Henry pressed a kiss to the top of Elizabeth's head. They were on a bench in the hall of a hospital, he was turned to the side so she could sit between his legs, wrapped in his arms. "It's going to be okay."

"It's my fault."

He hugged her tight. "No. It's not, Babe."

"He shouldn't have been in the car." He heard the pain in her voice. "It was totally selfish to ask him to come meet me; I knew he'd never say no. Now he's in the hospital because I didn't want to spend the afternoon on my own."

"Hey. You couldn't have predicted this."

This had been a large truck missing a light and plowing into the path of the SUV, thankfully at a low enough speed to not cause instant death. Elizabeth had been standing outside the hotel and watched it happen, rushing to the scene as her detail tried to stop her. It would forever be imprinted in her mind the sight of Blake limply propped, only held upright by the belt. His body loose and limp in a way he never would have allowed normally.

"I keep seeing him." A tear broke free. "What if that had been the last time I ever saw him?"

"Here." Henry pulled out his own phone. "Think of him like this, do you remember?" The pictures were from a trip the family had taken last summer to the beach. Blake had ended up dragged into the surf, still dressed, by the kids, which had sent Elizabeth into peals of laughter. "You were laughing so hard you couldn't breathe." He smiled.

"He almost didn't come with us. Said he didn't want to intrude on a family vacation."

"Yeah, it took all of us to convince him he should come."

"He is part of our family." She agreed, thumbing the pictures. As she swiped through them, pictures of the kids mostly, and her reading or doing something else, distracted, she stopped on one. "When was this?"

Henry thought back. "After the Togo state dinner. It'd been a long day."

"It had." She studied the picture. "Why'd you take it?" She remembered now which couch it was, tucked away in the White House. She'd been exhausted, clearly. Blake was seated in the corner of an antique style sofa, feet up on a table and his head tossed back in what looked like it had to have been an uncomfortable position. Her shoes were kicked off, feet curled under her. She was asleep too, her head on his shoulder as his arm wrapped around her.

"I don't know. You looked peaceful. All the other pictures I have of you, you're so busy."

She passed him the phone back. "He takes his job looking after me seriously."

"It's more than that, Babe." She twisted to give him a curious look. "Do you remember after Iran? Right after?" He felt her nod. "Blake spent the night after he brought you home."

"I remember that, sort of. He met me at the hospital."

"No." He pressed another kiss into her hair. "He met you on the plane, he carried you to the ambulance when you passed out."

"How do you know that?"

"He told me. We talked constantly in those days and weeks after." He drew a breath. "He was taking it hard. You'd essentially told he and I that you'd accepted you might die, and then you nearly did. When you came home, you had nightmares, even with the meds you were on. Part of the next day I- I didn't know what else to do. I wanted to just stare at you forever so you couldn't vanish and when I looked at him, I could see the same thing in his eyes." He paused a second before carrying on. "Part of the following day, we simply sat on the bed on either side of you. You calmed, there between us, and everything was still."

"I didn't know."

"I know. But I sat there, and I just took us all in. He was at your back, just…there. I started to worry that the two of you were forming some emotional bond that would come between us. He and I did talk, before and then later. I am glad he's part of our family."

"I… I don't know what to say." She pushed up, turning so she could see his face. "Why are you telling me now?"

"I- I guess I wanted you to know that you don't have to be afraid to tell me you care for him. You asked him to come because you enjoy having him with you. He went because he wanted to. This isn't your fault."

When he tugged, she settled back into him. "He's not a replacement for you."

"I know." The doctor appeared in the hall.

"For Blake Moran?"

"Yes." Henry helped Elizabeth stand and then he stood beside her.

"Mister Moran will be okay. I was told he was in a reinforced vehicle?" The doctor looked up for a nod. "Good thing, because while he'll be in pain for some time, he'll recover. The worst injuries are severe whiplash and a concussion related to the sharp jar of the impact. And then he has some bruising from the seat belt. All in all, after physical therapy and monitoring, he'll bounce back in time."

"Thank you." Henry responded.

"Can we see him?"

The doctor gave a soft attempt at a smile and nodded. "This way."

He looked asleep in the bed, but when she gasped at the sight of him, his eyes fluttered open. "Ma'am." He attempted a smile.

"Oh, Blake." The tears started full force finally. "I'm so glad you're okay." She rushed to the bedside and took his hand. "I was so worried."

"I'll be good as new in no time." He winced when he tried to shift positions. "How bad is it?"

