Josh’s POV:
“Yeah…we need you to come back here.” Leo tells me. “We’re preparing for a peace
conference at Camp David and the President wants all hands on deck.” I knew it was
coming, Here goes…
“I’m sorry Leo, I can’t.”
“Margaret’s booking a flight for you as we speak.”
“Leo…I really can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t” he asks shrewdly.
“Either. Both. I’ll fax my letter of resignation over immediately. I’ve had it ready since
yesterday.”
“Josh we really don’t have time for this today. Donna is in good hands. Her parents are
there to help her. Now the President needs you here.”
“Donna needs me more and I’m not leaving her. I asked her to marry me, Leo.”
“Well isn’t that a kick in the pants.” He gives a short chuckle. “Your Dad would have loved
her.”
“Yeah, he really would.” I reply. “I’ll fax over my letter.”
“You could marry Donna and still work at the White House, you know.”
“No, she needs me now, Leo. I’m not going to leave her here; not even for the President.”
“Ooookay. I’ll talk to the President, but you better be ready for the call.” Leo hangs up and I
feel more than a little guilt. I make a quick stop at the nurses station where I charm a nurse
into sending my fax to Leo’s office. Then I walk back to Donna’s room where she and her
Dad are engaged in a cut throat game of checkers.
“What did Leo say?” she asks me, never taking her eyes off the board.
“Just an update on the prep for the peace conference.” It’s technically true.
“When do they need you back?”
“They don’t need me to come back. I can do everything I need to by phone, fax, and
computer.” Again, technically true.
“Dad, would you do me a favor and go ask my nurse when I get another dose of pain
meds? My leg is really bothering me.”
“Sure.” Frank quickly leaves to find some relief for his daughter.
“What’s going on Joshua?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes, you do. Why aren’t you on a plane to D.C. right now? The President is getting ready
for a Middle East peace conference. Are you seriously going to stand there and tell me he
doesn’t want you there?”
“Yes?”
“For future reference, if you’re going to lie to me, do it over the phone. You don’t have a
poker face.”
“I didn’t lie to you, Donna.”
“You didn’t tell me the whole truth, though, either.”
“I may have been selective in what I said.”
“Josh…when does Leo need you back.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not going.”
“You have to go. The President needs his Deputy Chief of Staff.”
“Then he can get another one!” I raise my voice and turn away.
“Josh, please tell me you didn’t…”
“I just faxed my letter of resignation.”
“NO!” I turn back to face Donna and see that she’s crying. Frank returns with a couple pills
and a glass of water.
“Here, kiddo. The leg is really hurting, huh?” Donna nods and swallows the pills he hands
her.
“Could you give us a minute please, Dad?” Frank looks back and forth between us and
decides to take a walk around the unit or something.
“Call Leo.”
“Donna…”
“Call Leo and tell him you made a mistake.”
“I haven’t!”
“You have.” She insists. “You might not think so now, but when you get back-“
“When we get back.” I correct her.
“When we get back, you’re going to realize what you’ve done, and then you’ll end up hating
me for it.” She starts crying in earnest. “This job, at the White House is what you’ve worked
your whole life for. It’s everything to you!”
“You say that like it’s a good thing.” I counter. “Not that it’s entirely bad, but the fact that my
job has been everything is kind of sad don’t you think?”
“Josh, please call Leo back. Please.” Donna begs. “You don’t know what you’re doing right
now.”
“You’re the one on massive amounts of drugs right now Donna, if anyone is impaired at the
moment-“
“Don’t. Don’t make a joke about this.” She warns me. “You’re not in a good place to make a
decision right now.”
“I’m in a fine place to make a decision.”
“You’re in a foreign country where your fiancé is recovering from a bombing, you’re not
speaking to Toby because you irrationally blame him for what happened to me-“
“It is not irrational to blame him, he’s the one who insisted you go in the-“
“You haven’t had a full night sleep since…I don’t know when and you think these are good
conditions in which to make a career decision with life-long implications.”
“You know I am seriously impressed that you can debate like this while on narcotics.”
“Josh, call Leo.”
“Seriously, I am so turned on by your debating skills-“
“Why aren’t you listening to me?”
