Chapter 10
Donna had to work very hard to get her eyes to open; they were so heavy,
and even when she got them open, her vision was a bit blurry. But even
blurry, she recognized her husband’s profile.
“Josh?” Her whispered voice made his head whip around to her.
“Hey! How are you feeling?” he asked urgently.
“A little fuzzy. Where am I?” she asked.
“You don’t remember going to the hospital?” Josh asked.
“The hospital?” Donna replied and Josh could see the second that she
remembered what happened and her hands flew to her stomach. “The
baby?”
“The baby’s fine. You’re fine. Relax.” The last thing Josh wanted was for
stress to pump up her blood pressure again. Dr. Bachman thought it was
under control at the moment.
“Then what happened?” she demanded. “Why did I get so sick?”
“You have something called preeclampsia.” Josh told her. “With bed rest,
you and the baby should be just fine.”
“Preeclampsia?” Donna confirmed.
“Yeah, it’s-“
“I know what it is. My sister had it.” Donna continued. “They had to deliver
the baby early by Cesarean. Adam was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
for weeks.” Tears started to fall from her eyes and Josh hurried to wipe
them away.
“Listen, that’s not what they’re talking about for you right now. The most
important thing is for you to stay calm and keep your blood pressure down.”
Josh kissed her forehead. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
“You don’t know that.” Donna accused.
“Not from personal experience, no, but I talked to Dr. Bartlet and she’s
conferred with your doctor here and she says you’re both going to be fine
as long as you listen to me and follow my rules.”
“Like that’s going to happen.” Donna groused and rubbed her hand over
her stomach in a circular motion. Josh laughed for the first time in hours.
“Where’s Ben?”
“He’s at home sleeping with Mom.”
“I want to see him.” Donna whined.
“Sam said he’d bring him and Mom down as soon as you were up to it.”
“I’m up to it.” Donna answered quickly and Josh laughed again.
“Okay, I’ll call him now.”
Josh had made arrangements with Sam by the time Dr. Bachman returned
to check on her patient.
“I see our patient is awake. How are you feeling Mrs. Lyman?”
“Okay.” Donna answered cautiously.
“Any dizziness, nausea, blurred vision or abdominal pain?”
“No…well my vision is a little blurry, but I’m pretty tired.”
“Hmmm.” Dr. Bachman checked Donna’s pupils and picked up her chart.
“What does blurred vision mean?” Josh asked.
“It’s a symptom of the preeclampsia.” The doctor noted unhelpfully. “No
other symptoms?”
“No. My sister had preeclampsia. I know what it is.”
“Then you understand how important it is to take care of you and your baby
right now.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve been able to go over your medical history and it doesn’t look like you
had any complications with your first pregnancy.”
“No. Everything went like clockwork.” Josh threw in.
“That’s very encouraging. We’re going to keep you here for a few days until
we’re confident that we have all your symptoms under control.”
“What happens after that?” Donna asked.
“That depends on how the next few days go, but we’re going to need to put
you on some form of bed rest.”
“Is this…is it because of the move and the flying we’ve been doing?” Josh
asked hesitantly.
“No, Mr. Lyman. We’re not sure of exactly what causes this condition but it
isn’t because of something either of you did or didn’t do. That fact that your
wife’s sister also had the condition seems to indicate that there might be a
family predisposition.”
Josh squeezed Donna’s hand.
“Everything’s going to be fine, Donnatella.” Josh promised. “It’s okay for our
son to come down to visit for a bit, isn’t it?”
“A short visit would probably make everyone feel better.” Dr. Bachman
decided. “Get some rest and I’ll be by later today to see how we’re doing.”
“Thank you, Doctor.” Donna said sincerely.
Josh walked out with the doctor and was surprised to see Billy in the waiting
room.
“Fred? What are you doing here?” Josh asked him.
“I wanted to see if everybody was okay.” he said hesitantly.
“Donna’s okay; the baby too.” Josh told him and watched Billy let out a sigh
of relief.
“That’s good. That’s…really good. It was pretty scary driving her over her.”
He admitted.
“You brought Donna to the emergency room?” Josh clarified.
“She was going to go over my notes for the debate negotiations when she
started to get sick. I didn’t know what to do, so I called 911 and they said to
bring her right in.” Billy explained shrugging.
