Ch. 3

AUTHORS NOTE: Sorry it took so long to update. My internet connection was having an identity crisis. But all is well now. Hope you enjoy this new chapter. I am going to try to have chapter 4 up by next Saturday.

"Ma'am we have to get you out of the open, there could be other shooters" said Matt. Elizabeth was trying desperately to get Blake to open his eyes. He was losing so much blood. Just as she was about to tell Matt to fuck off and secure her here to wait for the paramedics, Blake shuddered and couched. A fine red mist sprayed all over Elizabeth's chest and arms painting her white shirt. Before she could panic about that, she noticed that his eyes were open wide in fear and pain.

"hey…Blake, baby don't try to move ok. We are going to get you some help. Just hang on and keep your eyes open" Elizabeth choked out through she refused to cry. She was still holding pressure to his chest and knew he was hurting. He tried to move and she held him in place and saw his lips moving. "baby what are you trying to say?" she leaned down to hear what he was trying to say and the words he spoke were her undoing.

"I love you. Thanks for being my Mom" sputtered Blake as more blood spilled from his mouth causing him to choke and cough.

"Oh, baby I love you too. I am so lucky to be able to be your mom; you are going to be fine. You hang on…you hear me, you hang on" Elizabeth said through her tears as she watched his eyes fall shut again. She was just about inconsolable as Matt pulled her back to get her to move.

"Ma'am we have to move. Now!" said Matt in a very loud voice.

"I am not leaving him. Do you hear me! I am not leaving him!" screamed Elizabeth. "So, you need to get the car to me. We can't move him" Elizabeth told Matt in a commanding voice. Matt looked like he was going to argue but once he looked at her face, he pulled his radio out and called the armored SUV to drive to their location.

"I got Ladybug and Cricket, prepare to evac from my location" said Matt and turned to Elizabeth to help her prepare as much as possible to move Blake. Once the car pulled up Matt and another DS agent Elizabeth couldn't remember the name of grabbed Blake and another agent grabbed her and both were placed in the car.

"Where is the nearest hospital? He needs a hospital now…" asked Elizabeth from the back of the SUV while holding Blake half on her lap still holding pressure.

"We are currently not near any hospitals who can handle Blakes injuries, so we are going to drive a little further to the level one trauma center in Memphis, TN. Its only 8 minutes out of our way to just go there. We have a full police escort. We will get there as fast as possible" said Matt in what he had hoped was a confident voice. He was worried about the kid. He was losing a lot of blood and had not even flinched when he and Stephen had none to gently moved him from the ground to the SUV. Matt had seen fellow soldiers with wounds like Blakes not make it to the medic tents. As he watched his boss, he was at a loss. She was barely holding herself together. He knew what he had to do and was not looking forward to it. Dr. McCord was going to kill him. As he pulled out his secure cell, he took a deep breath and dialed the number.

"Hello, what's up Matt?" said Henry only slightly nervous as to why Matt was calling him, but dismissed it as he knew if something was wrong with Elizabeth, Blake would be the first to call him.

Matt knew he had to do this very clear and concise so he began, "Dr. McCord, there has been an incident. The Secretary is fine. She was not injured, but Mr. Moran was not as lucky. After the park dedication this afternoon, both the Secretary and Mr. Moran were talking on a park bench and a man began shooting. Mr. Moran pulled the Secretary behind him, placing himself between her and the shooter. We took out the shooter, but not before he got off another shot which hit Mr. Moran in the chest. We are on route to Regional One hospital in Memphis, TN. I thought you would want to know and also, as soon as I hang up with you, I will be contacting your detail. They will be getting you to the airport so that you can get to Memphis. She is going to need you."

"Oh my God. Is Blake ok? Was Elizabeth hurt at all? Why are you going to Memphis, I thought you were in Oakland, TN?" Henry was already rushing up the stairs to pack. He had to get to his son. He briefly thought back to rushing to the hospital with Blake before all those years ago. There boy was a fighter. He would be ok. He had to be. "ok, Matt. I will be ready to go in about 10 minutes. Take care of them and let Elizabeth know that you spoke to me and that I love her and I will be with her soon. Thanks for calling and taking care of my family" said henry.

