Extra Credit Chapters 16-20
Chapter 16
It was less than an hour later that Leo McGarry led an obviously
distressed Noah and Ruth Lyman into the private waiting room. Both
parents looked like they had aged in the past few hours. Joanie
followed behind them, eyes swollen from crying. It was Ruth that
noticed Donna and Jacob and she gathered Donna in her arms.
"Donna, I am so sorry about our dinner the other night. It was
completely my fault. I goaded him on purpose to try to get him to
admit things and it backfired miserably. Josh and Noah insisted I not
interfer, but I wanted so badly to talk to you."
"It's okay, Ruth. We talked everything out. Don't worry."
"He loves you and little Jacob, so much, you know." She looked Donna
in the eyes.
"I love him too, Ruth. I'm just so scared that he…his condition is
still critical!"
"You listen to me, Donnatella. There is no one on this planet that is
more stubborn than my Joshua. He's going to come out of this surgery
and get mad at the fuss we're all making over his `little scratches'
you mark my words." Donna laughed for the first time she since heard
the breaking news.
Noah and Joanie had joined them by this time, and hugs were
exchanged all around. Dr. Bartlett approached them to say that secret
service had cleared her to use the operation observation area so she
could observe first hand what was happening with Josh. Donna turned
to Sam.
"Will you stay with Jacob while I go see Josh?" Sam nodded his
agreement.
"Donna, are you sure you want to do that? Surgery can be
very…messy and they've had to crack Josh's chest open to begin
repairs on his heart."
"I need to see him, Ma'am." Donna said simply. Abby nodded and led
her to the observation area.
Donna stared in horror at the man she loved on the operating table
below them. Tears flowed swiftly and silently down her cheeks. After
a few minutes, she finally spoke.
"I didn't tell you before, Ma'am. I'm so glad the President is going
to be fine. Josh would be devastated if something had happened to
President Bartlett."
"In a couple days, the two of them will be trading war stories about
the sacrifices they have made for their country and being totally
insufferable." Abby tried to lighten the mood.
"I hope so Ma'am, I certainly hope so."
Time slowed to a crawl. Donna debated about whether to call Molly and
have her come get Jake, but in the end she decided to wait until
morning. Jake was sleeping peacefully, so there wasn't any need to
wake her sister up in the middle of the night. Besides, if she were
totally honest with herself, she would admit that having him with her
gave her some comfort.
Donna and the Lymans took turns in the observation area, with Dr.
Bartlett translating the medi-speak for them. When Jake woke up,
Donna faced another hurdle; how to explain to Jake what was going on
with Josh. At first, Jake was simply disoriented, waking up in a
strange place with strangers around him. By the time Donna was
alerted to the fact that he was awake and she got back to the waiting
room, he was clinging to Sam and watching everyone else with wide
frightened eyes.
"Good Morning, sweetie. You slept so well. We are at the hospital
because Josh got hurt during the night. In a little while, Aunt Molly
will come pick you up and take you to her house, okay? I am going to
stay here for awhile and help Josh get better."
Jake looked around and signed to his mother.
"No, you can't see him right now. The doctors are helping him get
better." More signing.
"Yes, I'm sure it would make Josh feel better to see you, but he
can't see anyone right now. He's…sleeping. When he wakes up…"
Donna's voice faltered for a minute. "When he wakes up I know he'll
want to see you right away." Jacob paused for a minute, taking it all in.
He signed quickly to his mom.
"No, I'm not sick. I'm just tired. Are you hungry? (Jacob nodded)
There are some donuts and juice on the table. Go pick out something
to eat."
Noah sat down next to her. "How you holding up, spitfire?" Donna
laughed when Noah used the nick name he gave her the night they all
went out together. It seemed so long ago now.
"I have to say I've been better, counselor. That son of yours is
going to get quite a lecture about ducking when he decides to wake
up."
"Yeah, the thing is, Donna, athletics were never his thing. He was
always more successful arguing his way out of things. Now if he could
have negotiated with those lunatic gunmen-" he broke off as Donna
started crying again. Noah threw a quick glance at Jake and saw he
was still making his donut selection. Noah took his silk handkerchief
out of his pocket and dried her tears.
"Now cut that out before you get me in trouble. If Ruth or Jake see
that I made you cry I'm a dead man." Noah told her.
"I'm sorry, Noah. I just don't think I can handle any more of this."
