Thank you so much for taking the time to review on the first chapter, I appreciate it a lot!
There is some fluff and maybe some sadness ahead in this chapter. I guess I just needed some Elizabeth-centric hurt&comfort! Tell me what you think and since I might write one more chapter for this story, feel free to share any wishes you might have for this story with me.
Enjoy :)
Suddenly everything got hectic and before Henry knew it, he was pacing up and down the waiting room. He was lost in sorrow about his wife until the ringing of his phone interrupted him. It was Stevie.
"Dad, what the hell is going on?" a frantic Stevie asked. It took Henry a few moments to find the right words.
"Stevie, are you at home?"
"Yes, I came right away after Ali called. What happened, is mom ok?"
"They are operating right now."
"What?! Oh my god, dad, can you please say what's going on?"
"I will, I promise. Part of mom's security detail is on the way to get you right now. They will pick you guys up, all right?"
"Can't I just drive? It'll be much faster if –"
"No, I don't want you to drive right now", Henry interrupted her.
"Dad, you sound really worried. Can't you just tell me what it happening to mom?" Stevie pled.
"I'd rather tell the three of you in person and at the same time. But everything is going to be all right, don't worry about that, okay?"
"Ok", Stevie sighed and they hung up.
Half an hour later the kids stormed into the waiting room and embraced their father all at the same time.
"Dad, what is happening to mom?"
"Is mom going to be OK?"
"How is mom?"
Henry was bombarded with questions from Jason, Alison and Stevie right away.
"Come on, lets sit down and I'll tell you what I now."
"So, you guys have noticed that mom hasn't been feeling well the last couple of days, right?"
The three nodded.
"We found out a few days ago that your mother was pregnant", Henry broke the news carefully. He wasn't sure what to expect from his children.
"Pregnant?" Ali asked.
"Yeah", Henry nodded.
"Gosh, that's so…", Stevie thought out loud while Jason stayed silent.
"Obviously it wasn't planned and a big shock for your mother and me."
"Did she miscarry?" Ali cut to the chase.
"Not exactly but you guys won't have another sibling either. Mom had what's called an ectopic pregnancy. The embryo was attached in a fallopian tube. It was growing there for a couple of weeks but eventually got too big and the tube ruptured. That rupture caused the pain mom was in tonight and also some heavy internal bleedings. That's why she needed to be operated right away, they need to stop the bleeding and remove the ectopic pregnancy and try to repair the tube", Henry tried to explain as understandable as possible.
"Try to repair?" Stevie asked.
"Yeah, it might be too damaged. In that case they would have to take it out."
"But Mom is going to be ok, right?" Jason finally spoke.
"Yeah buddy. The doctor said that we luckily got to the hospital pretty fast after the tube ruptured. We'll need to take good care of Mom for the next weeks but once she is out of surgery, she should start to feel better."
"Ok", Jason nodded and Stevie laid an arm around her younger brother which he untypically accepted.
"Dr. Mccord?"
Henry looked up and saw Elizabeth's doctor walking into the waiting room.
"How is she?" Henry asked right away. Dr. Wilder got seated in front of Henry.
"The surgery went well. We got the bleeding under control and removed the ectopic pregnancy. Due to the bleeding we had to make a bigger incision than we would have liked and also had to remove the fallopian tube, the damage was too severe. She lost a lot of blood, so we gave your wife a blood transfusion."
"So, she's going to be OK?" Henry needed to make sure.
"I'm very positive, yes. She'll need some time to recover but we can talk about that in the next days. I'm sure you all want to see her now?" the doctor smiled at the four and everyone nodded.
"She isn't awake yet but she should start to wake up in the next thirty minutes. She might not know what happened, but that is common so don't worry about that. I will check in with Mrs. McCord in about an hour, so you will have some time with her", the doctor said on the way to Elizbeth's room and Henry nodded.
Then, finally, they arrived at the room and Henry got to see his wife again.
Elizabeth looked pale, drained and exhausted, even while she was still asleep. She was supplied with oxygen via a nasal cannula and IV's supplied her with the pain medication and everything else Elizabeth needed on both of her arms. Other then that, Henry and the kids were somewhat relieved to see that she looked pretty unharmed.
