A/N: All recognizable dialogue was borrowed from Right of the Boom.
Prompt: What if it wasn't Henry who was exposed to radiation by the dirty bomb, but one of the children?
"I'm sorry." Noura's small voice rang into the crowd, throwing Alison off balance. Now, here was something she could do. She turned into the confusion toward Noura to at the very least smile at the young woman. But Noura was no longer there. She turned to get back to her family when the bomb went off.
Henry had Stevie and Jason by the hands and was frantically looking for Alison, his heart in his throat. "Alison!" Henry called and Stevie and Jason echoed.
"I have to call my family! I have to let them know where I am!" Ali tried to fight off the EMTs but they wouldn't hear of it. They just kept repeating radioactive at her and pushing her back on the gurney.
Elizabeth was sitting in her motorcade working her personal phone while Blake was working on her work phone, each trying desperately to get through to people in the crashing network.
"Wait. Stay- stay there. Jason." Blake handed her the phone.
"Jason. Hey baby. How are you?"
"We just went through triage. They're saying the bomb is radioactive."
"Do you feel sick? Do your sisters?"
"No, no we tested negative. Dad got us out in time."
"Listen, baby, I got to go to the White House for a little bit and then I'm gonna get to you as soon as I can, all right? You just…Put Dad on the phone, okay?"
"Mom. Dad, he's um… He's looking for information on Alison. She… She didn't get out."
Elizabeth felt her heart creep into her throat where it promptly shattered. "You tell him to call me as soon as he possibly can, okay, Jase? I love you, baby. I'll be with you as soon as I can."
Elizabeth felt like her heart was beating out of her chest when she finally heard from Henry.
"Henry! How is she? Is she okay?"
"Babe… she… they're still working on her. They won't let me talk to her. They're giving her Prussian blue and all kinds of… Babe… I just… I don't know." The sound of her husband's voice nearly broke her. This was just as hard for him, probably more so if she knew her husband as well as thought. And she did.
"Henry… Conrad said that he'd excuse me. I could come…"
"No. She's still sleeping right now. Your place is with the president, but I will call you when I can, okay?"
"I love you."
"I love you too."
Henry glanced at his daughter. Her still form in that bed looked far smaller than it should have. He looked at her and saw his sweet child at 2, her eyes filled with tears because Stevie wouldn't let her play with her. Why on earth had she stayed? Why didn't she listen to him? How could he ever forgive himself for leaving her behind for even a second? What would they do if she…. He shook himself. He couldn't… wouldn't entertain that thought. It had no business in his brain. Slowly, he caught up to the doctor.
"Henry?" Elizabeth's voice rang in his ears, but he just couldn't bring himself to tell her. Instead he handed the phone to the doctor.
"Ma'am, your daughter is expressing symptoms of radiation poisoning. Beta burns, nausea, vomiting."
"Is she gonna be okay?"
"We won't know for a few hours. We're taking bioassays for estimations. It all depends on the initial exposure. We're administering DTPA and a prophylactic dose of Prussian blue, but the medication is only effective if her exposure was limited."
"What if it wasn't?"
"Then we'll do our best to keep her comfortable, but I'm afraid there is nothing we can do."
The words vibrated in his skull with his heartbeat. "There's nothing we can do." pulsed along in his entire being. He stood by her door with his finger on the button, but he just couldn't bring himself to talk to her. He stood like that until he heard Elizabeth's soft shaky voice behind him.
"Sorry."
He turned and felt his wife crash into him, her head coming to rest perfectly on his shoulder. She wouldn't cry, not with her staff so close by, but the tears weren't far away from her voice.
"Henry… What do we do…?"
He shook his head refusing to let her speak the thought out loud. Their Noodle would be fine. She had to be.
"Mom? Dad?" came the weak voice from the speaker. Their baby girl was awake.
"Hey Noodle. How are you feeling?"
"I don't feel good, Mama."
Stevie and Jason rounded the corner and hugged their parents and spoke to their sister quietly until the doctor came and told them the good news.
"Madam Secretary. Dr. McCord. I have the results of your daughter's bioassay. Alison's exposure was limited to one Sievert of radiation. That's enough for some nasty symptoms, but it's well below a fatal dose. He's gonna be fine."
With that, Elizabeth launched herself at the doctor catching her in a hug of pure relief.
"Babe, let go of the doctor."
The McCord parents walked into the room together and went to each side of the bed where they comforted their daughter as best they could.
Elizabeth had to leave. Of course she did. She just hoped that Ali would either forgive her or that she wouldn't remember it. "That makes me a terrible parent," she thought as she climbed the stairs to her youngest daughter's room.
She found Ali and Henry in deep conversation and smiled, leaning on the doorframe, unnoticed.
"Ali, sweetie, why didn't you…?"
"Dad, I was just trying to do my part. Noura sounded so sad. I just wanted her to know that we were all gonna be okay."
Elizabeth watched as her husband fumbled for words, but they just wouldn't come out of his mouth. "Ali, baby. There won't be a next time, but maybe, get out of danger first, okay? You have to be here to be a good person, okay?" Elizabeth said from the doorway.
"Okay, Mom. I'm so tired."
"Then sleep, Noodle."
They crouched there for a while until she fell asleep, satisfying themselves that she was okay. Then they quietly went to their bedroom. And Henry fell apart.
"I shouldn't have…. Elizabeth!" Henry was sitting on his side of the bed, his head in his hands, his breathing much, much too fast. His wife came to side instantly.
"Breathe, Henry. Breathe. She's okay. She's going to be just fine."
"But…"
"I know. Breathe, Henry."
"I want to rejoin DIA."