Title: Right This Way
Author: Cathy Miller (www.cathyswestwing.com)
Disclaimer: Not mine, not for profit
Timeline: Goes AU after “Six Meetings Before Lunch”
Rating: Teen
Genre: Political/romance
A/N: Thanks to Mary who started this plot with a request for a Mary Marsh/Josh Lyman
showdown.
Chapter 1
“Josh? Representative Wilkinson’s on 3 for you!”
“Got it.” Josh picked up the line quickly. “What can I do for you, sir?”
“You can tell me why the hell I’ve got Mary Marsh on my call sheet…3 times!”
“I have no idea, sir.” Josh answered, perplexed.
“Her message was related to the new bill from appropriations. She implied she had the
cooperation of the White House for the amendment they’re planning to hang on it.”
“They…Mary’s organization…they’re hanging an amendment onto the appropriations bill. Did I
miss where they were elected to office? That’s the only way you get to add an amendment to a
bill under consideration.” Josh asked.
“Somebody better explain that to Marsh. And by somebody, I mean you Josh. I don’t want to
talk to that woman; I don’t want her on my call sheet.”
“I’ll look into this right away and get back to you.” Josh hung up the phone. “Donna!”
“Yes, sire.” Donna answered as she appeared from around his doorway.
“Get me five minutes with Leo would you? Mary Marsh appears to be sending her flying
monkeys this way again.”
Donna raised her eyebrows at the imagery, but got him his time with Leo right away.
“Have you heard any rumblings about the appropriations bill?” Josh started right off the bat.
“It’s supposed to sail. Is there a problem?” Leo responded.
“Wilkinson just called; he said Mary Marsh’s organization got someone to sponsor an
amendment. I’ve made a few calls and the rumor is that it’s going to be introduced tomorrow
and it involves school prayer.”
“Oh, for the love of- Margaret!” Leo called for his assistant. She quickly appeared. “Get me the
Speaker on the phone, then I’m going to want to talk to Wilkinson.” Margaret nodded. “Josh,
see what else you can dig up on this. We need to have a plan before morning.”
“I’ll do what I can, Leo, but-“
“But what?”
“Mary wouldn’t be playing this hand if she didn’t think she could win. That’s setting aside the
fact that I, personally, may quite possibly be the worst person in the White House to be dealing
with Mary Marsh.”
“You’re the Deputy Chief of Staff. Work it out.” Leo advised and dismissed Josh all at the same
time.
Josh’s angry footsteps signaled his arrival before Donna heard his voice. “Donna, I need some-
“
Donna produced a bottle of Motrin and followed him into his office.
“What’s going on?” she asked after handing him some water to take the pills with.
“You’re going to have to cancel whatever plans you had with whichever Republican gomer you
were seeing tonight. We’re going to be late.”
“I don’t have any plans with- What’s going on?” she repeated.
“Mary Marsh has decided to amp it up by attaching school prayer to our appropriations bill.”
Josh told her. “I swear to God, Donna, if this bill tanks because of Mary Marsh…”
“What do you need?”
“I’m going to need to talk to Mary Marsh, so a wooden stake and some garlic wouldn’t hurt.”
“See, that’s the kind of comment I think you should steer clear of.” Donna suggested.
“Right; because it would be bad to piss off the personal representative of Jesus Christ.” Josh
deadpanned.
“I was thinking more in terms of it being bad from a political standpoint, but okay.” Donna
agreed. “We’ve been here before. You can fix it.”
“I’m so tired.” Josh admitted and tilted his head back against his chair. “Liberal Democrats
unhappy with us yesterday, Breckenridge and slavery reparations the day before that. We’re
hemorrhaging, Donna, and they all know it. With the President’s numbers down and a
gridlocked Congress it’s only a matter of time until- I’m just tired of all the uphill battles you
know?”
“Josh…”
“We got one thing done; we got Mendoza on the bench and even THAT was a huge fight. Why
is it so hard to get the right things done?”
“Josh…”
“Because we have no political capitol or public support right now, Donna. That’s why.”
“We should get some of that, then.” Donna opined.
“We certainly should, because I can’t keep pulling rabbits out of my hat. I need something to
work with. ‘You’re the Deputy Chief of staff. Work it out.’ That’s what Leo told me.” Josh
scoffed. “How am I supposed to do that? We’re on the ropes and Mary Marsh and her ilk know
it.”
“Ilk isn’t a word you hear very often anymore.” Donna commented. “Do you want to start with
Mary Marsh or work your way up to it?”
“Let’s start with Ms. Marsh and see exactly what we’re dealing with.” Josh said reluctantly.
Donna had her on the phone within minutes.
“Mary, thanks for taking my call so late.” Josh began.
“I’ve been waiting to hear from you, actually.” Mary admitted. “I’m a little surprised it took you
this long.”
“We’ve been a little busy, what with running the Federal Government and all, Mary.”
“Running it into the ground, you mean.” Mary responded. “I’d think you could take a little break
from that.”
Josh held back from voicing the retort in his head. “I’m hearing some rumors about school
prayer, Mary. I was hoping you could shed some light on that for me.”
“It’s no rumor, Josh. School Prayer is going to be added as an amendment to the
appropriations bill. Rotham is sponsoring it.” Mary said quickly.
“Is there some reason you chose not to work with the White House on this?” Josh asked
between clenched teeth.
“Our organization hasn’t seen any indication that the White House would be interested in an
amendment of this kind. In the time that Bartlet has been in the White House, our organization
has not merely been ignored but treated with contempt.”
“I really don’t think that’s the case, Mary. We have worked with Reverend Caldwell on several
issues where-“
“You’ve USED Reverend Caldwell when it suits your purposes or you’re trying to appease the
Christian right without alienating your liberal base. Those days are over. We’re going to get
our agenda through with or without the White House.”
“And that agenda is school prayer?” Josh clarified.
“It starts with school prayer; but it is not limited to school prayer. The abortion issue is next on
the agenda.”
“You’re against that, right?” Josh said sarcastically.
“That’s the kind of mocking comment that got you in trouble last time, Josh. Are you really sure
you want to go down that road again?” Mary taunted.
“We need this appropriations bill passed, Mary.”
“I’m aware of that. Why do you think I attached school prayer to this bill rather than any of the
others circulating through Congress right now?”
“If it’s the debate you want, I can arrange some time with the President to go over-“
“It’s not the debate I want, Josh. It’s the amendment I want. I’m not interested in a photo op with
Bartlet.”
“PRESIDENT Bartlet could explain his reasoning to you and you to him. Perhaps we could
come up with some language we all like.”
“I’ve got the language I like already, thanks.” Mary paused. “This bill is going to pass with our
amendment on it. There’s nothing you can do about it at this point.” Then Josh heard the dial
tone. She hung up on him? This simply could not be happening.
“Donna!”
“I’ve got a new count on the appropriations committee; but you’re not going to like it.” She told
him as she came in and dropped the papers on his desk.
“She hung up on me. Can you believe that?”
“I really can; we’ve all met the woman after all.”
“She said the bill’s going to pass with the amendment attached and that there’s nothing I can
do about it.”
“Well, that’s just plain stupid. Of course you can do something about it.”
“That’s the thing…what if she’s right?” Josh met Donna’s eyes and she was alarmed by the
defeat she already saw there.
****************************************
“How are they able to add an amendment on school prayer to an appropriations bill?” C.J.
asked. “What about that rule…the one where the amendment has to be related to the bill?”
“The germaneness rule.” Josh sighed. “They’re getting around that by stating that the
appropriations bill is funding public schools, and in order to for the schools to receive Federal
funds schools must include prayer in their schedule.”
“So, how are you going to fix it?” C.J. inquired.
“Yeah, that’s a bit of a problem. The committee reviewing the bill is made up of enough
members who are in favor of school prayer that I can’t get the amendment killed in committee.
Once they send it to the floor, no one is going to want to vote ‘no’ on an important
appropriations bill and the President is stuck vetoing the very appropriations bill he wanted.”
“That sounds bad.” C.J. concluded.
“It’s like a runaway train. All you can do is stand back and watch as it crashes.” Sam bemoaned.
“Would it be better to try and get it killed in committee?” C.J. asked.
“I can’t do that either. It’s got too many votes in the committee.” Josh took the sandwich from
Donna who was passing out food to the group gathered in the Roosevelt room. “That
committee is heavily tilted to the right. I don’t think I could get them to cross the street for me.”
“Too bad you can’t get the whole House to vote on the amendment separately.” Donna noted.
“What did you say?” Josh asked.
“I said it’s too bad you can’t get the whole House to vote separately on the amendment. You
could get enough votes against the amendment in the House. It’s just the committee that’s
tilted so far right.”
