Chapter Text
"What is that smell?" Elizabeth opened her eyes and sat up in the seat of the bus. She and her team had been touring across the whole country in this bus for almost a month now and between the ralleys it had become a habit of the candidate to dose off on the seats. Just fallen asleep, a stale smell had ripped Elizabeth out of her light sleep. "Maybe Matt ate egg salad or something...," Daisy guessed but Elizabeth had already jumped out of the seat and bolted out of the door. Steadying herself at the bus, she took a deep breath of the hot july-air which didn't seem to help at all. As her stomach turned she ran a few steps into the small forest near the parking area as her entire breakfast came up.
Blake, her assistant, immediately came after Elizabeth and held up her hair while the woman was throwing up in the grass. When she finished, Blake handed her a tissue to wipe her mouth. "Thanks Blake. I'm fine, you can go back to the others" Elizabeth said thankfully. "Maam, you where just throwing up like everything you ate today and by the way you look right now, you are far from fine, I'm not leaving you here alone." Blake looked concerned, still steadying her by holding her right arm. "Blake please" Elizabeth pleaded. "I just need a minute." She felt exhausted and her assistant fussing and worrying annoyed her, even though she knew he was probably right. Blake turned around and hesitantly leaves, looking back at his boss every few steps.
Elizabeth stepped away from the smell of her vomit, fearing to throw up again at the stench. Feeling her vision blurring she steadied herself on a big cedar tree as she lowers onto the cold ground. Her head is pounding, her stomach still churning and she feels sweat pooling at her temples. Hoping it will ease her discomfort she closed her eyes and took deep breaths. How am I supposed to do my speech in an hour? she thought. Elizabeth knew that cancelling was no option, the republican candidate was already building his whole campaign on her not being capable of the presidency since she was a woman. She couldn't get sick now that they had at least one ralley a day. Leaving the citizens hanging would be the end of her campaign, that she knew for sure.
Taking a last deep breath, she pulled herself up. She could feel the sour taste creeping back up her throat but she swallowed it down and slowly walked back towards the bus.
When she stepped into the bus she was greeted by concerned faces. "God, guys can you please go back to work. I'm fine!" Elizabeth insisted before she slipped into the small bathroom before anyone could answer. Seeing her face in the mirror she really understood the way the others looked at her seconds ago, nonetheless it still annoyed her. She looked pale and tired, the dark circles under her eyes and the film of sweat on her temples did nothing to make her look healthier.
She washed her face and brushed her teeth before applying her make-up to make herself look presentable.
When she stepped out the others were already waiting for her, ready to drive the last few miles to get to the ralley. Other than usual her team didn't go over the speech and every possible question with her this time, which gave Elizabeth the opportunity to try and relax before she has to speak in front of a thousand people and their cameras.
Despite her expectations the steady hum of the bus made Elizabeth's stomach calm down, so that she felt more or less human when they arrived. Then the usual stress started again, Matt went over the speech with the candidate and Daisy started to discuss about a phrasing. They seemed to try and do all the stuff they didn't on the ride in the ten minutes they got before Elizabeth had to step on the podium.
The speech went well. After Elizabeth answered some questions from the audience Blake and Daisy hurried her to get into the bus for their ride to the second and last stop today. Since she was feeling better she helped Matt finishing the short speech they had planned for the small town they were headed to. After ten minutes of looking down and writing the unsettling feeling came back and when Blake offered her a sandwich and tea she got even more nauseous so Elizabeth decided to close her eyes and just get through this ride. They would have enough time once they arrived.
Only a few sentences into the speech Elizabeth's vision started blurring. Ignoring it she continued talking but her legs started to feel weak and she grabbed the podium. God I should've eaten the damn sandwich. I haven't eaten anything since I threw up my breakfast. She powered through, tried not to think about the locals she wanted to meet after this. When she finished she knew she wouldn't be able to talk to the people right now, instead she turned around and disappeared into the tent behind the stage. As soon as she was out of sight Elizabeth's legs buckled. She grabbed for a pole but Blake had already rushed towards his boss and steadied her, leading her towards a chair. She was fighting against the darkness in her vision while Daisy ran up to the stage to calm the confused audience. "Mrs McCord will be with you as soon as possible after taking a short break. We apologise for the wait."
Inside the tent Elizabeth tried to drink the water Blake handed her while the assistant searched for something to eat and glucose tablets. At that moment, she missed Henry and his warm hugs more than she had in the past three weeks. Blake came back with the tablets and plain toast wich Elizabeth took thankfully. After a few minutes she felt like she had enough energy to stand up and go meet the audience. Daisy and Blake howered a few meters behind her the whole time while Elizabeth shook hands and tried to concentrate on the citizens problems.
The campaign team arrived at the hotel at 9 pm and Elizabeth had never been so happy to have a bed waiting for her. Like, a bed alone, not a bed with Henry in it of course. That would've been the absolute dream. But she knew it was pure luck she got sick on a day they even slept in a hotel, she didn't want to imagine spending the whole night in the cramped bus.
She turned on her phone and saw four missed calls from her husband as well as a few texts from her kids.
While she called her husband she opened the salad she didn't eat when the others had dinner but the smell of the dressing made her put it away immediately and reach for the crackers Blake left for her. When Henry finally picked up the phone, the woman slumped onto the bed, relaxing at the sound of her husband's warm voice.
"Babe? Are you okay? I'm so glad you're calling, the kids showed me videos of your speech this evening, I thought you were about to pass out every second," his voice was so full of worry it pained Elizabeth.
These damn cameras.
"Hi babe, I am okay, don't worry."
"Come on Elizabeth, I know you well enough to see when you are sick."
"I was maybe feeling a bit squeasy the whole day and haven't really eaten something since breakfast." If she told him she had thrown up, he would come across the country as fast as possible, that she knew. As much as she looked forward to see him next weekend, she didn't need him to to worry about her. "I think it was just the heat or it really were Matt's damn egg salad. It smelled disgusting! How are the kids?", Elizabeth tried to change the topic. She heard Henry hesitate for a moment but then he started talking.
Henry told her about Jason's upcoming Algebra test and how he couldn't help him with it at all and about Ali's college project. God how much she missed them.
As the headache was coming back she decided to go to sleep. She wished Henry a good night and put out the light.