Title: When the Bough Breaks
Disclaimer: If wishing made it so… Maybe, I could just ask Aaron on Facebook, he’s replied
to me twice now. Well, it’s not the worst idea in the world, but it ranks up there…
Authors: Waldorf and Statler
Rating: I’m sure it’ll be R
Feedback: We need a certain quota in order for our computers to unlock the next chapter
A/N: This is the sequel to Angels and Demons. If you need a refresher on that universe, it’s
at www.geocities.com/annemflynn; www.cathyswestwing.com; or The National Library. If you
haven’t read the first one, this is SO not going to make sense.
A/N: We have, once again, tweaked the events of canon…
1.
I fish my cell phone out of my pocket when I feel it vibrate; several people look at me. When
my cell phones rings at night, it’s rarely good. But on the upside, it’s not work, since all those
people are currently looking at me.
“It’s Mike.” I say when I see his number scroll across the screen. Donna nods and goes back
to our conversation with Ellie Bartlet. I snap open my phone and press it to my ear. “What’s
up?”
“I’m having a cow right now.” He says. He sounds like he’s in motion.
“What?”
“I’M FREAKING OUT!”
“Why?”
“I have to brief the President.”
“You brief the President all the time.”
“Not in the Residence of the White House.” He counters. Now I know why he’s in motion, he’s
on his way here. “And not when it’s…”
“What?”
“Let’s just say he’s not going to be thrilled.”
This is an odd part of our jobs. There’s always stuff we’re not allowed to talk about to each
other. In my job, I mostly should know everything Mike knows, but every now and then…
“Is this going to affect whether or not I can go home tonight?” I ask and Donna looks up at
me again.
“You haven’t left work yet? It’s like 9:30. Donna’s gonna kill you.”
“She’s with me. We’re actually IN the Residence right now. It’s the President’s chili night.”
“I love chili!”
“Well, you can have some when you get here.”
“Yeah, I can’t do that.”
“Why?”
“The Director will have my ass.”
“The President’s real proud of his chili, Mike, he’s going to order you to have some.”
“Well, he’s going to have to.”
“Where are you?”
“On my way up the stairs.”
I snap my phone shut and look over at my wife. “Mike’s on his way over.”
“That doesn’t sound good.” CJ says who’s been sitting with us.
“Did you say Mike Casper’s on his way over?” Leo asks me.
“Yeah, he should be…” I say as Mike enters the sitting room.
“Agent Casper.” Leo nods to him and Mike greets him in return. “Follow me.” Leo says and
leads him to the President’s private office. The President enters right after them and the door
closes behind him.
“I wonder if we’re going to bed tonight.” CJ says to me. I look over at Donna and merely
shrug.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
“Agent Casper, what’s going on?” Leo cuts right to the chase.
I try to absorb as quickly as I can my surroundings. I’m not sure if I’ll ever see the inside of
the private study of the President of the United States. I’m constantly surprised what simply
knowing Josh has gotten me in my career. I was not on the fast track to White House liaison,
but since Josh trusts me, the President trusts me, and so here I am.
In the private study.
Of the President of the United States.
“Sir, have you ever been a patient of a Dr. Lee?” I ask.
“No.” the President says.
“Yes.” Leo replies. The President looks over at Leo in surprise. “He was your
anesthesiologist the night of the shooting.” Leo walks over to the study door, opens it and
beckons the First Lady in. He rejoins the President and me and we are immediately joined by
Dr. Bartlet.
“What’s going on?” Abbey asks looking from Leo to me.
“I don’t know yet.” Leo replies. “But it sounds like something you’re going to want to hear. It
somehow involves the President’s anesthesiologist from the night of the shooting.”
“Dr. Lee?” Abbey asks me and I nod.
“Is there a problem?”
“Yes.” I confirm. “Dr. Lee’s house was broken into while he was away on vacation. A safe was
stolen. We believe it was an inside job involving his cleaning service because the alarm
never went off.”
“What does that have to do with the President?” Leo asks.
“Dr. Lee tells us that the President’s medical records from the night of the shooting were in
that safe.” I say. Leo’s eyes widen and Abbey sits down on a nearby chair. “Dr. Lee said
because of the sensitive nature of the records, he never had them transcribed and they were
his handwritten records that he kept locked in his safe.”
“Well, they’ve got to get the safe open, right?” the President says more to Leo. “I mean, they’
re not what they used to be, right?”
Well, this is…interesting. The three of them seem awfully concerned about the President’s
medical records.
“If they stole the safe, I’m sure they can crack it.” I say. “And if they can’t, they can just blow
the door off.”
“That wasn’t very comforting, Agent Casper.” The President says dryly.
“That’s not my purpose here, Mr. President.” I reply.
“Do you like chili, Agent Casper?” the President asks.
“I’m fine, sir.” I politely refuse.
“Agent Casper, go have a bowl of chili.” The President orders.
“Yes, sir.” I say. I believe I’m being evicted from the room.
The President leads me to the door and pokes his head out. “Eleanor,” he says to his oldest
daughter and motions her over. Eleanor Bartlet looks a little surprised but comes over to her
father. “Would you be so kind as to get Agent Casper a heaping bowl of chili, please?”
Ellie arches an eyebrow at her father and I’m about to protest again, but the study door
closes after the President disappears behind it. Josh wanders over to me and looks at me
expectantly. I know he doesn’t expect me to tell him what’s going on, not that I think it’s all
that big of a deal, all the President’s physicals have been clear, what are the records going
to show? Bust him for smoking four cigarettes a day?
“Chili?” He smirks at me.
“Apparently.” I say.
“If you’d like to…sit down, Agent Casper…” Ellie says quietly and not quite meeting my eyes.
“I’ll bring you some.”
“It’s really okay. “ I say to her. I’m not sure I’ve ever actually met her before.
“The President is going to come out of that room and ask you about his chili and what you
thought of it.” Josh says pointing to the door behind him.
“To which you reply it needs more oregano.” Charlie pipes in.
“I don’t think I’m going to do that.” I say to Charlie. Josh nods his head over to where he,
Donna and CJ are sitting on some couches as Ellie disappears.
I’m in the Residence of the White House and the First Daughter is about to serve me chili.
I really should beat the shit out of Josh for getting me into all this.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Mike sits down across from me and out of the corner of my eye, I see Zoey Bartlet disappear
into the kitchen after Ellie.
I haven’t really gotten used to these little get togethers myself so I know how Mike feels right
now. Yes, the First Family was at mine and Josh’s wedding and that was…surreal. This is the
third time I’ve been invited to one of the President’s chili nights.
Working for Matt, who has been the extremely vocal and public face of the Republican
agenda while the President is in the middle of re-election, I’m not always sure I’m someone
they want hanging around, even though I’m a democrat. It’s not always easy for Josh and I
but then again, since the day Ainsley introduced us, it never has been.
“It’s nice in here.” Mike says looking around.
“Will you at least tell me if I’m going to be allowed to go home tonight?” CJ demands.
“I’m sure you are.” Mike nods. “It’s just something that popped up in an investigation. It’s
really no big deal.”
“Good.” CJ nods. “With the re-election, I don’t get a whole hell of a lot of nights in my own
bed.”
Ellie returns and hands Mike a bowl of chili.
“Thanks.” Mike smiles at her.
“You’re welcome.” She says quietly. Zoey plops down on the end of the couch, leaving Ellie
the open spot right next to Mike. I see Ellie throw a glare over at her sister who smiles widely.
Interesting…
Ellie’s not very talkative. She doesn’t seem all that comfortable around everyone here. From
what Josh has told me, Ellie was virtually non-existent during the first campaign, unlike Zoey
who was always around and Elizabeth, who’s married, but put in a lot more appearances than
the Bartlets’ middle daughter. Josh said he’d never even met Ellie until the Convention and
then she disappeared until Election Night. He says she’s very shy and takes great pains to
stay away from the limelight and usually the White House.
“This is pretty good!” Mike says.
“Doesn’t it need more oregano?” Charlie asks.
“It needs more cumin.” Zoey says throwing a look over to Charlie.
“Nah.” Mike says, taking another heaping spoonful. “It could use something to cut the bite
though.”
“That’s…” Ellie pipes up. Everyone looks over at her and she looks like she wants to shrink
into the couch. “…that’s what I’ve always said.”
“Like a barbeque sauce.” Mike nods to her.
“I’ve always thought maybe something like French Onion soup.” She says quietly.
Mike pauses and looks over at her. “That could be really good.” She smiles and looks down.
The study door opens again. The First Lady huffs away and then we hear a door slam. “Uh-
oh.” Josh says under his breath. The President and Leo emerge and Mike thrusts the chili
bowl at me and stands up.
“Boy did YOU create a mess.” The President says to Mike, who’s eyes go real wide.
“I’m sorry, sir?” Mike squeaks.
“Well, not you.” The President says. “I guess I’m just shooting the messenger.”
“Sorry, sir.” Mike replies.
“So, Mike, what did you think of the chili?”
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
“JACKIE!” I bellow zooming into my office. I’d like to get out of here sometime tonight. The
President and Leo are all freaked out by the President’s medical records being stolen. I don’t
know what the big deal is. They get released with his physical report once a year.
My assistant comes into the room. She looks unhappy.
“What?” I ask.
“Would it kill you, Josh, to use the intercom?” she demands. Jackie’s been with me about a
year now. She’s snarky; Donna loves her.
“Yes?” I reply.
“What do you need?”
“I’m outta here.”
“Not yet.” She says.
I drop my head to my chest and sigh. “So close. What?”
“Ellie.” She says gesturing like I’m an idiot. I look at my visitor chair and sure enough, Ellie
Bartlet is sitting there. I didn’t even see her there!
“Shit, Ellie!” I yelp. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize you were in here.”
“It’s okay.” She says in her token quiet voice.
“What can I…what do you need?” I ask as Jackie leaves my office and closes the door. I am
stunned right now. I can’t remember Ellie ever coming into the West Wing, let alone looking
for me.
“I was wondering...” she shifts uncomfortably in her seat. Instead of sitting behind my desk, I
lean up against it in front. “…I feel like an idiot, but Zoey suggested…”
“Ellie, is everything all right?”
“Oh yeah.” She nods. “I was just wondering…Zoey says you’re friends with Agent Casper
and I was wondering if you could tell me if he was seeing anyone.”