It didn't take long until Elizabeth started to shift in her hospital bed. She groaned and her hand wandered up to her face where she tried to remove the nasal tube with her eyes still closed.
"Baby, hey. Leave that in, honey", Henry murmured and gently took her hand into his.
"Henry?" Elizabeth whispered hoarsely.
"Yeah, I'm here", Henry reassured and Elizabeth's eyes started to flutter open.
"Hey", she smiled weakly.
"Hey", Henry smiled back.
Her eyes wandered from Henry to her kids who were standing around her bed.
"Kids", Elizabeth whispered.
"We're here, Mom", Stevie replied and carefully squeezed her mother's hand. Elizabeth nodded faintly.
"We're all here", Henry said.
"What happened?" Elizabeth finally asked, "The baby?"
"I'm so sorry, honey. You had an ectopic pregnancy. That's why you were in so much pain. Your fallopian tube ruptured because the embryo became too big. You had some severe internal bleedings so they had to reopen your cesarean scar and remove the pregnancy and the tube", Henry tried to break the news as gentle as possible.
Elizabeth nodded bravely but a tear escaped her eye which Henry gently stroke away with his thumb.
"You're going to be ok though."
Elizabeth nodded again. The room was quiet for a while.
"Do you want some water, Mom?" Alison interrupted the silence.
"Yeah, please", Elizabeth said still with a raspy voice.
Alison filled a cup and Elizabeth took it with shaky hands. She nipped a little on the water which felt good as it ran down her dry throat.
Then the doctor came into the room.
"Madam Secretary, it's good to see you awake", the doctor smiled.
Elizabeth was still immensely drowsy from the anesthetics and the pain medications so she only smiled weakly with her eyes half closed. The doctor took her time to explain Elizabeth everything that has happened.
"How could this have happened at all?" Henry asked.
"Well, there are two major factors that contributed to it. First is actually the IUD you had, Mrs. McCord. In the case of a pregnancy despite an IUD the risk of an ectopic pregnancy is pretty high. The other factor was your age. The risk sadly raises with the age", Dr. Wilder smiled compassionately.
"So, it was pretty much just bad luck", Elizabeth murmured. The conversation had taken all of her energy and she was just minutes away from falling asleep.
"I suppose you could say that, yes. The good thing is, that you got to the hospital quickly and that we were able to get you back on track, Mrs. McCord. With a rupture like that, the outcome could have been entirely different", Elizabeth nodded and Henry gently squeezed her hand. He didn't even want to think about the other possibilities.
"Now I suggest that you all get some much-needed sleep and I will see you tomorrow", Dr. Wilder smiled.
Henry sent the kids home and got comfortable on the visitor's bed. There was no way he was going to leave his wife that night.
Hours later, he was awoken by the sound of Elizbeth's voice. When he opened his eyes, he saw that a nurse was currently taking care of Elizabeth's IV. Before Henry was up on his feet, the nurse had already left the room.
"Morning, babe", Henry smiled and sat down on Elizabeth's bed.
"Morning", Elizabeth replied and gladly returned Henry's gentle kiss.
"How are you feeling?" Henry asked.
"A little groggy and sore but I think they've got me on pretty intense pain killers, I feel a bit high", Elizabeth smiled a little.
"Well, your body has been through a lot, I think you deserve to feel a little high for a while", Henry chuckled and gently brushed a strand of hair out of her face.
"Did you get some sleep?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yeah, one of the perks of you being the Secretary of State is definitely luxurious hospital rooms!"
"I'm glad", Elizabeth smiled.
"Did you let my staff know that I won't be coming in for a couple of days?"
"Of course. They are sending you their wishes and are already eager to visit you", Henry smiled.
"Thank you", Elizabeth answered and closed her eyes again. She was feeling so tired, she felt like she could sleep for days.
"Get some sleep, babe", Henry whispered and placed a kiss on her forehead.