"Yes, you can. You are a strong, smart, woman, Donnatella Moss.
When my son wakes up he's going to need that strength. Believe me
when I tell you we Lyman men are full of bluster, but when the going
gets tough, we lean on the women we love. I don't think I could get
through a single round of chemo without Ruth by my side." Noah
confessed.
"You're lucky to have each other. Just yesterday I was feeling so
lucky too. God couldn't be that cruel, could he? He wouldn't take
Josh away just when we finally found each other."
"Of course not. Josh has plans for you and Jake, Donna. He told me
he's going to teach Jake how to spell and play baseball. He's going
to stick around for that, I promise."
Donna nodded although Noah wasn't sure if she agreed with him or
was merely humoring him. Jacob chose that moment to return with a
huge chocolate donut with sprinkles on it. His mouth was covered in
chocolate. He offered her a bite, but she shook her head no.
Jake looked at his donut another moment, then hesitantly offered a
bite to Noah. Noah took a token bite and signed `thank you'. When
Donna looked at him quizzically, Noah just shrugged.
"I asked Josh to show me a few sign so I would have something to say
to Jake." He answered her unspoken question.
Molly arrived and checked on how her sister was doing before taking
Jake to her house. Donna hated to see him go, but appreciated the
fact that it freed her up to concentrate on Josh. She returned to the
observation area and didn't leave it again until Josh was wheeled out
of surgery; 14 hours after he had been wheeled in.
Chapter 17
"I was so sure that I would feel better after he got out of surgery,
but it's not better at all. It's just a different waiting room." Sam
complained.
"Dr. Bartlett told us he wouldn't wake up right away, Sam. He made it
over the first hurdle. We just have to concentrate on that until he's
ready for the next one." CJ responded. "Donna, are you sure you don't
want to lay down for awhile?" I promise to come get you if anything
changes."
"I don't want to miss my turn with him in the ICU." Donna, Joanie,
and Josh's parents were taking turns sitting with him in the ICU
where he was allowed only 1 visitor at a time.
CJ and Sam exchanged worried glances. Donna was all but asleep on
her feet. Molly was going to bring Jake by for a bit to see Donna and
Josh before spending the night with his cousins.
Joanie came out of the ICU and motioned for Donna to take her turn.
The others could see her through the glass as she sat next to Josh
and took one of his hands in both of hers. After speaking to him a
moment, she laid her head next to his and promptly fell asleep.
That's how Molly found her when she brought Jake to visit a few
minutes later. She and Donna had talked about the wisdom of letting
Jake see Josh in this condition, but Donna was adamant that Jake
would feel better once he saw Josh with his own eyes. Jake wouldn't
be allowed in the ICU, but he could see Josh sleeping through the
glass.
Ruth helped Jake stand on a chair to see Josh and his mother sleeping
in the other room. Jake, excited to see his Mom and his buddy, hit
the glass with his open palm. The sound startled Donna awake. She
looked around, temporarily disoriented until she saw Josh, then it
all came flooding back. She tried speaking to him again. The doctors
said the sooner he regained consciousness the better.
"Josh, I'm here. We're all here. Won't you just open your eyes for a
minute? If you won't open your eyes for me, I'll have no choice but
to send the First Lady in here and you do not want a piece of that."
She thought his eyelids flickered for a moment but in her current
condition she could have hallucinated the entire thing.
"Josh please. I need to know you're going to be okay. Can you hear
me? Josh can you hear my voice?"
A loud banging from the glass behind her caused her to turn and see
her son jumping up and down behind the glass. Donna waved and
turned back to Josh, but the banging continued and increased in
decibels and fervor. She turned back to the glass again to see
everyone with animated expressions pointing to Josh's hand. Donna
looked down, puzzled, until she realized what they were excited about.
Josh's hand had formed the sign for `yes'!
"Josh! You can hear me?" again his hand moved to sign `yes'. "Honey
can you open your eyes?" There was a small pause before he
signed `no'. Donna laughed out loud.
"I guess I can cut you some slack seeing how you had a bit of a
night. But if you could see your way clear to blinking a couple
times, I might be able to get you some extra credit with the
President and Leo. I've got that kind of pull now, you know." Donna
watched as he struggled to comply. He was just so weak.
"That's okay, just rest now. Your body needs rest. I love you
Joshua." His hand formed the `I love you' sign and Donna wept openly
as she kissed his forehead and walked out to his family and hers.
