A/N: Thank you so much for the response to this collection!
"It just… hurts."
Henry kept a close eye on his wife. Elizabeth looked pale, drawn, and weary, but she was still bravely covering with the kids.
"Hey, why don't you guys go to bed? Mom isn't going anywhere, ok?"
They reluctantly left her side, and she shot him a grateful look.
"Hey. You ok?"
Elizabeth nodded. "I just... need a shower and sleep."
Something was off about her voice. A little catch that he might not have noticed if he didn't know her so well. Something was up with her, he was sure... other than the obvious. He was aware that they'd stopped in Germany, but she'd called and said that it was standard. Protocol, she'd said.
He followed her up the stairs and found her staring at the shower.
"Babe?"
She jumped and turned, her weak smile turning into a grimace.
"Are you ok?" he asked gently.
"It just... hurts," she said without emotion.
His eyes widened and he wrapped her into a soft embrace.
"Elizabeth? Tell me."
She shook her head against his chest. "I will... but I really need this shower, Henry. Will... will you help me? I can't..."
Grabbing her jacket, he pulled it slowly off her shoulders watching Elizabeth's face for signs of discomfort in her eyes. Her top would be trickier, and removing it would definitely hurt if she were injured in any way.
"How do you want to do this, babe?"
"Right side first."
He reached his hand under her sweater and stretched the material enough for her to slide her arm out of her sleeve. The stark white of the bandage there startled him.
She caught his gaze. "Just a scratch."
He nodded, and pulled the sweater over her head and off her other side in one fluid motion, stopping briefly when she grimaced.
"I can't get them wet."
She unbuttoned her pants herself and turned her back to him.
Another stark white bandage, bigger than the one on her arm, and without her reassuring gaze, Henry felt his calm waning.
"Elizabeth? Why didn't you tell me when you called from Germany?"
Her eyes filled with tears and his whatever it was at being left out of the loop left him entirely.
"I ... I-I could-couldn't."
"Shhh... you don't have to. We can talk later. Where are the extra bandages? Purse?"
On her nod, he left and returned a few minutes later.
Carefully taking her arm, he pulled at the bandage as gently as he could, and his heart broke when he heard her hiss in pain. Her arm was indeed scratched. But it was also dark with bruises. He trailed her arm with his eyes wishing that he could take away the pain.
Turning her around, he tried to be even gentler with her back, but her whimpers let him know that it was going to hurt anyway. 20 stitches marred the left side of her back. And bruises bloomed around the site. Henry's heart broke again. He rested a hand gently on her shoulder to remind himself that she was truly there. Then he left her alone to shower and wash Iran from her body and hair.
He returned when he heard the water stop. Truthfully, he'd spent the last 20 minutes pacing outside the door trying to get the sight of his wife's injuries out of his head. Unfortunately, every time he blinked, there they were.
She was struggling to dry herself when he walked in. He took the towel without a word and dried her off as carefully as he could.
Applying the new bandages was as painful as taking them off, and by the time Henry finally had the one on her back secured, Elizabeth was barely holding herself together. And Henry felt like crying.
He helped her dress in her comfort pajamas, and then he led her to bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.
She woke gasping. Fred. Abdol. Screaming. Explosions. Bodies. It was all too much.
"Babe?"
"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."
"I wasn't asleep."
Her dream was still too fresh, and her facade crumbled suddenly. It was all just too much. Henry took in his wife's heaving sobs, and he allowed himself to break too.
They clung to each other both reassuring the other that they were still there and needing reassurance.
It was a long night.