A little while later the kids arrived at the hospital again and brought everything Elizabeth needed from home and also a set of new clothes for Henry. He took the time to take a shower in the adjoined bathroom while Elizabeth was still asleep and couldn't stop the tears of relieve, sorrow and sadness from falling. Seeing his wife in so much pain, watching the blood staining her pants into a deep red and not knowing what was happening to her had left their marks on Henry. He felt much better after the shower, even shaved real quick and then put on the fresh clothes.
The McCords spent a very quiet day together as a family. They stayed by Elizabeth's side, who was sleeping most of the time. Sensing, that her family was with her was giving her the peace she needed to leave her eyes closed.
When Elizabeth woke up the next day she started to feel more alert. She was able to get down some breakfast which was the first solid food she had eaten since days. Afterwards she asked Henry to help her to get out of the hospital gown and into her own clothes. Dr. Wilder had said that that would be fine now since they were able to remove all the tubes that had been attached to Elizabeth. Only the peripheral intravenous catheter was left in place because it would still be used to supply her with the medications she would need for the next couple of days.
"Sure", Henry nodded. He got the pajama pants out of the bag the kids had packed and Elizbeth's favorite, very cozy grey sweatshirt.
"Those OK?" he asked as he held both items up.
"Yeah", Elizabeth nodded.
Henry pulled back the bedsheets and took Elizabeth's hands. With the support of his gentle pulls, Elizabeth got into a seated position. She could feel the incision sting and winced. Henry looked at her questioning and Elizabeth nodded. She wanted to get out of the gown.
Henry took Elizabeth legs and helped her move so that her naked legs were dangling of the bed. He pulled the pants up as far as he could without Elizabeth standing up. Then he took her elbows and supported her while she got to her feet.
"Gosh, I feel like a hundred", Elizabeth said on wobbly feet.
"Well, you just had severe surgery, Babe. I think you're entitled to feel a little off", Henry smiled and very gently pulled the pants all the way up while Elizabeth held on to his shoulders. He was careful not to place the waistband over the incision and looked up at Elizabeth with a questioning look on his face. She understood: "Can you leave it under the incision?"
"Yes", Henry nodded and let the waistband go.
"Ok?" he asked and Elizabeth nodded. With Henry's help she sat down on the bed again and Henry untied the strings at the back of the gown and took it off. It was the first time since the surgery that Elizabeth and Henry saw the extent of the operation. From her bellybutton down, Elizabeth's stomach was bruised and swollen and the bandage over the incision stood in sharp contrast to her battered skin. Elizabeth started to tear up all of a sudden and while quickly helping her into the sweater, Henry said calmly: "Talk to me, babe."
"I don't even know what to say", Elizabeth sniffed, "this all just seems so unreal but seeing this", she motioned down to her abdomen, "it makes it much realer."
"Yeah, it does, doesn't it", Henry smiled sadly. He pulled the bedsheets over her legs and then gently stroke his hand up and down her thigh.
"You know, I was so scared when we thought that I was pregnant. I didn't think we could do it, I didn't think I could do it. I can't say that I was happy about it, that's for sure. But now… I don't know, I just can't help but feel sad", the tears kept rolling down her pale face.
"That's ok, honey. You can be sad, even if you weren't happy when we found out about the pregnancy. I'm sad too."
"You are?"
"Of course. I haven't even gotten around the idea of having another McCord in the family and there was always the risk of a miscarriage in my head because of the IUD. But I suppose we both subconsciously loved that baby we thought you were carrying the moment you took the test."
Elizabeth nodded: "Yeah. I guess so."
"Now you are in pain, you are exhausted, your body has been through so much and on top of that you need to process this loss. You have every right to feel whatever you feel."
Henry knew from experience that it was a tightrope walk with Elizabeth and her emotions. If he pushed her too far she would shut him out entirely and if he didn't push her at all the risk was high that she would try to ignore her feelings altogether, just like she did after Iran.
When Elizabeth started to sob, Henry sat down right next to her and embraced her gently. With her head on his chest, Elizabeth let the tears flow and it took her a while until she stopped crying. With sleepy eyes she looked up at her husband who placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Elizabeth cuddled up to Henry's chest again and was asleep in his arms only seconds later.