“I didn’t know that.” Josh said quietly. “I just got a call that she’d been
admitted to the emergency room. I didn’t know how she got here.” Josh
waited until Billy met his eyes. “Thank you so much.”
“I didn’t do anything.” Billy protested.
“You really did.” Josh countered. “This preeclampsia that she has? If it’s not
treated right away, the mother and the baby could die from the
complications. You did a lot.”
“I just drove her here, that’s all.” Billy said. “I’m glad everybody’s okay.”
“Come back and see for yourself.” Josh insisted and took Billy’s arm.
“Oh, no. That’s okay. I don’t want to bother her.”
“She’ll want to thank you herself. I know she will.” Josh told him and led him
into Donna’s room.
“Look who I found outside, Donnatella. It’s Fred.” Josh teased.
“Honestly, Joshua. You know his name isn’t Fred.” Donna chastised her
husband before she turned her attention to the young man looking
uncomfortable in her hospital room. “I don’t know how to thank you. You got
us here so fast. If I’d been alone…”
“But you weren’t. And Josh said you’re both okay, right?” Billy asked.
“It looks like I’m going to be on bed rest, but we’re fine; or so they tell me.”
Donna assured him.
“We should probably name the baby after him or something, huh Donna?”
Josh teased. “But then a baby girl named Fred might have a tough road in
life.”
“Billie would work though.” Donna noted. “With an ‘ie’ at the end like Billie
Jean King.”
Billy actually blushed with embarrassment. “You two make a guy regret he
came back down here, you know?”
“Mommy!” Ben shouted from the doorway and started to run to his mom.
Josh scooped him up right before Ben got to the bed and Ruth followed
quickly behind her Grandson.
“Hold on, Benjamin. We can’t jump on Mommy’s bed.” Josh explained, but
lifted his son next to Donna’s face so he could give her a kiss. Ruth Lyman
followed closely behind her Grandson.
“I’ll get going now. I’m glad you’re both doing okay.” Billy said as he backed
into the doorway.
“I’ll see you later, Fred.” Josh said goodbye and Billy got one last glance at
the reunited family before turning and running smack into the California
Democratic nominee for Governor.
“Sorry, sir.” Billy stammered out. “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was
going.”
“Maybe not now, but you sure were earlier.” Sam noted.
“I don’t know why everyone is making such a big deal out of it. I did what
anybody would have done.”
“Maybe, but you did it quickly and safely, and none of us will forget that.”
Sam started to follow Ben and Ruth into Donna’s room, but turned back to
make one last comment to Billy. “You know, Josh would probably get you
appointed Secretary of State right now if you asked him to.”
Billy’s jaw dropped and Sam chuckled. “I’m just saying, you could at least
get him to call you Billy now.”
“Honestly, I’ve kind of gotten used to Fred.” Billy smiled and left.
***********************************
“We need it now.” Josh reiterated to Toby via the speakerphone.
“I’m still polishing it.” Toby replied.
“It’s polished enough. Sam needs to see it now; Air Force One lands in 3
hours.”
“He’ll have it quicker if you stop bugging me. Why aren’t you at the
hospital?”
Toby asked.
“Donna’s resting and the leader of the free world is due to arrive in 3 hours.
I
have stuff to do.” Josh explained.
“In other words she kicked you out?” Toby guessed.
“She had some crazy theory that I was making her anxious.” Josh admitted.
“I
don’t think she’s quite herself right now.”
“It’s hard to believe.” Toby deadpanned.
“The speech, Tobias!” Josh requested again.
“When it’s ready, Joshua!” Toby responded and hung up.
“That went well.” Josh muttered.
“Is it just me, or is Toby…” Billy trailed off uncertain how to continue.
“Yeah, Toby is. But he’s also a master of political speeches. Did we
coordinate the -”
“I know you like to work under pressure, but could I possibly get a copy of
the
speech I’m supposed to make in three hours?” Sam asked when he entered
Josh’s office.
“Of course, as soon as it’s done.” Josh answered.
“It’s not done?” Sam repeated.
“Not so much, no.” Josh replied tongue in cheek. “Billy has got the cards for
the meet and greet with President and Mrs. Santos, though.”
