President Bartlet’s POV:
Sleep has frequently been elusive for me, even before I took this job. But there are days in this
job when elusive becomes impossible; like today for instance. My Deputy Chief of Staff has
returned to us full of enthusiastic, creative ideas for possible solutions. He engages in spirited
debates on the issues and seems to have come down from his ‘bomb the people who did it and
then bomb everyone who was happy about it’ position. Still, Josh was not speaking to, looking
at, or communicating in any way with my Communications Director. That’s going to have to
change.
“Joshua. You up for a little one on one?” The question is rhetorical. When the leader of the
free world invites you to do something with him, you comply unless a serious physical injury
prevents you from moving. I toss the basketball to him and he dribbles a bit before trying to
take it to the hole. “It’s good to have you back, son.”
“Thank you, Mr. President.”
“My wife had a chance to speak to Donna earlier as well as get a medical update from her
doctor, Colonel Leahy? Sounds like she’ll be cleared to come back in 4 or 5 more days.”
“Yes, sir, it’s very good news.” Josh is playing things a little close to the vest. That’s okay. You
don’t get to be President of the United States without learning how to shake things up and
smooth things over. I’m hoping to broker more than one peace deal here at camp deal.
“You wanted to see us sir?” Ah, here’s act II. Charlie and Toby have arrived.
“Excellent.” I proclaim. “Josh and I against the two of you. I need a physical distraction while I
ruminate on peace.” Charlie rolls his eyes and Toby looks thoughtfully at me. Work with me
here, Toby.
“What are we playing for?” he asks. Toby always likes to have a stake in the game.
“Peace…and bragging rights for the duration of our stay here at Shangri La.” I answer.
We get into a spirited game and if there are a few more elbows thrown than usual, I pretend
not to notice. Sometimes men need a chance to work things out physically, and even though
that’s never been my forte, I can respect that. After everyone is good and tired, I throw out a
herring.
“Kate Harper thinks she can get Farad on board with the right to return.” I say.
“Yes, with only her wits and her mini skirt.” Toby notes. He does not seem to be fond of
Commander Harper.
“She got him to move on border issues.” Josh counters. And so it begins.
“And that will be a lovely footnote once we hit the wall on Jerusalem and everyone takes their
ball and goes home.”
“If you don’t believe in this, what the hell are you doing here?” Josh demands.
“My job, same as you, Mr. Bomb Everyone that’s Happy About It. That’s hardly peace talk
there.”
“I was upset, I’d just heard about Donna. How would you react if it was Andi?”
“It was Andi, Josh, she was 30 feet away and saw her friends and colleagues blown up. Do you
honestly believe this didn’t affect Andi?! Or me?!” All pretense of playing ball is given up at this
point and Charlie moves to stand between Josh and Toby but I hold him back with a hand.
“Let them get this out.” I tell Charlie quietly.
“Who knows what the hell affects you?” Josh sputters. “You sent both of them off without
batting an eye. I begged you not to send Donna, I begged you to talk to Andi, but-“
“I did talk to Andi! I talked to Donna too. Neither of them would budge an inch! They are two of
the most hard-headed women I’ve ever known!” Toby exploded. “They are also two of the
brightest women I’ve ever known, and I hoped and prayed they would watch out for one
another; take care of one another. I got the President to ask Fitzwallace to go along with them,
hoping a strong military presence would add to their safety. Fat lot of good that did. Now his
death is on my hands too!” Toby turned away and walked off the court. Josh stood frozen in
place.
Charlie started to go after Toby, but again I held him back. Josh’s head was down so I couldn’t
read his expression, but I could guess that it was a high mixture of anger, sadness, and guilt.
We all stood there motionless for a minute or two until Josh walked off in Toby’s direction
without a word to us. Now the healing could begin.
“Alright Charles, it’s one on one now.” Charlie looks around us at all the Secret Service agents
and shakes his head.
“Not exactly, sir.” But Charlie is a gamer so he takes the ball out anyway.
*******************************************
Josh’s POV:
I want to hate him. I want to hate him and bash his head in with something hard. But then I
remember the pain in his voice when he talked about Fitzwallace’s death being on his hands. I
have more than a passing acquaintance with guilt and I know how it eats you up from inside.
I didn’t know he’d tried to talk Andi and Donna out of going to Gaza. I can only imagine how
those conversations went. He really should have sold tickets to that show.
I find him sitting on the ground with his back against a tree, his head in his hands.
