“We’re never going to get to the underlying issue as long as there is an anonymous
hold on the bill in committee.” Josh moaned as his cell phone beeped to let him know
there was another incoming call. It was the third call waiting beep and it was getting
really annoying when he was trying to focus on Senator Brigman and the bill in his
committee.
Josh ignored the beeping, again, and pushed through the doors of the West Wing.
He was cleared through security while he continued to berate the Senator for how he
was handling the bill. Josh knew it was Brigman who placed the ‘anonymous hold’ on
the bill so he decided to kick it up a notch.
“That’s fine Senator, I understand, and I hope you understand when I answer the 14
press requests on my call sheet and give them each an exclusive on just who put the
hold on a bill that will increase food stamp benefits for families living in poverty.” Josh
smirked as he took in the Senator’s voice stammering about finding the source of
the hold and removing it. “That sounds like a great plan Senator, the President
appreciates your cooperation.” Josh said graciously while the Senator’s voice
droned on and on in his ear. Josh was only vaguely aware of his voice and already
thinking about his next call, when he caught sight of Liz in the lobby. She looked like
she’d been crying.
“Josh!” she called from 10 feet away and Josh’s whole body went cold. Something
was very wrong. He shut the phone without so much as a goodbye for the Senator.
“What?” Josh’s first thought flashed to his Mother, but although she and Liz often
chatted on the phone, he didn’t think it would illicit this kind of response from Liz.
“There’s been an explosion…in Gaza…”she waited until she saw the news register in
his eyes. “We tried to call you several times-“ she tried to explain but Josh was in a
full run to Leo’s office. When he entered the office, all four T.V.’s were showing
footage of the explosion. Leo was talking to someone on the phone and motioned
for Josh to wait. Josh took advantage of the time and pulled out his cell to try to call
Donna. He couldn’t get through.
Leo hung up the phone and Josh pounced. “What the hell, Leo?!”
“Reports are sketchy but there are 3 confirmed dead; Congressmen Korb and
DeSantos, and Admiral Fitzwallace.”
“What about Donna? And Andi?” Leo was truly impressed that Josh even
remembered Andi was on the CODEL. Andi is fine, she was in another vehicle.
Donna was injured and is being transported for treatment.”
“Injured. What does that mean, ‘injured’?” Josh’s voice was rising and Liz, C.J. and
Toby gathered in Leo’s office as well. “Are we talking sprained ankle injured or…”
Josh couldn’t finish the sentence. His throat literally closed up. Liz put her hand on
his arm.
“Donna’s parents are on the line. They want to know if you have any information.”
Josh looked again at Leo, who responded, “She’s being airlifted to our base in
Germany.” Josh sat heavily in the nearest chair. “Liz, put them through to me, would
you?” Leo instructed and Liz left to carry out her orders.
“Maybe Toby should talk to them.” Josh said quietly. “He could explain how she was
so vital to the CODEL.”
“Josh…” C.J. scolded. “Andi is there too.”
“I don’t think Andi is being airlifted to Germany!” Josh shouted.
“Enough!” Leo slammed his hand on the desk. “Let’s focus forward people. The
President is going to want recommendations in a minute.”
“We need to kill them.” Josh said in a monotone voice. “We kill the ones who
planned it and then we kill everyone who was happy about it.”
C.J. and Leo exchange concerned glances. Toby’s gaze never leaves Josh. “Well,
that’s one option.” C.J. noted. Charlie appeared in Leo’s doorway and announced
the President was ready to see them. Leo stopped Josh from going into the Oval.
“If there’s somewhere else you need to be…everyone would understand.” Leo told
him.
“I’m…I can…yeah, okay.” Josh nodded once and took off for his office passing by a
startled Liz.
“Josh? What’s going on?” She asked concern coloring her face.
“I’m heading to the airport, you need to get online and get me a ticket to Frankfurt.
Then get in touch with whoever is taking care of Donna and get a medical update.”
Josh grabbed his laptop and his backpack and walked right back out of his office.
“Once you have that, call me on my cell and I’ll call the Moss’s with the info.”
“When do you want to leave?” Liz asked quickly taking notes on a notecard; a
practice that Donna no doubt trained her in.
“About 8 hours ago.” Josh quipped and saw the expression on Liz’s face. “First
available flight, Liz. I’m going directly to the airport from here.” Liz nodded and Josh
threw a ‘thanks’ over his shoulder as he ran out to catch a cab.