“Donnatella, you are brilliant!” Josh stood up and picked up the phone. He dialed while the
others watched and wondered if he’d lost his marbles. “Josh Lyman for Representative
Wilkinson….Greg, I’ve been up and down the dial and can’t get anyone on the committee to
change their vote so we need to move the venue. I need you to make a motion for a committee
of the whole House as soon as the appropriations committee starts tomorrow…anything on
appropriations can be referred to the committee of the Whole House. You make the motion
and I can swing enough votes in the whole house to kill the amendment…Perfect. I’ll talk to you
in the morning.” Josh hung up.
“What did you just do?” Donna asked cautiously.
“I followed your suggestion, Donna. I moved the vote to the whole House.”
“I thought it had to get through the committee first, then once it got to the floor they had to
approve the whole thing, amendments included, or vote against the whole thing.” Donna
struggled to figure out the loophole.
“Except in certain cases; one of which is appropriations, where a member can move to have
the bill considered by the entire House acting as a committee. Once we get it on the floor
there, we can have a debate on the merits and get the amendment stricken from the bill. It’s
going to take some more wrangling, but if we can keep the debate going long enough
tomorrow, we should be able to get the bill approved without the amendment.”
A smile bloomed on Donna’s face and Josh grabbed her for a hug. “We got a chance now,
Donna.”
“I knew you could do it.” Came her confident but quiet reply. Josh’s heart rate sped up a bit at
her response and he held her a beat or two longer than he normally would; especially
considering the present company. He reluctantly let go of Donna and faced the group at large
that was still seated at the conference table in the Roosevelt room.
“Ed, Larry, get us phone lists on the House members. I want it divided by region and then
party. Drop a copy on everyone’s desk. We’ll start dialing for dollars at 7:30 tomorrow
morning.” Josh dismissed the team working to kill the amendment.
Josh and Donna walked back to their desks and Donna was pleased to see a little more spring
in his step that had been missing earlier in the day.
“I am personally going to go down on the House floor and rip the amendment off our bill once
we get the votes finagled.” Josh boasted.
“Cautious optimism, Joshua.” She reminded him.
“It was your idea, Donna. You should be celebrating with me here.”
“I am celebrating with you, Josh; just cautiously.” She maintained.
“Ah-kay. Go home and get some sleep; I’ll need you back here at 6.”
“Six?!” Donna protested. “It’s almost midnight now, by the time I get home, get ready for bed,
and then have to get up to get ready for work again, I’ll only get 4 hours sleep. I’d get more
sleep by staying here with my head on the desk.”
“If I were you I’d pick C.J’s or Toby’s office. They each have couches you can crash on.” He
smirked. “Seriously, Donna, your idea was simply inspired. We’re going to beat this thing
back.” He told her while he put his hand on her shoulder. “Get some rest and I’ll see you back
her in a few.”
With that he snatched up his backpack and swaggered toward the main gate.
All she could think about on her way to her car was that Josh thought she was brilliant. That
was a great start in Donna’s book.
**********************************************
The whole team was making calls and visiting Representatives the next morning; taking only a
short break to watch Mary Marsh hit the national news shows and bragging about the
amendment that was going to become law within days and how we were finally going to see
God brought back into our Government.
Josh barked out a laugh. “Don’t your people have some saying about pride going before the
fall?”
“By ‘you people’ you mean Christians?” Donna clarified and Josh rolled his eyes. “It’s from
Proverbs and the whole quote is: Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a
fall.”
“Was that haughty spirit part meant for me?” He asked, eyebrows raised in her direction.
“It was merely the complete quote you referenced. If you see something in it that’s applicable
for you, that’s coincidental.” Donna’s face was guileless.
________________________________________
Wilkinson had done as Josh instructed and moved to consider the bill as the whole House and
he’d even wrangled another Representative to second it, so it was now being considered on
the floor of the House, and being debated piece by piece. They had a couple hours of
guaranteed debate before the vote was called and Josh made sure not a moment was wasted.
By the time a recorded vote was taken, the appropriations bill squeaked by, without the
amendment, with only 7 votes to spare. Josh made sure that he and Sam were at the House to
spin the narrow victory for the President. Naturally, they ran into Mary Marsh who had her own
spin going on.
“Do you have any idea how hard the Bartlet camp had to work to get God removed from this
bill? Bartlet keeps telling us what a devoutly religious man he is, yet here he’s given the
opportunity to sign school prayer into law, with ample political cover I might add, but instead he
goes to great lengths to remove the amendment.” Mary was telling the cameras.
When a few of the reporters spotted Josh they abandoned Mary to get a quote from him.
“Josh! Does the President oppose prayer in schools? Why this huge push to kill the
amendment?”
“The President thinks the Appropriations Bill is far too important to have it encumbered with
any amendment, let alone an amendment as divisive as this one was.” Josh replied.
“It’s what the people want, Josh.” Mary countered.
“Then introduce a Bill on that matter alone, Mary.” Josh responded. “See if it gets to the floor.
The President recognizes that we are a pluralistic society; we have many different faiths
represented as well as people who want the freedom not to practice faith of any kind. When
some try to incorporate religion into our Government, we get one step closer to a theocracy
and one step further away from democracy.”
“This is just another line the Bartlet administration uses to further their secular agenda
because it is secularists, not Christians, who make up their base.” Mary spoke again to the
cameras.
“The President won his office by popular vote as well as by the electoral vote. I’m pretty sure it
wasn’t just secularists that put him over the top.” Josh drawled.
“The Bartlet administration has gone to great lengths to keep God out of the White House and
out of OUR Government. Instead he has worked to further the agenda of atheists,
homosexuals, and illegal immigrants. It’s time for that to change and my organization is going to
make sure that it does.” Mary promised and walked away with her head down until she walked
smack into Sam Seaborn.
“Here to spin for your boss, Sam? After hearing the speeches you wrote, I would have thought
you’d be a little more sympathetic to our agenda.” Mary noted.
“If you’ve listened to any of the speeches I wrote, Mary, you’d know I’m the last person to be
sympathetic to your agenda. Homosexuals, atheists, and illegal immigrants? Last time I
checked Jesus was against that kind of judgmental speech.” Sam quipped and walked over to
where Josh was still answering questions.
“Excuse me, Josh. We’re needed back at the White House.” Josh nodded his acknowledgment
of the signal and excused himself from the press corps that had gathered.
Once they were out of earshot, Sam spoke in a low voice to his friend. “You really pulled a ‘Hail
Mary’ Josh, no pun intended.”
“We got lucky, Sam.” Josh admitted. “And the vote was closer than I ever imagined it would be.
Something has got to give and soon or the next press conference we do might not have such a
happy ending.”
***************************************************
Chapter 2
“There’s ‘Da Man’. Nice work, Joshua.” The President complimented. But Josh didn’t strut or
bask in the limelight.
“It was actually Donna’s idea, sir. I just implemented it.” He said as he sat down with the rest of
the senior staff.
“Tell her I said ‘well done’ then.” The President replied tossing a questioning glance at Leo.
“What’s next?”
“I’ve got the notes for the President’s speech to the Organization of Trout Fisherman
tomorrow.” Sam handed out copies and Josh laughed.
“What?” Leo asked looking at Josh for an explanation of the laughter.
“Nothing…it’s just…Trout Fisherman…I found that funny.” Josh finished lamely.
“What else?” Leo asked after glaring at Josh.
“Sam and I will be meeting with members of the armed forces committee and military officers
over reforming the ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy tomorrow.”
“Good luck with that.” Josh muttered and Leo threw him another look.
“C.J.?” Leo asked.
“I’ll be covering the schedule for the Easter Egg Roll, and the Easter Egg Hunt.” C.J.
announced and once again a bark of laughter erupted from the Deputy Chief of Staff.
“Sorry. I didn’t get much sleep last night.” Josh used his lack of sleep for an excuse. With
nothing else pressing at the moment, the senior staff was dismissed and Josh wandered back
to his office where Donna was waiting for him.
“The President said to tell ‘well done’ for your help with the vote.” He told her and she beamed.
“You told him I helped with the vote?”
“Yes, because…well… you did.” Josh noted. “So he said to tell you ‘well done’.”
“But you’re ‘Da Man’ right?” She teased and was surprised to see it didn’t get a reaction from
him. “Josh?”
“Yeah, that’s what the President said. I’m ‘Da Man’.” Josh smiled sardonically. “I’m ‘Da Man’
because I knew more about House rules and procedures than the head of a religious political
action group.”
“Hey. That was no small thing, Joshua. I don’t know who else could have pulled that off.” Donna
reminded him. “Everyone thought it was a done deal.”
“The problem is that we were in that position in the first place. We’re spending all our time
playing defense, which not only wears everyone out, but gives us no opportunity to score.”
Josh exclaimed.
“You need some food.” Donna decided.
