Hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review and let me know your thoughts. They keep me going. I have plans for this and ideas for future scenes so hang with me. Thank you for sticking with me. I am sorry for not posting regularly but I am still here and I'll post when I can.

Happy New Year!

"Henry?" Will asked with surprise.

"Yeah, I'm surprised I got you," Henry confessed.

"I got home 2 days ago from Ethiopia," Will explained.

"Great! I'm sure Annie is happy to see you."

"Yeah, I think so," Will supplied, "Is Elizabeth alright? It's not like you to just call out of the blue, especially if you didn't really plan on me answering." Will took a deep breath even as he knew something must be wrong with his sister.

Henry sighed heavily. "Um, she's…she'll be alright but there was an attack and…it wasn't her they were attacking but she was close enough… and…"

Will was really worried now. It wasn't like Henry to be so unfocused. He was trying to understand but his brother-in-law was not being very clear. "She's hurt? How badly?"

"Yes, Sorry. She was standing too close when an RPG was shot at a nearby car. The doctor's say she has a severe concussion, a broken arm, a couple broken ribs, and she has burns on her lower legs. She had surgery for internal bleeding. They stopped it in time." Henry felt like he was rambling but once he started listing Elizabeth's injuries it was easier for him to just plow through it. His throat constricted. He swallowed past the lump that had formed there.

"Oh, God," Will whispered.

"They say she'll recover but….I thought you should know," Henry supplied.

"Yeah, of course. Thanks for calling." Will shook his brain into gear and continued, " Look, I'll fly in by tomorrow morning. Are you home?"

"No, we are in Switzerland. But we are hoping to be on a plane by tomorrow evening."

"She's well enough to fly?" Will asked. The injuries Henry had listed were plentiful and vague. He was a bit surprised and relieved to hear they were going to release his sister so soon.

"Well, they said as long as everything remains as it has been so far that they would release her to fly home," Henry explained. He assumed it was safe, but the slight doubt he heard in Will's voice gave him cause to ponder if it would be alright for them to fly home so soon. He added it to the long list of things he was worried about.

Will could tell Henry was tired and strained. "That's good. Henry, I'll be at your place when you get home. Let Stevie know I'm coming."

"You don't have to do that," Henry said.

"I want to. I need to see her, and I want to know exactly what she's up against so I can help. You need it as much as she does. I'm sure you're…overwhelmed."

Henry sighed, "Yeah, I can't deny that."

"Is she conscious?" Will asked.

"She has woken up a couple times. She is coherent, but her speech….it's difficult for her to form words properly. The doctor says it's temporary, but it's causing her some stress as you can imagine."

"Alright," WIll sighed heavily. "The burns?"

"Second degree. She…has blisters, some are pretty bad," Henry confessed.

"They'll be painful. Maybe even more than her ribs." Will breathed out slowly. "Look Henry, the doctor is going to give you a lot of directions about how to take care of her and her burns especially. LIsten but don't let it overwhelm you. I'll be here to help for a bit. I'm not due to fly back to Africa for two weeks."

"You can't spend all that time with us. Your wife and daughter need time with you. I'm sure we will manage," Henry said.

"I'm coming Henry and I'll determine for how long once I see her."

Henry smirked. He and Elizabeth were both so stubborn. "Alright, I'll inform Stevie."

"Keep me posted."

"Yeah…and Will….Thanks," Henry said as he rubbed his hand down his face.

"See you soon," Will said before hanging up.

Henry felt badly for interrupting Will's time with his own family but he was very relieved to know that he'd be there when they got home. He felt completely inadequate to take care of all of Elizabeth's needs. He was worried he'd forget something and she'd be worse off because of went back to his wife's bedside. She was sleeping. He decided to make himself comfortable on the pull out bed. HIs exhausted body drifted to sleep.

It was three hours later when Henry shifted and slowly opened his eyes. He was a bit confused at first until he remembered where he was. His eyes immediately went to Elizabeth's bed. She was awake and sipping on some water. She gave him a small smile as she set down her styrofoam cup. "Hi, seepy head," she said softly.

"Hi, babe. Sorry, I guess I was more tired than I thought."

ELizabeth shook her head at him. "Don apogize. You eed seep too."

Henry rose from the bed and kissed her gently on the forehead. "How long have you been awake?"

"Naw tha…lone…"Elizabeth moaned her frustration and furrowed her brow.

Henry couldn't help but smile a bit as she looked like a petulant child pouting. "It's alright babe. I understand. It will get better. It already is, I think."

Elizabeth sighed and nodded sadly, avoiding his eyes. Henry rubbed the back of her hand and asked, "Are you in pain?"

"Naw bad." She had a headache but she figured she'd probably have one several days to come and it wasn't so bad right now.

"Alright, let me know if it gets bad. Before it gets bad actually," Henry said.

ELizabeth nodded again before asking, "Wa happened?" Henry sighed heavily and looked away. She persisted. "Henry, I nee know. Ell me."

Henry knew he needed to tell her. He didn't want her watching news coverage of it first. Maybe it would jog her memory. But then he wasn't sure if he wanted that. FInally, meeting her eyes he asked, "What do you remember?"

Elizabeth bit her lip and thought for a moment before responding. "We foo to Sisserland. Posed to meet wif Russia foe deal." She lickedher lips and sighed as those two sentences felt incredibly taxing on her mouth.