"Of course, Dr. McCord. The Detail will be ready. Safe travels" said Matt equally thankful. He knew it was a bad idea, but Matt was rather fond of all the McCords and had been unable to keep a professional distance. They had a habit of not allowing their agents to maintain a distance.

~~Flashback December 22nd 4:45am ~~

"Mr. and Mrs. McCord?" said a nameless doctor into the waiting room. They both jerked their heads up at the sound.

"Yes, that's us. How is Blake? Is he ok?" Elizabeth asked quickly.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Montgomery. Mr. Moran is not awake yet as we had to sedate him. He sustained a very serious injury to his larynx. Because of this, he can't move his head or neck. His throat as swollen shut, but since the paramedic intubated him on scene, we did not have to but in a trach. But that also means he has to stay on the ventilator until the swelling goes down." Elizabeth grabbed Henrys hand and squeezed. Her baby couldn't breathe without a machine. "Now, we did a CT to check for any brain damage and were able to determine that while his attempt at self-harm was effective in damaging his throat, he actually failed at cutting off blood flow to his brain. So, he should make a full physical recovery. Now, as far as a mental recovery, that will be up to the psychiatrist assigned to Blake once he is in a better place physically" said Dr. Montgomery with a small smile. Elizabeth let out a breath and a sob all in one.

"Can we see him. We don't want him to be alone. That was our mistake that caused this" said Henry guiltily. He was just so happy that Blake was going to be ok. He knew they would get him through this.

Dr. Montgomery nodded, "of course. In just a moment. They are currently moving him to a room that your DS agents have approved. Now, I see that you have listed yourself as his next of kin, so since he is being placed on a psych hold until he is deemed no longer a danger to himself, he will be unable to make any medical decisions. Are you both ok with acting as his medical proxies? If not, the hospital will assign him a medical guardian."

"Yes, we will be his proxies. We also have a therapist we would like to consult with as far as treatment. I will call her in the morning and see if she is willing to take on Blake as a patient" said Elizabeth once she was under control.

"Ok great. The nurse will take you to his room" said Dr. Montgomery as a nurse walked into the waiting room.

"Ill take you to Mr. Moran's room now" said the nurse.

"Thank you" said Henry as he grabbed Elizabeth's hand and they walked to Blakes room. He turned to Elizabeth once they stepped into the room and saw Blake just laying there, "we will fix this. He will never feel this way again."

"no, he will never feel unloved or unwanted again" said Elizabeth just as strongly.

~~End flashback~~

The drive to Regional One did not take as long as Elizabeth thought it would. As they pulled up to the ambulance area, a whole trauma team was waiting with a stretcher. Blake was taken from her arms and was rushed inside. As they took Blake she felt suddenly lost and a sadness overtook her. She just stared as the doors to the trauma area closed. She turned when Matt placed a hand on her arm to guide her to the waiting area which happened to have a window that allowed her to see everything that was being done to Blake.

"Sorry ma'am we can't secure the waiting area, so the hospital administrator set this viewing room aside for us to wait" Matt explained as he led her to a seat.

Once she was seated, she turned to Matt to tell him she needed to call Henry, but he spoke before she could, "Dr. McCord is non a plane as we speak on his way to Memphis International Airport. His plane should land in a few hours. I have 4 DS agents meeting him there to bring him here."

"Thanks Matt, for everything" Elizabeth was saying but was cut off as the alarms began to go off in the Trauma room and the many doctors and nurses began to yell out orders and other words she could not make out or understand. All she knew for sure was that the things she was watching be done to Blake were almost worse than seeing him shot. She watched as two nursed drilled needles into his shin bones and hooked up IV's to them. She watched as they cut his side and shoved another tube into the side of his chest. Another person started CPR while another put a tube down his throat and began to breath for him. But the absolute worst thing was seeing his heart monitor go flat. She knew what that meant. Her baby had just died. She was almost consumed by the pain and anguish of that thought as she watched him jerk up hard once, twice, then three times. Then all was still. Elizabeth thought they had stopped, when she blinked and they were moving the bed. He had a heartbeat again. She shakily sat back down, not realizing she had got up and moved inches from the window.