*********************************************
Liz was almost as good in a pinch as Donna was. He was on a flight to Germany less
than 1 hour later. He had called Donna’s parents in flight and given them what little
information he had about her as well as promising that Liz would get them booked
out on a flight as soon as possible.
The news that Colonel Leahy had given him when he arrived was daunting, but no
more traumatic than Josh imagined it had been for Donna when she had to wait out
14 hours of surgery. He paced her hospital room searching for some indication that
she was coming around but after an hour of the pacing, exhaustion finally took hold
and he fell asleep with his head near her shoulder and her hand in his.
Something pulled Josh from unconsciousness, but he couldn’t tell what exactly. He
opened his eyes and it took him a few seconds to remember where he was. Donna!
His head snapped around and saw Donna’s eyes open and overflowing with tears.
“I’m sorry.” Donna’s voice was a hoarse whisper.
“What are you sorry for?”
“I stayed right next to Fitz just like you said.” She managed.
“Donna, no.” Josh kissed her fingers. “Please don’t cry.”
“I’ve never been so scared in my life.” She told him.
“Me either.” He admitted. Josh noticed Donna was having a hard time swallowing and
offered her some water with a straw.
“You’ve got one of those great morphine hookups here. If you need more pain
meds, they’re just a click away.” Josh said as he handed her the button which she
proceeded to press 8 or 9 times. “I’m pretty sure it only works the first time you press
it.”
“I love you, Joshua.”
“I love you, too.”
“If you really loved me, you’d get me more morphine.” Donna pouts and Josh
decides it’s now his mission in life to find as much morphine as she wants.
“I’ll see what I can do.” He promises and kisses her fingers again. He was aching to
kiss her lips and her face but he’s hesitant to touch her because of all the scrapes
and bruises. He can see when the morphine kicks in and her eyes drift closed. She
manages two more words.
“Don’t go.”
“I won’t go. I’m right here.”
**********************************
Josh’s POV:
I’ve been watching Donna drift in and out of consciousness I don’t want to go back to
sleep in case she needs me. I turn on the TV and watch how all this is playing on the
international scene when there’s a knock on the door. I spin around to see who it is.
There is a guy carrying flowers peering around the door. He must have the wrong
room.
“Can I help you?” I ask tersely in my best Deputy Chief of Staff voice.
“I’m looking for Donna Moss?” he frames it as a question but when he talks, I hear
his Irish accent and the pieces fall into place. Toby has been giving me shit for the
past several days about some Irish ‘photo journalist’ (read unemployed here) who
has been chasing after Donna ever since they arrived in Gaza.
Naturally, considering the source, I blew it off. Well, I grilled Donna about it, she
assured me Toby was messing with me, and then I considered the source and blew it
off. Things look considerably different now that the unemployed Irish picture taker is
standing in her hospital room in Germany…which is quite a ways from Gaza I might
add. This is going to require all my verbal skills along with some deft handling and
subtlety…
“Who the hell are you?”
He blinks at my opening salvo and takes a closer look at me. I see the very second
he recognizes who I am and his perplexed look turns into something smug.
“Colin Ayres, Mr. Lyman. I’m a friend of Donna’s.”
“No, I don’t think so. I know all of Donna’s friends.” I take a step closer to him and
place myself between him and Donna. “You’re one of those sleazy tabloid paparazzi.
You can just go right back to whatever rock you crawled out from under.
Now he looks offended. Good; unless he decides to take a swing at me. He looks like
he’s in pretty good shape. It doesn’t matter. I’m staying between this leprechaun and
Donna even if he does beat the crap out of me. I’m in a hospital, for god’s sake,
anything he does to me, they can fix.
“I’m not now, nor have I ever been, part of the paparazzi. I’m a photo journalist under
contract with Time Magazine to document the goings on in Gaza. I’ve been showing
Donna around the city to help her with background on the conflict there.”
Time magazine? He’s worse than unemployed, he’s under contract with a right wing
media monster.
“I’m sure it was all out of the goodness of your heart, too.” I mock him.
“Well, no, actually I was hoping to worm my way into her affections.” He says in this
smarmy Irish accent. If I were in better shape, I would certainly have hit him at this
point.
“You’re out of luck there.”