She rambles it all out and I look at her speechless. My brain is trying to process exactly what
she just said.
“Josh?” she prompts when I guess she thinks too much time has gone by.
“No!” I say shaking my brain into a functioning capacity. “No, he’s not. He was seeing
someone for a little while a while back, but that didn’t really work out. He’s not seeing anyone
now.”
“Okay.” She nods and stands up.
“That’s it?” I ask.
“Well, I don’t want to seem like…” she starts and I smile a bit. “I don’t want to be too
presumptuous…”
God I thought I was bad at that stuff! Thank God Donna came along and saved me from this
mortification!
“Ellie, would you like me to arrange for another meeting so you can get to know him a little
better?” I offer. The President’s going to kill me. “I can do it in a group thing like tonight so
you can talk to him a little more without any pressure.”
“Yeah.” She smiles slowly then she turns serious. “Don’t tell anyone about this though.”
“Oh no, not at all.” I say shaking my head, but I’m totally telling Donna.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
2.
“Donnatella!” I hear the delighted tones of Agent Mike Casper on the line. Can I say straight
out that that’s unusual? Mike, on a VERY good day, may show…happiness by way of a smile
or a wry grin. His voice today though sounds like if I could see his face his eyes would be
sparkling and all his teeth would be showing in a full out smile.
“Good morning Michael. You sound very…happy for a Monday morning.” I note.
“I have something for you and I wanted to make sure you were there before I dropped it off.”
Mike reports.
“Hmmmm…is this something for me? Or something for me to give to Josh?” I ask for
clarification.
“Please! This is for you and you alone. It’s to express my appreciation for the lovely
gathering you hosted last night.” He explains and the lightrbulb goes off. He’s happy about
spending some semi-private time with Ellie Bartlet. Now it all makes sense to me! After Josh
reported his conversation with Ellie to me and I engaged in some subtle investigations to
determine that Mike was likewise interested in another opportunity to spend some time with
Ellie, I started putting together plans for Operation Casper. It all came to fruition last night at
our place.
I included Sam and Ainsley, Matt and Scott, Chris and Ginger, and Mike and Ellie…there was
really no point in trying to be subtle. We had a casual dinner (Chinese take out in the mural
room while we played some poker. Mike spent more time than was strictly necessary teaching
Ellie the rules but it was cute to watch In any case, everyone but me got nicely buzzed on
beer or wine (we’re still working on the baby thing) and we had a wonderful evening. Ellie and
Mike (and her detail) were the last ones to leave.
“Then by all means, stop on by.” I tell him just before the office door blows open.
“I will. Decaf!” He smiles at me through the doorway, brandishing a bouquet of flowers in one
hand and a cup of coffee in the other. It’s honestly difficult to determine which gift pleases me
more. On impulse, I go with the coffee. While we’re waiting for news on the baby front, I have
to make do with decaffeinated. With one hand now free, Mike leans down to pick up the mail
that had been shoved under the door this morning and hands that to me as well.
“I have to say, I approve of your tokens of gratitude.” I tell him and start sorting through the
mail. Yes, technically it’s Sherry’s job, but I’m in here earlier than her almost everyday and I
can be a team player.
“Good, because I am full of gratitude.” Mike expounds. “Plus…I was wondering if I could ask
another favor.”
“Would this have anything to do with plans involving Secret Service?”
“It might.” Mike hedges.
“Just call the woman, Michael. She clearly likes you. Can you imagine how motivated she had
to be to go to JOSH and ask about you?”
“I get that, and it’s mutual but she’s very shy and I don’t want to make her feel uncomfortable.
I thought maybe if next time, just the four of us went out…”
“Fine.” I agree. “But you have to talk to her about which night. Between her residency hours
and your crazy schedule at the FBI, scheduling a night out is next to impossible.” I lay out my
terms.
“Deal.” Mike agrees a little too readily. “I thought we could go out someplace. I’ll even treat.”
“Let me guess. I need to make the reservations.” I take a stab in the dark.
“That would be great! Thanks, Donna, you’re one in a million.”
“Tell Josh.” I quip.
“Like I’d have to.” He drawls. “The sun rises and sets on his Donnatella.”
I’m being a little paranoid I guess, but every time we get the news that our baby making
efforts have been unsuccessful, he has this look on his face; like he’s disappointed in me.
Maybe I’m wrong, but how long can we go on like this before he begins to resent me or the
fact that we haven’t been able to conceive? It makes me nervous.
“This is weird.” I hold up a plain brown envelope with ‘Congressman Skinner’ written on it in
black marker. There’s nothing else written on it at all. Someone had to have hand delivered
it, but there’s no indication of where, or who, it came from.
“Give it here.” Mike demanded and I give him a skeptical look. “I’m not stealing Congressional
secrets, Donna. This is my business; identifying potential threats.”
“And you think this is a potential threat?” I wave the envelope at him.
“You said yourself that it’s ‘weird’.” Mike answers. “The first rule in threat assessment? Listen
to the little voice in your head when it tells you something is off. Give it here.” He takes a
couple tissues from the box on my desk and I reluctantly hand him the envelope. He uses my
letter open to carefully slice an opening across the top. Then he takes another tissue to
reach in and draw out a few pieces of paper. Seeing nothing suspicious, he hands me the
papers and I start to read what’s on them while Mike continues his ‘investigation’ of the
envelope. Once the words on the paper register with me, my jaw drops open and I sink onto
my chair.
“Donna? You okay? You look pale.” Mike’s voice registers though the buzzing in my ears. I
look up at him blankly.
“Is there anything else in the envelope, Mike?” He looks again but shakes his head ‘no’.
“Is it a threat of some kind, Donna?” He’s trying to ask questions without stepping over the
line of privacy here.
“No, not exactly. I mean, no, it’s not a threat; just some confidential information. I’d like to be
able to tell the Congressman where it came from.” I explain.
“With your permission…I could run this for prints.” He suggests still holding the envelope by a
tissue and I nod ‘yes’. What the hell am I going to do with this?
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
I’ve been walking around for an hour hoping to hear something back from Mike, but I guess a
fast answer is unreasonable in this kind of situation and regardless of the answer I get from
Mike, I still haven’t figured out what to do with this; the medical records folded neatly in my
purse. Multiple Sclerosis? The President has Multiple Sclerosis? It can’t be true. It must be
some kind of re-election scam. I’ve been around Josh long enough to hear some nasty
stories about what some people will do to bring a political opponent down. This must have
something to do with re-election.
What if I burned it? Just set it on fire and pretend I never saw it. I ponder that a few minutes
before I see it as the futile act that it would be. Whoever sent this copy would obviously have
others. I doubt Congressman Skinner was the only one to receive a copy. I wonder who else
knows. I wonder if I should even – God! Does Josh know? Could Josh know something about
the President concealing this very serious illness and not tell anyone? I know Josh loves to
win, but he’d never be okay with something like that, would he? My thoughts are swirling and
my stomach is pitching. Finally I decide to do what I should have done an hour ago. I march
right back to the office and after a brief knock interrupt Matt’s meeting with his budget
advisor.
“Donna? Is everything okay?” Matt asks carefully.
“I need to speak with you…now.” I tell him.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Donna looks like she’s seen a ghost. My immediate thought is that she’s sick, or Josh is sick.
That’s how seriously she’s looking at me right now. I nod a dismissal at my budget advisor,
and he makes quick work of exiting my inner sanctum. She waits until he closes the door
behind him before she pulls some papers out of her purse and hands them to me.
Curiouser and curiouser. I take the papers from her and blink in surprise when I see they’re
marked as the medical chart notes for President Bartlet the night of the shooting in Rosslyn.
“Donna…” I start to ask questions but she shakes me off.
“Keep reading.” She insists, so I do. Dear God. Multiple Sclerosis? Now I’m afraid I look as
pale and shaky as Donna does.
“Where the hell did you get these?” I demand as a though occurs to me. “You didn’t get
these from Josh?”
“NO!” She’s quick to defend her husband and my friend and I feel a slight sense of relief. “It
was slipped under the door this morning with the rest of the mail. Mike was here when I
opened it. There was nothing on the envelope but your name and title…I let Mike take the
envelope to see if he could get prints off it.” She says that last part nervously, like she’s
afraid I’m going to slam her for it. Frankly, I think it’s an excellent idea and tell her so. I want
to know who has this and what they think I’m supposed to do with this.
“Matt…what do we do with this?” She asks quietly and her voice breaks. “This is going to kill
Josh…”
“Not to mention re-election if it’s true.” I deduce.
“You think maybe it’s a lie? Maybe someone’s doing this to mess up the re-election
campaign?” She asks me hopefully. Personally, I doubt it just because of the seeming
authenticity of the records, but I can’t know for sure.
“Maybe.” I allow; might as well let her have hope for now. Finally, I lift my eyes to meet hers
and see they’re filled with unshed tears. “Get me in Josh’s office.” I order and she
immediately picks up the phone on my desk and dials him direct.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
“What’s with the cloak and dagger, Matthew?” Josh jokes with me when I enter his office. His
eyebrows shoot up when I pause to close all his doors before replying in any way. “Is our
relationship about to change?”
“It very well may. This was left anonymously at my office today.” I tell him ominously and drop
the papers unceremoniously on his desk before taking a seat in the visitor chair while he
catches up on his reading. I see the immediate surprise when he recognizes what the papers
are and then the shock when he gets to Dr. Lee’s notes on the M.S. Part of me is relieved to
see the shock. I sincerely doubted Josh would be a party to this kind of cover up, but I wasn’t
100% sure he wasn’t kept out of the loop during the election and brought inside at some
point later. Now, I’m sure and heave a sigh of relief.
“What the hell is this shit? Where did it come from?” Josh asks.
“It’s not true?” I ask tentatively.
“Absolutely not.” Josh tosses the papers on the desk. “Somebody’s messing with you, Matt.
You’ve been out front for your party and they want you to lob unsubstantiated rumors about
the President’s health to cripple him coming out of the gate on re-election.”
“You sure?” I ask.
“It makes perfect sense. This gets leaked out anonymously a week after the break in at Dr.
Lee’s and…” Josh trails off and he gets a panicked look on his face. His feet, that had been
resting comfortably on his desk, drop to the floor. “JACKIE!!” He shouts and his long
suffering assistant appears in the doorway.