“I got physically sick when Leo told us about Gaza. I left his office and threw up. I didn’t know
what to say to you or what to do to help. Then you were gone so fast I didn’t have a chance to
say or do anything at all.”
I sit down a couple feet away from him. For the first time since I’ve been back I allow myself to
really look at Toby. His eyes are bloodshot and he has dark circles under them from lack of
sleep. I was so busy hanging on to my anger that I didn’t take the time to see how this has
affected my friend; and it obviously has affected him.
“I haven’t even been able to call her.” I know he means Donna even though he doesn’t mention
her by name. “I don’t know what I’d say. ‘Sorry’ hardly seems to cover it.”
“She doesn’t want you to be sorry.” I tell him. “In fact, she’s insisting I quit being angry with you.
Instead of being angry with you for sending her to Gaza, which I would think would be a normal
reaction, she’s angry at me for being angry at you for sending her to Gaza.”
“I’m so messed up.” Toby moans. “I understood that entire speech.” That actually makes me
laugh. “I wouldn’t think a ‘normal reaction’ is something you’d ever expect from Donna.”
“Touché.” The silence settles a little more comfortably between us. “Damn, Toby, I was so
scared. Even when I was shot I wasn’t that scared.”
“Yeah. Love has a way of doing that to you.” Toby notes. “The President told us you and
Donna got engaged over there.”
“Yeah.” I confirm. “I promised her we’d shop for a ring as soon as she’s sprung from the
hospital.”
“Mazel Tov, Joshua.” He tells me sincerely and we look each other, eye to eye, man to man,
and in the span of an instant all is forgiven.
“Thanks, Toby.” I reply. “I need your help on this. We need to find a way to make this work. I
don’t want all of it to have been for nothing. We have to find a way to make this work.”
“Then we find a way.” Toby agrees and stands up offering me a hand to help me to my feet.
“One more thing…” I say offhandedly. “Can you call Donna and tell her everything’s fine over
here? She never stops nagging me about you.” I hand him my cell phone.
“You’re marrying the woman, Josh, you’d better get used to it.” But he takes the phone and
places the call.
**************************************************
“What do you mean she’s not available? She’s not in therapy. I know it’s not her therapy time.
Is something wrong? Has something happened?”
The nurse on the line took a deep breath. She had dealt with Mr. Lyman before. “I promise you
that Ms. Moss is fine, Mr. Lyman.”
“No, because if she was fine, she would be on the phone with me right now.” Josh reasoned.
“Let me speak to Mr. or Mrs. Moss.”
“They’re not available either.” The nurse explained. “I will be happy to pass on a message if
you like.”
“Pass on a message? Yes, tell them that it makes me extremely anxious when all three of them
are unavailable and they should take great pains to avoid this situation in the future. Got that?”
“I think we’re all on the same page there, Mr. Lyman.” The nurse assured him before she
quickly hung up.
“How can all three of them be unavailable?” Josh asked the room at large. Unsurprisingly, he
received no reply. “I mean, Donna has therapy and doctors to see, sure, but Mr. and Mrs.
Moss are basically tourists. How can they both be unavailable? Hey, they promised me that
one of them would be with Donna constantly.”
“They’re probably both with Donna, therefore all three of them are unavailable.” Dr. Bartlet
finally took pity on everyone and tried to calm Josh down.
Will came in at that point to let them know everyone was ready to begin the afternoon round of
negotiations.
“You go on, Josh. I’ll keep trying. At the very least, I’ll be able to get a medical update.” Dr.
Bartlet offered.
“Yeah, okay. Thanks Dr. B.” he kissed her cheek before he grabbed his file folder and followed
the rest of the group to the conference room.
When they adjourned four hours later they were closer than anyone had ever been to a peace
treaty. President Bartlet needed to make a few calls to other leaders to see if they would be
willing to come on board with the U.S.
Josh used the time to harass the hospital staff about why they couldn’t put Donna on the
phone until Dr. Bartlet took the phone away form him and hung it up.
“I just spoke to Colonel Leahy an hour ago. All her vitals are normal and she’s working hard in
therapy. He’s going to personally have her call you when she’s done. Relax.”
“I relax much better when I can, you know, see or talk to Donna.”
“I told Jed this was an awful idea.” Abby muttered.
“What was an awful idea? Something happened didn’t it?” Josh pounced and Abby made an
executive decision.
“Yes, something happened. Donna was discharged.”
“What?”