“Terrific.” Sam looked over at Billy. “Can you excuse us a minute, Billy?”
“Yes, sir. I’m going to go check with the President’s advance and make sure
we’re still on schedule.” Billy closed the door behind him.
“What’s up?” Josh flipped through several pieces of paper.
“Two things; first, you should be at the hospital with your wife.”
“She kicked me out, Samuel. She has no appreciation for the kind of care
and feeding I can provide.”
“You make her sound like a poodle. You started lecturing didn’t you?”
“Lecture? I don’t lecture. I may have shared some valuable information I’d
learned about preeclampsia and offered some advice on how to best care
for
herself and our baby, but I did not lecture.” Josh argued.
Sam just gave him a pointed look and raised his eyebrows.
“Fine. I may have overdone it on the advice front. When her blood pressure
started going up again, it was SUGGESTED that I take a break from the
hospital and come into work for awhile.” Josh amended.
“Are you doing alright?” Sam asked.
“I worry about her. The Doctor says Donna’s doing better on bedrest, but I’ll
feel better once she’s home. Ben doesn’t like her being gone, either. He
spent the night in my bed crying for Mommy.”
“Maybe you should take some time off; spend it at home with Ben and
Donna
until everyone’s nerves get settled.” Sam offered but Josh shook his head.
“You need a campaign manager, I need a distraction, and Donna needs a
break from my hovering. It works out for everybody.”
“Okay, but if something changes, let me know.” Sam requested.
“I promise. What’s the second thing?” Josh prompted.
“It might be a thing.” Sam warned him. “I invited my mom to the reception for
the President and Mrs. Santos tonight, but she said she couldn’t make it.
So,
I invited my dad who accepted the invitation. Only now, Mom called and said
her plans fell through so she’ll be able to come after all.”
“So it’s a Seaborn family reunion?” Josh teased.
“It looks that way.” Sam nodded.
“It’ll be fine.” Josh assured him. “Don’t worry about it. Being in the presence
of the President tends to put everyone on their best behavior.” The sound
of
the fax spitting out pages distracted them both and Josh saw with relief that
it
was Toby’s speech for Sam. “Look this over, then we’ll go greet the leader
of
the free world.”
***********************************
President Santos was giving an impassioned plea about what the
Democratic
party has done for the people of California, when Billy’s cell phone rang.
Billy
answered it quickly and once he did, he threw a strange look at Josh before
he averted his eyes. Josh strolled over next to his deputy and leaned close
to
Billy’s ear.
“Tell Donna to put the phone down and turn the television off.” Billy looked
startled.
“I think she just wanted to remind us-“
“Hang up the phone, Donna.” Josh spoke directly into the speaker part of
the
phone. “I can really function for a few hours without you and you need to
rest.”
Billy listened for her reply, then shot another look at Josh. “No, I don’t think I
will tell him that.” He told Donna.
“Donna…” Josh said in warning.
“She hung up.” Billy reported.
“Is that the first call you’ve fielded from Donna today, Fred?” Josh fixed him
with a stare.
“Uh…no.” Billy visibly gulped.
“You drove Donna to the hospital, so I know that you know how serious her
condition can be. She needs to reduce, if not completely eliminate, stress
from her life right now. That stipulation pretty much removes any type of
campaigning, don’t you agree?”
“Uh-huh.” Billy agreed. “She just wanted to check on-“
“No. No more checking, no more reminding. If she calls you or anyone else
again, I want to know about it.” Josh’s tone gave no indication of
compromise
on this issue.
“Got it.” Billy told his boss.
“So did you find a date for the thing tonight?” Josh changed the subject
entirely.
“Yeah…” Billy’s smile told Josh things that his verbal response couldn’t
convey. “You?”
“My date cancelled on me; gave me some crap about bed rest.” Josh teased
back.
“Maybe you can pick up someone at the thing. Presidential receptions bring
out the women I’m told.”
“When did you turn into such a wise ass?” Josh asked him.
“I’ve been working for you for awhile; I guess it rubbed off on me.”
“Funny boy. Go talk to advance and tell them we’re going to make a pit stop
on the way to the reception tonight.”
“Where?” Billy asked.
“Just a local Hospital.” Josh grinned and clapped Billy on the shoulder.