“I need some leadership, some direction!” Josh practically shouted. Donna got up without
another word and closed each of his doors before sitting back down again.
“What’s wrong Josh?”
“I don’t know what we’re doing here.” He said sadly. “I just left a senior staff meeting where we
discussed a speech for trout fisherman and the Easter Egg something or other. That’s what it’s
come down to?”
“With the dip in the President’s numbers, it’s going to be difficult to-“
“Of course it’s going to be difficult! That’s why we were adamant that Jed Bartlet needed to be
elected. We said we needed someone smart and articulate to bring the country together and
get things done. What are we getting done, Donna? What?”
“We’re just going through a rough patch, Josh. Once our numbers go up-“
“Numbers don’t go up just for the hell of it, Donna.” Josh explained. “We have to actually do
something worthy of earning better numbers and that does not include giving speeches about
trout!”
“So what do you want to do then?”
“Something of substance. Something that will make a difference in the lives of the people in
this country. Something that will help us keep the promises we made when they elected us.”
“You know what I think?” Donna asked.
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me.” Josh leaned his head back.
“I think you need some food and some sleep so you can see things a little more objectively.”
Donna offered. “I’m going to reschedule your dinner meeting and your late night phone
conference so you can get out of here at a decent hour. Tomorrow, things are going to look
much better.”
*******************************
“Donnatella Moss.” Came Josh’s voice the next morning.
“You sound like you’re in a good mood.” Donna noted.
“I have serpents to slay. I have been given a Presidential order to find replacements for the two
FEC members who resigned. We’re on a quest, fair Donnatella. We’re going to find two
campaign finance reformers and put them on the FEC.”
“Great. How do we find them and how do we get them appointed?” Donna waited for her
instructions.
“Well, see, that’s where it gets a bit problematic.” Josh admitted.
“That’s okay. We’ve done problematic before.” Donna told him. “What’s first?”
“By law there has to be an equal number of Democrats and Republicans on the commission,
so we need to find one of each to nominate. Normally the Senate leadership selects the
nominees, but the President said we can try to nominate our guys.” Josh explained. “I think
John Bacon would be a great nominee from our side of the aisle, but I’m going to want you to
do some vetting on him before I take it to Leo.”
“Okay. How about the Republican?”
“I’m going to need to research that one myself until I get it narrowed down but I have some
ideas.” Josh paused and smiled over at her. “We’re going to change the way elections are run,
Donnatella.”
“I’ll get started on John Bacon.” Donna told him, returning his smile.
*********************************
“Thanks for taking the time to meet with me, Steve.” Mary smiled at Steve Onorato.
“What can the Senate Majority’s office do for you Mary?” Steve cut to the chase.
“It seems that your boss and I are on the same side of the fence on a couple issues and we’d
like to offer our financial and organizational support in exchange for getting a new bill
introduced.”
“I heard about your little run in with Lyman.” Steve smiled. “He’s an arrogant son of a bitch isn’t
he?”
“This isn’t about Josh Lyman; although sticking it to him will be a nice little bonus.” Mary
admitted. “We have a very specific agenda; starting with homosexuals serving openly in the
military.”
“That’s not going to happen.” Steve assured her.
“They’re taking day long strategy sessions at the White House on just that issue as well as
mandatory minimums. If we, jointly, put enough pressure on the White House, they’ll have not
choice but to cave.”
“What are you proposing, Mary?”
“Let me and my group do the heavy lifting; we’ll take care of the media and public opinion.
Then your boss and the rest of the Republican leadership can ride up on your white steeds,
move forward on a Christian agenda, and save the country from the Democrats. It’s a win/win.”
Steve seemed to ponder this for a minute. “I’ll bring it to the Senator.”
“That’s all I’m asking.” Mary confirmed.
***********************************
“Senator, I was approached by Mary Marsh today; from the Christian Leadership council.”
“Better you than me, that woman is a guttersnipe.” The Senator responded.
“But she may be a useful guttersnipe.” Onorato replied. “She’s offering organizational and
financial backing in exchange for moving on their agenda; which also happens to be our
agenda so it works out well for us.”
“What EXACTLY does she want?”
“She wants mandatory minimums to stand, gays to be discharged from military duty, prayer in
schools, and English as a National language just to name a few. Her team will pay for media
spots and provide surrogates for the 1 on 1’s. We provide a series of Bills that will bring God
back into the Government; starting with gays being removed from the military.”
“What do you think?” the Senator asked for his opinion.
“I think it could be a useful alliance.” Steve offered. “Josh Lyman asked to meet a few of us
over lunch about the FEC nominations. I can take his temperature then.”
“Okay. Touch base with me when you get back and we’ll figure it out from there.” The Senator
directed.
**************************
Donna didn’t see Josh get back but she heard the door slam.
She cautiously opened the door. “Josh? Toby and C.J. said they need you in Toby’s office as
soon as you got back.”
Josh was slamming files drawers and muttering under his breath.
“Did you hear me? Toby and C.J.-“
“Yeah, I heard you. Listen, while I’m doing…whatever, with the two of them I need you to make
some note cards for me on English as a National Language.”
“Why?”
“Because it might come up.”
“Why?”
“What does it matter- Just make the note cards okay?” he demanded as he stormed out toward
Toby’s office.
When he returned 20 minutes later, his mood was no better, but he did appear to have calmed
down.
“I have the cards you asked for.” Donna dropped them on his desk and turned to leave.
“Donna…thanks. I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier. I was just frustrated.”
Donna took the apology just as it was offered. “Is this about Mandy’s memo? Why is everyone
walking around like they already know we’ve lost?”
“Everyone is acting this way?”
“Yeah. Is it that bad?”
“It could be; the memo combined with the new approval numbers, which dropped another 5
points this week, is going to make getting anything done, next to impossible.” Josh told her.
************************************
“We all told him the same thing; if he tries to nominate Bacon and Calhoun to the FEC, we’re
going to roll out a legislative agenda they’ve only seen in their nightmares.” Steve told Mary
over the phone. “You’re up at bat.”
“I’ve got a 1 on 1 in two hours with Stone Phillips. I’ll be sure to mention Bartlet’s new numbers
and the reason behind them.” Mary promised. “Gays in the military will be a highlight as well as
school prayer. Josh Lyman is going to wish he’d never taken school prayer off that
appropriations bill.”
******************************
“It’s hardly surprising that Josh Lyman was the one who orchestrated the removal of the school
prayer amendment. If there’s a more anti-Christian staffer in the White House, I’d like to meet
them; well…maybe Toby Ziegler could match him.” Mary expounded to Stone Phillips while
Josh Lyman himself watched on TV with Donna standing next to him.
“Are you implying that the Deputy Chief of Staff removed a school prayer amendment because
he is Jewish?”
“I’m guessing that plays a part in it, but this whole administration has made it clear from day
one that they have no room for God in their White House or our Government.”
“And you’re basing that opinion on…?”
“Their push for gays to serve openly in the military, their removal of the prayer in schools
amendment, and they’ve been exploring the eradication of mandatory minimums. Day after
day, Bartlet and his staff have moved this country further and further from the Christian ideals
that we founded this country on.”
“President Bartlet has been a practicing Catholic all his life. Are you claiming that his religious
convictions are a front?”
“I can’t claim to know what is between Jed Bartlet and God, but I can see that the actions he’s
taken as President don’t seem to mesh with the religious convictions of someone who practices
the Catholic faith.” Mary replied simply.
“Such as?” Stone pressed further.
“He allowed his Deputy Chief of Staff to go unchecked after he insulted millions of Christians
on National television. His Deputy Communications Director has been involved with a call girl.
His assistant is involved with his youngest daughter. His administration routinely takes
appointments from fringe organizations and they are heavily funded by the Hollywood elite. He
nominated a left wing activist judge to the Supreme Court. He has done nothing to abolish
capitol punishment or abortion. He appointed an alcoholic, drug addict as his Chief of Staff. Is
that list not long enough?”
“Turn it off Josh.” Donna implored him and tried to get the remote control out of his hand.
“No, I want to see this.”
“Why? Leo isn’t going to let you respond.”
“Because I find it amusing. Don’t you find it amusing, Donna?” Josh smiled humorlessly.
“I really don’t. Nothing about Mary Marsh in amusing.” Donna muttered as Sam busted into
Josh’s office.
“Are you watching this?” he asked and pointed to the TV screen still full of Mary Marsh’s face.
“Obviously.” Josh retorted. “Although I can’t hear any of it right now, between you and Donna.”
“No loss there.” Donna replied. “Turn it off and we’ll get back to work.”
“Back to what work?” Josh laughed out loud. “I can’t go anywhere on the FEC appointments.
Sam, how’s it going with ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’?”