“Well the narcotics you’re taking might have something to do with that.”
“Just leave then.”
“What?”
“I can’t talk to you when you’re like this. Just go. Go get some sleep. Maybe after your brain
has had some rest it will function normally again. Hopefully, it won’t be too late to take back
your resignation.”
“Donna-“
“Just go.” She turns her head away from me and I feel something inside me break. “GO!”
My feet start to move of their own volition and I find myself out in the hall when Frank Moss
returns from his walk.
“What going on, Josh?” he asks.
“Donna’s…upset.”
“Donna doesn’t usually get upset. She and her mother go from pleasant to pissed in 3.6
seconds.” I smile at his analysis. Both women, would be pissed if they heard what he was
saying.
“Whatever you did or said, it’s usually best just to apologize and do your penance.”
“I don’t think that’s going to work this time. I told her, well actually she figured it out on her
own, that I resigned from the White House.”
Frank looks startled by my admission. “Why would you do that?”
“It was either that or leave her to go back to work. I’m not leaving her.”
“That’s a pretty big decision to make so suddenly.” He notes.
“I’ve thought it out carefully.”
“I’m sure you have. It’s one of the things my daughter has always admired about you; your
ability to see all the angles of a situation.” Frank moves to stand next to me with his back
against the wall too. “So I’m sure you thought about how guilty Donna would feel if you
resigned your position because of her.”
“It’s not just about her. I’ve been thinking about this for awhile. This was just the final straw. I’
m not leaving her here alone.”
“I realize you love her and want to stay with her, but she’s not alone here either. Her mother
and I are staying with her.” Frank adds. “You have an important job helping the President
and it seems to me he needs all the help he can get right now trying to bring peace to the
Middle East.”
“Are you telling me I should go?” I look at him incredulously.
“I’m saying that a decision of that magnitude should be discussed between two people who
are sharing their lives before a final pronouncement is made.” Franks sighs. “”Cause any
woman with Janet’s genes isn’t going to appreciate being kept out of the loop.” Frank
pushes away from the wall. “I’m going to let my daughter beat me at checkers again. Why
don’t you see if you can find Janet and take her for a walk outside? The fresh air would do
you both some good.”
Since I am persona non grata in Donna’s room right now I figure that’s as good a plan as
any.
******************************************
Donna’s POV:
“Are you ready for another round of checkers?” Dad asks me when he returns.
“No, thanks. I think I’m done with checkers for awhile.”
“How about a movie?” He offers. “Josh got this DVD player and some movies.”
“No.” That might have come out a little snottier than I intended.
“I just ran into Josh in the hallway. He looked like he was worried about something, or
maybe someone.”
“Dad, he sent a resignation letter to the White House. He’s resigning from the job he’s
worked all his life to get because of me.”
“See, as a Dad, I think that’s exactly how I’d want him to react. But I take it you’re seeing it
differently.”
“He isn’t thinking this through. He’s going to get back to D.C. itching to get back in the
game and then he’ll figure out he’s been dropped from the team because he wanted to
rescue me. That’s what Josh does. He rescues people.”
“I think you’ve both rescued each other a fair amount of the time. But if you don’t want Josh
to rescue you, you may be out of luck. That’s what people who love each other do. Maybe
what you want to do is show him you don’t need rescuing right now. Maybe then he’ll
understand that it’s okay to go back to D.C. during this crisis.”
Our conversation is stopped short by the object of our conversation himself. Josh comes
barreling into my room talking on his ‘special’ phone.
“Yes, sir.” He looks over at me warily. “Let me see if she’s awake and able to talk to you.”
His eyebrows lift in silent question and I nod in response. “Here she is, sir.” Josh hands the
phone to me.
“Good afternoon Mr. President.”
“Donnatella. It’s so good to hear your voice. Josh has been giving me regular updates, but
those pale in comparison to hearing your voice myself. We’ve all been praying for you over
here.”
“Thank you sir. We’ve been praying for all of you as well.” I tell him sincerely. “It’s so
generous of you to take the time to call me yourself given what’s happening right now.”