“So it would seem.” Ayers face turned serious. “I was there when…I was there. I got
to know her in Gaza and I wanted to see that she was alright.”
That I can understand. Maybe he really is just a concerned friend. Then I catch the
way he’s looking over my shoulder at Donna. Nah-uh. That’s not the look of a
concerned friend. There’s more than one way to skin a cat.
“That’s very kind of you. I’ll let my fiancé know that you stopped by to check on her.”
The lie slips from my mouth without a moment of hesitation. Colin’s eyebrows shoot
up in silent disbelief.
“Fiancé?” he repeats. “Funny she didn’t mention anything about that…I don’t recall
seeing a ring either.”
“It’s a very recent thing; we’re keeping it kind of quiet.” I fumble with it a bit, but come
back strong. “She didn’t want to take the ring on her trip to Gaza. It’s so valuable
and things there are…well you know.”
“Uh-huh.” Ayers is about to dig a little deeper when we both hear Donna’s weak
voice call for me.
“I’m right here, baby.” I tell her and the Irish lad follows me to her bedside.
“Colin?” she asks in a befuddled tone. It’s like she realizes he doesn’t belong here
and is trying to decide whether or not he’s a figment of her imagination while on
morphine and several other good drugs.
“Hey, darlin’.” He leans closer to her and lays the bouquet of flowers he brought at
the foot of her bed. So he brought her flowers, big deal. Donnatella Moss isn’t the
kind of woman to swoon over a bunch of flowers. I know this because I have
personally purchased her a bouquet every April for the past several years. She was
never impressed by flowers.
“Colin, they’re beautiful. Thanks so much.” She gushes. Paparazzi man brings her a
handful of flowers he probably swiped from the garden in front of the hospital and
she gushes all over them. “I can’t believe you came all this way.”
All this way? It’s a much longer trip from D.C. to Germany than it is from Gaza to
Germany, I can assure you of that. Plus, photo guy didn’t leave his important
Government job in the middle of an international crisis just to be at the side of the
woman he loves either.
“I heard you made it here safely, but I had to see for myself.” He tells her taking one
of her hands in his.
“That’s so sweet, isn’t it Joshua?”
“I’m about to get a cavity it’s so sweet.” I agree and she pinches my hand. “Ouch!”
“I’m sorry I was reaching for the morphine button.” She mumbles. Right. “Colin, I’m
still pretty groggy from the meds. Would you mind coming back later, when I have
more of my wits intact?”
“Of course not. You rest, and I’ll be by tomorrow to see you.” He kisses her forehead
and I watch every move he makes until he is completely out the door.
“Josh?” Donna tugs on my hand to bring my attention back to her.
“Yeah?”
“Did you bring it with you?”
“Did I bring what with me?”
“The very valuable engagement ring that I couldn’t take with me to Gaza.”
I do a double take and see a small smile on her face.
“I thought you were out of it.” I state for the record.
“A woman is NEVER so out of it that she can’t hear the man she loves say she’s his
fiancé.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I retort and she closes her eyes again. She gets wiped out so
quickly! My Donna has always had boundless energy. “Tell you what. As soon as
you get cleared to leave this place, we’ll go pick out the ring together.” Her eyes fly
open at that comment.
“I was just teasing you.” She tells me with eyes full of concern.
“Yeah, well I’m perfectly serious.”
“Traditionally, a man asks a woman if she’ll marry him before they talk about
shopping for rings.”
“When have we ever done things traditionally?” I ask her and she smiles again.
“Never.”
“Then why would we start now?” I kiss her quickly. “Get some sleep. You want to be
well rested when your personal photographer comes back so you can watch when I
kick his ass out of here.”
My fiancé, I like the sound of that, shakes her head slowly and drifts back into sleep.
*****************************************
Donna’s POV:
Oh joy, my family has arrived.
Don’t get me wrong. My parents are and always have been loving and supportive,
even when they thought I was nuts driving to New Hampshire. The thing you have to
know about my parents is that they have rarely left the State of Wisconsin and panic
easily. So now they are being thrust into the world of International travel and being
escorted to a military hospital where their youngest daughter is recovering from a
bombing. What are the odds that it will be me calming them rather than them calming
me in this situation?