"He's conscious! He's just too weak to speak right now. Can you
believe he was signing to answer my questions?"
"Jake was the one who noticed it first." Molly announced.
"That's my little man!" Donna caught him up in a big hug and swung
him around until they were both dizzy. Then she watched as Ruth
Lyman
went to sit with her son.
For the first time since she heard the news of the shooting, she
allowed herself to hope.
Chapter 18
Josh Lyman, when he was fighting Republicans for the greater good of
the country was a pit bull. Josh Lyman, when protecting his friends or
family, was a barracuda. Josh Lyman, when he was bored or sick, was
simply insufferable.
There were several times as they were growing up that Joanie was
tempted to smother him with a pillow, simply to stop the whining and
the complaining. Today, she felt the violent urge return with a
vengeance.
The first few days after the shooting, he'd been easy to be around.
Of course he HAD been unconscious most of the time. The next few
days, he was too weak to cause much trouble; he could barely say a
word and mostly signed. But now, a week since the shooting, things
had taken a turn for the worse.
Josh was far too injured to do anything but rest. However he was just
well enough to be bored out of his mind which meant he complained…
about everything; the blanket was scratchy, the nurses were mean, his
liquid diet sucked, he was missing important work, and worst of all,
he'd hardly seen Donna the last couple days. Where the hell was she
anyway?
"I told you Joshua, she's working double shifts the next few days to
pay back the waitresses who took her shifts so she could be with you
after surgery." Joanie always said `after surgery' and never
said `after the shooting". It was like if she didn't say it, it didn't happen
and she could pretend he was here for a kidney stone or
something.
That denial irked Josh almost as much as his snarky nurses and they
irked him quite a bit.
"You don't have to stay here, Joan. I don't need a sitter, you know."
he told her.
"But if I left, who would fetch your ice chips and be your whipping
boy?" she said sweetly.
"You should be nicer to me. I almost died you know."
"You still could, you know!" Joanie lost it.
"Joanie Lyman what are you saying?" Ruth Lyman scolded her as she
came in.
"Sorry mama, but you raised a jackass." Joanie didn't look sorry at
all. In fact, Noah thought she looked madder than he had seen her in
a long time.
"I did not raise a jackass. I raised a courteous, bright, young man.
He chose to be a jackass after he left home."
"Thanks Mom. Did Donna say if she was coming by at all today?" he
turned back to his sister. He knew he shouldn't have taken a nap. He
always missed things when he took a nap.
"As I already told you, she's working a double and that includes the
closing shift, so I highly doubt you'll be seeing her before
tomorrow."
"I'll tell you something else; she should not be working closing
shifts. That's too dangerous. I don't understand why she works there
at all. The bookstore could have given her more hours."
"That's what I told her too, Joshua, and I told her I would represent
her if she wanted to sue their collective asses, but so far she
hasn't taken me up on the offer." Joanie and Ruth both winced, but
Noah was oblivious to their reaction since he was looking at
Josh. "Imagine firing a bright, hard working woman like Donna because
she missed a couple shifts. There was an emergency, for God's sake.
It's not like she'd ever had a problem like that before."
"Noah, we hadn't gotten around to filling Josh in on the particulars
of Donna's employment issues yet." Ruth said gently as Josh just sat
there stunned.
"Oh, well never mind then. It's not like Donna can't find a better
job tomorrow, right? Anyone would be lucky to hire Donna. Hey, maybe
the firm can hire her to do research. I'll give David a call and see
what he thinks" Noah hastily left the room.
"Hit and run Lyman strikes again." Ruth commented. "Joshua, did you
eat any of your dinner? Would you like me to run and get some soup
for you?"
"Donna lost her job because of me?" Josh asked quietly.
"No, she lost her job because the manager of the bookstore is a
complete idiot. She called in to tell him there was an emergency, but
he said if she couldn't cover her shift, she shouldn't bother to come
back. Can you believe that?" Ruth explained.
"I cost her a job, and not even the bad waitressing job, the good
bookstore job. She must hate me. No wonder she hasn't come by
today."
"Contrary to your opinion, little brother, the world does not revolve
around you. Donna made the call about whether or not to go into work
that day knowing what the consequences would be and she chose to
stay with you! Why she chose you isn't exactly clear to me, but she did
choose you. Now she hasn't come by today because, in case you
hadn't heard, SHE'S WORKING A DOUBLE SHIFT TODAY AND
TONIGHT!"