“Well I had to talk to that hard headed fiancé of yours.” The President retorted. “Are you
sure you want to shackle yourself to that man for the rest of your life?”
“Reasonably sure, sir,” I pause to make eye contact with Joshua and I can hear President
Bartlet chuckle. We’ve perfected this non-verbal communication, Josh and I. In the few
seconds we ‘converse’ he apologizes for not talking to me first about resigning and I
apologize for losing my temper. Then there’s a forgiveness look, followed by a ‘we’ll do
better next time’ look. I am so engrossed in this conversation that I lose track of the
conversation I’m having with the leader of the free world.
“…Okay?” President Bartlet says, and it snaps me back to the phone.
“I’m sorry, sir. What was that?”
“I said I’m not accepting this resignation crap. Are you familiar with F.M.L.A. Donna?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m invoking it on Josh’s behalf.”
“Can you do that sir? I mean legally?” Okay, I probably should have phrased that a little
differently when addressing the President, not to mention the alarmed looks I’m getting from
Dad and Josh right now.
“Sure! I’ll have Oliver Babbish draw something up. Josh has agreed to do some consulting
as we wade through this Middle East nightmare so that will keep him in the loop. That gives
you 12 weeks to get his ass back here where it belongs…and yours too, now that I think
about it.”
“Yes, sir.” I smile and agree even as tears well up in my eyes. Someone please tell me it’s
all this medication that’s making me so emotional.
“Take care of each other, Donna. We’ll talk again soon.”
“Goodbye, Mr. President.” I hand the phone back to Josh and he squeezes my hand before
releasing it to take the phone.
“Do I even want to know what that legal question was about?” Josh asks.
“From now on the month of April is going to be called Donnatella.” I reply without even
thinking. Josh gives me a skeptical look, but I know he’s not going to push it, at least not
right now.
Have I mentioned how brilliant President Bartlet is? Not only is he a Nobel Prize winning
economist, but after all these years in office he’s really learned how to work the system. F.
M.L.A., or the Family Medical Leave Act, entitles employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave
in order to care of a sick family member. Technically, that wouldn’t apply to us, since we’re
not married yet, but the President says he can take care of the details on that so I’ll trust
him.
“Do you want me to turn on a movie or something?” Josh asks.
“Not now, the torture is scheduled to begin shortly.” I reply. The Physical Therapist is due
any minute and I am not deluding myself into thinking this will have any redeeming qualities
associated with it.
“I’ll be right here the whole time and when you’re done I’ll give you a massage, just like you
gave me when I was going through it.” He promises me.
Well…maybe there are a few redeeming qualities after all.
*************************************
Josh’s POV:
The President has cooked something up with Donna. Don’t think for one minute that I’m not
wise to the whole thing…I just don’t know exactly what it is. However, Donna is smiling at me
again and I think we’re past the ‘resignation crisis’.
She made it through therapy…today. There will be plenty more where that came from.
Seriously, I couldn’t even look at her leg, so I just kept focusing on her face. Although it’s
bruised and scraped it still looks beautiful to me.
That’s why it was so surprising to hear such a plethora of cursing come out of her beautiful
mouth.
“I’m getting your Mother.” I threatened.
“You would too, wouldn’t you? You bastard!” she yelled back at me. The physical therapist
just shook his head at me.
“Don’t pay any attention to what she says during therapy.” He advised me. “It’s kind of like
labor pain. The patient says all kinds of things they don’t mean.”
“What the hell would you know about labor pain, you patronizing son of a bitch?!” Donna
turns her venom in his direction. He just looks back at me as if to say ‘see? What did I tell
you?’.
I, however, take another step backward to make sure I am out of Donna’s reach and look
around her to see that there isn’t anything she can throw at me.
How did she do this before? She was there for every therapy session and watched me go
through every minute of my recovery after Rosslyn. She never complained about being
tired or burnt out. She was there whenever I called for her during the night. How could she
honestly think I would leave her now that it’s her turn?
After therapy, she drops right off to sleep with a little narcotic help, and I exchange sentry
duty with her parents who have just returned from the hotel where they slept, ate, and
showered.
