of internal damage until twenty-four hours. So, we'll know tomorrow morning. I guess we can go see him now if we want, but he's not lucid with the pain meds."

"You guys can go see him if you want. You can always come back later. I'm sure you just want to see him after everything." Doug said, squeezing James's hand gently. "The nurse needs to do some more exams with me. She probably just wanted a break from me when James walked in."

James chuckled with a shake of her head. "Take it easy on her. She was practically lifting you back into bed."

Claire smiled, resting her hand on James's shoulder. "Well, we'll let her finish up with you then. I just need to use the restroom before we go to Francis's room. Did you need anything before we go, Doug?"

"Something to keep me awake. Nurse said I can't look at a bright screen or read anything." Doug shrugged before glancing at the gift bag and back to James teasingly. "Did you get me anything?"

"I'll be right out." Claire stated quickly, leaving her daughter to deal with the situation the way she wanted. She turned to the bathroom off Doug's room and closed the door behind her. Her desire to empty her bladder was halted by her curiosity seeing a box with Doug's name on it sitting by the sink. Slowly looking over the edge, she saw that it was Doug's belongings that were taken off of him on arrival. His phone, wallet, tie, belt, but her heart dropped to her stomach when she saw a small velvet box. It didn't seem all that long ago when she was faced with a similar box from Francis.

"Francis," twenty-two year old Claire Hale laughed as she watched her boyfriend look around him like a kid in a candy store instead of the twenty-seven year old he was. The moment he had finished his last final, he showed up at her apartment with two train tickets and a suitcase. They fled from Harvard to D.C. like Bonnie and Clyde, ready for the freedom of summer and to explore the city they knew one day would be theirs. "Shouldn't we head back to the hotel? We've walked around nearly three times."

Francis raised his arms to his sides as if revealing his latest work. "It's history, Claire. All right here."

Claire grinned when his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her close. "We could come back during the day."

"Too many people here." Francis shook his head before taking her hand into his and tugging her forward with him. "I want to show you something." He started running with her, making her laugh as they climbed the stairs up to the Lincoln Memorial. He chuckled with her as he stopped them halfway up the last set of stairs, close enough to the light but still somewhat secluded in the darkness. "Here's a good spot. Sit with me."

"Here? We're almost to the top." Claire questioned even as she sat down. She turned slightly when Francis sat down a step below her, turned to face her as well. She brushed his hair away from his forehead, smiling at the gleam in his eyes. "You're going to do amazing things here someday, Francis."

Francis smiled up at her, taking her left hand into his. "What do you want to do?"

Claire shrugged, glancing around the Mall. It felt like they were the only two there with no one else in sight of them. "I want to help the world in the ways that I can. I want to make a difference, even if it's not political. I want to leave the world better than how I found it."

"Do you think I could help with that?" Francis asked, his thumb now stroking the back of her hand. "Do I fit in there somewhere?"

"I suppose you could." Claire smirked, a blush creeping in her cheeks as she looked down. Her eyes moved back to his quickly though. She loved seeing him this way without the stresses of work or school. It was their moment. "What do you want to do? Do you think I'd fit there?"

Francis blushed himself, glancing down at their joined hands. "I want to be better than what's expected of me. If the Presidency is in the cards for me. . .it will be in the cards for me. I want to conquer Washington. And, I want you beside me." He met her blue eyes again, a new determination in his. "Claire, if all you want is happiness, say no. I'm not going to give you a couple of kids and count the days until retirement. I promise you freedom from that. I promise you'll never be bored."

His fingers slipped from hers and Claire looked down to find a silver band of diamonds on her finger. It seemed to radiate on her finger with the light from the memorial behind them, and she had never felt more like someone's equal than she did in that moment. He was the most important person to her, and she was his. Leaning down, she pressed her lips to his, only pulling back to rest her forehead against his. "I love you, Francis."

"And, I love you, Claire." Francis breathed before kissing her nose.

Claire debated only for a moment before reaching inside to examine the blue item in her palm. With a flick of her fingers, her suspicions were confirmed. The simple but elegant diamond sat inside on a silver band. If she had seen it anywhere else, she would've been impressed by the classic ring, but, despite its beauty, it was something that made things more complicated in this moment. Once things had settled or ended with Francis, she needed to talk to Doug.

Please review! I know it's been a while since I've had Francis in the story, so I hope this flash back helps with some of the Underwood relationship you've all been asking for.