Title: Hunted (1/?)
Disclaimer: We claim these characters in the name of Waldorf and Statler,
however we sadly do not make any money off of them.
Authors: The writing team of Waldorf and Statler…doesn’t really matter
who’s who.
Rating: R
Time: Picks up with Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics
Category: Angsty AU that’s bordering on suspense
A/N: Speaking of Rick, we’d like to thank him for beta-ing this for us. (I
know! We have a beta! We really needed one.)
1.
“DONNA!”
“Oh, they’re playing my song…” I sigh in the bullpen to no one in particular.
I get up from my chair and make my way to Josh’s office where he’s
rummaging through his desk.
“I can’t find the…”
“It’s right on the corner.” I say pointing to a blue folder. He stops and blows
out a breath as he sees it right in front of his face.
“It’s like they have invisibility shields around them or something.” He picks
up the file and opens it up to review it for the first of many meetings this
afternoon. This is going to be a long day. I’ve already canceled my
tentative plans for tonight in anticipation. I know he’s going to need me at
the polling bank.
“I think you’re just trying to figure out reasons to call me in here.” I smile
and bounce around his desk a bit. He pushes the chair back and sighs in
frustration.
“What the hell is wrong with this thing?”
“It wobbles.”
“Yes, thank you. Are you going to call someone for it?”
“You were serious about that?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. Yes, I will call someone for it.” I reply.
“Listen, I think I’m going to need you to…” he starts.
“Yes, I already figured that. I canceled my plans tonight.”
“How do you keep doing that?!”
“I’m tuned to you.”
“You’re creepy sometimes.” He says. “When’s Joey starting the poll?”
“Tonight. Thus, my foresight in having to stay for it.” I sit down at the end of
his desk and look over at him.
“Did Toby find a guy yet?”
“Nope. But he’s working on it.”
“Okay. Let me know when CJ starts talking about that drug memo.”
“Okay.”
“What are you still doing here?” he smiles after a moment when I don’t
leave.
“I’m just waiting to see how else I can improve upon your day.” I shrug.
Sometimes I just like to get flirty and mess with him…which usually ends up
confusing one or both of us, but it doesn’t seem to stop either one of us.
He leans forward on his hands and is inches from my face. I feel very warm
now. “You improve all of my days simply by being a part of my life.”
Damn, that was a good one.
But he hasn’t moved yet. In fact, he’s getting closer. Weird moment! Weird
moment!
He’s kissing me.
Damn, it’s nice. It’s not deep or long, just a sweet kiss on the lips that lasts
a little longer than it should between a boss and his assistant.
Wait a minute. That doesn’t sound right. Bosses don’t generally kiss their
assistants on the lips, so yeah…this is out of ordinary. He pulls away
smiling and resumes his position before dropping down and sighing over
his wobbly chair.
Okay. Odd. We just kissed a little bit there and he doesn’t seem all that
phased by it. He has kissed me before. He kissed me on the cheek when
we won the election and after the President was sworn in, and he’s kissed
me on the forehead when I’ve given up working on a dark and
uncomfortable campaign bus in favor of going to sleep on his shoulder.
So yes, while that kind of behavior is odd for most every other boss and
assistant, it’s not for us. So you can see why I’m still confused.
Look what happened to me! I used to be a coherent person until Josh did
that!
“Mike Casper called.” I croak, suddenly remembering that I had a message
for him.
“What’d he want?”
“It was weird. He just left a message and all it is is a name.”
“What’s the name?”
“Aribert Reiger.”
Josh freezes momentarily and when he looks back up, something’s
different about him. “Are you sure you got that right?”
“Yeah, he spelled it and everything. Who’s Aribert Reiger?”
“Uh, I don’t know. I guess that’s why I’m heading over to Justice to find out.”
“What?” He moves over to his safe, which I’ve NEVER seen him open. I can’
t see inside, but he pulls out a leather bound folder and puts it in his
backpack.
“Clear my schedule. I’m going to be at Justice all afternoon.”