Later that day visitors started to come and go and Elizabeth's hospital started to look like a flower shop. POTUS had been there with his wife and made Elizabeth promise him to take all the time she needed to recover. The staff had come together, they reassured Elizabeth that they had things under control and Daisy promised Elizabeth that the actual reason why she was in hospital wouldn't get out in the world. Will had called and was about to book a flight any minute since he was out of the country at the moment but Henry promised him that that wasn't necessary and that they would update him every day. Isabel had announced a visit for the next day and dozens of friends and family called and texted but Henry did the replying since Elizabeth was still beat, in pain and tired.
Dr. Wilder checked in with her patient that afternoon.
"How are you feeling?" she asked before starting the examination.
"Pretty sleepy and sore but otherwise ok", Elizabeth answered truthfully.
"How's the pain?"
"Tolerable, if I don't move too much."
"Tolerable is good for now", Dr. Wilder nodded, "we'll keep the dosage of your pain medication the same at least until the day after tomorrow and then see if you feel all right if we start to decrease it."
Elizabeth nodded.
Dr. Wilder took a look at Elizabeth's abdomen and incision.
"It's looking good", she smiled and Elizabeth snorted slightly. For what she had seen earlier that day, her stomach looked more like a battlefield than "good".
"Don't forget that your body has just been trough a pretty intense ordeal", Dr. Wilder tried to cheer Elizabeth up, "the swelling will go down in the next couple of days and after that it's only a matter of days until the bruises will fade. In a good week the stiches will be able to be removed and you'll look as good as new."
"Yeah", Elizabeth smiled a little.
"Do you have any questions right now?" the doctor asked.
"When can I go home?"
"If your recovery stays smoothly, I have a good feeling about releasing you in two, maybe three days. You'll need to stay on bedrest for some time but you don't need to be in the hospital for that."
"That's great", Elizabeth sighed and Henry squeezed her hand. He knew how much she wanted to go home but as much as he wanted that to, he was a little concerned that Elizabeth wasn't going to give herself the time to heal she needed when she got back home.
"And how long will it take for me to go back to work?" Elizabeth carefully asked. She knew Henry didn't want to hear a word about her work right now but reality was, that she was needed at her desk, so to speak.
"That's hard to say right now. Under the circumstances I would usually advise to stay at home for at least six weeks", the doctor replied.
"Six weeks", Elizabeth exclaimed.
"I know your job is important and that there is hardly someone that can replace you right now. But any form of surgery is a huge event for your body to cope with. It directs all its immune system resources to heal your wounds. On top of that, you lost a major amount of blood which also has a great impact on your body, even with the blood transfusion you've got. That alone will take a lot of energy from you and will likely leave you feeling tired and worn out. You will unfortunately feel some pain and discomfort for quiet some time as your body continues to heal, not only because of the ectopic pregnancy but also because of the surgery – the scarring can result in an additional abdominal pain. Your body will need as much rest as possible in order to get over that. And then there is the emotional trauma I'd like to point out", Dr. Wilder tilted her head and compassionately squeezed Elizabeth's hand, "don't underestimate what you've just been through. I highly recommend to take your time and listen to your body. I advise to start working again slowly, maybe from home for the first weeks. A couple of hours of paperwork here and there in maybe one or two weeks from now shouldn't be too harmful. Just take your time and take care of yourself."
"'kay", Elizabeth sighed. Though her instincts usually told her to power through whatever it was that she needed to get over, Dr. Wilder's words stuck with Elizabeth and the extent of what had happened to her started to become clear to Elizabeth.
"I will check in with you again tomorrow, all right?" Dr. Wilder asked.
"Yes, thank you", Elizbeth nodded.
"Of course", Dr. Wilder smiled and left the room.
Before the kids got back into the room, Henry sat down on Elizabeth's bed and took her hand into his.
"You OK?" Henry asked.
"Yeah. I think I'm slowly starting to process what happened. It's tiring."
Henry leaned towards Elizabeth so that they were able to kiss.
"How about you? You OK?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yeah", Henry nodded but Elizabeth didn't buy it. She had noticed the worried look on Henry's face.
"What's wrong?" Elizabeth asked.