Not known for being overly religious. She began to pray. "God, please help my baby. I know I didn't give birth to him, but I know you had a hand in bringing him to me. Please don't take him yet. Let me get a chance to love him. He has had too hard a life for him to die saving mine. Please…please."

She had no idea how long she had sat there just praying and thinking about Blake that she jumped when she heard the door open. When she looked up, she was so happy to see Henry. Henry of course was terrified. When she turned to see him, she was covered in blood. It was on her shirt, her arms, her pants, her hands, and even on her face. There was not really a part of her not covered in blood. "Babe, are you Ok? My God you are covered in blood!" said Henry rather tactlessly. The words were out of his mouth before he could really engage his brain. Elizabeth for the first time looked down at her self and her hands and in that moment began to really breakdown.

"Henry…" was all she was able to say before he had her in his arms. At some point her legs gave out and he led them to a seat and she just continued to cry. He held her as she did. What else could he really say or do. He just held her and whispered sweet nothings and little encouragements in her ear until she calmed. "Henry, he saved me. He pulled me behind him. It's his blood, my baby's blood. If he dies, I don't know if I can handle that. Why would God take him from us?" she rambled and Henry just pulled her tighter. He had no answers to her questions and knew that she wasn't really looking for an answer.

"Have they said anything about how he is?" asked henry in a soft voice.

"No, his heart stopped Henry and they had to shock him three times. Then they took him. I'm assuming surgery. The bullet had to have punctured his lung because he was coughing up blood in the car. Henry I am so scared. What if he dies? I love him so much. I just hope he knows how much." Elizabeth tells Henry without emotion. She is beginning to shut down.

"oh, Lizzie, of course he knows you love him. He has told you as much today. Blake doesn't seem like the person to step in front of a madman with a gun for just anyone…He will be ok; you know he is a fighter. We saw that all those years ago. He came back from that, he will come back from this. But he is in the best place for him to get better. I did some research on the plane to pass the time. This is the best hospital in the tri state area. You know Morgan Freeman was airlifted here after that car accident back in 2008." Henry told her trying to give her some comfort. He was desperate to comfort her. He had always hated to see his Lizzie cry.

She laughed, "well if its good enough for Morgan Freeman, then it must be fabulous." She tucked herself into his chest and they both just sat in silence. Until she broke it with a whispered "he called me Mom. He told me thanks for being his mom."

Henry let a tear fall at that. Just as he was about to respond to her, a Doctor entered the area they were waiting. "Hello, Secretary McCord, my name is Dr. Doran. I was Mr. Moran's Cardiovascular Surgeon. First and foremost, Mr. Moran is stable. We were able to remove the bullet. As you are both listed as next of kin, I was going to give you an in-depth report of his overall condition if that would be ok?" at their nods of consent, he led them to chairs and sat down himself. "ok, so when Mr. Moran." he was cut off by Elizabeth asking "Can you please call him Blake?" the doctor responded with "Ok, sure, when Blake was brought in, he had gone into what is know as hypovolemic shock. Which basically means that he had lost so much blood that his body had no chance to make it up in order to sustain life so his veins began to collapse. So, we placed two interosseous lines…" Elizabeth interrupted again asking "Is that what was drilled into his bones?" the doctor nodded and continued "yes, it's the best way to get fluids into the body quickly and easily. Once we got his veins opened back up, we were able to put in a central line into his carotid artery. We also placed a chest tube to help remove the build up of blood in his chest that was keeping his heart from being able to beat. His heart stopped in the trauma room and we got him back here but he coded twice more in surgery. We had to give him over 6 units of blood. The bullet did major damage to his pulmonary artery. That supplies the blood from the heart with oxygen. One thing I did notice though is rather interesting. Did you know Blake had a congenital heart defect?" the doctor looked at both McCords.