Holy crap! He’s serious!
“Josh! You can’t do that today. You have to meet with Hooper and Strom.
The poll is tonight. Leo will implode.”
“This is more important, Donna.” He says in all seriousness.
“Greetings, mi compadres!” CJ sings as she comes into the office bearing
a newspaper. If she notices Josh’s stone face and my look of
astonishment, she doesn’t pick up on it.
“I swear, sometimes I think you two should date. Look how adorable you
are.” She drops a newspaper onto Josh’s desk and we both lean over to
look. It’s an article on the dinner the other night and there’s a picture of
Josh and I there. It’s a very nice picture outside the hotel we were at and
under the caption, it says, ‘Deputy Chief of Staff Joshua Lyman and
Guest,’ which is crap because I was working, but I like that they made that
mistake.
“Yes, well, I can make even Josh look good.” I chuckle, but the memory of
that kiss is still fresh and I’m left wistfully thinking that one day soon I will be
his ‘guest’ at one of these things.
Josh, however, hasn’t said a word. He seems rooted to his spot and is
staring at the picture. Finally, he clears his throat. “CJ, can you excuse us?
I’m heading out for the afternoon and I have to go over a few things with
Donna before I go.”
“Uh…sure.” CJ says. She seems a little confused about what he might
have to say to me that she can’t hear. I’m right there with you, sister.
CJ leaves the room and closes the door behind her. To my surprise, Josh
adds the newspaper to the contents of his backpack.
“Listen,” he says softly and turns to me. “I’m really sorry about before with
the…” he doesn’t say kiss, but waves his finger between our faces. “It was
out of line and I promise it won’t happen again.”
“I don’t know.” I smile. “It didn’t seem so bad.”
“I’m really sorry, Donna.” He says again. And I can tell by the look in his
eyes, he truly means it. It really saddens him to say this. It’s almost like he
really wanted it, too. “It won’t happen ever again. I’ll call you when I’m on
my way back.”
He throws his backpack over his shoulder and strides right out of the
office. I’m left there wondering just what the hell happened here.
I roll over the events of last few minutes in my head. This makes no sense.
With one cryptic call from Mike Casper, he cancels his whole day?
Someone’s going to have to pay for all this in blood, and who do you think
is going to be fed to the lions? Me. I’m always the one that has to take the
punches from his off the cuff decisions like that.
“Hey, Donna.” Leo says entering the office. “Did I just see Josh leave?”
“Uh…yeah.” I say trying to pull myself back to the realm of those with a
clue. “He’s having me cancel his afternoon. Something came up.”
“Cancel his…what the hell for!?” Leo barks. See? See Donna get thrown
under the train.
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “Mike Casper called. He left a weird message and
Josh canceled his day.”
“Mike Casper?” Leo asks sharply. “What was the message?”
“Aribert Reiger.” I say immediately. What the hell is going on? Now Leo
looks like he’s turning to stone.
“You’re sure about that?” Leo says in a clipped voice and I nod hopelessly.
“Thanks, Donna.” He nods and leaves the office.
What the hell is going on?
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
2.
More than a little high off the nine point bump that CJ just announced, I
take stock in my very own merry band here. Sam seems to have gotten
over having his picture with a call girl plastered all over the paper. CJ is
bubbling over with ideas on how to play the nine point bump and where we
should take it legislatively. Toby, I may be mistaken, but I believe Toby is
smiling! Joey, and her sidekick Kenny, are actively involved in the
discussion. It was a great idea bringing her on board. Then my gaze falls
on my Deputy.
He’s making a good show of things. He tried to goad Joey into a debate on
English as the national language and somebody else might miss the signs,
but my Deputy is phoning it in. He could debate this topic in his sleep and it
looks like he is. There! Another yawn!
First, Josh disappears for hours with some concocted story about going to
Justice. Then, after a brief appearance at work, he’s gone again until staff
this morning and he’s barely able to stay awake. Please! Does he think I’m
stupid? Donna’s joined us and she’s giving Josh odd looks too. This can
be nothing but trouble.