“Jed wanted to surprise you by bringing Donna and her parents here.” Abby told him. “I told
him you’d need valium as soon as you got the first ‘not available’ answer from the hospital.
“It’s like an 11 hour flight!”
“Yes.”
“And you thought it would be funny to cut me off from Donna for 11 hours without any
explanation whatsoever?!” His accusation included everyone currently in the room.
“It was the President’s idea.” Abby reiterated.
“And you just went along with it?” Josh turned his wrath on Toby.
“Hell no, I started up a pool on when you would hit full blown nutty status. Dr. Bartlet, as a
physician, would you say we’ve hit that point here?” Toby asked her.
“I’m not a psychologist but I think there’s enough anecdotal evidence to support that.”
“Who had 4:48?” Toby called out and Will raised his hand.
“4:50, actually.” Will corrected.
“Close enough.” Toby decided and money began to exchange hands.
“I don’t believe you people!” Josh called out though no one paid him any attention.
“Maybe it would help to know that they’re landing in less than an hour. They will be met by the
President and brought here on Marine One.”
Josh looked up, confused by the statement. “I thought the President was making calls.”
“He is. He’s making them from Marine One.” Dr. B. smiled and put an arm around Josh. “Your
fiancé and her family will be here by 6.”
There had been times, when Abby Bartlet had privately questioned what Donna saw in Josh
Lyman. Looking at him now, overjoyed at the news he would be with Donna soon, dimples
exploding on his cheeks, Abby could understand it all perfectly.
******************************************************
“So…how long have you worked at Camp David?” Josh asked.
“Ten years, sir.”
“And how long did you say the trip would take on Marine 1?”
“Well, the last three times you asked I said it would take approximately 30 minutes, but I could
change my answer if you’d like, sir.”
“You’re kind of a smart ass aren’t you, Major?”
“It occasionally gets me into trouble, sir.”
“I know the feeling, Major.” Josh replied. He immediately straightened when he heard the sound
of the chopper coming in.
As soon as the door opened Josh ran to the helicopter.
“Josh! How nice of you to greet me personally.” The President teased.
“Nothing personal, sir, but I was hoping to see someone else.”
“Someone younger and with blonder hair?”
“At least more hair, sir.” Josh replied and got a dirty look for his effort.
“Stand back a minute, and let them get Donna and the wheelchair out. She’s doing pretty well,
but she’s also pretty exhausted from the trip.” The President told him and he kept himself in
check while the elder Moss’s disembarked. They hugged Josh and exclaimed over being met
by the President and escorted to Camp David. Josh listened with half an ear, while he waited to
see Donna.
Finally, he saw her, being helped out of the helicopter by two officers. She did look tired, Josh
noted, but there was certainly a sparkle in her eyes when she saw Josh. He ran forward and
kissed her in front of the entire assembly.
“God, I missed you.” He whispered.
“It’s taking you a little too long to get this peace agreement, Joshua, so I decided to come
myself and give you all a kick in the ass.”
“They’ll never know what hit them.” Josh smiled and placed himself behind her wheelchair. “Let’
s get you to your cabin so you can get some rest. I’ve got another set of meetings in a few
minutes but I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
Josh held her in his arms through the entire night, and when he woke at 6 A.M. he was as well
rested as he could possibly be. He lay there stroking Donna’s hair for several minutes before
she gave herself away and spoke.
“That feels so nice. It feels like a lot longer than 6 days that we’ve been apart.”
“It does. I’m hoping we will have some down time soon. Then we can maybe do some ring
shopping.”
“That would be lovely. Are you that close?”
“I think we are.” Josh told her as he got out of bed and went to get a shower. “We have one
last road block this morning. If the President can get through it, we’re going to be able to sign a
peace accord and go home.”
“Josh? Where’s Leo?” Donna noticed his absence last night, but hadn’t wanted to ask about
him in front of everyone.
“He’s been keeping an eye on the store.” Josh explained. “He and the President haven’t
exactly been seeing eye to eye on all this. The President wanted to present a united front
here. Leo should be joining us today, if we can get a deal made.”
********************************************
Josh’s POV:
I stepped outside, and the tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife. Neither the President
nor Leo made eye contact with me. I know things have been rough between these two old
friends, but I guess I didn’t realize just how rough it was. Between Donna and the peace
conference itself, I’ve been a little distracted.
The President said something in a low voice that I couldn’t make out and I saw Leo pale. Then
the President walked away and it was just Leo and I.