I had just spread out on the hotel bed, I hadn’t even taken off my shoes, when the cursed
secure phone rang. I could pretend I didn’t hear it. Yeah, maybe not.
“Josh Lyman.” I slur sleepily.
“You’re about to get a file we’ve faxed over. The President needs some feedback within the
hour.” Leo tells me and as if on cue, there’s a knock at the door. I roll my eyes and answer
the door to find my good friend Lt. Colonel Ramsey with a sealed file. He doesn’t look any
friendlier than the last time I saw him.
“Are you alone, sir?”
“Except for the voluptuous Russian spy in my bed, yes.” I deadpan. Ramsey obviously
missed the humor gene when it was being distributed, because he proceeds to walk into my
hotel room and look around before handing me the file.
“Security isn’t a laughing matter, Mr. Lyman.”
“Believe me when I tell you, I know that all too well.” I shoot back. “However, since I work for
the President as a domestic advisor and not a CIA operative, I’m having a little trouble with
all this cloak and dagger stuff.”
“Do you need me to wait for a reply, sir?” he asks me and I realize I still have Leo on the
line.
“No, thanks, I’ve got my secret decoder ring and my bat signal so I think I’m all set.” I smile
to show him there are no hard feelings, but he turns and leaves without any response.
“You know I really thought that by resigning I would get a break from all this shit.”
“Sadly, the shit just keeps coming. You got the file, I take it?” Leo asks but doesn’t wait for
a response. “You could be, you know, professional with the military personnel that you
come into contact with there.”
“But then I wouldn’t be me.” I start rifling through the pages and there are many. I could
really use my assistant right now to help me get through this.
“Hold on, I’m getting you on the conference call with the rest of the team.” He tells me. This
is Leo’s way of saying Toby is coming on the line without saying ‘Toby’s coming on the line’.
I’m regretting my decision to pick up the phone.
“Joshua. How’s the patient?” President Bartlet asks.
“I could use some sleep, sir.” I reply. “Oh, you meant Donna.?”
“Funny boy. What do you think of the agenda for the conference?”
“Well I’ve had about 30 seconds to look at it, but right off the top I’ll tell you the agenda
topics are out of order.”
“Out of order?” this comes from Toby and I tamp down the urge to say something hateful to
him.
“Yes, out of order, you egotistical jackass.” Okay, maybe I didn’t get the urge completely
tamped down. “You can’t start with Jerusalem. It’s the single most divisive issue.”
“Which is why you have to start there. Nothing else is going to matter if you don’t settle that
issue first.” The arrogant bastard argues with me before he’s even heard my point.
“Mr. President, you’ve got two leaders who are incredibly suspicious of each other, and us
by the way, and you have to get them on the same page before you even mention
Jerusalem. You get them on the same page by building up trust. You build up trust by
working out a lot of the little issues; you’re fair and impartial, you listen to both sides. Once
you’ve got some trust in the bank, then you tackle Jerusalem. It has to be last.”
“Move it to the end, Leo.” The President orders and I feel a little smug that he’s sided with
me. Toby says nothing else throughout the rest of the call; which lasts over an hour. I fall
asleep on the couch with the secure phone clutched in my hands.
I sleep without a dream or any other disturbance for several hours until the hand of Frank
Moss shakes my shoulder. We’re sharing a suite and since we’re never here at the same
time it’s worked out rather well. I startle awake.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Everything’s fine. I just thought you might be more comfortable in an actual bed.”
“No, I can sleep anywhere.” I rub my eyes and try to focus on the clock. “What time is it?”
“9:30 PM.”
“Ah-kay. I should get back to the hospital anyway.”
“No, you should go to sleep…in a bed.” He clarifies. “Donna was asleep when I left and her
mother was sleeping next to her. What are you going to do stand guard over them? Watch
them sleep?”
“Maybe.”
“Go sleep in a bed. I’ll set the alarm for 6. We’ll be over there before she gets up for
breakfast.”
“I feel better when I can see her.” I admit, just between us men. “I’m not so anxious when I
can see her.”
“I feel the same way about Janet.”
“Does that anxious feeling get better with time?”
“Worse. Just wait until you have a daughter.” And with that happy thought, he disappears
into the Moss bedroom.