“Honest to God, Joshua, it’s just one little button that you press when you want--” Jackie
begins the intercom lecture.
“Get me Leo. Tell him it’s about an old friend from home.” Josh instructs her. Once she
leaves he gets up to put on his suit coat, grab the papers, and turns his attention back to
me. “You stay RIGHT HERE until I get back. Hell of a way to start a Monday morning.” He
complains as he makes tracks to the Chief of Staff’s office. Hell of a way indeed.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
I storm Leo’s office like I’m taking it over. Leo comes in from the Oval, a perplexed look on his
face.
“What the hell did you drag me into?” I ask point blank.
“Can you narrow down your field of accusation? And take your voice down, please.” He
admonishes me throwing a glance to the door still standing open to the Oval.
“I don’t care if he hears.” I tell him and see his eyes go wide at my obvious disrespect. If I’m
right, and I think I am, the man next door isn’t deserving of my respect. God, please let me be
wrong. “Is this true?” I toss the papers to him and he struggles to catch them and read them
at the same time. It doesn’t take five seconds for understanding to dawn. He shuts both
doors; there’s a lot of that going on today.
“Where did you get this?”
“Is it true?”
“Yes, where did you get this?” He repeats.
“The President conspired to hide a debilitating illness from the public who elected him and
your response is ‘where did you get this’?” I nearly shout.
“Yes.”
“From Matt Skinner. Somebody left them at his office today. Can we get back to the
President lying now, please?”
“He didn’t lie.” Leo tells me with a straight face. He’s a hell of a poker player is Leo McGarry. I
decide to skip over the semantics…for now.
“How could you bring me on board here knowing this? Jesus, Leo! Hoynes has his issues but
things were going pretty well for us when you came waltzing in with your ‘real deal’ candidate.”
“I didn’t know then.” I keep looking at him looking for something that tells me he’s not lying to
me still. I can’t find it. “I didn’t know then, Josh, I swear. I didn’t find out until later.”
“How much later?”
“Are we going to do this now?” He asks wearily.
“Yeah, we are. How much later?” I demand.
He pauses and closes his eyes. He might as well get used to answering these questions with
me. Soon, it won’t be such friendly voices demanding answers. Not that I’m feeling friendly at
the moment, but…
“The State of the Union….when he collapsed right before? Broke the pitcher in the Oval?” He
attempts to jog my memory.
“You told me that was the flu!” I’m back to shouting now.
“I told you it was the flu because I was told it was the flu. It wasn’t until the next day that I--”
“I’m leaving for the day.” I interrupt and announce as I walk toward the door. The son of a
bitch knew this WHOLE time and just let me…We just announced for re-election! What the
hell kind of hole have he and Bartlet dug for us all!
“Excuse me?”
“I’m leaving for the day…and I’ll think about whether I’m coming back tomorrow.” I see Leo
close his eyes briefly, like he’s in pain, before I open the door to exit and slam it shut behind
me. People literally scurry out of my way when they see me coming down the hall. How I’m
feeling right now must be reflected on my face. Son. Of. A. Bitch!
I slam my office door shut behind me and see Matt perusing the Post while he waits for me.
He looks up when I enter and takes one look at my face before he speaks.
“Shit.” Is his only comment.
“I’m leaving for the day and going to get drunk. Care to join me?” I invite him while I pack up
my backpack.
“Why not?” He shrugs. “Let’s go to my place. I’m well stocked in the liquor department and we
won’t be disturbed by anyone.”
“Done.” I agree. “Jackie?!
Again, she appears in my doorway, and thanks be to God, doesn’t even mention the fucking
intercom.
“I’m leaving for the day. Reschedule what you can, cancel what you can’t.”
“Is something wrong? Is Donna okay?” Jackie has put Matt’s presence together with my
unprecedented departure from the office mid-morning to mean something’s wrong with
Donna. She’s a pretty great assistant and a nice woman.
“She’s fine, I promise. I just…need to go. If anything urgent comes up, make sure Leo’s office
gets it. I’m sure he can handle something dire.” I drawl and Matt guffaws at my inside joke.
Before long, we’re tossing back drinks at Matt’s place. He has an incredible place. I didn’t
realize Congressman could afford places like this. Oh, yeah, I forgot; Matt’s loaded.
“When does Scott get home?” I ask idly while I toss back the rest of my second bottle of beer.
“He’s got a partner meeting, so we won’t see him until later tonight.” He assures me.
“I should call Donna.”
“I already did.” Matt smiles. “She knows you’re here and safe.”
“I don’t want to tell her.” I admit.
“You don’t have to.” Matt sighs. “She was the one who opened the anonymous envelope with
the pages inside.”
I nearly drop the bottle of beer. “Shit.” I shake my head in sadness. Like we haven’t had
enough stress at our house these days. Every month at this time comes the big ‘test’ to see if
we’re pregnant yet. Another two days will mark the time for another test. Each successive
month with negative results seem to plunge Donna deeper into a depression. She doesn’t
need to deal with this right now…not that any of us do.
“She’ll be okay. You both will. You’ve got each other.” Matt points out.
I scoff at that and he picks up on the unspoken part of that sentence. We ONLY have each
other and not the long awaited baby we’ve both been hoping for. Somehow, I can’t help but
think it’s my fault. I have this reverse Midas touch thing with people I’m close to.
“That will work out too.” Matt says quietly. “You and Donna were meant to be parents.”
I lean my head back against his incredibly comfortable cushions. “I can’t believe Leo didn’t
tell me.” I finally voice the betrayal I’ve been feeling.
“I’m sorry, man. I was really hoping it was just campaign dirty tricks.” Matt says sincerely. I
know he means it. As much as he may disagree with Bartlet about policy issues, he’s always
had respect for the man and the office. It’s part of why we’ve been able to work together so
well on so many divergent issues.
“I don’t know if I can go back there tomorrow.” I say quietly. “I’m so pissed right now.”
“Rightfully so.” Matt agrees. “But you should talk to the President before you make any
permanent decisions.”
“He LIED to us Matt!” I explode with it.
“I know.”
“He let us launch this whole thing and he- Leo’s known since--”
“Don’t.” Matt stops me. “You know this is going to end up in a special prosecutor’s office.
Don’t add anything more that I’ll have to testify about, okay?”
I nod. He’s right. He’s been dragged into this thing too, now. How ironic is that?
“Who sent it to you, Matt? That’s what I want to know. And who else has it?”
“Mike’s checking the envelope for prints.” He informs me. “He was there when Donna
opened the envelope, but he doesn’t know the contents. As for who else has it? I have no
clue. But my hunch is that if I don’t do something with it soon, it’s going to find its way to many
more Republican Congressional offices. You’ve got one, maybe two days to figure out how to
disclose it yourselves.”
“You mean THEY have to figure it out.” I correct him.
He shrugs again. “I say we order some food and turn a sporting event on TV.” Matt offers.
“On a Monday? At…” I consult my watch. “Eleven in the morning?”
“I’ve got satellite, man.” He smiles. What the hell?
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
“I’ve come for the body of Joshua Lyman?” I say once Matt drunkenly opens the door.
“DONNA!” He shouts in apparent glee. “Josh! Donna’s here!”
“My woman!” Josh calls back. My they are quite a pair, these two.
“This is what you’ve been up to all day while I’ve been covering your ass at the office?” I ask
Matt holding a beer bottle aloft.
“That one was Josh’s actually.” He chuckles at what he thinks is a funny comment.
“Uh-huh.” I walk over to where ‘my man’ is nearly passed out on the couch. “Time to hit the
road, Joshua.”
“But it’s so nice here. Let’s just stay here, Donna. We could be a family with Matt and Scott.”
He decides.
“Well, that’s very enticing. Matt is much neater than you are and Scott is a much better
cook.” I opine. “Let’s go home and pack.”
“Yes!” Josh pumps his fist in the air. “And it’s going to work out great since I’m going to be
unemployed and Matt can support us in the matter to which we’ve become accustomed.”
Only my husband could spit out a phrase like that when he’s three sheets to the wind.
“Leo finally fired your sorry ass?” I ask.
“I quit.” He explains and I look over at Matt for confirmation who shrugs. “Well, not yet, but I’m
gonna. They fucking lied to me, Donna. They let me go out front on this and they lied to me
about it!”
“Josh. Stop.” I throw another glance at Matt who appears unimpressed by this information. I’m
guessing, therefore, that this matter has already been discussed to some degree. “Baby, let
me take you home now. Things will be better after you’ve had some sleep.”
“Uh-uh.” Josh shakes his head ‘no’. “Things will never be better again.”
Well…I don’t know that I can argue with that.
“Let’s go, Josh. I need you to come home with me.” I pout and he responds accordingly,
rising shakily to his feet. “Thanks for babysitting, Matt.”
“He’s an excellent babysitter.” Josh shares. “When we get pregnant, we’re going to need
someone like him around.”
I close my eyes against the pain that statement causes me. When I open them again, Josh
looks at me with eyes more sober than I thought they were.
“It’ll happen, Donna.” He promises.
“How do you know?” I whisper back.
“Matt said it would.” He pats my cheek and walks past me to pick up his coat and walk to the
door.
“Well, then, if Matt says so…” I trail off sending a grateful smile to the man in question and
take my drunken husband home.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
3.
I roll over in bed and instead of coming in contact with my husband I get a handful of sheets.
I pick my head up and open one eye. He’s probably puking in the bathroom.
“Josh?” I call out.
“Over here, baby.” I hear. When I look to the corner of the room, I see him pulling his running
shoes on and he’s dressed to go for a run.
“What are you doing?” I ask the obvious question, but he should be miserable right now.
“Going for a run.” He predictably replies.
“Aren’t you hungover?”
“Not really. I drank a lot of water. I couldn’t sleep last night so I got up and sobered up and
hydrated and now I need to go clear my head.” He gets his shoes on and puts his hands on
his hips.
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“Nah, you stay here.”
“Well, I have to get up and go to work soon.”
“Matt said you could have the morning off since you covered everything yesterday while he
got drunk.”
“He did?” I ask skeptically. Josh is infamous for saying things like that to get me to blow off
work and stay home in bed with him…except he never gets to blow off work.
“I promise.” He nods. I decide to trust him. Good thing I work for his best friend.
“So you’re not going to work today?” I ask sitting up.