"No, we didn't. I don't think he did either. I have seen his entire medical record. There was nothing about a heart problem." Said Elizabeth confused. "Why would it be interesting?" she asked the Doctor. Henry was just as confused. He too looked to the doctor wanting to know that answer as well.

The doctor turned his head to the side before he began again, "Well its interesting because if what you say is true and he didn't know, had he not been shot today, he would have had a very high likely hood of a sudden cardiac death. Its when the heart just stops beating. Most people, around 98% of cases end in death. There would have been no way to get him help in time. I'm a doctor and not really one to believe things happening for a reason, but… well I'll leave it at that. Blake will be moved to recovery in the next 20-30 minutes and then you can both see him. Also, Madam Secretary, I have one of my interns waiting outside to show you to the faculty showers so you can get cleaned up and to get you some scrubs to change into." As he got up to walk out of the room, he turned to them both of them. "you have one hell of a fighter in that boy. I suggest you get some rest; you are going to need it because he is going to need you both." With that the doctor left and a young woman about Stevie's age came in.

"Um…Madam Secretary?" she stuttered. "Dr. Doran said for me to take you to the showers and to get you some clothes" she said anxiously.

Elizabeth was so relieved about Blake that the fact that this young girl seemed terrified of her was absolutely hilarious. She began to laugh and cry at the same time. Henry saw this happening and then saw the look on the poor medical students face and took pity on her.

"um, could you give us just a minute please." Henry asked the intern.

"yeah, sure…" she said quickly and fled the room.

Henry turned to Elizabeth who was trying unsuccessfully to stop her giggles and tears. He knew she was not sorry at all and he himself began to laugh too. After both had given themselves stomach pains from laughing so hard. He pulled her into his chest and said "Our boy is ok. Can you believe what the doctor said? I guess that answers your question from earlier." Henry told Elizabeth by way of the top of her head.

Getting herself under control she looked up at Henry confused, "what question?"

"earlier you asked why would God do this, well it looks like he had a good reason." Henry whispered reverently.

"yeah, I guess he did." Elizbeth responded just as soft and sent up a silent thank you to God. She may not do the whole church thing, but she knew someone called the shots. She just hopped he wouldn't be calling anymore in regards to her family for a least a little while. "Ok, babe I'm going to go take a shower and then we are gonna go see our boy. Ill be back, make sure to call the kids and give them an update. I'm sure they are beside themselves. Blake is like a big brother to all of them."

"Ok babe, love you." Henry said already pulling out his phone.

"Love you too." Replied Elizabeth as she opened the door to find the still scared to death intern waiting for her. She looked to the intern who just swallowed reflexively, "Ok, first off, you know I don't bite right?" Elizabeth giggled. "My name is Elizabeth" she said holding out her hand to the intern. "What's your name?"

Smiling the intern took her hand and said "Suzie. Sorry, people of authority make me nervous." She laughed nervously. "I'm sorry about your friend. But Dr. Doran is the best cardo surgeon around." She commented to try to fill the silence of the walk.

Elizabeth smiled at her attempt at making small talk. Once they got to the shower area, Suzie went to a locker and opened it up and got out a toiletry bag and turned back to Elizabeth.

"So, here is some shampoo and soap for you to use. Just leave it here in front of my locker when you done. I can give you hospital soaps if you want, but between me and you they really suck as far as getting you clean." She said as she then walked to a cart on the far wall and said over her shoulder to Elizabeth, "So you look like you wear a size 4 or maybe a 6, so ill give you a small and a medium and you can see which you want." She walked back with two sets of scrubs. "there are shoes in that closet, just find you size. If you need anything, I'll be in the common area we passed getting here." She turned to leave but stopped when Elizabeth called her name.

"you don't have to wait on me. Thanks, by the way for the toiletries." Elizabeth said warmly.

Suzie smiled "that's ok, Dr. Doran didn't want you to be alone. So, I have been assigned to Mr. Moran so that once you are finished, we will go back and get your husband then we can all do see Mr. Moran. Also, because navigating all the medical jargon is not easy, I will be acting as your personal translator."

They both laughed and then went their separate ways.