"Jeez, Joan, take a pill. You're going to blow a gasket or
something." Josh responded.
"Joanie, why don't you go home and rest for awhile? You've been here
all day and I am sure you're tired. Joshua, thank your sister for all
her help today." Ruth told him
"Yeah, thanks Joanie." Josh wouldn't even look her in the eye.
Her children acted like such children sometimes, Ruth mused as
Joanie smiled sardonically and walked out the door.
"You should be more appreciative, Joshua. Your sister is using her
personal days to come take care of you." Ruth reminded him. "Plus she
has your Father and I staying with her while you're in the hospital
and I'm sure that's no picnic. Cut her some slack. It's not her fault
she's not Donna." Ruth smirked at her son who smirked right back
before it quickly faded from his face.
"Mom, what do I do about Donna losing her job?"
"You do nothing. I know that's a difficult concept for you Joshua,
but even you can't fix everything."
"I happen to be a very powerful man. I am the White House Deputy
Chief of Staff…at least I am for now." Josh mused. "I know! I can sic
the IRS on the bookstore morons."
"Joshua, be serious. What do you mean you're the Deputy Chief of
Staff for now?"
"Nothing, Mom. They wouldn't dare fire me now. It would make them
look heartless and cruel after I almost died in the service of the
President." Josh joked.
"Would you stop talking like that? How can you continue making jokes
about what happened?"
"You mean the shooting?"
"Yes!"
"Then say "the shooting". It wasn't surgery, it wasn't a car
accident, and I didn't trip down stairs. Why can't you and Joanie
acknowledge what happened? Lunatic members of the Virginia White
Pride shot me and I almost died!" Josh was shouting by now.
"Believe me when I say that no one know that better than I." Josh
felt like a complete jerk as he watched his Mother cry as she left
the room. A few minutes later, his Dad came back in.
"Wow, you made both the women in our family cry in under 20 minutes.
That's quite a record, even for you. You practicing for when you're
back on the hill?"
"Who says I'm going back to the hill?"
"I don't understand. Are you saying that you're thinking about
resigning?"
"I'm saying that I don't think I'll have a choice about resigning."
"What are you talking about?"
"I had the whole team of doctors in here today. Do you know how long
they're estimating my recovery will take? 4-6 months! In the
meantime, I am missing meetings, crucial votes, new legislation, and
I can't exactly be Mr. Productivity sitting here eating my Jello like
a good boy."
"Josh, you're recovering from attempted murder. Maybe you can afford
to take more than a week off. You're not going to lose your job over
this."
"They may not have a choice. Mid-terms are coming up. They're going
to have to replace me with someone to work the election
then…Anyway, you may get you're wish and have your son practicing
in your firm after all."
"No, Josh, that's my nightmare. You can not practice law with me. You
can not practice law anywhere. You are NOT a real lawyer."
"Thanks, Dad, you really bucked me right up there."
Chapter 19
"What do you mean he's at pre-school?"
"What part of that sentenced tripped you up, Joshua. Are they sure
you didn't sustain any brain damage?"
"Funny Donna. I haven't seen Jake for 3 days. He's gonna forget who I
am."
"That's nonsense. We talk about you every day."
"You do?"
"Yeah, just this morning he asked me, `Mom, when can I go to the
hospital and beat Josh at Candyland again?'"
"You're just a laugh riot this morning Donnatella."
"It's called sleep deprivation, Joshua. Working double shifts does
that to you."
"Donna, Dad told me about what happened with your job at the book
store. I'm really sorry."
"For what, getting shot?"
"Donna…"
"Josh…Relax, would you? I only took the job there because I got my
textbooks at cost. Now that I only have my thesis left, I don't need
cheap textbooks anymore. So the timing couldn't have been better.
Besides, the manager was always snooty with me." Donna dismissed
the whole thing with a shrug, but that last comment caused Josh to re-
evaluate his decision about steering the IRS into an investigation of
the bookstore manager.
"What did you have for breakfast?" she asked him.
"What did they serve, or what did I eat?"
"Josh, you have to eat breakfast. It's the most important meal of the
day. How can you expect your body to recover without nutritious fuel?"
"Then they should serve something for breakfast that doesn't suck.