Henry could tell she was struggling and he wasn't sure if it was because of pain or just the effort to form words. Either way he wanted to get this conversation over with so she could rest. "Do you remember any of the meeting?" She simply shook her head no. Henry took a breath and tried to decide where to start and what to say. "Well, you and the President met with Maria Ostrov, do you know who that is?" Elizabeth nodded yes and he continued, "You managed to strike the peace deal." Henry paused. He wasn't ready to tell her how it had happened and what had transpired between them because of it. Instead he simply said, "It wasn't easy but it worked. The next morning as everyone was getting into their cars to leave an RPG was fired at Maria Ostrov's car." He saw Elizabeth's eyes open with surprise and then furrow with what that information implied. "You were standing between her car and the limbo that you and the President were to ride to the airport in." Henry cleared his throat as he said quietly, "You were to close to the blast." He grabbed her hand, squeezing it and placing a kiss on her skin. "Any closer and…" He couldn't finish the thought.

Elizabeth saw a tear roll down her husband's tired face. She had no recollection of any of it. She didn't recall the meeting or what had happened there. She didn't remember a car blowing up or being hurt at all. Yet, here she was. Her body had clearly gone through a trauma. It was weird not to remember it. She let her own tears fall as the reality of how close she had come to losing her life hit her. She moved her hand so she could card it through Henry's hair and wipe his wet cheek. "I'm here," she whispered.

Henry moved and gently took Elizabeth's face in his hands and kissed her gently. He closed his eyes as his forehead met hers and breathed deeply. They stayed like that for a moment. Each just appreciating the fact that they were still together. When Henry finally pulled away, Elizabeth couldn't help but ask, "Ostov?"

"She died," Henry supplied.

Elizabeth asked, "The dee…off?"

At first Henry was unsure what she meant but soon realized she was asking about the deal. He should have known she would want to know about it. But a part of him was upset that she could even think about that at a time like this. Still, she was good at her job, and was driven and focused. He said, "I'm not sure, but last I spoke to Conrad, he didn't sound like it was going well.".

Elizabeth sighed and then regretted it as her ribs gave a nasty twinge. She hissed slightly and saw Henry jump up in response. She shook her head slightly as she gritted her teeth, "I'm fine."

"You are not fine." Henry insisted.

"I jus beath… too deep," She gave him a smile to reassure him as she tried to relax her muscles against the pillows. " 'S fine."

Henry didn't like seeing her in pain. He knew he didn't have a choice. It was going to be a long recovery. "If it hurts too much, tell me. They can give you more meds."

Elizabeth shook her head and asked quietly, "'ids?"

Henry smiled at her. "They are worried about you but they are alright. Blake has been stopping by with food and checking in on them. I just talked to Will earlier and he is going to be flying in for a few days too."

At that declaration Elizabeth's eyes grew wide. "Will's coming?"

"Yeah, I thought he should know you had been hurt. I didn't want him to see it on the news or something first. I didn't actually think I'd get a hold of him but he just got home two days ago apparently."

Elizabeth nodded but replied, "He sood say wif his family." She was getting frustrated by how much effort it took to try to form words. The pulse in her head was beginning to get stronger and her eyes were stinging and felt heavy.

Henry could see she was tiring. He didn't like the way her head had lulled against the pillow when she was done talking and the slight pinch of her brow. Her eyes were looking a bit unfocused. "He wants to see you babe."

"Mmmm," was all she could muster. She brought her arm up to her face and laid it on her closed eyes.

"Babe, is it your head?" Henry asked with concern. She moaned affirmatively. "Is it too bright?" Again, she moaned. He quickly went and adjusted the lights to their lowest level. He hurried back to her and slowly lifted her arm from her face. "Is this better?" He watched her crack her eyes open cautiously before she gave him a small nod. Relief didn't come to him though as she closed her eyes again, her brow furrowed, her breathing a bit labored. "I think I better ask the nurse to give you more pain meds," Henry said. As he was about to rise he felt Elizabeth squeeze his arm. He immediately stopped and turned back to her. Without warning she rolled her upper body toward the edge of the bed and heaved the little she had eaten onto the floor. Henry immediately helped support her as she gave a small cry of pain while trying to catch her breath. When he was sure she was done being sick he gently pushed her back against the pillows and pushed the call button. She was pale and sweaty. He gently pushed her hair away from her face. "It's alright babe. Just try to breathe. I'm here. It's okay." She didn't open her eyes but he could tell she was trying her best to breathe through the pain.

A nurse quickly came into the room. Henry explained what had happened and she set to work cleaning things up and getting Elizabeth comfortable again. "It's common for patients with concussions to experience nausea. Unfortunately, it isn't a good combination when you have broken ribs. I'll have the doctor come and just do a quick abdomen exam to make sure she didn't damage anything."

Henry nodded. An hour later Elizabeth was asleep again, the doctor had poked around, much to Elizabeth's annoyance, and determined that everything still looked good. Henry was relieved beyond measure for this news but knew that if Elizabeth became sick at home he'd now spend hours worrying about her insides. He sipped his coffee trying to muddle through his feelings. He felt immense guilt. He should have been with her. He shouldn't have left. Now, he had also chosen to omit the fact that he had left and the reason why when he had recounted to her what had happened. He was angry too. Which in turn only made him feel more guilt. Jane had called to tell him that Talia was no longer being pursued. This meant only one thing. Dimitri was dead. He was sick inside because of it. It never should have happened. He never should have involved him. But then if he hadn't recruited him a major war may have broken out. It was avoided because of the intel Dimitri had given them. And how had the President repaid the young man? With betrayal and a death sentence. He was grieving, and not just for Dimitri. He was grieving for the hardships his wife was now enduring, He was worried for her. He was worried for himself if he was honest. He was tired. He was on edge. He knew he should rest but instead he decided to call the kids and inform them of Will's imminent arrival.