I strategically step between them and speak to Josh in a lowered voice.
“Late night?” I ask and Josh doesn’t even flinch.
“Had some trouble sleeping.” He admits. Yes, you’re always supposed to
keep your lies as close to the truth as possible. Well done.
“Whatever could be the cause of that do you think?” I press. Don’t do this,
Josh. Don’t put me in this position with you.
“Could be almost anything.” Josh smiles. “I’m always thinking, you know.”
He quips.
“…about the Mets maybe.” Donna mutters next to me. This woman picks
up on everything, I swear.
“Let me save you some emotional heartbreak, Josh. The Mets don’t have a
shot.” I shoot back. Obviously, now is not the time to go into this. Damn it.
“You know me, Leo, ever the optimist.” Josh’s eyes hold mine for a few
seconds and I get the underlying meaning to his words. I shake my head
sadly.
“And one day, you’re going to pay for that.” I tell him honestly. “Go home
and get some sleep.” I order. “This party is breaking up anyway.” I nod at
where the rest of our group has risen and started to wander out.
“Yes, sir.” Josh salutes and with a hand on Donna’s back, leaves me alone
with the President. For the love of God, Josh, don’t do something stupid.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><<><><><><><><><>
I rap twice quickly and walk into Josh’s office to find him on his cell. His feet
drop off the desk and he looks angrily at me.
“Damn it, Donna, I’m on the phone.” He snaps.
“Sorry, I didn’t know that.” I back out the door and close it again with a little
more force than might be actually necessary to, you know, shut a door. He’
s been impossible for days. I thought it was concern over the President’s
climbing negatives, but we got new numbers a few days ago and he’s up
nine points. Everyone else around here is on cloud nine. What the hell is
the matter with Josh?
I give him a few minutes to finish his call and then try again. I have to get
him moving or he’s going to be late for his meeting in the Roosevelt room. I
open the door cautiously, ready in case he takes my head off again. But to
my surprise, he’s leaning against the window, just staring outside. One
doesn’t get the opportunity to see Josh Lyman still like this very often. He
looks contemplative or reflective. Usually Josh does that out loud…with me.
“Josh?” His head swivels around to me.
“Langton?” he sighs.
“Yeah, five minutes in the Roosevelt room.” I remind him and he nods.
“Are you okay?”
Josh smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I snap at you and you’re
concerned about my well being?”
“That’s not you.” I explain. “Not unless it’s teasing. Who was on the phone,
your mom?”
He looks puzzled now. “No…just a personal call.”
“Well, tell her to stop keeping you up so late. At your age, you need decent
sleep to keep up your cognitive abilities.” I tease. He predictably rolls his
eyes.
“Right.” He says sarcastically, but offers no more information. Shit. Okay, I
was fishing. Something is keeping him up nights and I was thinking that it
might be a woman, but if it was a woman, he’d be strutting around more
wouldn’t he? It’s just that ever since that kiss, I can’t stop thinking about
kissing him again. “I blew it.”
Subject change! “Blew it with what?”
“With the VP meeting. Leo’s pissed.” He admits and sits on the edge of his
desk.
“I thought you got the VP on board?”
“I did.”
“Then why is Leo pissed?”
“It was the way I did it. Leo says there’s a way to be a person and I --” Josh
stopped mid sentence. “It doesn’t matter. I was tired and wasn’t thinking
clearly or I wouldn’t have made such a boneheaded mistake. Now Leo’s
pissed.”
“He can’t be too pissed. You got the VP on board. You had the meeting
with Leo and you still have all your fingers.” I reason.
“What the hell?”
“He didn’t cut anything else off, did he?” I try to tease it out of him and sit
next to him on the desk; hip to hip, shoulder to shoulder. But he doesn’t
look at me.