Now if they served a nice Eggs Benedict I could get behind that, but
it's all `soft boiled egg whites' and `dry wheat toast'. I'm telling
you a dog wouldn't eat that stuff."
"Would I be correct in assuming that lunch here is equally
distasteful to you?"
"That's just one of the things I love about you, Donnatella, you're
so very astute."
"I will run down to the deli to get you some real food, if you
promise to eat every bite."
"Scout's honor."
"Were you ever actually, you know, a scout of some kind?"
"I wanted to be, but they spend so much of their time outdoors."
"Yeah, nature can be such a drag that way."
"I knew you'd understand."
"I'll be right back." She dropped a light kiss on his lips and headed
for the deli.
As she passed the nurses station, one of the nurses stopped her to
say that Josh's attending physician wanted a word with her. Donna
liked Dr. Phillips very much; he treated her questions with respect
and explained everything in everyday language without being
condescending. Donna suspected Dr. Bartlett might have cleared the
path for her in that respect, but whatever the cause, she appreciated
the effect.
"Donna, how is our patient doing?"
"Oh, same as usual Dr. Phillips. Did you know the food here sucks?"
"I may have heard a rumor…Josh's parents were enquiring about
rehab facilities in Connecticut, so I put together a list for them. Could
you pass it on to them when you see them? We always seem to miss
each other."
"Um, sure. Connecticut though? I think that may be a mistake. Josh's
folks live in Connecticut, but Josh is going to want to stay in D.C."
"Maybe I misunderstood. Did they find someone to provide at home
care then?"
"He's going to be in the hospital another two weeks. Is he going to
need that much help once he's discharged?"
"Donna, Josh is recovering very well, but his injuries were very
serious, and their effects will be long term. His insurance will
provide a nurse's visit several times a week, but that's only for an
hour or so each day. Josh's mobility is extremely limited, his
muscles are weak, and he needs to be under someone's observation
who can keep an eye out for post-surgical complication; infections,
breathing problems, etc."
"I hadn't realized… Would that care provider need to be a nurse?"
"Not necessarily, but they would have to be able to do some light
nursing duties without getting squeamish and follow the nurses
orders."
"Okay, thanks Dr. Phillips. I will talk this over with Ruth and Noah
and get back to you."
Donna was mulling over several possible solution in her mind, none of
which Josh was going to like; rehab facility in Connecticut? No.
Staying with his Mom and Dad in Connecticut? No. Staying with Joanie?
Definitely not. One of them would be lying in a pool of their own
blood by the end of the first day.
Could they hire someone to stay with Josh at his place? Sure, but
Josh wasn't going to like having a stranger staying with him all the
time. What about all the steps at his place? There were 12 steps just
to get up the front stoop. He'd never make it to the front door.
Too bad he didn't have a home more like her townhouse. If anything
ever happened to her, everything she'd need was on one level. Wait,
could Josh stay with her and Jake? Would he want to? She was
certainly going to have to work out some details. She could call Ruth
and Noah from her cell on the way to the deli. Between the three of
them, she was sure they could work something out so Josh could stay
in the city.
Chapter 20
A/N: I forgot to thank Amy in my last post, for her professional
medical information. It made a big difference in how I wrote the
chapter and had the added bonus of being accurate medical
information!
"Where are you off to in such a hurry, old man?" Noah asked Leo.
"I was just going to check on my deputy. Are things so bad in there
that you've resorted to sitting in the hospital hallway?" Leo teased.
"Actually, Donna is here with Jake, so Josh is in a stellar mood. I
was just waiting for you. When I called your office, Margaret told me
you were on your way here." Noah looked around for a moment. "Could
we take a walk outside?"
"Sure, lead the way."
They made small talk about mutual friends until they were outside and
a block away from the hospital.
"Leo, Josh seems to be concerned that he may not be able to keep his
position as Deputy COS. He thinks that you'll have to find someone to
replace him on point for mid-terms and by the time he is able to walk
back into the White House he'll be so out of touch with the day to
day operations that he'll be useless to you."
"Noah, you can't possibly believe that I would replace Josh because
he had the bad luck to get shot while he was working for the
President?"
"I don't, no, but Josh does. Maybe since he does, it would be easier
to nudge him out."
"Excuse me? Are you asking me to fire your son?"
"Of course not. I just thought with him being out for several months,
it might be a good time to transition him into the private sector.