Next, just for fun, we’ll throw in my fiancé (I just love saying that) who always handles
stress so well, and an Irish photojournalist who my Father will want to get rid of even
more than Josh does. My mother will just shake her head ruefully, chastise my
Father (‘Now, Frank, let Donna’s friend be’), and proceed to fluff my pillows and try
to get me to drink huge quantities of juice. As far back as I can remember, Mom has
treated every ailment, scraped knee or pneumonia, with pillow fluffing and huge
quantities of juice.
“Donna, baby.” Dad cries as soon as he sees me. He looks like he wants to hug me
but he’s afraid to touch me and cause more pain. Just how awful do I look anyway? I
keep asking for a mirror but no one seems to be able to get their hands on one.
Mom just takes hold of my hand as tears spill down her face. She tries to smile but
her mouth quivers too much and she gives up.
“I’m okay.” I try to assure them, but my voice comes out shaky too.
“Thank God you are.” Dad notes. “When I think about the fact that you’re the only
one to survive that horrible-“
“Mr. Moss, Mrs. Moss, I’m glad you made it safely.” Josh interrupts and I try to take in
the information Dad has just spilled. I’m the only one from that car still alive? Josh
told me about Admiral Fitzwallace when I asked about him, but I’m ashamed to say I
didn’t even ask about the others.
“Thanks for all your help getting us here, Josh. And what did I tell you about this Mr.
Moss nonsense?”
“Yeah.” Josh acknowledges, but I notice he still doesn’t call Dad Frank. “Now that
you’re here, I’m going to go check in with Leo and the President.” He turns to me
and runs his fingers down my cheek. “I have my cell phone if you need me, okay?” I
nod even though I don’t want him to go. He’s here with me when by all rights he
should be in the Oval right now, so I decide not to complain about the phone calls.
“Here, honey, let me fluff your pillows.” Mom tells me.
See?
********************************************
Josh’s POV:
“Josh Lyman for Leo McGarry.” I told the White House operator and waited while the
call is connected.
“How’s Donna?” Leo asked me as soon as he gets on the line.
“She’s pretty groggy.” I told him trying to stifle the yawn. “Her parents just got here,
so I’m giving them a little time alone. What’s happening there?”
“Nothing I’d like to discuss on a line that isn’t secure.” Leo said point blank. “I’m
getting a secure phone to you. It should be there within the hour. Once you have it,
the President would like to speak to you. Donna too, if she’s up to it.”
“I don’t know about that. We’ll see.” I wasn’t about to make any promises.
“Also, it wouldn’t hurt to give Toby a call; give him an update.”
“No.” I said simply and I could hear Leo sigh.
“Josh, he’s feeling pretty awful about now-“
“Good.”
“Josh…Did you blame Charlie after Rosslyn?” he asked me.
“That’s completely different and you know it.” I barked. “Nobody, least of all Charlie,
had any indication that going to the Newseum that night would be dangerous. Toby,
along with anyone else who can read, knows that Gaza is extremely dangerous, and
he chose to send her anyway.”
“He was doing his job, and Donna was doing hers.” Leo tried again. “It was simply
bad luck.”
“Not so much. I could have predicted there’d be trouble…no wait, I DID predict there
would be trouble.” I ended up raising my voice to Leo. I took a deep breath. “I don’t
want to discuss this anymore, Leo. Right now, I just want to concentrate on getting
Donna well and getting her home.”
“Call back when you get the secure line.” Leo commanded before he hung up.
I stuck the phone in my pocket and stood with my back up against the wall. I was
even starting to relax until I heard the voice.
“Looks like your boy’s having a spot of trouble.”
God Damnit. The leprechaun is back.
“My boy?” I asked without opening my eyes. This guy wasn’t worth the effort.
“Bartlet.”
“It’s been President Bartlet for several years now, and he hasn’t been a boy for
about50.”
“How’s she doing then?” he asked changing the subject.
“As well as can be expected. She’s going to have a long road ahead of her.”
“She must be doing a little better if you’re down here.”
“Her parents are here now.” I informed him. “You should go on up. They enjoy
meeting…’friends’ of Donna’s.” I smiled insincerely. Frank Moss will eat this one
alive, fellow Irishman or not.
“I think I will. Will you be going back up then?”
“Mr. Lyman?” a voice interrupted us. “I’m Lt. Colonel Ramsey. I have orders to put
you on a secure line, sir.”
“It looks like I’m going to be tied up for awhile.” I told Ayers. “Excuse us.”