“I don’t know yet.” He sighs. “I just…I mean, I know that I have to get all the answers first
before I really make that kind of decision, but I can’t get past the lie. Donna, he’s known
about this.”
“We’re supposed to go out with Mike and Ellie tonight.” I remind him softly and he swears.
“You have to get me out of it.”
“Josh…”
“Donna, I don’t want to take my anger at the President out on his daughter.”
“So don’t.” I shrug.
“Yeah, when have you ever known me to be that mature?”
“You can start tonight. Maybe instead of the misdirected anger, you can talk to Ellie about it.
Ellie’s got to know about it. And you know by the time we get to dinner, this will have gone
through the channels and she’ll know you know.”
“Mike doesn’t know.”
“No, he doesn’t.” I reply.
“I can’t talk to her about it in a restaurant, Donna. I can’t risk someone overhearing that, she’
s the President’s daughter. People notice her when she goes out.”
“Why don’t we change the location to here then?” I suggest. “Josh, I don’t pretend to
understand how upset this is really making you. I know how betrayed you feel. But this is also
really important to Mike. He finally found someone he’s really interested in. Ellie’s a doctor
and the daughter of the President; she can answer a lot of your questions, Josh.”
He sighs heavily and looks at me then nods. He crawls across the bed and kisses me before
bounding off. That’s my man; totally incapacitated one night and leaping tall buildings in a
single bound by morning.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
I run…and run…and run… and run…I’m surprised I’m not in Maryland by now. I just keep
going because my head’s not clear yet. I can’t begin to wrap my mind around this. This is so
big that…that’s it. This is just enormous.
Who knows about this? Dr. Lee, yes. Did the President’s medical team that night know or did
only Dr. Lee need to know? What about the President’s regular physician? Does he know? I
mean, how many people are involved in this?
There’s the President and First Lady, their three daughters, probably Liz’s husband Doug,
Leo. I’m at at least seven. Does Charlie know?
The unknown is what’s making me nuts. Whoever sent the records to Matt knows and they
wouldn’t have sent them to just Matt, but would they have been smart enough to send them
to the majority leader or Speaker Walken? The Vice President must know.
That’s probably…shit. That’s probably why he was polling a few months back.
SHIT!
I pick up my pace again as I hit the Mall. I don’t want to give anyone the chance to recognize
me, so I run away from the paths on the grass.
And of course it’s got to be Donna that opened the mail yesterday. I guess its better that it
was her and not Sherry. At least I know Donna can be trusted not to say anything. Sherry
hates me and she’s not overly fond of Donna. This is all because she’s got or had a crush on
me and I got together with Donna, not that I’ve ever so much as flirted with Sherry, and then
by way of peace offering, Donna set her up with Mike and that lasted all of three dates
before Mike dumped her.
Not to mention, Donna’s a democrat. So I guess if anyone in that office had to open it, it’s
good that it was the democrat. Of course, I’M a democrat and I’m not feeling all that good
about it right now…
I don’t even know what MS is. I mean, of course I know what it is, but I don’t know much about
it. I know it’s a degenerative illness with no known cure.
Well, what else do I really need to know, right? The President of the United States has a
degenerative illness with no known cure.
That he hid from the American public.
I have the overwhelming urge to start drinking again.
I think Donna’s right though. I think taking the day off to do some research on my own and
talk to Ellie before I confront the President is definitely a good idea. If I go into the Oval Office
better educated and calmer, it will be better for everyone. Plus, I may even have some kind
of strategy…should I decide to stay. This all may end up being a big `ol black eye on my
resume.
What really has me backed into a corner right now is I don’t know if I even have a day to take
off. I don’t know who else has this and whether or not they’re going to start leaning on Matt. I
know Matt wants to let us come clean on our own, but I don’t know if others will see it that way.
“Shit.” I swear to myself and pull out my cell phone. I hit 3 and send.
“Yeah?”
“It’s me, Leo.”
He’s silent for a moment. “How you doing?”
“I’m going to spend the day on the computer. Ellie Bartlet’s coming over tonight and I’ve
decided to talk to her.”
“Josh…”
“If you want cooler heads to prevail in the Oval, Leo, this is the way it has to be.”
“So, you’re coming back?”
“Tomorrow? Yes. I haven’t decided if I’m staying yet.” I say and hear him sigh. “Leo, I’m telling
you now, I refuse to be the only one on the staff that knows this. I’m not going to be the patsy
fall guy.”
“It might interest you to know he hasn’t broken a law.”
“Are you KIDDING me?” I laugh.
“And nobody has ever been asked to lie.”
“That’s rich!” I scoff.
“Everyone has been free to speak to whomever they want.” He insists.
“And miraculously all these mystery people all just keep the secret?” I laugh without mirth.
“THAT’S been the plan all this time? Well, guess what. That plan tanks here because I am
not just going to keep the secret and I sure as hell refuse to be the only one on the staff that
knows. Either you tell them, or I tell them when I get in tomorrow.”
“But you ARE coming in tomorrow?” I don’t think I’ve ever heard Leo McGarry nervous before.
“Yes.” I say with complete conviction. “Leo?”
“Yeah.”
“You didn’t teach me this.”
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
“I’ve been instructed to tell you anything you want to know.” Ellie says quietly as soon as she
steps through the door. It was arranged that she’d come over about an hour before Mike got
here.
“Anything?” I ask and she nods.
“They don’t want you to quit, Josh.”
“I’m not remotely close to making that decision.” I reply. Her eyes widen a bit at that, but she
doesn’t say anything. Ellie has been notorious for not getting involved in anything to do with
politics, so I guess I’m talking to the right person right now. I gesture to the living room and
we both sit down on the couch. Donna has thankfully made herself scarce. The less she has
to testify about, the better.
I’m pretty sure I’ve made the decision to stick it out. I don’t want my as yet unconceived
children to ever look back and think I did something wrong.
“So, what do you want to know?”
“Everything. Everything you can tell me. I have a vague knowledge, but I don’t even know
what it really is.”
“Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system attacks the
central nervous system. It leads to something called demyelination. What that means is it
damages neurons. It impairs nerves, sensation, movement…” she starts.
“Cognition?” I ask and she nods.
“It usually occurs first in young adults, but with my father it started about ten years ago.”
“What exactly started?” I ask.
“It started with a pain in his leg. He started to feel run down. That went away.”
“Let me guess, everyone thought it was the flu?” I ask dryly.
“Yeah.” She nods and continues. “In a couple of years, it came back. He’d get dizzy, his
vision would get blurry. Because of that, my mother sent him to an eye doctor. The eye
doctor noticed an abnormal pupil response and ordered an MRI. The MRI showed plaque on
his brain and spine.”
“Why doesn’t this show up now?”
“It’s in remission.” She says. “It’s a relapsing remitting course of MS, which means it comes
and goes, but when it’s in remission, nothing shows up on a physical.”
“Am I right that there’s no known cure for it?”
“Yes.” She whispers and I jump up and pace.
“And when it comes back, when he has an episode, how does it get treated?”
“Normally with corticosteroid shots. He takes betaseron.”
“So a doctor somewhere has written a prescription for…” I cut myself off as the awful
realization hits me. “Not A doctor, your mother.”
“Yes.” Ellie confesses. “My mother fills the prescriptions and gives him the shots.”
“We campaigned all over the country. How many states is that illegal in?”
“I have no idea.” She says. “I really don’t, Josh.” I laugh hollowly and she continues. “He’ll
live a normal life span…”
“Ellie, he’s the Commander in Chief of the most powerful army in the history of the world and
he leads the last super power! He can’t have dizziness and loss of cognitive function in the
situation room!” I shout and immediately apologize when I see her flinch. “I’m sorry. I’m really
sorry. I don’t mean to take it out on you. I swear I don’t.”
“It’s okay.” She says softly.
“Who knows?” I ask my burning question.
“I don’t know.” She says. “I really don’t know who all knows. My sisters do. I’m not even sure
my whole family does. Leo does. My father told the Vice President the night of the convention
and some doctors along the way. But I don’t know who knows that he works with other than
Leo…oh, and Charlie. I know Zoey told Charlie so he could keep any eye out for symptoms
and tell my mom.”
All right. Looks like I’ll be commiserating with Charlie in the extremely near future.
“He’s never asked anyone to lie for him, Josh.”
“I can’t cover this for him.” I say softly, looking directly at her. I feel so deflated right now.
“I know. They know.” She says. “If Congressman Skinner has it, I imagine so does someone
else and they know that. You can help him, Josh.”
“Ellie, I’m not sure all the lawyers and best political minds in the world can help him right
now.” I scoff.
“You’re one of the best political minds in the world, Josh, and you CAN help him. You can
help him make it right.” She’s so earnest right now. She reminds me of Donna. This is the
‘Save us, Josh’ card. Well played, McGarry.
“I’m not his political Jiminey Cricket.” I say, not meeting her eyes and sit down on the couch
next to her.
“But you are.” She says. “You all are. You, Toby, CJ, Sam, you all are his political
conscience, you always have been and your instincts have always been right.”
“Does he even want to win again, Ellie?”
“I don’t know. I think he does, but I don’t think my mom wants him to.” She confesses. “What
about you? Do you want him to win again?”
Well, that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
4.
“I’m just saying that we’re already running late. Let’s just wait until tomorrow.” Josh suggests.
It’s a perfectly logical suggestion. Ellie and Mike were here quite late last night, and despite
Josh’s rather subdued demeanor, everyone had a great time. It might have even helped Josh
shake off some of his anxiety over what’s going to happen next with the President’s situation.
However, I know he has an ulterior motive. Tomorrow is Saturday. If we wait to take the
pregnancy test until tomorrow, good news or bad, we’ll deal with the outcome alone; without
the prying eyes of everyone at the office trying to figure out why my eyes are all red from
crying. That came out badly. It was unnecessarily negative. I guess I’m just preparing myself
for the worst so I’m not as hugely disappointed as I’ve been every month for ages!
“Okay. Let’s wait until tomorrow.” I agree. Seriously, what’s one more day going to hurt?
“Good.” Josh nods decisively. “Let’s go, Donnatella.” He’s giving me a ride to work today
which tells me he isn’t planning on staying late. I know Matt said I could have the time off, but
Josh isn’t staying home and it’s really no fun to stay home by myself. There’s been no leak or
rumor so far about the President’s health, but it’s coming. We all know it is. They’re going to
have to do some major brainstorming today. I imagine by the time the end of the day rolls
around, my man is going to be wiped mentally and emotionally. He already told me he’s
meeting the President in the Oval first thing before staff.