“Glad you could make it.” I tried a little humor but it fell flat.
“I heard you’ve been doing good work out here.” Leo said simply.
“We’ve missed your input.” I answered and Leo let out a short laugh.
“You should go back in there.” He directed me and his voice sounded strange. “Go.” And with
that he walked off into the woods.
I followed his orders and went back into the lodge. We had gotten through our final issue and
there was a lot of work to do preparing the document itself as well as calling key members of
Congress to line up the support we’d need to implement it.
Donna and her parents joined us briefly around lunchtime to eat with everyone. There was an
air of anticipation in the room. People were smiling and relieved. All the long days and
sleepless nights seemed to have paid off in the result C.J. will be able to announce at her
afternoon gaggle. The President and Dr. Bartlet had already returned to the White House to
prepare for the next step.
“I thought you said Leo was here.” Donna mentioned.
“He is.” I confirmed. “I saw him just before you came over for lunch.”
“I wanted to thank him for the card and flowers he sent.” Donna said looking around the
gathering again.
“Has anyone seen Leo?” I shouted to the group at large. People responded ‘no’ or shook their
head in the negative. I got a niggling sensation in my gut. Something wasn’t right.
“You ready to head out?” Kate Harper asked me. “The convoy will be heading back to the
White House in 20 minutes.”
“I’m all packed up.” I respond. Donna and her parents will go to D.C. in a separate car. She’s
still pretty wiped out from all the travel yesterday. I pushed Donna back to our cabin and
gathered our things. Then I brought her to the van that would transport the Moss family to my
apartment in D.C. I promised her I would get home as soon as possible, but with the current
situation, she had no illusions about me getting home early.
I took one more walk through the compound, but still saw no sign of Leo. When I met up with
Toby and he admitted not seeing Leo either, I tried Leo’s cell; repeatedly. I called the White
House and asked Margaret if she had heard from him, but she couldn’t shed any light on his
whereabouts.
At that point, panic started to set in. Something was just not right. I walked through Camp David
shouting Leo’s name. I ran into smartass Major Strauss on my journey and he took the time to
find out why I was shouting for the White House Chief of Staff. My concern must have shown
through because he got on his radio and called all units for a location on Leo McGarry. No one
could give us a location, and the gate confirmed that he had not left the compound. My steps
doubled in their speed and my heart started racing. Major Strauss and I stuck together on our
search, so I heard his radio crackle before we got the word that Leo had been located.
Then I heard the call for an air ambulance and my heart stopped completely I swear. We got to
Leo and I could hardly get any words out after our flat out run. Major Strauss was in much
better shape than me. Leo’s face was grey and his eyes were half closed.
“Leo!” I panted as I spoke. “Leo look at me.” I commanded and he tried to keep his eyes open
while he turned towards me. Camp David, like anywhere else that housed the President, had
medical personnel on duty and state of the art equipment. The medics were working quickly
and silently. I tried to stay out of their way but I kept talking to Leo. After what seemed like
hours, they were able to get Leo on a gurney and into the air ambulance. I got into the
ambulance and I could tell one of the medics was about to object to my presence so I gave him
my ‘don’t you dare oppose me you Republican thug’ face and not a word was said to me after
that.
They rushed Leo inside as soon as we landed on the hospital roof. I’m left in the waiting room,
otherwise known as hell. When I decided I couldn’t take any more of that, I went outside for a
walk and called Donna.
As usual, her calm voice and reassuring words helped to bring my blood pressure back down.
When I got back to the waiting room I found the President, Dr. Bartlet, Toby and Mallory there.
We waited for hours; far longer than Dr. Bartlet indicated that is should take.
Finally, the Mallory was allowed to go into the Cardiac Intensive Care unit. She came out a few
minutes later, with her eyes red from crying and told the President her father wanted to see
him.
Mal told me her Dad was weak, but lucid. At that point she was just relieved his heart was
breathing and his lungs were working. Who could blame her?
President Bartlet wasn’t gone 10 minutes before he came back and announced Leo would be
resigning as Chief of Staff. Then he told us Leo needed rest more than anything else, so we
should all get our butts back to the White House to take the Peace agreement to the finish line.
I started to walk out, when the President motioned hat he wanted to speak to me privately. I
joined him in the corner of the waiting room.
“I need you to do something for me, Joshua.”
“What do you need, sir?” I asked. Anxious to do anything I could to help.
“I need you to jump off a cliff.”
