Chapter Fifteen - For the Greater Good Part II

7 months ago

She couldn't hear much, in fact a constant and unpleasant ringing filled her ears and drowned out all surrounding noise. She could smell fire, something was clearly burning close by. She tried to force her eyes open to look around but it was no use, the slightest gap appeared as she pulled them open but everything was hazed, she tried to sit up and get a clearer view of what was going on but that's when everything changed. A surge of pain envelops her, a silent scream catches in her throat as she struggled to breathe, she winces as the pain swirls around her without mercy, penetrating through her core, she felt someone's hands on her body, pushing her back down gently as her eyes closed once again and the ringing in her ears finally stopped.

=MS=

Five minutes earlier…

'What the hell was that!' Fred Cole shouted as he looked around him, he watched as the Russian army infiltrated the roof of the building they were in moments ago, arresting a man who was responsible for the destruction before him. Fred looked over to the other agents and watched as they pulled the President from the wreckage of the car. He looked around and panicked, The secretary, he thought as his chest tightened and the panic rose within.

'Fred over here' one of the agents called for help and he ran over, still trying to understand what was going on.

'Have you seen the Secretary?' He asked the concern growing, how had he lost the one person who was supposed to be within his sight at all times.

'I need help moving the president, He's unconscious, we need medical assistance immediately' He chimed and Fred helped remove some of the Debis, setting the president free to be led on the grass.

'The Secretary?' He asked again as he stood up right and looked around again unable to see her, his brow sweating as his concern for her grew.

'She was calling Dr McCord, she was walking over there' he pointed, Fred followed his finger and groaned in frustration. Why did the Secretary always have to step away from them? He began to jog over to where she was last seen. He had been in some devastating places before but the destruction of this felt far worse.

The blast was catastrophic, it had caused the President's motorcade to flip over, the fountain in the middle of the driveway had broken and collapsed, Maria Ostrov's car was gone, obliterated into a million pieces with no evidence of anyone who was inside surviving. Wreckage from the car was distorted all over the ground, some elements still burning. Fred clenched his fists as he tried to think, the chaos was too much, Where is the secretary?

He spun around and looked in the distance, as he walked away from the wreckage in pursuit of her he accidentally kicked something, glancing down he realised it was the secretary's phone. His heart raced, he immediately picked it up and continued searching.

'Ma'am?' He questioned as he headed to some nearby rocks, as he got closer he realised it was her. 'Guys over here' he demanded, beckoning them over to help secure her. He watched as she tried to sit up, he swallowed hard at the sight of her, and slowly pushed her back down into a lying position watching as she slipped into a state of unconsciousness. Fred had grown fond of Elizabeth, and the McCord family, he struggled to detach himself from this moment as he looked on at her. Her tiny body sprawled across the rocks, her clothes ripped and drowning in blood, her thigh pinned in place by a large piece of metal from the car, cuts and bruising on every inch of visible skin whilst her once golden hair was crimson red.

'Fred move out the way' they ordered as the medical care rushed in. Fred couldn't move, he was rooted to the spot, his breathing slowing as he watched them treat a severely injured Elizabeth.

'Sir are you ok?' Someone asked him but he couldn't answer, his body swayed and his legs gave way as he tumbled to the ground, it was at that moment that the medics noticed some of the blood at Elizabeth's feet belonged to him.

=MS=

Henry couldn't sit, no matter how many people told him he couldn't, his legs were too restless, he continued to pace back and forth the hospital relatives room waiting to hear about Elizabeth. A mixture of emotions ran through him, he was beside himself with worry and concern about her welfare, no one had told him anything, even details of the events that took place were sparse, but he was still fuelled with so much anger due to their recent argument. All of this mixed within him and compiled together to form an unhealthy recipe of guilt.

Time had escaped him, it had become almost obsolete, what was only minutes felt like hours and what was hours felt like months. The attack took place thirteen hours ago. That much he knew, the date and time of these events would remain engraved in his memory forever. As he paced back towards the north facing wall he groaned and balled up his fist allowing it to collide with the wall.

'Dad Stop!' Alison cried as she watched him. 'Please stop'

Henry sighed heavily, he forgot for a moment that he wasn't alone in the room anymore. As soon as the kids saw the news they were on the phone, he was overwhelmed with questions and fear from the three of them, and he felt helpless; he had no answers for any of their questions and he certainly had no solutions. Henry hadn't even realised he'd agreed to them flying out to Geneva Hospital to be with him until they turned up nearly an hour ago.

'I'm Sorry Noodle' he sighed heavily as he walked over enveloping her in a hug. 'Im sorry' he whispered into her hair as he kissed her head.

'Just sit down dad' Stevie sighed and pulled out a chair. Henry didn't have the strength to argue anymore and reluctantly sat down.

'How's everyone holding up?' He asked, it was a stupid question he knew that, but it was all he could think about asking right now, nothing else was definitive. His question was matched with mumbles of the word fine from the girls, of course they were not fine but neither of them were able to express any other emotion, they needed to know their mum was ok. Henry looked at Jason, the only kid who had been mute since his arrival. Henry stood and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

'You alright there slugger?'

'Don't call me that. Mum calls me that' he snapped and Henry sighed as he ran his hand through his hair.

'Look this is tough, on all of us ok?'

'Yeah not just you' Ali spat

'Shut up Ali'

'Don't tell her to shut up!'

'Oh look here comes the big sister sticking her nose in yet again' He groaned

The kids continued to argue above one another and Henry's patiences reached boiling point. His already unsettled mood was tipped back into rage as the noise from the kids rang through his head.