“I’m ready.” I call back. I grab my purse and my briefcase and head down the hall on my way
out. Something strange happens though, when I pass the bathroom. Of their own volition, my
legs carry me inside, my arms open up the medicine chest and grab the pregnancy test.
Somehow, it ends up in my purse. That was totally predictable though, right?
<><><><><><><><><><><><><>
I’m so glad Donna agreed to wait to do the test tomorrow. Neither of us really needs the
added stress of getting that answer right now.
I drop Donna off with a brief distracted kiss; I’m already contemplating my meeting with the
President. Every step I take from my office to the Oval seems to add weight directly on my
shoulders. I detour through Leo’s office and he gives me a brief nod and thorough looking
over before he leads me into the Oval. I think he’s concerned about PTSD issues rearing
their ugly head.
“Good morning, Mr. President.” Leo offers after closing the door behind us. I notice that
Charlie has closed the others doors, but he’s remaining inside. We exchange grimaces.
“Have a seat, Josh.” President Bartlet tells me.
“I’d prefer to stand, sir.”
“So you can make a speedy exit?” He quips but I find no humor in his joke, mostly because
there’s a grain of truth in it.
“Sir, we need to get the rest of the senior staff in here and I mean now, right now, and make
some decisions. You dodged the bullet so far. Congressman Skinner isn’t going to release
the information, but someone will soon and then it’s going to be too late to even contemplate
a strategy. By then all you’ll be able to do is figure out a way to hold on to your seat `til the
end of the term…if you’re lucky.”
“Don’t sugar coat it for me, Josh, tell me what you really think.” The President drawls.
“Permission to speak candidly, sir?”
The President looks at Leo who shrugs in a ‘you’re taking a chance’ gesture.
“Go ahead.” The President says quietly.
“I can’t find the words to express how angry I feel about this being kept from us. C.J., Toby,
Sam and I have all…we deserved to know this information!” My voice raises a bit so I take a
deep breath and start again. “There is going to be investigation, sir. A big, messy, ugly
investigation and your senior staff is going to be taken out for a ride. I only mention it sir,
because we had no knowledge of or part in the conspiracy to cover up a degenerative illness
in order to win an election.”
“Josh!” Leo snaps at me, but I ignore him. This has been building up inside me ever since I
found out Leo knew long ago.
“And even though we had nothing to do with this, we are all going to be spending
considerable time, effort, and money with various attorneys and members of Congress
answering questions. We are going to be castigated in the press and the public forum. We
are going to be taking it in the teeth and I guess I’d just like to hear, from you, why you never
trusted us with that information.”
“Josh.” This time Leo growls it, but the President waves him off.
“I wanted to be President.” He admits quietly. “I never thought I had a serious shot in the
beginning, Josh; I truly didn’t. It was going to be Hoynes; everybody knew it. I could give
some speeches, raise some issues and then go back to Manchester. By the time you, and
Leo, Sam, Toby, and CJ made it real…I was afraid to tell anyone. The M.S. wasn’t affecting
me in any way. I knew I could do the job if I got here. I have done it.”
“Yes, sir, but we could’ve gotten you here anyway if you’d just trusted us.” I shake my head.
“Now, we’ve rolled out this huge re-election kickoff/extravaganza and…”
“And what?” He prompts me.
“I was in charge of campaign strategy, sir. Do you think there’s a single person who will
believe I didn’t know about the M.S.?”
There’s a long pause. “I made a mistake. Help me fix it.” He requests.
“We need to bring in the rest of the senior staff and brainstorm something fast.” I advise.
The President nods to Leo and he goes to summon the rest of our merry band.
“I need you, Josh; now more than ever.” He admits.
“I need you to be honest with me, sir.”
“My word.” He puts his hand over his heart. I didn’t know if I was going to stay here when I
came into this room. Looking at this man now, I know I have to stay. Jed Bartlet is a good
man; the real thing. But he made a whopper of a mistake and it’s going to take awhile to get
over that. I nod in response to his pledge and flop down onto the couch. Within minutes the
whole group is assembled.
Having advance knowledge of the topic of today’s emergency meeting, I have the luxury of
sitting back and watching the reaction of everyone else as the President announces his M.S.
diagnosis. As soon as the words ‘multiple sclerosis’ are out of his mouth, Toby’s gaze shoots
to me. When he sees my calm demeanor, I can read the accusation in his eyes.
“I just found out yesterday…by accident.” I hasten to add. I certainly don’t want any of these
guys to think I was in on it. Toby’s accusing eyes turn back to the President.
“Why are you telling us this now…sir?” Toby asks in a low, quiet voice.
“I’m sorry?” The President replies.
“You’ve obviously felt comfortable keeping this…information from us up to this point. What
made you decide to bring is inside now?” Toby reiterated his question. The President looks
over at me. I’M supposed to take this one.
“Someone is in possession of the President’s medical records.” I explain. “They sent a copy
of them to Matt Skinner…possibly others. C.J.’s going to get the question. If not today, then
certainly tomorrow.”
“Congressman Skinner isn’t sharing?” C.J. asks skeptically.
“I think if that was his plan he would have leaked it when he received it yesterday morning
instead of bringing it to me.” I reply hotly. “Matt has always had a lot of respect for the
President.”
“I’d say we owe him big for this one.” Sam mutters. No shit.
“If he hasn’t done anything with it since yesterday morning, whoever sent it to him is going to
move on to their second choice; and quickly.” C.J. opines.
I nod in agreement. “So the first question is do we wait for the question and go from there or
do we go on offense?”
“THAT’S the first question?!” Toby explodes.
“Toby…” Leo warns.
“It’s nowhere near the first question! Have you talked to White House counsel yet? Is he
going to be able to run for re-election or do we get behind Hoynes right now? Oh, Jesus! Is
that what was behind all his polling?”
“Yep.” I reply. “I’m sure speaking to White House counsel is next on the President’s list of
things to do today, but something could break in the meantime. We need a plan.”
“We can’t treat it as a non-story. Yes, he has MS, but it’s in remission so…” Sam trails off
and gets up to pace. “We should…” Yeah, he’s got nothing. Toby is still seething. C.J. just
looks shell shocked. I know the feeling.
“Sir, I think you should visit Oliver Babish right now. We’ll continue to work out a strategy and
report back in an hour or two.” I suggest. “C.J. can avoid the press for that long.”
Leo and the President look at one another and then nod their agreement to the plan. We’re
about to break up when Charlie answers a knock from the secretary’s door. He steps out a
second, then comes back in and seeing that we’re done leaves the door open while
motioning for me. What the hell?
I start walking toward the door and get alarmed when I see Donna crying just outside.
“Donna? What is it? What’s wrong?” I hurry out to her and she nearly collapses in my arms.
“Donna?!” She’s crying too hard for me to understand what she’s saying at first. “What?!”
“Don’t be mad, please?” She begs.
“Mad? About what? Donna, take a breath and talk to me.” I insist.
She pulls me a little further into the corner. “Okay, just don’t be mad.”
“For the love of God, Donna!”
“Okay!” She shouts back. “You know how I told you we’d wait to take the test tomorrow?” Oh,
shit.
“You didn’t.”
“I may have been overstating things a bit.” And she starts crying again.
“This is EXACTLY why I told you to wait!” I explode. “Now neither of us is going to be able to
concentrate on what’s going on at work and we’re dealing with some pretty heavy duty stuff
here, Donna!”
“Josh--”
“Why won’t you ever listen to me?” I continue.
“Josh--”
“I was just thinking about you and how hard the news has been the last few months, and still
you blatantly disregard my advice!”
“JOSH!”
“Twenty-four freaking hours you can’t wait and you call ME impatient!” I complain.
“I’m pregnant!”
“If you’d just listen to me-” I break off when her words finally penetrate my brain.
“Wait for it.” Charlie teases.
“You’re pregnant?” I confirm. “For sure?”
“I took two tests just to be sure. I had to drive to the store to get the second test but I didn’t
want to worry about it being a false positive and then--”
Her words get cut off when I lift her up and spin her around. “You’re pregnant! We’re going to
have a baby!”
“That’s what pregnant means.” Donna laughs.
“Everything okay out here?” Sam asks as he exits the Oval with C.J. and Toby.
“Okay? No. Amazingly fantastic? Yes.” I beam. “Donna’s pregnant.”
She gives me a glare and then elbows me in the stomach. “We haven’t even told our families
yet!”
“These guys are LIKE family!” I insist as I get hugs from Sam and C.J. Toby hangs back a bit
but offers a ‘Mazel Tov’ when I’m done being passed around.
“How do you feel?” C.J. asks Donna.
“Happy.” She replies. “I should get back to work. I just had to come over and tell you in
person.”
“Yeah.” I agree and pull her close for a kiss. Normally, there are rules, but today…
“See you later…Dad.” Donna’s cheeks are in serious danger of cracking open she’s smiling
so huge. I smile back and then something bursts in my chest. Dad. I’m going to be someone’s
dad. Wait! I’m not ready to be someone’s dad. Sam notices the look of terror on my face.
“You’re going to be a terrific dad, Josh.” He assures me. “You and Donna will be great
parents.”
The day which started out sucking so bad hasn’t altered measurably. The President still has
a huge re-election battle looming ahead of him, we’re all going to be subpoenaed, and once
the press gets a hold of this story it’s going to be a feeding frenzy. The only thing that’s
changed is that now we know there’s a teeny tiny human being, about the size of a grain of
rice, growing inside my wife. Damn. Already this child is making my life brighter.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
“So how did papa take the news?” Matt asks when I get back.
“He seemed…happy.” I grin. “And if you EVER tell him that you knew before him, I’ll have you
buried at the bottom of the Potomac.”
“That’s your maternal protectiveness coming out.” Matt jokes.
“No, that’s my self-preservation coming out.” I toss back. “Thanks for letting me run over.”
“I told you that you didn’t need to come in at all this morning.”
“No, you told JOSH I didn’t need to come in this morning. Can you please not do that again?”
“I’m sorry, are you dissing me after I generously let you leave my office and your work?”