"It'll start hitting you tomorrow." Henry pulled a chair up and sat. "Whiplash, bruises, things that will hurt for a while."

"That explains it. Even my heartbeat is making by chest hurt."

"As things subside, I'm sure they'll want more x-rays to check disks in your spine. That and the concussion will take a while to heal. All in all, the SUV did its job, the next few months will be painful, but you'll live."

Elizabeth carded his hair. "I'm so glad you're okay, Sweetie." Blake could see how wet her eyes were and glanced at Henry.

"Babe." Henry broke her focus. "Why don't you go update the others? I'll stay right here with him."

She nodded and sniffled wetly. "Yeah. I'll be right back." She gave his hand a squeeze before stepping out.

Henry sighed. "She's officially in mom-mode, it's best to not fight it, just ride it out."

"I understand." He swallowed hard. "It's nice actually. Waking up in a hospital all alone isn't all that fun."

He frowned. "I can imagine." He waited, he knew if he stayed quiet, eventually Blake would open up.

"I broke my leg in high school. I'd been out with friends and fell off something. My parents weren't thrilled with the people I was with for… a few reasons, and so they never came to check on me. Later, my mother said she would've, but my father didn't want her to, he wanted me to learn my lesson about my choices."

"I'm sorry."

Blake attempted to shift in the bed to find a more comfortable position. "I think it was the first clue that I was going to have to hack it on my own. I couldn't change the things they hated, and they weren't really willing to stop hating it."

"It wasn't fair of them to ask you to ignore such a fundamental fact about yourself." Blake looked up and saw understanding in Henry's eyes. "When the kids were all small, I used to worry, because of how I was raised, about how I would react if one of my kids came to me and told me a fundamental truth about themselves."

He wondered when Elizabeth had told him. "Well, I think you did okay." He was interrupted from having to say more by her reentering the room. "Everyone up to speed?"

"I only spoke to Nadine; she's going to pass it along. She said to tell you if you wanted time off, you only had to ask." She teased, taking a seat on his bed. "How are you really feeling, Blake?"

"Tired." He answered honestly. "But I don't want you guys to leave."

"We'll stay, I promise." Henry assured him. "Hopefully, they'll be done looking over you soon."

Blake hadn't even realized he'd drifted off until he startled awake to find only Henry at his bedside. He grunted when a wave of pain washed over him, making the older man look up from his phone.

Henry waited for the pain to ease. "Liz had to step out. She didn't want to, but duty called. Thankfully, I do not have her job and I get to stay right here." He smiled. "So, the doctor says you get to go home in a few hours. I have to give you a heads up, that will mean our home."

He huffed and started to object but Henry put a hand up to stop him.

"Trust me, she's set on that. She wants to mother you, accept it."

"Okay." He looked around the room. "I swore I heard her." He glanced back at Henry. "After the crash."

"It was almost in front of the hotel, she was outside waiting on you and saw it happen. Keith had to chase after her. You probably did hear her."

He considered that a minute. "I thought I was just losing it, dying. Like one of those life flashing before your eyes things, but only sound."

"I wanted to let you know, I know we never discussed it, but while we were waiting to hear how you were doing, I told her about after Iran. She was carrying the weight of you getting hurt and I just wanted her to understand that I wasn't upset that she was so upset I guess."

Blake blinked. "I- I guess I figured you told her years ago."

Blake screwed his eyes shut as the SUV carried them toward Georgetown. Henry was in the very back row and Elizabeth was beside him, a bag they'd packed already from his apartment in her lap. Every muscle in his body hurt, especially in his head and neck, even thinking of having to turn his head was excruciating.

"A few more miles and it'll be over." Elizabeth's voice was soft, compassionate. "Hang in there."

He tried to give her a smile, but it came out more a grimace.

Soon enough though the SUV turned down the right street and pulled to a stop. "Let Henry and Joe help you." She ordered as she got out so Henry could follow. "How does settling on the couch sound for now? We have plenty of pillows."

"Plenty." Henry reinforced with a chuckle.

"And you can watch TV if it doesn't hurt your head too much."

Blake didn't even try to answer until he was deposited on the couch. "Do you have to go in?" She'd spent hours of her day waiting at the hospital, even with the time she stepped out, he knew he schedule like the back of his hand and knew there was work she'd missed.

She sat on the wood table in front of the couch. "I told them I'm taking the day; you're going to need extra help for a week at least. I've been in a car accident before, I'm aware of just how terrible the pain is at first." She studied him a second. "Do you need anything before I run upstairs?"