Lt. Colonel Ramsey gave me a rundown on the operation of the secure phone; how
to place calls and where I was authorized to receive them, etc. I made a little joke
about calling my mother on it, but Lt. Colonel Ramsey was less than amused.
I get surprised by the ring of my ‘non-secure’ line, otherwise known as my cell.
“Josh Lyman.” Lt. Colonel Ramsey shakes his head at my answering the cell phone
in the hospital and points to the sign banning their use here. I simply turned in the
other direction and pretended I didn’t see the sign.
“Josh?” the voice of Frank Moss comes through. “We need you up here.”
He hasn’t finished the sentence and I’ve begun my sprint for the elevators. When I
got to Donna’s room, it was empty and panic rose inside me. Ramsey was standing
behind me, still holding the sacred phone and I had to push him out of my way to get
back into the hallway.
“Josh!” Donna’s Mom called to me and held out her hand. “They’ve taken her for a
CT scan.” She told me as she led me to the waiting area her husband already
occupied with Colin Ayers.
“What happened?”
“She was having a hard time breathing and had chest pains.” Frank Moss
elaborated.
Doctor Leahy came in then and he didn’t look happy.
“The CT revealed a blood clot in her right lung.”
“A pulmonary embolism.” I stated and Dr. Leahy nodded. I felt the air whoosh out of
my chest and I couldn’t draw another breath. I felt Janet Moss’s hand on my arm.
Donna must have told her Mom how my Dad died. I could see the fear and the pity
on her face.
“We’re going to operate immediately to remove it.” The Doctor continued. “Ms. Moss
is asking to see Mr. Lyman before we put her under.”
I turned to Janet. “You should go.” I offered. I wasn’t sure I could be strong enough
to walk in there and help bolster Donna’s confidence.
Janet shook her head. “She asked for you. Tell her we love her and we’ll be waiting
right her for her when she’s done.”
Reluctantly, I followed Dr. Leahy. There might be some things I hate more than
hospitals and operating rooms; like Republicans for instance. But I would rather
speak in support of the second amendment to a roomful of Republicans than go into
the operating room right now. My own fear was clogging my throat, how could I
possibly quell Donna’s fear?
When I walked out of the operating room a few minutes later, I had the presence of
mind to reassure Frank and Janet before I grabbed the secure phone out of Ramsey’
s stunned hands and begin walking as I placed a call.
“Sir, you really can’t place a call from that phone right here.”
“Sure I can; just watch me.” I start the procedure Ramsey showed me just a few short
minutes ago.
“Sir, I can’t allow you to-“
“I know you know you I am, and I know you know I have the equivalent rank of a 3
star General, so why the hell are you bothering me right now?” I stopped dead in my
tracks and Ramsey almost plowed into me. “Josh Lyman with a call holding for the
President.” I said into the phone in the middle of the hallway and Ramsey turned on
his heels and stormed out. Good riddance.
“Josh? How’s Donna?” President Bartlet asked me and I tried to control my temper, I
really did. Maybe if Donna had been there, she could have gotten me to calm down,
but Donna wasn’t there and that was kind of the point of my rant in the first place.
“Not so good, sir. She’s developed a pulmonary embolism and they’ve just taken her
in for emergency surgery.” There was a pause at the other end of the line and I
imagined the President, like Janet Moss, had flashed back to how my Dad died. “Did
you hear me, sir?”
“Yes, Josh, we all heard you. You’re on speaker here. I’ve got Kate Harper, C.J.,
Toby, and Leo here with me.” Another pause. “Have you had any sleep, son?”
“A bit.” I lied.
“Please tell Donna we’re all praying for her quick recovery.” The President said
quietly. “We’ll look forward to when she can be back here with us.”
“She’s not coming back, sir.” I spit out. “There is no way I’m letting her go back to
that-“
“Josh.” Leo interrupted me again. I’d about had it with Leo.
“I don’t need you to run interference for me, Leo.” Toby said and he sounded nearly
as pissed as I felt. “Josh if you don’t think I’ve felt every kind of guilt imaginable-“
“I don’t give a shit about your guilt, Toby!” I practically shouted into the phone. “She’
s lying in there, her life hanging in the balance, and you think feeling bad makes one
bit of difference?”