“See, the ‘let you leave’ part implies that you are somehow in charge of the office.” I reply. “I
simply informed you that I would be out of the office for a bit.”
“And I SO appreciate the courtesy.” He drawls. “How’s the mood over there?”
“After I left, it was a little more upbeat.” I hedge. I still struggle with how much of the
information I get through my relationship with my husband I should share with my boss and
vice versa. It helps to know that despite being on different sides of the aisle, they have great
respect and friendship between them. I know that neither of them would intentionally try to
trip me up, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t do it accidentally all by myself.
“Uh-huh.” Matt lets it slide. “Forget the heavy drama at the White House for a minute. I want
to gossip.”
“About what?” I chuckle. Matt does love his gossip. This, I’m happy to provide him.
“How far has the dashing FBI Agent fallen for the 2nd first daughter?” Matt wiggles his
eyebrows.
“Hmmm…well, it’s not like he confides in me much but he is clearly smitten.” I share.
“You can do better than that, Donnatella.” Matt cajoles me. “I need something to snark him
about.”
“He brought her roses. He pulled out her chair for her.” I tell him and he gives me a face.
“What do you want from me?”
“Something more than prep school manners.”
“Okay. I’ve got it.” I decide. “At the end of the evening, he had to get permission from the
Secret Service to drive Ellie back to the White House and they had to search his car.”
“That’s not SO bad.”
“Except our wonder-agent had some interesting things in his trunk and the Secret Service
refused to let him take Ellie home.”
“Interesting things? Like…?”
“Some weapons, handcuffs, and some evidence for a case he was working on which included
rope and weights.” Donna grinned imagining the scene herself.
“Public humiliation and no kiss goodnight.” Matt surmised. “They don’t make allowances for
FBI Agents?”
“They’re charged with the protection of the President and his family. I’m thinkin’ they don’t
make allowances for anybody.”
“Fair point.” Matt allows. “I’ll call and give him grief about it later. Right now, I’m expected in
the leader’s office shortly.”
“For what?” I hurriedly check my calendar for the Congressman and see nothing scheduled
with the Majority leader.
“I have no information for you on that. I guess I’ll find out in a few minutes.” Matt notes. “Do
you think you’ll be able to come down from the cloud you’re currently floating on long enough
to get some work done while I’m gone?”
“Nope.” I answer decisively.
“Good to know.” He smiles on his way out of the office, but pauses to give me a brief kiss on
my cheek. “Congratulations, Donna. I’m very happy for you and Josh. I’m not sure the world
is ready for a little Josh Lyman, but if anybody can wrangle a Lyman progeny it’s you.”
“Thanks.” I reply, my eyes watering again, damn it! At least now, I can blame it on pregnancy
hormones. YES!
<><><><><><><><><><><><><>
“Matt come in.” The Majority leader invites me. He’s the senior Congressman from Florida,
and you don’t get that job without learning how to shake hands and make nice, but it isn’t
what he’s known for around here, so I’m immediately suspicious of Congressman Tom Evers
motives. Nonetheless, I take a seat across from him and prepare myself for whatever he’s
ready to deliver.
“What can I do for you, Tom?” I use his first name to show him I’m not intimidated by him, but
that’s mostly bravado.
“I may be able to do something for you. Help you raise your profile a little more with a major
role in an upcoming hearing.”
If this is what I think it is, the shit is about to hit the fan.
“A hearing on what?”
“I heard you made a trip over to the White House yesterday.” Tom mentions oh, so casually.
“Were you summoned?”
“It was a personal trip. Josh Lyman’s wife works in my office. She’s been having some health
concerns.” Both perfectly true statements. I can’t help it if he draws a conclusion that the two
are related.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” He ponders this information for a minute. “I hope everything is okay?”
“I think the situation has been happily resolved now.” I report and the man grimaces; like he
was hoping for something awful that might throw Josh off his game. What an ass!
“Well…that’s good then.” Tom picks up an envelope looking suspiciously like the one that
was left at my office. Fuck.
“Something has come to our attention and we’d like you to take this ball and run with it.”
“What kind of a ball is it, Tom?”
“An exploding ball.” Tom smiles like a shark smelling blood in the water.
“That sounds like it would be dangerous to handle. I prefer not to carry things that might
explode.” I try to extricate myself from the situation.
“You’re the person to carry this one. I’m confident that in your hands, it will be perfectly safe.”
He hands me the envelope.
“What is this?” I ask dreading the answer.
“It’s medical evidence that the President has been concealing a degenerative disease since
long before he was elected to high office.” Tom says with a smile. “We’re going to take
Bartlet out of office and take back the White House for the Republicans. Take a look at the
information and decide the best way to roll it out. We want to start the ball rolling tomorrow.”
“But…do you even know if this is true? What is the illness?”
“It’s all been verified through other sources and hiding the fact that he has multiple sclerosis
is going to put the nail in Jed Bartlet’s coffin.” Tom assures me. “Get going on this. And I
assume it goes without saying that all this information needs to stay between us until we’re
ready to roll it out?”
“Goes without saying.” I repeat before I get up to leave. Once I’m in the hallway, I send Josh
a brief text message from my cell and roll my eyes. I just HAD to raise my profile. Shit.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
5.
“How much time do you have?” I ask Matt as I pace his apartment.
“I don’t know.” Matt shrugs. “Maybe 48 hours.”
“Yeah, we’re looking at releasing it then.”
“You’re sure?”
“A sit down interview and then a press conference.” I nod. “Matt, you know every time you
talk to me about this, it’s going to come back and bite you in the ass.”
“As a Republican, sure.” He says. “But I’m switching parties in two years.”
“Listen, I know what this means coming from the guy with my job, but you really don’t want to
be the one to release this, Matt.”
“No shit.” He replies. “I’m trying to get them not to at all. We have to explain where this came
from. The whole things reaks of corruption. No one’s going to believe me when I say oh I got
this anonymously. They’re going to think I was involved in something illegal. I’d rather that
come out in a deposition than in a press conference.”
“I still can’t believe this.” I say rubbing a hand down my face. “Toby won’t talk to him. Sam’s
running around trying to fix the most trivial, mundane things. CJ’s petrified of going into the
press room…”
“They’re going hunting, Josh.” He says and I stop my pacing.
“What do you mean?”
“The committee is going to go hunting on you guys. Josh, they’re going to try and dig up all
sorts of stuff on you.” He looks at me pointedly.
“I don’t think they’d find that.” I reply. We’re referring to my PTSD diagnosis last year now.
“The President didn’t think they’d find this.” Matt counters.
“I’m not pre-emptively disclosing that.” I say firmly as Donna and Scott enter the apartment
with pizza. “I’m not an elected official; I’m a private citizen. My medical records are of
absolutely no relevance.”
“Legally.” Matt counters.
“What are you talking about?” Donna asks, as Scott takes the pizza into the kitchen.
“Matt seems to think…”
“I didn’t say that!”
“…that I might want to consider pre-emptively disclosing the PTSD.”
“Absolutely. Not.” Donna says with so much conviction, my eyes widen.
“I didn’t say that. I’m talking about the picture they could paint that the Bartlet administration
is concealing more than one medical condition. What else are you hiding? Assassinations?
National security threats?” He continues. “I’m saying that the PR explosion is going to be….a
super nova.”
She lowers her voice; at least one of us remembers Scott doesn’t know anything about this
yet. “They will crucify him, Matthew, and for no reason.” She hisses. “They’ll do it just for
sport. I’m not going to let it happen. If he releases that, it’ll make him the fall guy. It’ll snowball
so fast, no one is going to be able to stop it or get out of its way. It’s exactly why it was so
hard to get him to see someone in the first place! No! I’m not going to allow it.”
“Wow.” Matt says and looks at me wide-eyed.
“Yeah, that was hot, right?” I smirk and Donna smacks my arm. “Must be pregnancy
hormones; that mother tigress thing kicking in.”
“She’s always been that way with you.” Matt chuckles.
“I’m standing right here.” She announces needlessly.
“It’s a compliment.” I reply leading her to the table. She doesn’t seem to be of the same
opinion.
“So, Donna, how are you feeling?” Matt asks as we all sit down and the three males among
us open beers while Donna has a water. I make a quick slashing motion across my throat to
Matt, but when Donna turns her head to me, I cover it by quickly rubbing the back of my neck
and giving her the most innocent look I can. She arches a brow and looks back at Matt.
“Actually, I’m not very comfortable.” She says quietly.
“Already?” Matt frowns. “I thought that was something that came towards the end when you’
re all big and fa --” He immediately breaks off when he sees her glare. “feminine and
radiant.” He ends in a very poor save.
“I don’t know.” Donna continues. “Nothing in my reading mentions it and whether or not it’s
normal, so I’m going to ask my doctor about it.”
Matt’s come to know Donna pretty well. He squints his eyes slightly and cocks his head to the
side. I know that look. He thinks there’s more to what she’s saying, but he’s not going to
press her on it now. He’ll probably corner me later. He’s right though. She’s very nervous
about it. Me? I’ve been nervous since she told me she wanted to get pregnant. I’m just that
kind of guy.
With everything that’s happened in the last few days, I’ve been so wrapped up in that stuff,
that I’m afraid I haven’t been as attentive to Donna and her condition as I should be. I can
see it in her eyes though that she’s freaked out. That’s probably normal. I mean, it’s
uncharted territory for both of us. We have no idea what’s to come or what’s normal, what
she’s supposed to feel, anything. I remember hearing people talk at fundraisers and stuff
about the ‘freaked out first time parent’ syndrome when they freak out over every little thing
and feel like a couple of idiots about it later. I suspect this might be what that is, but since I’m
no expert, I’ll continue to be concerned about it until the all clear comes from her doctor.
Hopefully that’s in a few days.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
“Hi, Donna!” Sam greets flinging the door to his and Ainsley’s apartment open when I knock.
“Hi Sam.” I smile. He moves by me with his briefcase, but stops long enough to give me a
quick peck on the cheek. “Ainsley’s throwing up in the bathroom and I have to get in to work.
See ya later!”
“Uh…okay, bye!” I call to his retreating back as he barrels down the stairs of their building.
Throwing up in the bathroom? What’s going on? I close the door to their apartment and walk
through the living room. “Ains?” I call.
“In here.” I hear from the bathroom. I hear the toilet flush and the water start to run. When I
get in there, she’s rinsing her mouth out.
