Sick:
When Elizabeth awoke, something felt… off. Her stomach was rolling, and she was so cold. She was about to wake Henry to tell him that she thought she was sick, when a pain so intense she had to verbalize it struck on her right side. She groaned, loudly, waking Henry.
"Elizabeth?"
She rolled onto her side, groaning.
"Sweetheart? What's wrong?"
"Hurts!"
Henry felt his wife's forehead, and then ran to the other side of the bed and lifted her easily.
"Henry!"
"I've got you, babe. You need to go to the hospital."
He rushed them out of their room and somehow made it down the stairs and to the door where DS Agents always stood.
"Dr. McCord?"
"She needs a hospital. Now."
"Put her in the van. We'll take her ourselves."
Henry slid Elizabeth in the back of the van carefully with the help of a couple of DS Agents.
"Henry! Don't … leave…" she groaned into the fabric of the backseat.
"I'm not, sweetheart. I'm here. Everything's going to be fine."
Looking at his wife's writing form though, he started to doubt that he'd been telling her the truth.
"Henry. Let me up. Now."
Stunned by her tone, Henry helped her sit up and barely had time to move his shoes out of the way as his wife retched violently. He held her hair out of the way and rubbed her back.
"Elizabeth?"
She was crying, holding her stomach, and covered bile desperate for the pain to stop. It broke his heart.
Pulling into the hospital emergency room with the Secretary of State had its perks. At the very least because her health had been deemed a matter of National Security, and they got to go right back to see the doctor.
Henry spared a quick thought to everyone watching them walk passed and wished them luck.
"Madam Secretary? I'm going to run a quick test, just to confirm my suspicions."
Elizabeth started at Henry with glassy eyes, ignoring the doctor completely.
"What kind of test?"
"A simple CAT scan."
"Can I go back with her?"
"Absolutely."
"Thank you Doctor."
The CAT scan was anything but simple as Elizabeth had to be still for the test, and she couldn't help writhing in pain.
Somehow they'd managed to keep her still enough to confirm that she had appendicitis.
"Madam Secretary, we need to operate immediately. You're in good hands."
Henry squeezed Elizabeth's shoulder. "I'll be here when you wake up, sweetheart."
Elizabeth was rushed to the operating room leaving Henry jittery and shaky and exhausted as the adrenaline left him.
His phone rang. The kids. Sighing, he answered.
"Dad! What's wrong?"
"What happened to Mom?
"Is she okay?"
"Guys, calm down. Mom will be just fine. She has appendicitis. They're taking it out now."
"Nerds, let me talk to Dad."
"Dad, do you want me to wait with you?"
"Stevie, your mom will be fine. I promise. Right now, I want you to stay with Ali and Jason, ok?"
Henry ended the call and plopped shakily into a nearby chair. He'd just started to calm down when Elizabeth's doctor rounded the corner.
"Dr. McCord? The secretary is out of surgery and stable. You can see her when they move her to recovery. Should be 10-15 minutes. A nurse will get you when she's moved."
Longest 15 minutes ever. Still Henry didn't dare relax until he was once again standing next to Elizabeth.
"Babe?"
"MMM… Hen…"
He stayed with her, holding her hand for a few hours stepping out only to call their children.
Tomorrow, the real work would start.
The hospital was in for a surprise. Elizabeth McCord was a terrible patient.