“Of course not.” Toby admitted. “But if you think I would EVER knowingly put Donna
in danger-“
“Of course you knowingly put Donna in danger. I told you it was too dangerous.”
“Joshua.” The calm voice of President Bartlet cut it. “We can’t do this right now. How
is this playing on the European news?”
I knew he was trying to distract me from reaching through the phone and pulling
Toby’s lungs out through his nose.
“They’re praising your restraint, sir.” I managed. “The mighty US, in the face of…an
unspeakable terrorist attack, is proceeding cautiously while their investigation
determines who was responsible, etc. etc.”
“We can use that sir.” C.J. broke in. “Our European allies could calm some of the
more bloodthirsty voices calling for retribution right now.”
“Josh?” The President said.
“Don’t ask me sir. I’m one of the bloodthirsty voices.”
“You and Leo.” The President muttered. “The Israeli Ambassador is waiting to see
me. I need to go. Call us back as soon as Donna’s out of surgery.”
“Yes, sir.” I responded quietly and disconnected the call.
**********************************************
Colin’s POV:
I wish I had my camera. The tableau here is very interesting. Every so often the
phone rings and Josh has to excuse himself for a few minutes. He shoots me a look
each time he goes that says ‘if you weren’t here, I could take this call right here’.
Each time he returns he silently sits on the other side of Mrs. Moss and she takes
his hand again. But Josh Lyman doesn’t seem to be a man used to sitting still, so he
gets up again and asks the nurse if there’s anything new to report. This gets
repeated over and over, until I tell him that they’ll surely tell us when there’s
something to report. Mr. Moss, who hasn’t asked me to call him Frank, just glares at
me as if I am personally responsible for his daughter’s condition.
Another call comes and Josh takes it out in the hallway again.
I try to make friends with the only person here who doesn’t seem to hate me
outright…Mrs. Moss.
“I’m sure we’ll have word soon that everything’s fine.” I tell her. She nods.
“Then you can get to…wherever you’re going next.” She says pointedly. So much for
making friends.
“I really think Josh is overreacting a bit. Pulmonary embolisms are probably routine
around here.” I try again.
“Josh’s father died from a pulmonary embolism.” Mr. Moss snapped at me. “He wasn’
t even with his family at the time. He, along with my daughter, was helping President
Bartlet get elected. What is it that you do exactly?”
“As a photojournalist, I take pictures that tell a story to people in other parts of the
world.”
“And that’s what you were doing in Gaza?” Mrs. Moss asks.
“Yes. As a matter of fact, I took several of your daughter.”
“My daughter isn’t a story.” Mr. Moss clarifies for me.
“Well as part of the Congressional Delegation I…”
“You said you were there when it happened?” Mrs. Moss asks.
“Yes, I tried to get to her vehicle but the soldiers wouldn’t let anyone near it. In the
end all I could do was take pictures.”
“You took pictures?” Mr. Moss nearly explodes. “Of my daughter after the..of Donna
when she was hurt?”
“Yes, sir. That’s my job.” I answer.
“Your job stinks!” he replies.
“At times, yes.”
“But you said Donna was a friend.” Mrs. Moss protests. “You wouldn’t…sell THOSE
pictures would you?”
“I… have already.” I tell her. “Many news agencies around the world want to see
what happened in Gaza; to learn more about the situation there.” I try to soften it a
bit. Mr. Moss stands up and Mrs. Moss starts crying again.
“I think you’d better be leaving now.” He tells me just as Josh returns. He looks
alarmed by the expressions on the faces of Mr. and Mrs. Moss.
“Donna?” he asks. Mrs. Moss shakes her head no, then points at me.
“That man sold pictures of Donna in Gaza.” She accuses and to my surprise, the
Deputy Chief of Staff does not even turn in my direction.
“I took care of it, Janet.” He calms her. “Fortunately, the only news agencies he sold
them to are reputable enough that a couple calls from the White House took care of
it. We explained that it was a security risk for Donna’s face to be shown, particularly
when she’s still out of the country. They’re blurring out the faces in the photographs.”
“Thank God. I don’t think I could bear to see…or have Donna see…” Mrs. Moss
trails off.
“I’m sure Mr. Ayers would never stoop so low as to sell them to a tabloid.” Now he
looks at me and there is a definite threat in his eyes. “After all, he’ll probably want to
enter the US at some point, and that could prove difficult for him if he makes an
enemy of the President.”