“Are you sick?” I ask concerned.
“Pregnant.” She smiles sheepishly.
“Really?!” I squeal and throw my arms gleefully around her neck. “That’s wonderful! We’ll be
pregnant together.”
“It’s absolutely not common knowledge.” She says seriously. “No one at the White House
knows yet. I’m not making any announcements outside the Oval.”
“I wanted Josh to know right away.” I defend. “With all that’s been going on, I thought he
needed the good news right away. Besides, after all the disappointments…”
“I’m not criticizing.” She says leaving the bathroom and walking to the living room to sit down.
“I’m simply saying I want to wait to make the announcement is all.”
She sits down on the couch and I sit down in a chair adjacent to her smiling. “This is going to
be fun.”
“Oh, Donna. THAT was not fun!” she says pointing to the bathroom.
“But the planning and buying stuff…” I smile. “They’ll be so close in age! What’s your due
date?”
“January 15th.”
“So, they’ll be a couple of weeks apart then!”
“Sam told me he’d never forgive me if this baby is born on the State of the Union.”
“Well, I’m glad Sam’s still optimistic.” I say frowning slightly. “Josh doesn’t seem to think they’
re going to win now.”
“He said that before all this.” Ainsley says, her smile dropping.
“Is it hard being there for you now?” I ask.
“Well, I’ve been so busy in the counsel’s office with all this. I’m the only one working with
Oliver right now on it. They told me because of Sam, so I’ve been tied up with chain of events
meetings and preparing lists of witnesses and who already knows and when they found out
and talking to them about when they found out and why they decided not to say anything…”
“Trying to figure out if the President and First Lady are lying about saying they never asked
anyone to lie?”
“It’s just a mess.” Ainsley sighs.
“We probably shouldn’t talk about it anymore, huh?” I frown.
“You’re going to get subpoenaed eventually, Donna. The less you talk about it, the better off
you’re going to be.”
“If I get subpoenaed, I’ll need a lawyer, right?”
“You should take one with you, yes.”
“Can I take you?”
“Well, I work for the White House.”
“But I could bring you just for the deposition, right? I mean, Sam does that for Josh all the
time. Josh is always getting subpoenaed for stuff under the Freedom of Information Act and
Sam goes with him.”
“Okay.” Ainsley nods.
“So, are you going to find out if it’s a boy or a girl?” I smile changing the subject. I tuck my
knees underneath me and get more comfortable on the chair.
“I don’t know.” She smiles. “I kinda like the idea of being surprised. What about you?”
“Are you kidding!?” I shriek. “OF COURSE I’m finding out! I have to plan. I need to pick out
the name and decorate the nursery and there’s just no way I could not know.”
“Yeah, I forgot who I was asking.” Ainsley says dryly and rolling her eyes.
“Wow, I’m so happy for you, Ainsley.” I smile again. “I love that they’re going to be so close in
age. It’ll be nice for them to have cousins here, being so far away from the rest of their
family.”
“Yeah, it’s going to be great.”
“Have you and Sam talked about what you’d do if the President doesn’t win reelection?” I
hedge. This is a safe enough topic. With or without the M.S. he could lose the election.
“Not really.” She says with a grimace. “Have you and Josh?”
“No, not at all.” I reply. “I’m assuming he’s going to want to stay here.” I just realized I don’t
think Ainsley or Sam knows about Matt’s probable Presidential run. Well, I guess Josh may
have told Sam, but he hasn’t told me that.
“Well, Matt’s not up for re-election, so you still have a job.” Ainsley said. “And Josh is
certainly employable.”
“I just hope he remains employable.” I mutter.
“I’m sure he will.” Ainsley says soothingly. “I’m sure they both will.”
“Sam was actually a practicing lawyer before all this.” I remind her. “He’ll have no problem
finding a job.”
“And Josh can certainly afford to be out of work for a while.” Ainsley counters. This is true.
Josh has got quite a bit of money. He never touches it, but he’s got it. I know she’s right and
we’d be fine, but Josh will go nuts with nothing to do; though I have no doubt in my mind that
Matt would try to rope him for Chief of Staff. His COS now…well, I’m not really a fan. He’s
new, and Matt hired him because he’s got slightly more liberal leanings at times. So, while
sometimes we agree on stuff, he’s not as open minded about a Democrat, much less the wife
of the Deputy Chief of Staff, one of the biggest Democrats around, working for a Republican
as visible as Matt.
“I know.” I say. “I guess I’m just out of my element right now, you know? I’m a planner and
there’s just so much that’s in the unknown column. Josh seems perfectly comfortable with all
that and chalking things up to the unknown. He’s so used to it always hooking his cart to a
candidate, but I’m someone that always has to have a plan.”
“Donna, I think maybe you prefer to have a plan, but you did move across the country on the
spur of the moment. You changed your whole life on a whim! It was the most unplanned
thing I’d ever seen anyone do.”
I’m not convinced though. I made that decision on a whim yes, but it was spurned by
heightened emotional circumstances. I had just had my heart broken in the most humiliating
way and I was running away. Of course, it turned out to be the best decision of my life. It
brought me to Josh, who’s amazing, albeit a little nuts right now and more than a little
frustrating at times, but I’ve never known this kind of happiness with someone before. And
now that baby will make three, pending work explosion of Josh’s aside, I feel like everything’s
still on the upswing and gaining momentum.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
6.
“Go ahead, I’m fine.” I tell him again. It’s just morning sickness. I’m not going to die or
anything. Yeah, it’s unpleasant, but when I remember what’s making me sick, I find that I don’t
mind that much at all.
“I’m not leaving you on the bathroom floor.” Josh protests.
“You’ve got a big day ahead of you, you can’t be late.” I manage to get out before I hurl
again.
“Ew…” Josh moans, but he still comes in the bathroom and gets a washcloth to put on my
neck. “Try this.”
“That feels good.”
“They said it sometimes helps with the nausea.” He notes.
“Well, they were right.” I tell him. Wait a second. “Wait. Who said it helps?”
“Mmphlbtbt.” Is his muffled reply.
“Excuse me?”
“I read it…in a parenting magazine.” He admits turning an adorable shade of pink.
“You read a parenting magazine?”
“I…picked up a few…you know, after you told me.” He shrugs. How sweet is that?
“Josh…” My eyes tear up.
“Not the hormone thing, Donna, please. We’re already going to be late for work.”
“You won’t be, because you’re leaving now.” I insist. “I’ll text you to let you know I made it into
work okay. Please?” I turn on the pout. “I don’t want to make your day even more stressful.”
“Fine, but you call me if you’re not feeling better in a little while too.”
“Promise.” I give him my word. He leans down to kiss me, and then thinks better of it. His lips
land on the top of my head. “Bye, Mom.”
That’s his way of cheering me up. It works.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
“You’ve got two minutes to get to the basement office.” Jackie tells me shoving files and a
pen into my hand.
“Good morning to you to, Jacqueline. I’m fine thanks, how about you?” I reply.
“One minute and 45 seconds.” Jackie tells me.
“Okay, okay, but I don’t get good cell reception, any cell reception down there, and Donna
wasn’t feeling this morning so if she calls…”
“I will personally come down and get you, I swear. Go.” Jackie shoos me away and I guess I
need a little prodding. I do NOT want to go to this meeting. I don’t want to be at work.
“Sagittarius.” I tell the agent outside the door and he opens it for me. Our merry little band is
already gathered there. Joey Lucas has put together some preliminary numbers for us. I’m
sure they’ll cheer me right up. A half hour later, I decide maybe not.
“We should consider delaying the release.” Sam offers. Nice try.
“We can’t. It’s not in our hands anymore.” I remind him. “Just because Matt Skinner isn’t
running to the press doesn’t mean somebody else on his team won’t.”
“Gays?” C.J. teases.
“Republicans.” Leo drawls. He’s really not in the mood for teasing I guess.
“We’re past the point of no return. We’ve already requested the air time and the interviewer.
Let’s move on. Use this…data to figure out what we need to emphasis during the interview.”
Toby is all business now. I think he’s concentrating on damage control rather than the fact
that the President lied to us. I know I am.
“We’ve run the answers by the counsel’s office.” C.J. sobers up. I think the lack of sleep is
getting to all of us. “It’s important that we do NOT change any of the answers that have
already been through the process.”
“No ad libbing?” President Bartlet jokes.
“That would be, for the purposes of our legal procedures and press maneuvers, a poor idea
at this particular juncture, Mr. President.” Ainsley points out. Even after all this time,
her…unique command of the English language amuses me. I attempt to catch the eye of her
husband, but Sam barely spares me a glance. He is seemingly captivated by his wife. That
makes me smile too. Lots of things make me smile lately. Then reality intrudes.
“This really isn’t a joking matter, sir.” Toby reminds us all. Damn.
“When will this start leaking?” The President asks C.J., ignoring Toby’s remark.
“It already has, sir. Once we made the request for network time…”
“The Republicans may strategically jump us on the announcement.” I mention.
“It won’t matter. We already scheduled the time to announce. Their pre-emptive strike will be
seen as a reaction to our impending news conference.” Toby decrees. If only wishing made it
so.
“Just so you’re ready for it.” I shrug.
“Communications will handle communication.” Toby snaps.
“That would be a nice change of pace.” I snap back.
“Shut up, both of you.” Leo interjects himself into our pissing match.
Instead of blowing Leo off and making more trouble for myself, I generously spread cream
cheese across my bagel and stick it in my mouth. Donna claims keeping my mouth filled with
food will reduce the number of apology baskets Jackie needs to send out for me by at least
60%. So far, she’s been right on. I notice Ainsley looking at me strangely. Oh! Maybe she
wants some bagels too. Maybe? This is Ainsley. Of course she does!
I push the plate of food in front of her and her eyes get huge.
“Are they going to ask about a Congressional investigation?” President Bartlet asks. Nobody
answers. “Ainsley, if we’re appointing a special prosecutor will the press ask about a
Congressional--”
“Excuse me, sir.” Ainsley dashes from the room. The President turns to Sam.
“Was it something I said?” He asks.
“She…hasn’t been feeling well, sir. She probably should have stayed home today, but…”
Sam trails off but we all know the end of his sentence. None of us could take a sick day
today. Today is the day the walls start to crumble around us and we have to cement the
bricks back in place as fast as we possibly can. Yeah…it’s going to suck.