“Nowhere.” Sam replied and plopped down in a chair in front of Josh’s desk.
“Then we really don’t have any work to get back to Donna. Want a beer?” Josh asked his
companions and took a couple bottles out of his mini-fridge.
“Why not?” Sam concluded. Donna looked back and forth between the two of them, frustrated.
“Mary Marsh shoots off her mouth and the two of you just quit?” she asked.
“This has nothing to do with Mary Marsh…or very little to do with Mary Marsh.” Josh corrected.
“It doesn’t matter what she says, I’m not going to be allowed to refute any of it. The President
isn’t going to want to further anger any moderates on the right. So with no agenda and no work
to do, I say we drink a little.” Josh clinked his bottle with Sam’s and took a big swallow.
“Josh, go to the President and talk to him. He’ll listen to you.” Donna suggested.
“I don’t think so, Donna.” Josh said morosely. “I really don’t think so.”
*************************************
“Leo wants you two in his office.” Donna reported in a monotone voice.
“Ah-kay.” Josh got up slowly and walked with Sam to Leo’s office. When they got there they
found C.J. and Toby already there arguing about why C.J. gave a copy of Mandy’s memo to
the President.
They all argue for a few minutes about pointless meetings and losing 5 points in the polls when
Leo is called into the Oval. Josh can feel the depression weighing down everyone in the room.
It’s nearly overwhelming.
They can all hear raised voices in the Oval and the silence in Leo’s office becomes very
uncomfortable. A few minutes pass before Leo bursts back into his office; excitement written on
his face.
“Listen up. Our ground game isn't working. If we’re going to walk into walls I want us running
into them full speed.” Leo ordered.
“What are you saying?” Josh asked.
“Well, you can start by telling the Hill the President has named his nominees for the F.E.C.”
Leo told him.
Josh looked up in surprise.
“We're gonna lose some of these battles, and we might even lose the White House, but we're
not gonna be threatened by issues. We're gonna put them front and center. We're
gonna raise the level of public debate in this country, and let that be our legacy.” Leo
concluded. “That sound all right to you, Josh?
“I serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States.” Josh replied.
“C.J.?” Leo turned to their Press Secretary.
“I serve at the pleasure of the President.” She answered.
Leo turns to Sam.
“I serve at the pleasure of President Bartlet.” Sam joined in.
“Toby?” Leo asked.
“I serve at the pleasure of the President.” He replied.
“Good.” Leo nods at their agreement and the growing excitement in the room. “Then let's get in
the game!”
***********************************
Donna looked up when she heard her name come out of Josh’s mouth. “Donna can do that.
She’s great with that stuff. Donna!”
“I’m right here. What is it?”
“We need some research for a strike back at Mary Marsh. Can you find those cards you did on
English as the National language? We might need them now that the President is nominating
John Bacon and Patricia Calhoun to the F.E.C.” His dimples popped out and Donna couldn’t
resist the infectious grin.
“I’m on it, boss.” Donna replied and went to work. By midnight they were just finishing both the
pizza they ordered and the open letter to the Washington Post they had been collaborating on.
“It’s fine. Leave it alone, Sam.” Toby instructed.
“I still think we need to polish up the third paragraph.” Sam countered.
“Leave it alone!” Toby shouted. “And give me another piece of the pepperoni.”
“What do you think, Donna?” Sam asked the woman perched on the arm of the chair he was
sitting on.
“Why are you asking her?” Toby asked. “I already told you it was fine.”
“Donna has a good ear for this stuff.” Sam noted. “So what do you think?”
“I think it’s perfect and it’s going to knock Mary Marsh on her ass.” Donna proclaimed.
“Alright then.” Sam hit save, then print.
“You harp on me for 20 minutes, then Donna says it perfect and that’s it?” Toby groused.
“I trust her.” Sam shrugged his shoulders and made C.J, Josh, and Donna all laugh.
“Time to head home.” C.J. told them. “We’re going to have a busy day tomorrow.” She grinned
thinking about the announcement she would be making about the FEC nominations in the
morning. “Donna, do you need a ride?”
“I’ll take her, C.J.” Josh volunteered.
“Okay, see you tomorrow.” She called over her shoulder.
“I think she was talking to me there, Joshua.” Donna noted.
“I’m sorry, would you rather get a ride from Ceej? I can call her back.” He teased.
“I would like the chance to answer for myself, is all.” She said.
“Fine. Donna, would you like me to give you a ride home?” he asked politely.
“Thanks, I would appreciate that.” She inclined her head regally.
They called out their goodnights and got into Josh’s car. Josh talked non-stop all the way to
Donna’s. She had a hard time getting a word in edgewise. The renewed energy of all the
senior staff was contagious and Donna was enjoying it immensely after the morose attitude
over the past few weeks.
When he pulled up in front of her apartment he looked over at her, saw her smile beaming
back at him and his heart skipped a beat for a second.
“Uh…thanks for staying late tonight, Donna. You were a great help.” He managed. She looked
at him quizzically and reached over to place her hand on his forehead.
“You don’t feel feverish.” She mused. “Who are you and what have you done with Josh
Lyman?”
“Cut it out. I just wanted you to know I…appreciate everything you do.” He said unwilling to
meet her eyes.
“Thanks.” She replied quietly. “I’m glad to see you so pumped about work again. It’s been
awhile.”
“Yeah, it has. It feels pretty good.” Josh told her.
“Well, try and get some sleep tonight. I’ll call you in the morning.” Donna said when she got out
of the car. Josh watched until the light flicked on in her apartment and then slowly drove away.
He wasn’t sure what exactly happened to him tonight when he saw her smiling at him, but he
knew it would mean trouble. It was probably just all the energy from the night getting the best of
him. Yeah, that’s what it was…
***********************************
Chapter 3
Open Letter to Mary Marsh:
Ms. Marsh,
I want to take this opportunity to refute several of the charges you leveled at me personally,
and at President Bartlet’s administration in general. They are patently untrue or at the very
least, gravely irresponsible and do great injustice to President Bartlet and those of us who are
privileged to serve him.
In so far as President Bartlet’s appointment of Leo McGarry as his Chief of Staff is concerned;
there is no one you could find who would have served this office so faithfully and well. In
addition to the fact that Leo McGarry was the person responsible for recruiting President
Bartlet to run for high office, he has served as an Air Force Pilot in Viet Nam as well as the
Secretary of Labor. He has done nothing but serve his country, in one capacity or another, his
entire life. Whether or not you agree with his political philosophies, even his most ardent critics
must credit him for his lifetime of public service. He has overcome personal adversity and
continues to come to work each day, seven days a week, and tries to make the world a better
place.
I will not comment on the personal choices that White House staffers have made. We have
each made mistakes, personally and professionally, and since we are not saints, we are bound
to make other mistakes going forward. Perhaps you have to actually work in the White House
to understand the sacrifices that are made every day in order to serve there. I will say this
though, the things I regret most aren’t the things I chose to do, but the things I chose not to do;
out of fear of political repercussions, out of political necessity to ‘make a deal’.
With that in mind, President Bartlet and his senior staff have joined in a new pledge: We are
going to move ahead with what we know to be right without regard to political expediency.
Some of the issues you brought up are very important to this country. I recognize that we are
deeply divided with regard to many of them. However, we are not going to walk away from
these issues because of their complexity. We are instead going to raise the level of debate and
I invite you to join us in this endeavor. No more name calling or fear mongering; we’ll debate
the issues on their own merits.
Sincerely,
Joshua Lyman
Deputy White House Chief of Staff
The letter made headlines across the country and Mary Marsh was inundated with requests for
a response, but for that day, at least, she remained silent.
President Bartlet announced his nominees for the FEC and when the inevitable call came for
Josh from the Senate Majority Leader, Josh’s suggestion to ‘shove his legislative agenda up
his ass’ wasn’t quite as diplomatic as Leo had hoped for but it was more controlled and
succinct than he usually gave Josh credit for.
“You’re going to have to make a statement; probably have to debate with Lyman too.” Steve
Onorato surmised.
“None of which would be necessary if you’d been effective in blocking the FEC nominations in
the first place.” Mary Marsh complained.
“Once Josh Lyman is off his leash…there’s a reason he’s called the President’s Pit Bull.” Steve
argued. “His letter came off as calm and well reasoned; there is no way he wrote that himself. I
just got back from the White House and they’re going to push mandatory minimums. We’re
going to release an internal memo stating the White House wants to legalize drugs.”
“That’s a start.” Mary concluded. “I’ll get my team on it as well. They’re more vulnerable than
they think on this issue. When are you going to keep your end of the bargain and introduce
the Bill?”
“My boss is working on it. We should have something shortly.” Steve promised, momentarily
appeasing the woman.