'STOP!' He snapped and stood to his feet. He went to speak once again but his phone rang, startling the now silent room. He reached into his pocket and glanced at the screen, 'I have to take this, Just stop ok' He warned and exited the room.

'Nadine, Hi. What the hell Happened?'

=MS=

'Dr McCord, May I have a word?' Henry looked up from the chair and nodded at the doctor who had stepped into the relatives room. The doctor looked over at the children who were all sleeping and gestured to stepping outside, Henry following suit.

'Watch them please' He asked the security detail who flew over with them

'Of Course Sir'

Henry watched as the doctor stood before him in a secluded corridor clutching at notes, a vacant expression on his face.

'How is she?' The desperation in his voice was thick, the need to know she was ok was driving him to the edge.

'Madam Secretary-'

'Elizabeth' he corrected him and the doctor nodded

'My apologies, Elizabeth is stable-'

'Oh thank god' Henry let out an exasperated sigh as he felt like the heavy stomping on his chest had stopped.

'She is stable but we need to monitor her very closely. I am not sure how much you know about her injuries?' He paused and looked at Henry, seeing him shake his head the doctor carried on 'On arrival she was unconscious, she was in an extremely critical condition. Her injuries were life threatening which is why he had to rush her to the theatre before you arrived. I don't know what happened other than there was some form of explosion. A piece of the framework from the car that was hit became embedded in your wife's right thigh. We had to operate and remove it, as well as all the fragments of steel that had splintered through her leg. This procedure alone took the surgeons nearly 11 hours. Elizabeth remained unconscious the entire time, she did at points have difficulty breathing and we had to assist her but thankfully they were only short periods. Now Dr McCord, I am sorry for what I am about to tell you-' he paused, Henry hadn't said a word he just stood and listened, attempting to process every bit of information thrown his way.

-' It appears the force of the explosion propelled your wife through the air, unfortunately she landed on some rocks nearby. We have done a full scan of her spine and we have found no evidence of any injuries other than broken ribs and a lot of extensive bruising. She has a hairline fracture to her right hip bone and most of the damage to her ribs is on the right side too. She currently has a chest drain following an internal bleed and a build up of blood in her lung. All of what I have mentioned I am confident she will recover from with the right treatment and recovery plan, I am however concerned about her head injury'

'What about it?' He asked softly

'She took a blow to the head, she came in with a major bleed which we eventually managed to stop, however the scan of her head we took is not all that clear. There are some tiny indications that there is damage to the hippocampus; this is the part of your brain responsible for creating memories. I am concern that if that part of her brain and limbic system is damaged then Elizabeth may wake up with what is known as Anterograde Amnesia'

'Amnesia? Wait what? She's going to lose her memory?' That feeling that someone was stopping on his chest was back in an instant, only this time they were stamping harder.

'Anterograde Amnesia 'is a form of amnesia where a person cannot form new memories, and are unable to recall most recent memories made, it is however temporary and with coaxing and prompting these memories can be restored. How long this takes depends on Elizabeth and her determination.' He sighed softly and Henry nodded.

'How..How will I know?' He cleared his throat

'Well, When she wakes up, if she is able to recall why she is in hospital that's a good sign, Like I said Dr McCord there are tiny fragments of damage to the brain, it can also be nothing' he tried to reason.

'Can I see her? I need to see her' he became flustered, his mouth ran dry at the thought of his wife being so broken and bruised.

'Of course, she is still heavily sedated but she should start to wake within the next hour or two' he smiled and led Henry towards her private room, where he sat watching her, praying to all the gods she woke up. Time kept passing by and Henry hadn't moved, his hand softly tucked into hers, she was quite cold, her normally glowing, golden skin was shades of black and blue, he dreaded what the rest of her poor body looked like as her visible arms, neck and face were bad enough. He dropped his head onto her hand and kissed her repeatedly as his salty tears dripped, the silent guilty sobs escaping.

He felt her hand twitch, his head snapped up and his eyes widened as they searched her whole body for any signs of movement. Then, another twitch of her fingers. 'Elizabeth, Elizabeth babe it's me' he soothed, standing up over the bed comforting her, never letting go of her hand. He watched as her eyes began to move, slowly peeling open as she attempted to gain focus.

Henry couldn't speak, he was overcome with emotion as he watched her blink, her deep blue eyes staring up at him, a sight he never thought he would see again. Fresh tears fell from him as he looked down upon her, his shoulders shaking as the relief cries kept pouring in.

'Shhh' she soothed, she felt every inch of the pain radiating through her body and knew better than to move. She gently squeezed his hand and smiled as softly as she could. Henry dipped his head down onto hers, kissing her forehead as he continued to cry. She winced slightly in pain but refused to let him move. 'I'm so glad you're ok' he whispered and she slowly nodded.

'Pain' she mumbled, her eyes discolouring slightly as her body gave into the aches.

'Let me get the doctor'

'No, stay' she whispered and tugged at his hand once more. 'I'm so sorry Henry, I should Never have gone' she choked. Henry looked down and furred his brow. The conversation he had earlier with the doctor came flooding back to him.

'Babe, gone where? Why do you think you're in hospital?' He asked gently. She looked at him just as confused as he was looking at her.

'Because of the coup, because of the attack in Iran…'

'Babe, the attack in Iran was Six months ago. We're in Geneva' he smiled sadly. She had no recollection of the last six months, part of him was thankful as it meant she didn't recall the last three months of constant fighting and arguing between them, but it also put him in a difficult position, did he tell her? Or did he forget and just play happy families…