“Some days, I wonder what the hell I’m doing here.” He sighs. This is very
bad. Josh ALWAYS knows what we’re doing here. He’s usually the one that
reminds everybody else.
“Okay, that’s enough.” I tell him. “You just need some sleep and you’ll get
your perspective back. Are you going to be able to make it through the
town hall tonight?”
“With you by my side, anything is possible.” He smiles at me and I see a
hint of what I saw the other day just before he kissed me. Maybe he was
worried that he was taking advantage of me before and that’s why he
backed off? Maybe if I made it clear…
“I’ll always be at your side.” I promise and his eyes soften.
“That’s what the Government pays you the big bucks for, right?” He jokes.
“Nope.” I shake my head no. Then because I can’t help it, I add, “That’s
what your MOTHER pays me the big bucks for.” This makes him chuckle.
“No doubt.” He agrees. “We spend so much time together my mother is
convinced you’re her best shot at grandchildren.”
Now it’s my turn to chuckle. It might be the tiniest bit self-conscious.
“Roosevelt room?” He confirms as he stands up.
“He’s waiting for you.” I tell him and hand him the appropriate file.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
I literally have to shake myself a couple times to stay awake for this
meeting. Langton is dull under the best circumstances, and these are not
the best circumstances. This is just one of the reasons it’s probably a bad
idea to pursue this, but…
“…and I’ll tell the President so.” Langton finishes up.
“Let me bring him this information first, Congressman. We may be able to
find a compromise here, okay?”
“I’m serious here, Josh.”
“Believe me when I say I know that, sir. It won’t be today, we’re prepping for
the town hall, but I’ll take it to him tomorrow, first thing. Thanks for coming
by.” I quickly rise and shake his hand before he thinks of ‘one more thing’
to tell the President. I need to get out of here and take a walk for a few
minutes.
When I get out to the sidewalk, I pull out my cell and call a number I know
by heart.
“What do you know?” I ask
“Exactly what I knew when I spoke to you an hour and a half ago.” He
snarks at me.
“I can change the course of the country in an hour and a half. You guys
must move much slower over there.” I snark back.
“Yeah, we’re kind of hamstrung by the laws and company rules and such.”
“Come on. Throw me a bone here.”
“When I have one, I’ll toss it straight to you. Didn’t I before?”
“Yeah…”
“Then get me the stuff you promised me so I can get some results for you.”
And he hangs up on me. I get no respect around here.
I walk back into my office to find Charlie and Zoey fighting in my office.
What the hell? Just what I do not need today.
“I’m sorry, we were just using your office for a minute.” Charlie apologizes.
“You can keep fighting in just a second. I just need to find something.” I
explain and sit down to rifle through my desk. Only there’s no chair and my
ass falls straight to the floor. Shit.
“DONNA!”
“We should get something temporary so that doesn’t happen.”
“Thanks.” I get up off the floor to see Charlie and Zoey leaving my office in
all due haste. I find the envelope I left earlier and stick Mike Casper’s name
on it. I set it to the side and look for the remote control so I can watch C.J.’s
briefing. I get so absorbed in it that I almost miss Donna picking up the
envelope for Mike.
“Give that back!” I shout and she jumps.
“I was just going to have it messengered over for you.”
“You don’t know where it’s supposed to go.” I object, still holding my hand
out for it.
“Well, I dropped out of college, that’s true, but I can read an envelope and
this one says Mike Casper on it so I’m GUESSING that means it’s going to
Mike Casper at his F.B.I. office.” She drawls.
“No!”
“No, it’s not going to Mike? Because then I have to question YOUR skills in
this area, Joshua, because this is certainly your handwriting here.”
“I mean, yes, it’s going to Mike, but it’s not going by messenger.” I explain.
“I’m delivering it to him after the thing at the Newseum tonight.”
“It will be, like, ten o’clock , Josh!” She points out. She has to pick NOW to
be logical. After a whole thing with her friend Curtis and the wheel of my
chair?
“Justice doesn’t keep bankers hours, Donna, give me the damn envelope!”