****************************
“Would you please stop telling everyone this is my ‘Joey Lucas’ suit?” Josh implored Donna. “It’
s very distracting to everyone.”
“I notice you didn’t say it wasn’t true.” Donna replied.
“It isn’t true.” He repeated dutifully.
“Uh-huh. The final copy of the polling questions is on your desk. Although I think two weeks isn’
t enough time to determine whether or not our new strategy is working. C.J. wants any
concerns brought to her before 3 today.”
“Right.” Josh began looking them over.
“You should have something for Joey Lucas for her first day. You want me to pick something
up for her?”
“I’m trying to read here, Donna.”
“And I’m trying to help you with your love life.” Donna continued. “Which, incidentally, is a much
more difficult job than reviewing polling questions.”
“Well don’t…help with that I mean.”
“You’re not getting any younger and your mother really has her heart set on grandchildren.”
“Will you stop talking to my mother about grandchildren? In fact, just stop talking to her at all.”
“If you would call her once in awhile, she wouldn’t feel compelled to call me for information
about her only son.”
Josh looked up from his papers. “You channeled her very well just now, Donna. Do you think I
could get back to work now?”
“Of course.” Donna smiled and left him alone in his office. Josh tried to concentrate on the
questions in front of him, but his gaze kept wandering back to his assistant. Why was she
pushing Joey Lucas so much? Joey was an attractive, intelligent woman, who understood
politics very well. There had been a spark of…something…the last time they were together, but
he hadn’t thought about it much.
What he had spent a lot of time thinking about lately was Donnatella Moss. Given the media
storm lately and what was sure to be increased scrutiny in the days ahead, she was the
absolute LAST person he should be thinking about, and yet…
Josh dragged his attention back to the questions in his hand and vowed to pay more attention
to Joey Lucas. That way he’d be sure to stay out of trouble.
*********************************
“I’m not interested in debating Josh Lyman. I’m interested in putting our moral values back into
the Government.” Mary responded. “Values that this administration continues to disparage.”
“But how does a President decide whose values should be a part of Government?” The
interviewer asked. “In the melting pot of America, we have widely different views on what
constitutes moral values, don’t we?”
“Yes, but just like every other area of Government, those values should be determined by the
plurality of voters.” Mary argued. “I understand that not everyone believes the same things I
do, but is it fair that a vocal, well financed minority get their values pushed on the rest of us?”
“Which vocal, well financed minority are you referring to?”
“Take your pick; Hollywood, the homosexual community, secularists who want ‘In God We
Trust’ taken off our money. These groups do not share the values of the majority of Americans
and yet they have the time and attention of the President of the United States. It seems that
the only people willing to restore values to the Capitol are the Republicans; so my organization
will be working around the clock to endorse and work for Republican candidates in the
upcoming mid-term elections.”
“So this is war on the Democratic party? Despite the invitation from the Deputy Chief of Staff to
debate the issues?”
“Josh Lyman isn’t interested in debate. He’s interested in quashing anything that reflects
Christian values. I am interested, and determined, to see that those values are reflected in the
Government that supposedly represents us.”
****************************************
“I heard a lively exchange of banter back there. That’s a good sign.” Donna noted when she
pulled Josh out of his meeting with Joey Lucas.
“A good sign of what?’ He asked puzzled.
“That there’s an attraction between you.” Donna answered handing him the file he needed for
his next meeting.
“I..I honestly don’t know how to respond to that.”
“You’ll think of something.” Donna assured him. “In the meantime, you could work your way up
to inviting her to dinner or something. Do good in there.” She advised as she pushed him into
the conference room for his next meeting.
The chair from Ways and Means kept talking but something Donna said kept running in his
brain, he just couldn’t figure out why. Then it hit him. He nearly jumped out of his chair at that
point, but he kept his head in the game long enough to finish the meeting and get back to his
office, albeit in record time.
“Good. You’re done.” Donna said. “Toby said to meet them in the Oval. They should have the
polling results any minute.”
“Yeah, okay. What did you mean before about the bantering with Joey Lucas?”
“This is what you’re focusing right now?”
“I can multi-task.”
“You really can’t.” Donna contradicted.
‘Okay, I really can’t. So answer my question and I can move on to other things.”
“The question about Joey Lucas?”
“Yes.”
“I just said that I heard some bantering going on between you, and that’s no small
accomplishment considering you have to work through an interpreter. You should work on
learning some sign so you don’t need to bring Kenny along when you take her to dinner.”
“Yeah, I’ll get right on that in my ample spare time.” Josh replied. “What I’m asking is, why do
you interpret her bantering with me as a sign that she’s attracted to me?”
Donna stopped dead in her tracks. “I thought you just assumed all women were attracted to
you, Joshua. You’re a very handsome and powerful man. You need to get to the Oval.”
Josh smirked a bit at having caught Donna off guard. Once the light bulb went off in his head
about the bantering comment, he couldn’t stop thinking about it; but what if he was wrong? He
had to find out and he had to find out even before he found out if their recent media strategy
was working. Once he got the question out he had watched Donna’s reaction carefully. He
could tell the exact moment it struck home with her that if bantering was a sign of attraction,
then it meant the same thing in regards to the bantering Donna had been engaged in with him.
She literally stopped moving in an effort to come back with a response. Her non-verbal
response was really all the confirmation he needed to corroborate that these…feelings weren’t
one sided. He still didn’t know what he could or should do about them, but at least he wasn’t in
this alone.
*************************************************
“Do you believe this new Bill including prayer in Federally funded schools is going to pass,
Mary?”
“I have every confidence that it will.” Mary replied to Wolf Blitzer. “God has great plans for this
country, but we can’t begin to fulfill God’s promise when we exclude him from our lives. We can’
t hope to enjoy the blessings he brings to the faithful if we ban his name and his words from
our schools.”
“Yes, but Congress is still strongly divided on this issue. The White House and it’s
representatives have been lobbying very hard against it. Do you really think you can overcome
such a huge obstacle as having the White House for an adversary?”
“Of course we can, because we know a bit of history about what happened when a young boy
named David went up against Goliath. To the White House this is just work; just one more
piece of legislation. To me this is much more important than that; it’s about saving the souls of
millions of Americans. That’s why we’ll win.”
********************************
“Come on, Donna. It’ll be fun.” Josh wheedled.
“No. You said I could have the night off. You promised I could have the night off as a matter of
fact.” Donna reminded him.
“And you could, if you wanted to. I just thought you’d choose to come with.”
“Let’s see, drive to the President’s Town Hall meeting or take a hot bubble bath with a glass of
wine while reading the latest in popular fiction.” Donna held her hands out as if actually
weighing the two options. “Bubble bath.” She decided.
Josh stopped in front of her and changed the angle of her arms back to even. “You forgot to
add in the benefit of several additional hours of my company.” He noted and raised the ‘Town
Hall’ arm higher.
“You’re taking it for granted that several additional hours of your company is seen by me as a
benefit.”
“Am I?” Josh asked quietly and Donna’s eyes shot up to meet his.
“Bubble Bath.” Donna repeated softly, avoiding the real question.
“Spoilsport.” He replied just as quietly, but kept eye contact with her until he rounded the
corner on his way to the Town Hall.
*********************************
“Donna, can I get you something?” Sam asked from his seat beside her. She silently shook her
head ‘no’. Sam sent a worried glance at Mrs. Landingham who occupied the seat on the other
side of Donna.
“The surgery is going to take several more hours, Donna. You need to eat something.” Mrs.
Landingham added.
“I’m not hungry. I feel sick.” Donna said.
“Watching open heart surgery will do that to you I imagine.” Sam mused. He was angry that Dr.
Bartlet let Donna in the observation room in the first place. It was too much. At least Dr. Bartlet
had the sense to make her leave the observation room to rest and eat for awhile; not that
Donna appeared to be resting or eating in any way.
“I need to go back and see him.” Donna told him. “I’m getting sick sitting here wondering if he’s
okay. I feel better when I can see him.”
“I can understand that.” Mrs. Landingham empathized. She herself hadn’t felt able to relax until
she’d seen the President with her own eyes. “How about we make a deal? You let Sam fetch
something for you to eat, and you eat it. Then we’ll get Dr. Bartlet to take you back to the
observation room. Deal?” Donna looked up at her and nodded. “Sam, maybe some soup or a
salad of some kind?”
“For all of us.” He agreed and went to get the food.
The television in the corner was on and running continuous coverage of the shooting at
Rosslyn. Occasionally, a commentator would interrupt the live shots of the Newseum or G.W.
Hospital for an exclusive interview with someone or another. To Donna, it was all white noise.
Mrs. Landingham took Donna’s hand in hers.
“I should have gone with him.” Donna said dully.
“What?”
“He asked me to go with him to the Town Hall tonight, but a night off with a bubble bath
sounded better to me.”