“He’s just leaving now anyway.” Mr. Moss tells them. “I’m sure there are a lot of
pictures waiting to be taken…somewhere else.”
Doctor Leahy chooses that moment to come report on the surgery. There were
some complications and they’re concerned about possible neurological damage, but
she’s made it through the surgery and is being taken to the recovery room. The
family is welcome to wait there for her. Relief and worry mark their faces and they
begin to follow the Doctor to recovery. Josh turns briefly back towards me.
“Tell her I wish her well…both of you well.” He nods once and hurries off with his
future in laws. I can’t help but think that I’ll be seeing more of these people in the
future.
*************************************************
Josh’s POV:
Donna hasn’t woken up yet, and that makes me nervous, but the machines
monitoring her heart and lungs keep beeping at a steady rate so I haven’t gone too
far around the bend yet.
Janet Moss keeps trying to fluff Donna’s pillows, which is proving to be difficult with
Donna lying unconscious on top of them. I decide to go for distraction. If it works with
the daughter, it should work with the mother, right?
“Janet, Frank, I need to talk to you about a couple things.” My opening statement
works and Janet comes over to sit with Frank and me. “I want you to know that I’ve
asked, well, Donna’s agreed to marry me.” Janet’s eyes go wide. “I know how much
Donna loves you both and it would mean a lot to me if we could have your blessing.”
Janet shares a glance with her husband. “When you said the White House took care
of those photographs; that was you, wasn’t it?” I nod in answer to Frank’s question.
“You dropped everything and came here with only the clothes on your back to be
with Donna, to be there for Donna.” Janet continues. “That tells a mother something,
but I’d still like to hear the words. Do you love my daughter, Joshua?”
“With all my heart.” I answer honestly.
“You already take care of her, and I know how much she loves you.” Janet states.
“Of course you have our blessing, right Frank?”
“I just worry about her going back to the White House.” Frank says quietly. “I think
she may need a change after this.” None of us say what we’re most afraid of;
neurological damage that could preclude her going back to work at all.
“That’s the other thing I’d like to discuss with you.” I say this hesitantly because I’m
not sure how this will be received. “I don’t think she should go back to the White
House either. I’d like you to help me persuade her to try something else when she’s
recovered. And I’d like her to stay with me while she does recover.”
“I don’t have a problem with either of those suggestions.” Frank tells me. “Truth is,
we were going to try to get her to come home to Wisconsin while she recovered. We
don’t want her to be alone.”
“She won’t be. I promise.”
“What about your hours at the White House? How can you take care of her when
you’re working 14 hours a day?” Janet wondered.
“I’ll work it out. I’ll get help and I’ll cut back my hours.” ‘Perhaps all of them’ I think,
but I don’t say it out loud. The President deserves to hear that first and directly from
me.
Despite appearances to the contrary, I’m not clueless. The phone calls from the
White House have become more frequent and more urgent. It’s only a matter of time
before I’m ordered back, and I’ve already decided that I’m not going. Donna didn’t
leave the hospital throughout my 14 hour surgery and beyond. I will do no less for
her.
“Will you help me convince her?” I ask point blank and they both answer ‘yes’.
****************************************
Donna’s POV:
I can’t quite get my eyes open, but I can hear his voice so I call his name.
“Josh?” Despite the great effort it takes to speak, my voice only comes in a whisper.
Still, it’s enough to get his attention and immediately I feel his hand on mine.
“Donna? Can you open your eyes?” he asks me. “Come on, baby, look at me.” I
really don’t want to, but it sounds like it’s pretty important to him so I do my best. My
eyes flutter open and then closed again. The light is too bright. Josh reads my mind
and asks my Dad to turn off the overhead lights. I manage to open my eyes a bit and
see his big brown eyes just inches in front of me.
“You’re still here.” He smiles at my comment.
“Of course I’m still here. We have a date to go ring shopping when you get out of
here, remember?” there’s a note in his voice that sounds more anxious than I expect
him to be.
“Yeah. A very valuable ring I couldn’t take to Gaza.” Now I get a full smile, dimples
and all.
“That’s my girl.” He leans close and kisses me. “Can I get you anything?”
“My throat hurts.” I tell him.
“Here, sweetie, have some juice.” Mom offers. I share a smile with Josh. At least she’
s leaving my pillow alone.
**************************************
All Bets 5