"No. I'm good right here." Finding the least painful position to lay in, he did his best to close his eyes. Elsewhere in the house he could hear murmurs as Henry and Elizabeth spoke, the soft sounds of feet on the stairs, the fridge opening and closing. All normal sounds of not being alone. It made him feel warm and content as he allowed sleep to take over.

Somewhere as he floated in and out of dream states, he thought he smelled her perfume as she came into the room, a soft touch of someone brushing his hair back, the feel of a kiss to his crown. He didn't surface enough to question it.

Later, when the McCord kids were home, Blake did his best to sit upright and engage slightly. From his spot, he could hear Stevie and Ali making dinner and Jason complaining about a teacher, all the while Elizabeth was carrying on conversations with them all. After dinner was eaten and Henry was home, The kids piled around him carefully, leaving space at the other end of the couch for Elizabeth and a massive bowl of popcorn, Henry on the floor in front of her and they watched a movie. The screen made his head swim, so he closed his eyes to block it out. He didn't want them to leave just yet, so he kept quiet. Halfway through the movie, he felt a touch on his shoulder and did his best to turn to see, Elizabeth was watching him, concern filling her eyes.

Blake woke the following morning to the sounds of a family getting ready for their day. He could smell coffee and eggs wafting up as he listened to the kids bickering and gathering their things. He stayed there, content, until movement at the doorway drew his attention. Elizabeth was watching him, dressed for work.

"Morning. I was wondering when you would wake up."

He cleared his throat. "What time is it?"

"Almost eight. Stevie just left, Henry's walking out now with the other two. I'm not leaving for another half hour, I had Nadine rearrange a few things for today." She entered the room. "At the moment I can't cut out until at least four, so you're going to be on your own most of the day. Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine."

"Okay. I'm going to bring a drink and some breakfast up before I go. Try to take it easy, the next few days will be the worst. Also, we need to get you a follow up with a doctor about therapy, is there anywhere specific you want me to call?"

"I'm not really sure where to start."

She nodded. "I'll make a list." She gave him a soft smile, leaning forward to brush back the hair that had fallen over his forehead. "Just relax today, if you need anything, call me. We'll figure it out."

Forty-five minutes later, Blake realized he had the next nine hours to kill on his own.

Blake spent the morning simply laying as still as he could in the bed, every movement set off ripples of pain from his skull down past his lower back. Gingerly, he'd worked on the juice and toast Elizabeth'd delivered before she'd left. Eventually, he accepted he'd have to get out of bed and use the bathroom, gritting his teeth as he attempted to cross the hall. Once there, he decided that since he was up, he might as well attempt to clean up a bit and undressed, getting his first look at himself in the mirror. His left shoulder and chest were covered in angry looking bruises, glancing down, he found similar bruises on his hips. Seatbelts save lives, but they hurt like hell, he thought to himself. Breathing through the persistent pain, he turned on the water and found a towel before stepping in and doing his best to wash up. Once, he slipped, jerking to steady himself, which he was successful at, but it only caused him to cry out in pain. Finally, he got out and dried and found some fresh clothes.

Wandering downstairs, he spotted his medicine on the island along with a note in Elizabeth's quick handwriting- Call me when you're up. Looking around, he found his phone plugged in in the corner as he wondered how much of her schedule for the day had changed. Taking a chance, he settled one the soft sofa in the den and pressed speed dial on his phone.

On the second ring, she picked up. "Blake, how are you?"

"Alive. I'm not interrupting anything, am I? I didn't know how much of your day got changed around."

"It was nothing." She brushed off. "Did you get anymore sleep?"

"Yeah." He tried to work out what she meant by that first part, but it made his head ache. "I'm honestly not used to sitting around doing nothing all day."

"I know. I sat down with Nadine earlier after the staff meeting and we've lightened my load for the rest of the week. I'll still have to come and go, but you won't be alone as much. Also, I got that list of doctors together, so tonight you can pick someone."

"I appreciate that. What did you mean 'it was nothing', you didn't walk out of a meeting, did you?"

She sighed. "Blake. Fine, I was in Dalton's office with the other advisors, but I'd already briefed him, and he knew I was expecting your call. Now, I can tell you haven't taken any pain medicine, so go do that and eat, Henry's going to try and beat me home."

"Yeah, okay." They ended that call and he sank back, wondering at how he'd gotten so lucky.