"Nothing is wrong", Henry reassured, "I just want to make sure that you are going to take all the time you need to recover. If you get to go home, that doesn't mean that you get to work from bed or set up an office for Blake in our bedroom, right? You heard Dr. Wilder, bedrest, no work, just healing. Physically and emotionally, Elizabeth," Henry smiled with his head tilted.
Elizabeth couldn't help but smile. Though she didn't want Henry to worry so much, she did find it touching at the same time.
"I'll take my time, I promise."
"Good", Henry nodded and kissed her. Then the kids came into the room with bags of food in their hands. Ali got comfortable at the end of Elizabeth's bed while everyone else sat down in the chairs around her.
"What did the doctor say?" Ali asked between two bites of her salad.
"I might be able to go home the day after tomorrow", Elizabeth smiled.
"That's great, Mom", Stevie said and her mother nodded.
"Yeah, I can't wait", Elizabeth replied.
"Well set up the PlayStation in your bedroom", Jason planned, "I'll make you a pro in no time, Mom."
Elizabeth chuckled: "Sounds like a plan, Jase."
After another spoon full of her soup, Elizabeth set the bowl aside and yawned. While her family kept chatting, she fell asleep again and didn't even notice when the kids left for that day. It was already pretty late when she was woken up by another check in from a nurse.
When she left the room, Elizabeth looked over to Henry who held a book in his hands and was sitting in the chair right next to Elizbeth.
"Henry, go home. I'll be fine and you look like you could use a good night sleep in your own bed", she practically begged.
"So could you", Henry smiled.
"That's different", Elizabeth sighed.
"Babe, I'm fine. I'm not going home without you."
"I would feel better if I knew that you would get some real rest though."
"Elizabeth, stop discussing please. I'm staying."
"You're so stubborn", Elizabeth groaned.
"You would do the same", Henry smiled. He put the book aside, stood up and sat down on Elizabeth's bed and kissed her on her forehead. Then he took her left hand into his and paused for a moment. Something was missing. Oh, right. The rings, Henry remembered.
"What is it, Henry?" Elizabeth asked.
"They had to take your rings of when you were in surgery", Henry explained while he looked for his wallet where he had put the rings.
"Oh, I haven't even noticed yet", Elizabeth shook her head.
"I'm not surprised, honey. You have been pretty drugged the last couple of days", Henry chuckled.
"Here", he said and sat down on her bed again with the rings in his hand.
Elizabeth held out her left hand and Henry slid the rings over her delicate ring finger. The rings were a little lose, a sign that only after a couple of days in the hospital, Elizabeth had already lost some weight.
"Thank you", Elizabeth whispered and Henry leaned in for another kiss.
The next day, Dr. Wilder gave Elizabeth the go for taking a shower and starting to walk around a bit and Elizabeth was more than happy about it.
After showering with Henry's help and putting on a new set of comfortable clothes, Elizabeth started to feel more like herself. The shower had left her completely exhausted though and as soon as she was back in bed, she slept for a couple of hours. When she woke up again, she felt up to playing a couple of board games with her family and was relieved to get the slightest sense of normality. The rest of the McCords felt the same, Henry actually caught himself staring at his wife every once in a while, because he was so glad to see that she was starting to recover.
It wasn't a surprise when Elizabeth was released from the hospital the day after. Dr. Wilder had taken her time to talk to Elizabeth once more about the importance of rest and about the medications she would have to take for a while. Elizabeth also got a good supply of pain medications that was allowed to adjust herself.
Henry gathered Elizabeth's and his own things and packed the bag while Elizabeth was impatiently waiting. The kids were already at home and prepared everything for Elizabeth's return.
"Ok, I think we have everything", Henry said after checking the room one more time.
"Fantastic", Elizabeth sighed.
Since her abdomen was still sore and in pain, most movements were extremely painful. But Henry did his best to support her in every way she needed so now he helped her out of the bed and into the wheelchair. Elizabeth's security detail took the bags and Henry wheeled her to the car.
"Lets go home, Baby", Henry smiled when he supported her in the car seat.
"Yeees", Elizabeth cheered.