When I get back upstairs, Danny Concannon is waiting for me. Can this day get any worse?
“Get out of my office, Danny.” I say before he can get a word out.
“You’re not going to want to kick me out right now, Josh.”
“I really think I will.” I counter.
“I’ve just been to Matt Skinner’s office.” Danny tells me quietly. My head drops back against
the back of my chair. Apparently, the day can get worse. “Let’s take a walk outside.”
“Are you kidding me? The press of the entire world is about to come crashing down on our
heads, I can’t be seen walking the streets with you.” I explain. “Just what do you think you
know, Danny?”
“I know that this ain’t got nothing to do with Haiti, but a lot to do with a break in and theft at
the residence of Dr. Lee.” He answers. Shit.
“Shut the door.” I direct him quietly. He complies immediately, which tells me he knows how
serious this is.
“First, off the record, how deep are you in this, my friend. Do I need to start saving money for
a lawyer or a bail bondsman?” He asks.
This is why I continue my friendship with Danny even though it sometimes makes one or the
other of us uncomfortable in our jobs. I know that deep down, his concern for me is at least
as great as his desire for the story.
“I’m not at all deep into any of this, and yes, you should start saving money for a lawyer or
bail bondsman.” I reply and see his shoulders slump in relief.
“Then seeing as how this must be relatively new information to you too, just how pissed are
you?”
“I’m not going there; at least, not now.” I amend. “We’re all still reeling here, Danny.”
“The request for network time?”
“A one on one interview followed by a press conference to answer a question or two.” I say
sarcastically. President Bartlet may not get out of there before morning.
“Thanks for the call. Yes, I’d love to have an exclusive one on one with the President in
keeping with the positive relationship we’ve built over the years.” He drawls.
“You’re print, we needed a TV figure.” I explain. “It was simply a question of medium. We
need the people to see and hear him explain what he has and the impact it has on him; or
lack thereof.” I roll my eyes. “I can make sure you get a few minutes with him.”
He nods solemnly. “Okay, you’re off the hook for this one, but not the other thing.”
“What other thing?!” I ask in alarm. There’s ANOTHER thing? I can’t take ANOTHER thing.
“Is there a piece of news you’ve neglected to share with me?” He prods.
“I couldn’t share it with you, Danny. We don’t even discuss it up here. It’s got its own
clearance level now.”
“Donna’s pregnancy has its own clearance level?” He laughs.
“Oh, THAT other thing.” I laugh too and relax a bit. “Yeah, that one I have to take the rap for.
But in my defense, we aren’t really telling anyone yet. Donna is very superstitious about
saying something before she’s through the first trimester.”
“I guess I can understand that given the circumstances.” Danny smiles. “I’m thrilled for you
both.”
“Thanks, Danny, but how did you hear about it?”
“It’s floating around.” He waves his pointer finger around in a circle in the air. “C.J. will get it in
the room soon.” He warns me.
“I’ll let her know.” I tell him but I’m not concerned about it. If it were up to me, I’d take out an
ad in the New York Times, but Donna is adamant about waiting until week 12 so…However,
she’s the one who blurted out the news right outside the Oval so if rumors are circulating,
she really can’t blame me at all, right? Who am I kidding? Of course she can blame me.
“Tell Donna congratulations from me…when it’s okay for me to know.” He grins. Danny is a
funny guy.
“I will.” This is the first time I’ve had a chance to talk to someone about this outside of our
small circle of Presidential defenders. “Danny? How bad is the fallout gonna be, do you
think?”
“Pretty bad.” He opines. “I’ve been researching that particular…thing since I got word. There
doesn’t seem to be any good news there and nobody likes being lied to.”
“No kidding.” I mutter.
“That being said, the President is popular and he’s got a lot of trust stored up in the bank.
Depending on how you people roll this out…you may be able to salvage things. But you’re
going to have to play error free ball.” Danny explains in terms I understand.
“Okay. Thanks.” I say sincerely. “Keep your cell phone on you. I’ll call you with a place and
time for your exclusive.” He nods and stands up. “Hey! You’re not interested in breaking this
one?”
“Breaking it isn’t going to be where the meat is. Everybody and their brother will be tripping
over themselves to be first. I want the story that’s most comprehensive.” He tells me.
“Fair enough.” I reply and he leaves me with a jaunty salute. Now I’ve got to find C.J.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
“You’re asking me to do this NOW? A few hours before he sits down on live television?” I
shriek.
“No, I’m telling you to do this now.” Josh snaps at me. There’s been a lot of snapping around
here lately. Funny how that happens when your boss and President lies to you about a
debilitating disease. I look at the set face of the Deputy Chief of Staff. I know he was brought
inside on this before the rest of us, but the details of how all that came about are unclear.
Josh refuses to say anything right now. He claims it will just give the special prosecutor more
to ask us about and its better that we stay as ignorant as possible about one another’s
involvement; he may be right.
“Josh…” I sigh.
“Do it. Have him sit with Danny before the TV thing. It will help our side and give the
President a chance to practice with live ammo.” Josh is determined. He rarely pulls rank on
me, so when he does, I take it seriously.
“And I suppose I have to give the bad news to the President that he has to fit in one more
interview before the press conference?” I ask.
“I don’t know, C.J., that really sounds like something the Communications Director should be
relaying to the President.” Josh does his shark smile.
“It does. It really does.” I agree and take a walk to Toby’s office.
“Not now.” He says without even lifting his head from the computer screen.
“Has to be now.” I reply and shut the door. I fill him in on the pan to have Danny interview the
President before his on air interview.
“No way.” Again, this is said without any eye contact whatsoever.
“Josh sort of…ordered it.” I mention. Now I get eye contact. We both know there are things
that Josh is privy to that the rest of us are not, so now I think Toby is wondering what Josh
knows that we don’t that would make him order this interview now.
“Fine. Go tell the President.” Toby tells me. He’s been even more…gruff than usual and it’s
beginning to get on my nerves. We’re all dealing with the same thing here. He has no reason
to be any more upset than the rest of us. And yet…
“Josh said you.” I am happy to pass this task on. “And you better do it soon too, because—
“Fine.” Toby slams his laptop shut and storms from the room. That went well.
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“I don’t have time for that.” The President informs me, like I’m not already intimately familiar
with his schedule for the day.
“Josh thinks it’s important. We’ll make time. 10-15 minutes. I’m thinking in the hour before you
sit down on camera.” I suggest.
“Am I going to have to sit down with every reporter in the Western hemisphere now?” He
shouts.
“It looks like you might, yes sir!” I shout back. “If there are any other disclosures you’d like to
make, this would be a good opportunity to do so. That way we won’t have to live through this
particular nightmare again!”
“You think there’s something else I’m hiding, Toby?” He asks in a dangerously quiet voice.
“I wouldn’t have believed, in a million years, that you were hiding this thing, so I have no
idea…sir.” I shoot back. We engage in a standoff for a good minute before he lets out a
breath.
“I’m thinking that you’re thinking I deserve that.”
“Yes, sir.” I answer honestly. I’m relatively sure he won’t fire me for it.
“Maybe I do.” He smiles grimly. “I honestly…there’s a word, huh? I honestly didn’t mean to
keep it from you, from any of you. I never thought we’d get far enough that it would even
matter. Then when we did…I didn’t want to give it up, Toby. God help me, I got a taste of…I
just didn’t want to give it up.”
At least THIS was honest. “I understand that, sir. I just wish…I wish you’d told us. We still
could have gotten it done. I believe that with all my heart so it’s hard to- I wish you’d told us;
trusted us.”
“I’m sorry, Toby.” He’s walked around his desk now and we’re nearly toe to toe. “I truly am.”
I nod, unable to get words out. I know I should accept his apology but I can’t get the words
out. So I just nod.
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“He did very well.” I tell him and see him jump at my voice. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.
He did very well.” I repeat.
“Yeah…he did. I just don’t know if it will be enough.” He admits and I know what that
admission cost him. He holds out a hand to me and I walk over to him in his nearly pitch black
office to take it. He pulls me onto his lap and places a hand protectively over my stomach. His
touch warms me all over and I like to think it gives him comfort too.
“Matt’s giving his statement now.” I inform him and he nods like he expected that. “I read it. It’
s not bad, I mean it’s tough, but it’s not--”
“Donna…” he sighs my name and his head drops to my chest.
“Sorry. I just want to help…somehow.” I tell him.
“What you’re doing right now? It’s helping.” He smiles. For now, it’s enough I guess.
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“What the HELL was that?!” The leader is screaming at me. It’s…unpleasant.
“It was a strongly worded statement that condemned the President for keeping his health a
secret from the American public while he courted their votes.” I reply quietly hoping that my
quiet voice would bring his quiet voice down to a reasonable decibel.
“A STATEMENT?!” He screams again. So much for using my ‘quiet voice’. “I hand you the
most politically explosive dynamite we’ve seen since Nixon and you make a STATEMENT???”
“Why did you give it to me?” I ask.
“What?”
“Why did you give it to me?” I repeat.
“You’ve been taking point on a lot of--”
“No, no, that’s not it.” I disagree and interrupt him. “Why give me, someone who, let’s be
honest, isn’t on your favorite person’s list, the most ‘politically explosive dynamite’ since
Nixon. Why?” Silence. “I’ll tell you why. Because I have a relationship with the Deputy Chief of
Staff and a decent relationship with the White House. I’m a Republican moderate and it
doesn’t hurt that I’m gay because it shows that you’re oh, so, tolerant and inclusive.”
“Matt--”
“You know YOU can’t do it. It would be seen as a partisan attack on a man who’s got this
horrible disease and you want the outrage to come from the people not the party. So you
pass it off to me so I can do the reasoned and measured thing, which I did for you; you’re
welcome, by the way. Now don’t come bitching about the manner in which I did that. I’ll be
lucky to have anyone at the White House take my calls after this and you know I’ll be
spending time with a special prosecutor myself. So either step up to the plate or quit your
complaining about my time at bat.” I end with a flourish and exit on a line I think Josh would
enjoy. I’d love to talk to him right now and see how he’s doing, but we both agreed to cut the
communication for a bit until things settled down. I’ll get some of it from Donna and he’ll do
the same, I’m sure. It’s just…I’d like to talk to my friend.
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