“Of course it did.” Mrs. Landingham assured her. “How many late nights have we all been
putting in lately? I would think there was something wrong with you if you had chosen
otherwise.”
“If I had been there-“
“Don’t start the ‘what it’ game Donna. There’s no way to win it.” Mrs. Landingham interrupted
her. “When my boys were killed, I played the ‘what if’ game until it nearly sent me over the
edge. We make the best decisions we can with the information we have at the time. There was
no way you could have known this might happen and there’s no way you could have stopped it
if you’d been there. So stop that line of thought right now.”
Donna nodded and looked down at the pattern on the tile floor until Sam came back with a tray
full of food. He gave both women a plastic carton of soup and half a sandwich along with a can
of pop. Donna reluctantly took a few bites anxious to uphold her part of the bargain so Mrs.
Landingham would uphold hers.
She wasn’t even aware of moving at first, but when she found herself standing in front of the
television she realized she must have moved there of her own volition. It must have been the
sound of Mary Marsh’s voice in conjunction with Josh’s name that drew her to the set.
“…and violence is not a good solution, but I can certainly understand the deep seated
frustration that members of the Christian community feel in regards to this administration. Now
that they’ve made an arrest and understand the motivation behind this attempt perhaps the
President will revisit the wisdom of his daughter’s relationship with his assistant.”
“It’s no secret that there’s no love lost between you and Josh Lyman Mary, but you can
honestly say that there is a divine reason that he’s in his 10th hour of surgery from a nearly
fatal gunshot wound?”
“I’m saying that things happen for a reason. Josh Lyman has worked tirelessly to eliminate
school prayer and any other bill that would help Christians. Now two kids who were aiming for
someone else entirely miss their intended target but hit Josh Lyman instead. What are the
odds? I’d say it was a huge wake-up call to Josh Lyman and the entire Bartlet administration.”
The words had hardly left Mary’s mouth when the screen cracked and went black. Donna’s pop
can spilled the remainder of its’ contents on the tile floor beneath the TV.
“Donna?” Sam called to her from behind her where the rest of the room’s occupants stared at
the uncharacteristically violent display from Donna Moss. She turned slowly to face Sam and
saw Dr. Bartlet standing there as well.
“I need to go see Josh now.” She stated simply.
“Yeah…” Sam agreed still watching her cautiously.
“She really shouldn’t talk about him like that.” Donna added as she calmly walked out of the
waiting room, passing Sam.
“Yeah…” he agreed again before he rubbed the throbbing temples of his head.
********************************
Chapter 4
A/N: Thanks to Shelley for all her help sorting out my Yahell formatting problems with the last
chapter. I appreciate it Shelley!
Donna didn’t come right out and accuse the President of the United States of lying; but she
thought about it. President Bartlet had told everyone that Josh had regained consciousness for
a short time and said, “What’s next”. However, it was only Leo and the President with Josh at
that time, and Leo would swear to whatever the President said. Since she hadn’t seen any
signs of consciousness herself, the whole story was in doubt.
She looked anxiously across the hospital bed to where Anna Lyman sat. Josh’s mother’s eyes
were glazed with fear and exhaustion. Donna had only met Anna a few times before, although
they’d talked on the phone endlessly; much to Josh’s dismay. Part of Donna wondered if she
was overstepping her bounds by insisting she stay with Josh. Technically, it was only supposed
to be family here, but Dr. Bartlet had pulled some strings and Anna didn’t seem to mind her
presence.
“I think this is some sort of cosmic punishment.” Anna said out loud.
“I’m sorry?”
“For all the times I asked God why I couldn’t have a quieter child.” Anna smiled to show she
was attempting a joke. Donna managed a smile in return.
“Or all the times I asked God to make him stop bellowing at me?” Donna joined in.
“My son is a handful. I don’t know how you do it, Donna.”
“He has his moments; but the truth is that I love every minute of it.” Donna admitted.
“I believe you do.” Anna replied and picked up her son’s hand to stroke it again.
“That can be our little secret though, right? We don’t need to build on his already sizeable
ego.” Donna hastily added as she walked over to stand next to Anna.
“Our little secret.” Anna confirmed and took Donna’s hand in her free one, joining the three of
them in their pact.
*******************************
“C.J., now that Josh is out of surgery, what’s his prognosis?”
“He’s being listed in critical, but stable condition, Mark. You’re going to need to wait for the
medical team to brief for more detailed information than that.” C.J. responded.
“Does the President have any response to the comments Mary Marsh made earlier this
evening about why people in his administration were targeted by the White Supremacists?”
“I haven’t asked the President directly, Kris, but if the comments I was hearing outside his
hospital room earlier are any indication, the President will need to attend confession very
soon.”
“Do you have any comment about her statement, C.J.?”
“I try not to waste valuable time thinking about, or reacting to, things that are said by people I
have no respect for.”
“Are you saying you have no respect for the Christian Alliance for Change?”
“No. Let me be very clear about this. I have respect for people of faith; all faiths. It is Mary
Marsh for whom I have no respect. This administration has held out olive branch after olive
branch to that woman; she seems to feel she gets more political leverage from an antagonistic
relationship with us. That’s her choice. But I was shot at last night, and nothing she says is
going to convince me that it’s because she and her group are morally superior to me. That’s all
for now.” C.J. snapped her notebook shut and stormed out the door.
She got to her office and laid her head on her crossed arms on her desk. Toby watched her
silently for a minute before approaching her and placing a hand gently on her shoulder.
“Don’t say it. I know. I let it get away from me there.” C.J. said without lifting her head.
“Actually, I was going to complement you on keeping it together well enough to form coherent
sentences.” Toby contradicted. “Have you gotten any sleep?”
“No more than you, I’m guessing.”
“Yeah, but I’m not briefing the White House press corps after a National emergency.” Toby
countered. “Sack out on your couch for awhile. I’ll come get you when we need you.” He walked
out turning down the lights as he left.
“Toby?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you going to see Josh?”
“As soon as they clear him for visitors. Right now they’re only letting family and Presidents in to
see him.”
“What about Donna?”
“And Donna.” He acknowledged but didn’t share with her Donna’s brutal response to Mary’s
statement. He didn’t want her worrying about Donna too, right now. He gave Carol orders not
to disturb C.J. unless she cleared it with him first and made his way to Leo’s office.
“What are we hearing?” he asked the Chief of Staff.
“The kid, and I do mean kid, they’ve arrested is sharing all sorts of information. Sadly for Josh,
though, it’s several hours too late.” Leo snapped.
“The press is asking for a response to Marsh.”
“I heard it. We’re not responding to that garbage.”
“Leo, we really should say something-“
“We are not giving a statement, Toby. If Josh wants to respond, once he is able to, you know,
walk and talk, that’s up to him. There will be nothing further said to or about that woman! Do
you understand me?” Leo vented.
“Josh is still unconscious?” Toby asked quietly.
“Yeah…”
“But he did wake up for awhile, right?”
“Briefly. He’s…in pretty bad shape Toby.” Leo responded honestly. “His heart and lung were..
severely damaged.”
“But they’re saying he’s out of danger, aren’t they?” Toby clarified.
“For the moment. The problem is, these things turn on a dime. Anna is beside herself; Donna
too.” Leo noted.
“That’s something else we may need to talk about, Leo.”
“Anna?”
“Donna…”
“Toby, I can’t even begin to think about-“
“She had a pretty violent reaction to Mary Marsh-“
“Donna?!”
“She smashed the television in the waiting room. She hasn’t left the hospital or Josh’s side
since he’s been in recovery. These things are going to get out and-“
“Do you think I give a damn?!”
“Not now, no. But later? When Mary decides to make political fodder out of it. Then you will
care; all of us will. But by then it will be too late because Josh’s career will be over and Donna
will be a late night talk show punch line.”
“I can’t…I can’t do this right now.” Leo tried to focus again on what was on his desk. “Not based
on what you think you saw-“
“We’ve all seen it, or glimpses of it, Leo. Transfer her now. Even if Josh comes back, it’s going
to take months for him to recover. She needs a job while he does. It makes sense on every
level.” Toby pushed.
“Sometimes, Toby, you’re just too…”
“Yeah, but you’ll do it anyway, right?”
“I’ll think about it.” Leo promised and Toby realized that was as good an answer as he was
going to get, so he went back to his office and started typing his personal response to Mary
Marsh.
******************************
“Thanks, Sam. Are you sure they don’t need you back at the White House?” Anna asked.
“Don’t worry about it.” Sam assured her. “Any sign from our boy?” he glanced over at the
sleeping form of Josh Lyman through the glass window.
“Not yet, but the doctor told me that’s not unusual. He’s loaded with sedatives. Will you sit with
Donna while I call my sister? I hate to leave her alone in there.”