*******************************
Donna’s POV:
It was past midnight when Josh finally got home. Dad left several hours ago for Wisconsin, so it
was just Mom and me staying at Josh’s. Mom tried to stay awake, but she lost the battle around
10:30. She was never a night owl, and the travel combined with all the excitement of the last
couple days put her out like a light in Josh’s guest room.
Josh and I had spoken several times throughout the day and night, but hearing his voice hadn’
t prepared me for the sight of Josh Lyman looking exhausted and overwhelmed. I knew with
Leo in the hospital a lot of the workload would fall on Josh’s shoulders. I even talked with Liz a
couple times to give her some advice about how to handle the avalanche that was undoubtedly
falling on her too. She seemed to be handling everything beautifully. Can I pick them or what?
“Have you eaten?” I asked him when he noticed that I was there and still awake.
“We had pizza around 7.” He replied.
“There is a sandwich in the frig we ordered for you from the deli. Go get it and we’ll talk while
you eat.”
He must be extremely tired and hungry because he followed my instructions without a murmur
of protest.
He came back in the bedroom with the sandwich and a can of Sprite that my Mom stocked in
the frig when we got here.
“What’s the latest on Leo?”
“He’s been downgraded to serious but stable condition.”
“That’s great! Will you get a chance to see him tomorrow?”
“I’m going over first thing in the morning.” Josh paused and took another bite of his sandwich. “I
need to talk to you about something.”
He looked very serious, and the fact that he didn’t look at me when he said that made me
nervous.
“Leo isn’t coming back as Chief of Staff.” He told me like that was a startling revelation. It wasn’
t. I never anticipated Leo would be able to return to work, at least in that capacity, after what
Josh had told me. Then he continued. “The President has asked me to be his new Chief of
Staff. I told him I’d do whatever he needed for the time being, but that I’d have to think about it
and talk to you before I could accept that position permanently. ”
Okay, that was the new startling information. Not that putting Josh in that position was
surprising; he was the logical choice after all. I just didn’t expect that he would be offered the
position so quickly or that he would need to think about it before he accepted it.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that in the last three weeks; you were almost killed, I resigned from my job in the
White House, my resignation was converted into family leave without my knowledge, we got
engaged, I’ve been working night and day on trying to help the President come up with a
peace agreement in the Middle East, and the man I consider a second father nearly died from
a massive coronary.”
“So you’re feeling a bit bored, then?” I teased and had the pleasure of seeing my fiancé smile.
“Just a bit.”
“You have had a lot thrown at you lately. No one would blame you if you said ‘no’. I think the
problem is that you want to say ‘yes’.” I suggested.
“I meant what I said in Germany. I have more in my life now than the job.”
“I know that. But you can have the job and a rich personal life too.” I told him.
“How? Leo couldn’t do it and he had a lot more political experience than I’ve had.”
“We can figure it out together.” I assured him and was surprised at the doubtful look he gave
me.
“We haven’t proven it so far.” Josh said and my jaw dropped.
“You dropped everything and came to Germany when I needed you.” I argued.
“After you went to Gaza when I asked you not to, when Toby asked you to reconsider.”
“Josh!”
“After I tried to forbid you from going. I resigned without talking to you, you and the President
decided to ignore my resignation without talking to me. For two people with such great verbal
skills, we’ve really sucked at the interpersonal communication.”
I tried to hold the tears at bay as I choked out the words I really didn’t want to voice. “Have you
changed your mind about getting married?” Now it’s Josh’s turn to look shocked.
“No. I love you Donna. If you hear nothing else, please hear this. The best thing to come out of
all this tragedy has been my realization that I want you in my life for the rest of my life.” Josh set
his food and drink down and sat next to me on the bed. “But we need to do better; both of us.
We have a long history of misdirection and misleading communication. I understand why.” He
added quickly when I was about to object again. “I get it. But that can’t be how we go on from
here.”
“You’re right.” I agreed. “We need to communicate honestly and make decisions together;
partners.”
“Yeah.” Josh kissed me. “And we start with the C.O.S. job. Tell me how you really feel about it,
not what you think I want to hear.”
“I think you’d be a great Chief of Staff. I worry about your health, though. You’re talking about
adding stress to your life at a time when you should be reducing stress.”
“Yeah, so is there a way to make it work?”
“I would feel better if you ate healthier and started going to physical therapy again.”
“But I don’t really need physical therapy anymore, Donna.”
