Hey guys! I'm sorry for not posting a new chapter for about a week! I had a really hard time writing this part of the story and I honestly have no idea why. I'm also sorry that this chapter isn't as, let's say realistic as it should be. I wanted to incorporate everyone's emotions and their state of mind during the attack and it turned out to be more fluffy than I originally planned. I also feel like this chapter is really boring, so please don't hate me?! Ugh! I am also going on vacation tomorrow and won't be back for a week, so I probably won't be updating another chapter until I get back, but I'll try and write when I can. Thanks again for all the lovely comments and support! If you have any ideas you'd like to throw in for the story please let me know!

—

State Department Building, 7th Floor

Conference Room

Elizabeth's staff joined in complete silence as they watched the news unfold on a secure laptop. They couldn't believe this was happening! Of course they'd all been through some grievous and distressing times in the past, but nothing to this extent on U.S. soil since 9/11. No one, especially her staff, knew of Elizabeth's fate. It was evident from the news coverage that the damage and fatality rate was extremely high and that reduced their hopes even more. The intolerable feeling of helplessness was mutual.

Blake stood at the little coffee kiosk in the conference room stirring the same cup of coffee for the last few minutes. The devil on the side of his shoulder wished he didn't have one of the most firm and devoted connections with Elizabeth because he knew, or it felt like, he was aching the most. However, on the other shoulder, the angel was telling him that he knew she was strong and because of her strength, she'd make it. Blake couldn't pin his thoughts down. They were swirling like a vortex that wasn't going to let up anytime soon.

He couldn't bring himself to look over at the computer screen that played the same distressing clips over and over again. It kept reiterating the same information like a needle getting caught on a broken record and it was starting to irritate him.

"Can you please shut that off? I can't stand to listen to it anymore." He said with his back still facing them, his voice unidimensional.

"Why would you even ask that? Our boss could be dead and it looks like a lot of other people, too! It's important that we know what's going on!" Anger was clearly present in Daisy's voice.

"You just want the details so you can get something out to the press." Blake argued.

"We need to know details as they emerge and the secretary could walk out of that building any second and I'd like to know right away when she does." Daisy replied coldly.

Tension was growing briskly in the room and everyone was ready to verbally dispute their feelings and opinions at one another.

"Or she may be dead and will never come out." Blake retorted under his breath.

Nadine stood up abruptly from her chair and slammed the laptop shut which made everyone startle in their seats.

"No one could have predicted this. And yes, it's absolutely terrible, but this is politics. It's nasty and unpredictable. We have to keep moving forward even when it's difficult, even we want to dig a hole in the ground and bury ourselves in it. This is our boss we are talking about—our friend. I understand that it's hard to anchor our emotions," Nadine paused and took a deep breath. "...but we have to pull ourselves together and do our jobs!"

The room went silent once again. No words were spoken except exchanged glances that said everything. There was no use in quarreling. It wasn't going to solve any problems or answer any questions.

"Nadine is right. Arguing isn't going to help accomplish anything." Matt consented.

"I still don't understand what's taking so long! Every minute counts, right?" Jay asked impatiently, his elbows on the table and his face rested in his hands.

"They have to ensure that the threat is no longer imminent. From what I've heard, the DOD and the DHS are already investigating the situation." Daisy replied.

Silence again.

Nadine spoke up once again and tried to change the subject. "How's the speech coming, Matt?"

"Uhhh ... Well, I just haven't been able to pull myself together to come up with something, but I'll keep trying. It's hard to write something for someone when you don't know if they're alive or not." Matt mumbled the last few words, but everyone still heard.

—

Dulles International Airport

Twenty minutes had passed since the initial explosion and Henry was getting restless. The dust and smoke was starting to settle into his lungs making him cough and his eyes were burning fiercely. He knew Elizabeth was most likely suffering the same—perhaps even more. He'd give anything to wipe her eyes clean of the tiny particles and to put a wet cloth over her nose and mouth to ease the burning and scratching. Talking was getting difficult without coughing in between each word spoken, but it helped both of them keep their focus on brighter things rather than the horror and hatred they were now being surrounded by.

Elizabeth managed to keep herself awake, but there was a fine line between consciousness and sleep, which the latter was becoming more and more difficult to avoid. It helped to have images of her children coursing through her mind and Henry's encouraging voice trying desperately to keep her focus by making conversation with her. It took every amount of strength she had to keep herself awake and that alone was taking a toll on her body.

The feeling in Henry's legs was beginning to diminish as he had been sitting in the same cross-legged position for quite a while. As much as he wanted to shift his legs, he knew he couldn't risk moving her any more than she already had been.

It won't be much longer. He thought.

It was as if God had heard his silent pleas for help because in that moment, distant shouting echoed through the crackling fire and the alert siren of the fire alarms. It took Henry a second to realize one of the voices was Matt calling "They're over here!"