“A daughter.” I say the words out loud and now I’ve got something, or rather someone,
entirely new to worry about.
So much for sleep.
**********************************
Donna’s POV:
It’s been a week since I unexpectedly arrived in Germany. I’m getting stronger every day
but I’m worried about Josh. He’s been awfully jumpy the last few days and I can’t help but
worry that the explosion in Gaza has triggered some PTSD issues. Here he goes again; my
case in point.
“No! No, no, no. They can’t be serious!” He is shouting at the report he’s watching on CNN.
“What the hell are they smoking over there?”
My parents share a concerned look. I don’t blame them. I’m used to Joshua Lyman nutties
and even I’m concerned.
“Josh? Why don’t you turn the TV off for awhile?” I suggest and he doesn’t even turn
around. He instead continues his one sided conversation with Wolf Blitzer.
“Of course the President agreed to meet with Farad you dipshit. It’s called leadership. Why
isn’t C.J. out in front of this?” He asks no one in particular. “She could have announced it
from the podium and then it would have at least appeared as though we are in control of
this situation.”
“Josh!” I nearly shout and finally get his attention. He turns to me looking confused.
“Do you need something?” He asks.
“Yes, I need you to turn off the television and get your blood pressure under control.” I tell
him and Dad snickers.
“But there’s a special coming on-“
“Josh…”
“Ah-kay.” He hits the power button on the remote control. “What do you want to do?”
“I want to use your laptop and book you on a flight to D.C. tomorrow.” I tell him.
“Donna, we’ve already covered this. I gave my resignation-“
“About that.” I take a deep breath. “When you said you resigned? You may have been
overstating it a bit.”
“What are you talking about? I thought they were weaning you off the narcotics today.”
“The resignation letter may have gotten garbled a little when it was faxed.”
“Garbled? How does a fax get garbled?”
“Please, Joshua, you can barely manage your email account. You want me to explain the
technical issues involved in internationally faxing?”
“Donna..”
“It may have been garbled to the point that when it landed on the President’s desk it looked
a little more like request for family leave.”
“Family leave.” He repeats.
“You know, F.M.L.A, the Family Medical-“
“Leave Act, yes, I am familiar with the law. I helped pass the law. So I know what was in the
law. To be granted leave under F.M.L.A. the employee, which would be me in this case, has
to apply for it. I never applied for family leave Donna.”
“That’s not what the President told me.” I shot back
“Donnatella…”
“Are you really comfortable calling the President of the United States a liar, Joshua?”
My parent’s heads are swinging back and forth like they’re at a tennis match. They’ve been
watching this act for a week now, you’d think they would be used to it by now.
“I don’t even know how to respond right now.”
“Then listen to me and power up your computer so we can get you to Camp David.”
“I’m not leaving you when you need me.” he says in a low growl. He can be so alpha male.
“You’re not. Would I like you to stay? Sure. But I have both my parents here and I’ll be clear
to fly in another week or so. Josh.” I wait until he looks me in the eyes. “You came when I
needed you and I’ll never forget that. Now you need to go help the President put together a
peace accord.”
“We’ll take care of Donna and bring her home as soon as she’s well enough to fly.” Dad
throws in.
“And by home you’d mean…?” Josh asks him.
“Her home is in D.C., with you.” Mom adds. “You take care of peace in the Middle East and
we’ll take care of Donna while you do. Deal?”
“I don’t know. I can probably crank our Middle East peace in a couple days. Then what? I
wait around for the Moss family to return from their European vacation?” Josh smirks. There’
s the man I know and love.
Dad sets the laptop on my bedside tray and I open it up to search for a ticket to D.C.
**************************************************
Josh’s POV:
I’m not very good at goodbye’s. Donna would probably tell you that I’m not very good at
anything that comes close to emotional communication. She may be right. But I’ve never felt
so pulled in two directions before in my life. I really want to stay with Donna and I really want
to go to Camp David.
The bait and switch that Donna and the President pulled is going to be addressed too, I
promise you; just as soon as the next guy gets sworn in.