“Uh-huh. Tell you what. You see your doctor and get his objective opinion on what you need to
do to stay healthy. We both agree to abide by whatever he recommends.”
Josh winced because he already knew what his doctor would say. But this was what he asked
for, open and honest communication. He had to walk his talk at this point.
“Ah-kay. But the same holds true for you. You’re going to want to rush back to work, and you
need to take some time to heal. You have to follow your doctor’s recommendations too.”
Donna grimaced, but nodded her head. “If you take the job, you’re going to have to scale back
the hours.”
“The hours aren’t dictated by me.” he argued. “Sometimes things happen in the middle of the
night.”
“But most times they don’t. You have control over most of the hours.”
“Leo worked these hours and he had tons of experience in politics and the military.”
“He’s also had a divorce and a massive coronary. You’d have to do it differently if you expect a
different outcome for yourself.”
“Home by 8.” He threw out.
“7” I countered.
“Donna, be reasonable!”
“I am. There will be plenty of times that you have to stay way past 7 for emergencies. But the
majority of the time, you can bring briefing books or other paperwork home with you and be
here by 7.” I smiled. “I’ll even help with the stuff I can read. I’ll teach you how to make note
cards.”
“God help me.”
“You don’t have to be home by 7 Josh. You don’t have to take the C.O.S. job. You have
choices.”
“I just don’t like them very much.” He muttered.
“Welcome to the real world. I think of you find a way to be home by 7, I’ll find some ways to
make that choice more palatable for you.” I flirted.
“That sounds more promising.” He responded.
“Finish your sandwich. You need the protein.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He picked up his sandwich and started telling me about the idiot Congressmen,
both Democrats and Republicans he’d had to deal with. The only advantage he’d had, he
claimed, was that everyone assumed he would be taking the C.O.S. position and no one
wanted to alienate the new Chief of Staff at this point.
“The fact that no one wants to oppose a peace agreement might also be to your advantage.” I
pointed out.
“Nah, they don’t care so much about that. It’s only Middle East peace, they want to know how it’
s playing in their district and what the advantages are for them.”
“You’re awfully young to be so cynical.”
“Realistic.” He corrected me with a mouthful of turkey.
“Whatever. We’re closing in on the end of this administration. President Bartlet can use the
time left without worrying about re-election; to do some real trail blazing.”
“Like peace in the Middle East?”
“Exactly like that. You could help him do that as C.O.S. as well as you did as his Deputy. As C.
O.S. all our options are open.”
“More like all bets are off.”
“Maybe.” I laughed. “But I’m betting on you.”
“On us?”
“On us.” I agreed. “So have we made a decision?”
“I think we have a consensus.” He nodded. “We make healthier choices, cut down on hours,
and make decisions together.”
“You forgot something.”
“What’s that?”
“Time off for a honeymoon. That one’s a deal breaker; 2 weeks off or no deal.”
“If I’m Chief of Staff, finding a single week to take off-“
“Deal breaker, Joshua; two weeks.”
“One week in California.” He countered. “We can visit Sam.”
“Recruit Sam to be your Deputy on your own time, during business hours. Two weeks in
Virginia. It will be close and cut down on travel time.”
“How did you know I wanted to talk to Sam about- Never mind. And don’t think I won’t mention
to him that you didn’t want to visit him.”
“On my honeymoon? No, I will cop to the fact that I don’t want to visit Sam on my honeymoon
and take my chances that he might understand my reasoning. Two weeks.”
“10 days-“
“Joshua!”
“You didn’t let me finish. Ten days in Hawaii, where I’ve never taken you.”
I paused as if considering this offer. “Ten days in Hawaii, with no cell phones or computers.”
Take that Josh Lyman.
He looked like I killed his first born son. “You’ve got to be kidding Donna. I have to be able to
stay in touch while we’re gone.”
“No, you don’t. Not if you want me in a bikini in Hawaii for ten days.”
“A bikini? I don’t think you’ve ever graced me with the sight of you in a bikini before.”
“After my recent hospital stay, it may not be much of a sight.” I tried to laugh off my insecurities
about all my scars.
Josh took my face in his hands. “You are the most beautiful woman I know. Nothing that
happened in Gaza could ever change that.”
Okay, that was very sweet. He may not be as hopeless in the personal communication
department as previously thought.
“So, ten days incommunicado in Hawaii?” he prompted me.
“Done.” I agreed. Since we were starting off on a new foot, so to speak, I decided we’d forego
the handshake and seal the deal in a more non-traditional matter.
The End.
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