“No problem. Take your time.” Sam told her and went into Josh’s room, taking the chair beside
Donna.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so still.” Donna noted. “Even when we were campaigning and
he’d fall asleep all exhausted; he was never this still.”
“Josh is more a ‘poetry in motion’ kind of guy.” Sam agreed.
“Not any more he isn’t.” Donna replied glumly. “The doctor was just in here giving Anna a
laundry list of all the damage to his body. He said Josh is extremely lucky to be alive; extremely
lucky. That’s kind of the story of his life, isn’t it? He was lucky to escape the fire, he was lucky
to get the President elected, he was lucky to survive the shooting.”
“I prefer to think of it as destiny.” Sam offered. “He’s not done here yet, Donna. He’ll fight back
from this and be back at his desk faster than anyone would have predicted.”
“No, he will not.” Donna said unequivocally. “He’s not going back there. Not if I have anything to
say about it.”
“Donna-“
“Why? So he can be the victim of the next hate group that comes along? Or take the brunt of
another verbal assault from someone like Mary Marsh? He is done.” She said taking his hand
from where it lay still on the bed.
“Josh may have other ideas.” Sam warned her.
“He usually does.” Donna chuckled. “But not on this. His Mother is out there calling their
relatives. She’ll help me. He’ll listen to us.”
Sam rubbed her shoulders and watched his friend for any detectable movement. Part of him
acknowledged that Donna and Anna together could probably talk or guilt Josh into anything.
He also knew that Donna was speaking from a place of exhaustion and high anxiety right now.
It was all academic at this point. Until Josh woke up and could tell them how he felt, none of the
rest mattered.
“He needs to wake up now. Sam, you talk to him.” She commanded.
Sam leaned closer to his friend and his hand covered Josh and Donna’s joined ones. “Enough
of this, Josh. You’ve got a couple women here who are pretty desperate for your company; don’
t ask me why, they’ve got me sitting right here.” Sam joked. “We’re all here with you, buddy. It’s
okay to wake up now.”
Donna watched Josh for a minute before tears slid down her face. Sam used his free hand to
wipe them away. “He’s going to come through this, Donna. I promise.”
Anna walked back in to see her son surrounded by two of the people he loved most in the
world and her heart melted a bit.
“Has my obstinate son decided to speak to us yet?”
“Not quite yet.” Sam answered for both of them. “But once he does, he’s going to have a thing
or two to say to you both about staying up all night and worrying over nothing.”
“I imagine he will.” Anna agreed and put her arm around Sam’s waist. “He’s very lucky to have
both of you in his life.”
*********************************
“Any change on Josh?” Jed asked his wife.
“No, but that’s not necessarily a bad sign. His body has been through a lot of trauma and they’
re keeping him heavily sedated; which is probably for the best.” Abby answered. “I’m thinking of
getting some for you, too. Would you lie down and try to get some sleep?”
“I can’t sleep now. Is Zoey okay?”
“She’s worried about Charlie and Josh…and her Father.” Abby noted.
“She didn’t say much earlier when Ron was here.” Jed told his wife. “I don’t want her feeling
responsible for this.”
“Good luck with that.” Abby replied. “Zoey, much like her father, thinks she is responsible for
everything. There’s a lot of that going around. I saw Donna earlier. She was pretty…upset
about the statement Mary Marsh made on CNN.”
“There’s a lot of that going around, too.” Jed said. “Leo said we should ignore it, but my instinct
says otherwise.”
“Well, that’s for you and Leo to decide. I was more concerned about Donna. How long has
there been something going on between Josh and Donna, Jed? And just when did you think
you would share that information with me?”
“What the hell are you talking about, Abby? They work together.” Jed protested.
“Oh my God, you didn’t know did you?” Abby laughed. “You are such a jackass when it comes
to personal relationships, Jed.”
“You are over romanticizing, Abby. They’re close; so are Leo and Margaret, are they involved
too?”
“It’s not remotely the same.” Abby assured him. “I saw Donna watching Josh in surgery and I
saw her smash the television set spouting Mary Marsh’s venom.” Jed’s head whipped around
to her at that tidbit. “And I’ve watched her sit at his bedside and wait for him to wake up and
talk to her.’ Abby reported as she sat on the bed next to her husband.
“Are you sure about this Abigail?”
“One woman in love recognizes another.” Abby told him before she kissed him lightly and
stroked his face with her hand.
“I better talk to Leo.” Jed sighed heavily.
Chapter 5
Anna and Donna were sleeping as best they could in the upright chairs in Josh’s hospital room
when Josh started to come out of his sedated stupor. The first thing he noticed was the pain. It
radiated everywhere. When he managed to open his eyes, he was startled to see his mother.
What the hell?
Slowly, fragmented pieces of memory came back to him and he tried to sit up to see where he
was. His movement or his groan of pain woke his mother who was at his side instantly.
“Joshua. Thank God. Stay still, honey.” His mother spoke quietly to him. “You’re in the hospital.
You’re going to be okay.”
“Donna?” he asked with a voice that cracked from pain and panic.
“She’s right here. Donna!” Anna called to her and she immediately opened her eyes and
looked over at them. Her eyes widened when she saw Josh was awake and she moved to his
side.
“Look who’s up.” Donna joked lightly. “It’s about time you joined us.”
“President?” Josh asked.
“He’s fine. He’s in a room upstairs…Try to lay still, Josh.” Donna advised, holding him by his
shoulder as gently as she could.
“Hurts.” Josh replied simply. Anna pressed the button for the nurse and exchanged a look with
Donna.
“Honey, one of the bullets hit your pulmonary artery and collapsed your lung. You’ve been in
surgery for…hours.”
Joshua looked between Donna and his mom, confusion evident on his face. “Well, that doesn’t
sound good at all…”
“But they fixed everything, Josh. You’re okay.” Donna assured him.
“I don’t feel okay.”
“I’m sure that’s true.” His mom agreed as the nurse came in.
“Mr. Lyman. You’re awake. I’m going to page the doctor. On a scale of one to ten; one being
no pain and 10 being extreme pain, can you rate your pain for me?”
“Twelve.” Josh closed his eyes and concentrated on the feel of Donna’s hand in his and his
mother’s hand on his forehead.
“Let’s take care of that, shall we?” the nurse asked.
“Yes…let’s.” Josh answered. Donna could literally see his face relax once the nurse injected
the medication into his IV. Donna started to move back out of the way of the nurse, but Josh
kept her hand in his.
“Don’t go.” He told her without opening his eyes.
“I won’t. I won’t go.” She promised.
******************************
“Josh is awake!” Sam announced when he walked in Toby’s office.
“So I heard.” Toby replied without pausing in his typing.
“He’s groggy and Donna said his memory is sketchy, but he’s awake and talking and
everything.” Sam continued undiscouraged.
“I heard.” Toby repeated.
“What are you working on?” Sam asked.
“A response to the load of bullshit Mary Marsh dropped on CNN.” Toby answered.
“Hey, Leo talked to us about that.”
“Yeah.”
“He said we weren’t supposed to respond to Mary Marsh.”
“Yeah.”
“He said none of us were to give ANY kind of response at all.”
“I heard him.” Toby noted.
“Yet, you’re working on a response.”
“Nothing wrong with your hearing.” Toby finally quit typing and looked up at Sam.
“Leo’s going to have your head on a platter.” Sam threatened.
“Yeah, probably.” Toby paused. “Want to help?”
“Yes. Why didn’t you ask me in the first place?” Sam asked insulted.
************************************
“Joshua, I think it’s time you let these ladies go home and get some sleep.” Abby proclaimed.
“It’s not a problem, Dr. Bartlet.” Donna maintained.
“Josh, tell Donna you will be fine if she goes home for a few hours to get some sleep.” Abby
ordered.
“I’ll be fine.” He obeyed the First Lady.
“Mrs. Lyman, there’s a car waiting downstairs to take you and Donna home.” Abby told her. “I’ll
take care of your son personally until you get back.”
“Thank you, Dr. Bartlet. Come on, Donna. Let’s go crash at Josh’s place. I can see what he
actually keeps in that frig of his.” Anna took Donna by the arm to pull her out of the room.
Donna hesitated a moment her eyes locking with Josh’s.
She had made a few promises to herself sitting in the waiting room for all those hours. And as
much as she wanted to keep those promises; she didn’t want to keep them in front of Anna and
the First Lady of the United States. Besides, she reasoned, Josh was still loopy from the drugs
they kept pushing into his IV.
“We’ll be back in a few hours?” She turned the statement into a question and Josh mustered a
half smile and a nod. His mom kissed his forehead and left with Donna.
Dr. Bartlet picked up his chart and reviewed the latest information. Everything appeared to be
holding steady and each hour that it continued to hold steady was very good news for Josh
Lyman.