Those voices were music to Henry's ears and he couldn't help the sob that escaped his lips as he clung tighter to his wife. An enormous storm cloud had just been lifted off his shoulders and a sense of relief flooded through his entire body. He felt weightless.

"Babe, help is here. Help is finally here." He soothed.

Elizabeth's only response was a quiet sniffle, which indicated that she was crying, too.

It all played like a movie before him in slow motion. Paramedics emerged from the darkness running towards them with a gurney and carrying medical supplies, their flashlights blinding Henry's eyes, his hand swiftly covering them in response.

As the paramedics got to them, questions were being asked hastily and Henry could hardly keep up.

"Does she have any heavy bleeding?" Asked one of the paramedics as he cut off her shirt to place EKG monitor wires on her chest.

"Ummm ... Uhhh ... Yes, no. I mean, I think so. She's been drifting in and out of consciousness and she's extremely pale." Henry stuttered. "She also hit her head upon impact." He knew that information would be helpful.

"Ma'am? I'm Andrew and these are my colleagues Damon and Ryan. We are here to help you, alright? I just need you to answer some questions for me. Where are you right now?" He asked using a light to examine her eyes.

Elizabeth squinted at the harsh light and took a few struggling breaths before answering, "Dulles International Airport, Virginia."

"Good." He said putting the flashlight back in the medical bag. "What year is it?" Andrew lifted her head cautiously off of Henry's lap to put a cervical collar around her neck.

Henry took the opportunity to move out of the way and let the professionals do their job. He didn't go far however, only to sit back down next to her, taking his hand in hers. In other scenarios, the paramedics may have told him to step aside immediately upon their arrival, but something was different about today.

"2016." Elizabeth answered.

"Who is the President of the United States?" He asked again while Ryan was simultaneously putting in an intravenous line to administer fluids.

This question caught Elizabeth by surprise. She knew who the president was, or so she thought she did. Conrad's name was on the tip of her tongue and she was desperately trying to formulate possible names in her head, but to no avail. It was getting harder for her to even speak.

When she didn't answer his question, Andrew replied calmly while fumbling with an oxygen mask. "That's alright, Madam Secretary. Just breathe deeply for me now." He placed it over her mouth and nose and she did as she was told.

"I found the source of the bleeding. We've got a secondary projectile in the left leg approximately five inches wide. It looks like glass." Damon spoke as he grabbed a tourniquet and began tightening it around her leg. "She's losing a lot of blood very fast. She's at extremely high risk of going into hypovolemic shock. We need to hurry."

The term secondary projectile wasn't new to Henry. He had heard it quite frequently during his time serving in the Marine Corps. Hypovolemic shock ... well, that was a term he had never heard before and it scared him.

Andrew looked at Henry with apologetic eyes. "We'll have to splint her leg before we move her. Any movement could cause immense damage or even sever and artery."

But I've already moved her. Henry thought.

He was really starting to panic now and his entire body felt clammy. He, too, almost felt like vomiting.

Ryan grabbed a splint from the gurney and handed it to Damon.

"Alright, Secretary McCord. We are going to move your leg into the splint and I'm going to need to to be as still as you possibly can. I'm not going to lie to you, this isn't going to be a pleasant feeling."

The voices were starting to drown out again and confusion was taking ahold of her. All she wanted to do was to just close her eyes and drift off. The paramedics must have taken notice because Ryan began to make conversation with her as a distraction.

"Stay with us, Ma'am. I need to to stay with us." He started. "Your agent there has decent medical knowledge, Madam Secretary. He probably saved many lives today including a little girl's. It was definitely a fight to get him to evacuate the building, though. He didn't want to leave it without you."

She was so disoriented that she didn't even make the connection about the girl and her mother she had met earlier, but Henry did. He could already predict the outcome and he knew it wouldn't be easy to break that news to Elizabeth when she was ready.

A weak smile formed on Elizabeth's pale lips and her gaze went to her husband. He brushed off his thoughts and smiled at her with so much adoration and love that all the fears and the temptation to sleep was obliterated. Ryan gave Damon and Andrew the go ahead to splint her leg.

A cry of agony escaped her lips, somewhat muffled by the oxygen mask and Henry held her hand tighter in his own until her leg was secure.

"You did so well, babe." He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it.

"I'm going to need you to step aside just for a moment, Dr. McCord. We need to get the backboard underneath her."

Henry did as he was told and watched as the medics carefully slid the backboard underneath her body and placed an immobilizer around her head to keep her as still as possible in case of spinal cord injury.

They lifted Elizabeth onto the gurney and put a blanket on top of her before strapping her in.

Henry rejoined his wife's side and grabbed ahold of her hand once again.

"Okay, let's move! Go, go, go!"

With that, they ran through burning debris, rubble, and a sea of bodies into daylight.