Between getting Bartlett elected President and the hero's status he's
presently enjoying he could write his own ticket."
"Noah, you can't tell me this is about money because I know the trust
fund that boy is sitting on. If he never worked another day in his
life, he could live quite comfortably. So what is this really about?"
"This whole thing put Ruth and me over the edge. We want him to
move back to Connecticut so we can spend some time with him. As
long as he's working at the White House, we'll never get to see him
and he'll never have a chance to get a life outside of politics."
"Bullshit."
" Leo – "
"Bullshit Noah. If you're mad at me because of what happened to Josh,
fine. If you blame me for bringing him into the White House to begin
with, fine. But we've been friends way too long for you to waste your
breath blowing smoke up my –"
"Blame you? What, are you drinking again? Why would I blame you for
what some racist pigs did to my son? This has NOTHING to do with
you!" Noah stopped walking and shouted full blast at Leo.
"Then what IS this all about, Noah?!" Leo yelled at Noah.
"The cancer is back!" Noah shouted again. Then more quietly, "The
cancer is back, Leo."
"God, Noah. Why didn't you say something? What does your
oncologistsay?"
"Nothing good. Look, I didn't want to bring it up at all. It's only
relevant in that I want more time with my son, Leo. I want more time
with Joanie and Josh. Joanie has a relatively flexible schedule, but
Josh…I'm lucky to get an email from him. When he was shot… it just
made me realize that I need to get my priorities straight."
"Nothing wrong with that, my friend. But it won't mean anything if
your time together is based on a lie. Talk to him, Noah. Tell him
what you need. I know there is nothing he wouldn't do for you." Leo
pleaded.
"We asked his doctor to put together a list of rehab facilities in
Connecticut. We thought he could recover with us at home. Then
Donna came to see us with another idea. She wants Josh to stay with
her and Jake until he can stay on his own. She's convinced Josh
wouldn't want to leave D.C. What do you think?"
"I think she's right. But I also think Donna Moss is a woman who has
too much on her plate to begin with to add, excuse me Noah, a very
high maintenance patient."
"He doesn't seem to be high maintenance to Donna."
"Ah, to be young and in love." Leo smiled. "Talk to Josh, Noah. Ask
him what he wants and tell him what you want."
"Let's go talk to your deputy." They walked back to the hospital in a
comfortable silence.
At the door to Josh's hospital room they heard Jake's laughter and
Donna's voice chastising Josh.
"You're the one who keeps playing Candyland with him."
"I thought he'd feel too sorry for me to beat me again. Jacob Moss,
can't you see how sick I am?" he signed to Jake. Jake's reply
apparently upset Josh.
"I am too, sick! What do you mean, I don't look sick?" Again there is
an exchange of signs. "Your Mom is wrong. I am not sick because I eat
bad food and drink too much coffee. Donna!"
"I didn't say you were sick because you eat junk and drink coffee, I
said you wouldn't get well if you kept eating junk food and drinking
coffee." Both adults signed as they spoke to keep Jake included in
the conversation.
Jake laughed again at his Mom and Josh. He loved being with them.
They always smiled when they were together and that made him feel
good too. Jake loved being with his Mom, but being with Josh was
different. Josh crashed cars and wrestled. He wasn't too fast with
signing yet, but he was getting better. Josh taught him about
checkers and spelling and he taught Josh about signs and Candyland.
Jake saw a movement at the door and pulled on Josh's hand before
pointing to the door.
"Dad, Leo, come on in. You can save me from this board game
hustler." He tousled Jake's hair. " Hey, look what he learned today."
Josh signed as he asked, "Jake what do we think of Republicans?"
Jake stuck out his tongue and shook his head like he had tasted
something nasty. "Perfect buddy; high five!" Jake gave Josh a high five
and jumped off the bed, signing to his Mom that he was hungry.
"We'll walk down to the cafeteria and get a snack." Donna replied.
Jake asked Josh if he wanted something to eat.
"No, thanks; I'm full." Jake headed out with his Mom in tow.
"Leo, when am I going to get some work to look at? It's been 3 weeks.
I'm going to lose my mind."
"That's not what it looked like to me, just now, but you'll get some
work to look at when your blood pressure goes down and I get the high
sign from Dr. Phillips." Leo looked at Noah, and then at Josh. "In
the meantime, we'd like to talk to you about some things…"