“My husband said that I’m to remind you that he is still the leader of the free world and he is
ordering you to take all the time you need to get better, but he expects you at your desk by
tomorrow.” She quipped and saw Josh’s lip twitch.
“Yes, Ma’am.” He managed.
“That a boy.” Abby said. “I see you’re getting the good stuff in your IV. How’s the pain?”
“Up and down.”
“It’s important to stay on top of it, Joshua. You’re body is working hard enough to recover
without having to fight the pain too. The nurse showed you how to activate the morphine drip?”
Josh nodded. “Good. Then the next thing on your agenda is sleep. You close your eyes and
rest, while I sit here and catch up on my magazine reading.”
Josh, too tired to do anything else, closed his eyes and slept.
*************************************
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” C.J. accused when she walked into Toby’s office.
“You needed sleep.” He defended himself.
“Josh?” she asked.
“Awake and holding his own.” Sam smiled.
“That’s great!” C.J. smiled for the first time in what felt like days. She sat down on Toby’s couch
next to Sam. “What are you two doing?”
“We were writing-“ Toby began.
“Toby was telling me the rules he would set up if he were ruler of the Universe.” Sam
interrupted, having a better sense of self-preservation than Toby.
“This is how you’re spending your time?” C.J. turned to the Communications Director.
“Among other things.” Toby smirked.
“And this is something you’ve given a lot of thought to?”
“It is.” Toby confirmed.
“Let’s hear one.” C.J. challenged.
When ruling the Universe, I will be neither chivalrous nor sporting. If I have an unstoppable
superweapon, I will use it as early and as often as possible instead of keeping it in reserve.”
Toby spouted.
“Uh-huh.” C.J. looked back and forth between Sam and Toby.
“You don’t like that one? How about this one: My main computers will have their own special
operating system that will be completely incompatible with standard IBM and Macintosh
powerbooks. ” Toby responded.
C.J. just stared. “I think one of us needs more sleep.”
Ginger stepped into Toby’s office. “Leo wants to see you all three of you right away.”
“He couldn’t know about it already we just faxed it.” Sam protested.
“Faxed what?” C.J. asked.
“Uh…nothing.” Sam hesitated while Toby rolled his eyes and got to his feet.
When they got to Leo’s office they were relieved to find their ‘response’ was not the subject of
the meeting.
“We need to get in front of some this. The network news makes us sound like the teacher’s out
sick and the substitute can’t find the blackboard. C.J., I want you and Toby to come up with a
statement regarding why the President exited in the open air, without making it look like the
Secret Service blew the play. That wasn’t their call.”
“Got it.” Toby agreed.
“Sam, we need you to do some of the morning shows. Can you at least give the impression
that we’re still running the Government?”
“Sure, but they’re going to ask about Mary Marsh’s comments.” Sam pointed out.
“You haven’t seen it. You’ve been too busy running things in the White House.” Leo replied.
“HE’S been running things in the White House?” Toby complained.
“You know what I mean.” Leo snapped at him.
“That’s not going to work.” Sam replied.
“It’s not.” C.J. seconded. “If we’re going to stick with our ‘no response’ response, we have to
stay above it.” She turned to Sam. “We prefer to focus on the good wishes and heartfelt
prayers that have been pouring into the White House since this horrific event took place. The
President will be released tomorrow, and Josh Lyman is on the road to recovery. The people
who perpetrated this hateful crime are the purview of the Secret Service and the FBI.”
“Okay.” Sam acknowledged.
“Thanks.” Leo added. “You’ve all done an exceptional job given the circumstances. I’m going
over to the hospital in a bit to see Josh. Then we can set up some sort of schedule for visiting?”
“Sounds good.” Toby noted.
“Whatever you say.” Sam agreed and C.J. nodded. They weren’t ten feet from Leo’s office, but
a good distance from C.J., before Sam whispered urgently.
“They’ll have the response before I get on the morning shows. What do I do then?”
“I’m working on it, Robin, I’m working on it.”
************************************
“Hey, kid.” Leo said softly to his Deputy. Abby left them alone to talk with the caveat that Leo
didn’t get Josh worked up about anything.
“Hey.” Josh answered groggily. Leo doubted Josh was even capable of getting worked up with
all the drugs in his system.
“You scared your Mother half to death, you know. You should probably stop doing that.”
“The shooters?’
“Two dead, one in custody. They were members of the West Virginia White Pride who were
expressing their displeasure that the President’s daughter is dating a black man.” Leo
explained.
“Charlie?”
“Charlie’s fine. You’re the one we’re worried about right now.” Leo told him and Josh’s eyes
closed against the worry he saw on his mentor’s face. The doctor had been in and with Abby’s
help, he had deciphered all the medi-speak. It had been very daunting. He figured Leo was
here to tell him he was done at the White House and Josh couldn’t deal with that right now.
“Is there anything I can get you? Anything you need?” Leo asked and Josh simply shook his
head.
“Donna’s getting some stuff from my place. She should be back soon.”
Okay, thought Leo, I guess we’re going to need to deal with that too, but he couldn’t bring
himself to do it now. Josh didn’t look like he could handle one more blow; and knowing Josh,
that’s exactly how he’d look at a transfer for Donna.
Her timing, or his mental telepathy with her, had her pushing through his hospital door at that
moment. She looked surprised to see Leo sitting there.
“Oh, hi, Leo.” She greeted him.
“Hi, Donna. You look like you’ve managed some sleep since the last time I saw you.”
“Dr. Bartlet ordered me out for awhile. Anna is talking to your doctor. She’ll be in shortly.” She
said to Josh. He tried to smile but it came out more like a grimace.
“You’re in pain again, aren’t you?” Donna accused.
“I’ve been shot, Donna. I’m going to experience some pain.” Josh reasoned but Donna was
already calling for the nurse. When the nurse came in, Donna requested more pain medication.
“I’ll get that for him, right away.” The nurse promised.
“You should really get the medicine right away when you start to feel more pain, Josh.”
“I don’t like the pain meds, Donna. They make me all goofy and tired. I can’t stay awake.”
“That’s a good thing at this point. Your body needs the rest and you don’t need the pain. You’
ve been through enough already; you really don’t need to suffer with more pain.”
“Donna…”
“Here’s the nurse with the medicine. Take it now, so you don’t have as much pain.”
“Ah-kay.” Josh gave up and let the nurse give him the drugs without further argument. When
his eyelids grew heavy, Donna visibly relaxed.
“He shouldn’t have any more pain.” Donna said again, although Leo didn’t know if she was
talking to him or to herself. Yeah, he was going to take care of that paperwork as soon as he
got back to the White House.
“Donna? I need to talk to you about work for a minute.” Leo broached the subject carefully.
“Without Josh in the office, we’ve got a pretty big hole in the West Wing. Josh and I are going
to need you to step up and help fill the void.”
“I can’t…I mean, Josh needs me here right now.” Donna replied.
“He’s got his Mom here, and a whole staff of highly trained professionals. He needs you more
at the White House.” Leo paused and let that sink in for a minute. “I’m promoting you to special
assistant to the Chief of Staff.”
Donna bobbled the cup of water she had just poured for herself. “I…you’re moving me out of
Josh’s office?”
“Only on paper. I’m going to need you to take on more complex assignments and take higher
level meetings while Josh is out. When Josh gets back you’ll still be working with him; you’ll just
be reporting to me instead.”
Donna digested that information and all the implications of that information before she blurted
out. “What makes you so sure he’s going back to the White House after this?”
Now it was Leo’s turn to be shocked. He had never even considered the possibility that Josh
wouldn’t come back once he recovered. “Has he said something to you?”
“He can barely form coherent sentences since he’s come out of surgery.” Donna answered.
“But I think he’s made enough personal sacrifices for the President, don’t you?”
“I will certainly respect whatever decision Josh makes about coming back to the White House,
but I can’t imagine he won’t want to come back. This job is what he’s worked all his life for.”
“It nearly cost him his life too.” Donna noted.
“I know, Donna. I was there.”
“Then how can you ask him to go back!” she snapped in an urgent whisper so she wouldn’t
disturb Josh. “Toby told me how he found Josh bleeding on the sidewalk all by himself. All by
himself, Leo!”
Leo stood up and took her into his arms. “It’s not your fault, Donna. It’s not. We’re going to
help him get through this; all of us, together. Then, when he’s in a better place, he can make a
decision about work, okay?” Leo asked.
“Okay.” Donna agreed.
“In the meantime, I’m seriously going to need your help running Operations.”
“But I promised Josh-“
“I’ll make sure you have time here too.” Leo assured here. “Will you accept the promotion?”
“I’ll help any way I can.” She said quietly, watching Josh sleep restlessly.
WORK IN PROGESS - TBC