AN: It's been awhile, that it has. Though, I always write at strange times… finals week starts Wednesday. So… Here you go:

Elizabeth was certain her children had arrived when she heard Alison's voice.

"He's going to be okay, Ali," Stevie assured, "Which room is it? 215 or 216?"

"216," Jason replied.

"Great… could one of you get the door? Since I'm the one who has ro carry all this."

"Aye aye, Stevie," Jason replied as he knocked and took the handle.

Elizabeth turned to greet them as they entered. She set the fleece blanket beside on the cushion. "Hi, guys," she smiled with a warmth. She was relieved to see her children. As much as they needed her, she needed them, and she was thankful to at least have that genuine, happy emotion.

"We brought some stuff," Alison smiled.

"Great, well, Stevie, you can just put all that on the chair, Elizabeth said, pointing to the isolated hospital chair in the corner of the room.

Setting the pile of clothes down, Stevie looked at her mother, "Did you sleep Okay?"

"Hopefully you all slept better."

Jason moved from the entrance of the room to sit next to sit next to Elizabeth.

"Mom?" He asked quietly

"Yeah, baby," She ran a hand through his messy hair.

"... Any news on Dad?" Stevie and Alison both turned their heads.

Elizabeth sat up and glanced at each of her children. "They're going to try bypass later on today. So, we'll have to wait."

"Is it really that bad," Alison asked, moving next to her sister in the corner.

"They're going to do what they need to," Elizabeth assured.

"But he was perfectly healthy-"

"Noodle, he wasn't," they told me earlier this morning that his heart was weak, and that they think the additional stress from the crash is was set it off."

"What's… what's wrong with him? Jason turned to his mother.

"He has a blockage in his left coronary artery."

"So, like they're going to sew around and do all that stuff," Jason looked at her like he needed an answer.

"She ran a hand through his hair, once more, "Yeah, baby."

"When's it starting?" Stevie asked.

"Two… it should take about an hour. We still have time to wait… so if you guys want to go back home or if-"

"No, we want to stay," Stevie asserted looking at booth Alison and Jason.

"Do you know how it happened?" Jason asked.

"Cmon, Jase, back off on the questions," Stevie corrected as she shot her brother a look from across the room.

"What? I just want to know. Am I being insensitive or something, Mom?" He looked at Elizabeth wide-eyed and anxious, waiting to know if he committed another offense.

"No, no," she chuckled, placing an arm around her son and brought him in closer, "I know what you know-I haven't been told anything else."

"Can we see him before…"

"No, not right now. They're working, Jase. They're doing what they can."

The room fell silent for only a few seconds before Stevie spoke, "So… look what we brought." Stevie held onto the cherished McCord Scrabble board, "So, while we wait, maybe we could play?"

"Yeah, yeah, that sounds great," Elizabeth smiled. She got up and moved the table over to the couch, and sat down, once more.

"Are you sure you're up for a game?"Alison asked.

"I would love a game with all of my kids. All we can do is wait, Noodle, and I can't keep staring at these walls much longer. So get over here with that game, you two."

Alison and Stevie did as they were instructed, and began setting the board.

Elizabeth smiled, "I remember the old college days when your Dad and I would stay up on the weekends playing a mean game of Scrabble."

Although, the McCord children had heard all of the many variations of "college scrabble," they went along.

"Yeah," Stevie smiled, "and who played better?"

"Oh, like you don't know… I was. Listen, your Dad's not bad, I just happen to have an edge."

"I can't believe you guys get so competitive over this game," Jason smirked.

"Oh, yeah?," Elizabeth put on a mocking defense, "And end what's wrong with that? I seem to remember we made a pretty good team back in the day…"

"...I was six."

"I loved those family Scrabble nights! Dad and I would always dominate," Alison added.

"Hey, Dad was mine before he was yours, Ali. If you want to see true domination… I'm just saying."

"Those nights were everything, though," Alison smiled.

.

"They really were. And now, you guys are all grown. You're out of college… And wow," Elizabeth sighed as the tears started to well up. Stevie went over and wrapped her arms around her mother.

"It's okay," Stevie whispered as she placed a kiss on top of her head.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and shook her head in response, "I know." Her voice was weak and faint in that moment. Alison looked at Stevie and then rushed over, kneeling down and placing an arm around her mother. The two sisters then looked over at Jason, who was trying to look anywhere else but their direction, but Stevie caught his eye. Jason reached out and placed a hand on Elizabeth's arm.

"...He'll be down in the kitchen next week wanting to teach me a lesson," Jason added.

Though, Elizabeth began to cry.

Stevie tightened her embrace and Alison stood to grab the box of tissue across the room.

Taking the tissue from the box, Stevie wiped her mother's eyes. "Here, mom, take this," She instructed.

"Aww," Alison cooed, rubbing Elizabeth's shoulder, "It's okay, mom."

"Thank you… thank you," Elizabeth breathed as dried her eyes. She again looked at each of her children. "I'm… I'm so sorry...for… for all of this," she whispered. Reaching up to Stevie, Elizabeth kissed her cheek and did the same with Alison, and finally Jason.

"I love your Dad more than I think any of you know. This… this is taking a lot out of me, and it means everything to me that all of you are here-"

There was a knock at the door.

"Madam Secretary," a familiar voice greeted.

"Yes," Elizabeth replied as she stood and ushered the woman inside.

"There's sometime before the surgery, Henry's still a little groggy but you can go in and see him if you'd like."

"Yes," She gasped, "Can… can the come with me?" She motioned for the kids to stand. In turn, the shocked McCords all hugged their mother.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, it's just you for right now," Margaret replied.

The bright smiles sunk a little, but Elizabeth hugged them each. "I'll let you know how he is when I get back. Okay, sweets?"

They each shook their head, and Elizabeth walked out of the room with the surgeon.

As she walked, her spirits lifted-there was hope for the first time. Elizabeth was washed in a peculiar feeling as if she was being pushed forward by a force. She was nervous, she was excited-she was scared.

"So he's in this room right up here," Margaret pointed ahead.