“You need to get going, Josh.” She tells me like I’m unaware of the time. Even with my
crappy watch I know it’s time to go. I just don’t want to. “Do good over there.”
“I’ll try.”
“You need to work things out with Toby.”
“No I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.” She insists.
“I do some of my best work when I’m sparring with Toby.” I argue.
“Sparring, yes. Mortal combat, not so much.” She counters. “Make up with Toby.”
“You make us sound like some couple that broke up in High school.”
“No, more like junior high.” Donna sighs. “This wasn’t his fault.”
“I don’t want to talk about this with you right now.”
“If you don’t straighten things out with Toby-“
“I have like, two minutes left with my fiancé, and I don’t want to waste it talking about Toby.”
She relents for now, but I can tell the subject is not closed. I go for distraction and kiss her.
Her parents are giving us some privacy to say goodbye, so I don’t even have to be careful
where I put my hands. I take full advantage of that fact.
“Joshua…” she moans into my ear and I decide that peace in the Middle East isn’t that
important after all. “You have to go.”
“I’m bringing all kinds of woo over here and you’re calling me a cab to go to the airport?
Any other guy might think you want to get rid of him.”
“Yes, Josh, I’m having an affair with the pulmonary specialist. We’re just waiting for you to
get on your plane before we engage in hot sex in one of the recovery rooms.”
“Donna!”
“I love you.” She kisses me quickly. “I’ll get home as soon as I can and I’ll expect regular
updates by phone and email.” She kisses me again. “Now go.”
I nod and hug her before quickly walking out of her room and straight into Frank and Janet
Moss. Janet hugs me and wishes me good luck. Frank and I exchange manly handshakes
and he promises to bring Donna home soon.
“Just…don’t leave her alone with the pulmonary specialist.” I order as I walk backwards to
the elevator.
When I arrive in the States, I go directly to Camp David. Liz, having been alerted to my
arrival by Donna, has sent a supply of clothes and after a quick shower and change I am
smack dab in the middle of the peace conference war room. I manage to take a seat as far
from Toby as is physically possible.
“Mr. Lyman, how good of you to join us.” The President quips.
“Fortunately I didn’t need all of my federally mandated 12 weeks of leave.” I shoot back and
we exchange knowing grins.
“Very good. Commander Harper was just filling us in on a possible compromise on the right
of return issue. Commander?” the President cued her and Kate Harper picked up the ball
and ran with it.
Several hours pass before I have a chance to call Donna. It’s very late here, but luckily it’s
morning in Germany. She answers on the first ring.
“Got a signed peace treaty yet?” she teases and it makes me smile.
“Not quite yet.” I reply. “How’s the pulmonary specialist?”
“Depressingly professional.”
“Damn Hippocratic oath. How are you doing?”
“I ache all over and I miss you terribly.”
“Those two symptoms are probably related.” I explain. “Being deprived of the personal
attention of Josh Lyman must be a terrible burden.”
“I’m doing my best to bear up under the pressure. Any movement at your end?”
“A little.” I try not to convey my impatience about this whole process, but as usual, Donna
can read me like a book; even over an international phone line.
“There’s no quick fix to this, Josh. It’s a centuries old struggle and even the great and
powerful Josh Lyman is going to need more than a day or two to solve it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I suppose you can’t talk about any specifics over the phone.” She muses.
“No, any number of people could be listening in on this call; not the least of which is the
Secret Service who could kill me and make up a reason for it later.”
“That sounds like an interesting topic.” Donna notes. “But you’re right, we should be careful
what we discuss. What should we talk about then?”
“I was thinking phone sex.” I reply honestly and it makes her laugh. “What? It could be really
hot. We could be really explicit, all the while never knowing who is listening.”
“I know exactly who is listening, since my mother is sitting next to me right now.”
“Well that kind of takes the hotness out of it for me.” I admit.
“Yeah…” Donna agrees. “But you should hold that thought. We may have an opportunity to
explore that topic later.”
“Ah-kay.”
“It’s very late there Josh, you should get some sleep.”
“My body is still on German time. I can’t sleep.”
“Try. And work things out with Toby.” She tells me before we hang up. I told you the subject
wasn’t closed.
*********************************
All Bets 6