I snap.
She hands it to me like it’s a ticking time bomb. “There you go. Everything
okay now?”
“I’m not melting down. It’s just that it’s urgent he get this before tomorrow
and it’s sensitive, so I want to hand it to him personally.” I calm my body
and voice down.
“Okay. You only had to say so.” She’s still looking at me funny. “You really
need some sleep, Josh.”
“I know.” I reply and tilt my head back on my temporary chair only to
discover it doesn’t have a head rest. Lovely. “I’ll get some sleep tonight.
After the thing in Rosslyn.”
“You promise?” She asks.
“Swear to God.” I affirm holding the envelope to my chest. Maybe if I just
close my eyes for awhile….
I must have drifted out because the next thing I know, Donna’s shaking me
awake.
“Josh? The President wants you for a final run through before the
motorcade leaves for the Newseum. Something about the answer on
children’s healthcare?”
“Shit!” I jump up. “How long have I been sleeping?”
“A couple hours.” She answers.
“A couple hours?!” I shout.
“You needed the rest; it’s going to be a long night tonight. You had nothing
pressing, relax.” She pats my arm. “Now go see the President.”
I take off at a half run, slipping on my suit jacket. I have to slap my cheeks
a bit and I stop briefly to get a cold cup of water from the dispenser.
Now, I’m ready for the President. The rehearsal goes well with the new
answers and we get into the motorcade with high spirits. I just can’t shake
the feeling that I’m forgetting something….
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
3.
Sigh.
You know he really is hopeless without me. Sitting right there on his desk is
this urgent envelope for Mike Casper.
I pick it up and head over to the Press Room. Carol’s outside. “Are they
done?” I ask her.
“No, they’re taking forever.” Carol says rolling her eyes. “It’s looking like
they’re going to go right up until they have to leave.”
“I need Josh.” I say.
“Well, it’s his turn with the President.” Carol said. “I have strict instructions
not to disturb them unless something explodes.”
“Shit.” I sigh and blow out a breath.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“It’s just that he’s got this package that needs to go over to Mike Casper at
Justice and he forgot it. He said it absolutely has to be there tonight.”
“So have a messenger do it.” She shrugs.
“He said he didn’t want it messengered. He said it’s sensitive and he
wanted to do it himself.”
“Well, that ship has sailed.” Carol says. “Why don’t you just bring it over?”
“Well, I’m supposed to go to the town hall thing.” I say looking at my watch.
“It would be close, but I might be able to make it. I don’t know though. He
seemed pretty adamant that he do it.”
“Donna, he trusts you with absolutely everything in his life.” Carol reminds
me. “I’m sure he won’t completely freak out that you delivered an envelope
for him. I mean, it’s not like it’s got launch codes in it.”
“True.” I say.
“And you’ll get to see cute Agent Casper.” Carol smiles.
“This is also true.” I smile back. Mike’s adorable.
“Maybe that’s his problem.” Carol chuckles. “Maybe he’s afraid Agent
Casper is going to ask you out.”
“Please.” I scoff. “Josh doesn’t care who I date. He’s made it very obvious
that he has no interest in, and I quote, ‘the revolving door of local gomers I
date.’ I doubt he’d be upset if Mike asked me out.”
“For someone who knows her boss so well, Donna, you sure miss a lot of
clues.” Carol says.
“What’s that mean?” I ask.
“Nothing.” She says shaking her head. “You better get going if you have
any hope of getting back here in time.”
Damn. She just blew me off. “All right. I’ll see you later at the thing.”
I move quickly back to the bullpen and grab my tote bag, sliding the
envelope in and then head out through security. I wonder what the hell is in
here that’s so important? This is the part of my job I absolutely hate. The
confidential part. I’m a natural gossip and so having something like this in
my hot little hands and not opening it makes me nuts. Not nuts enough to
put my job on the line, but still…
I check my watch as I step out onto the sidewalk and see that I have time to
walk over. I have next to no cash on me, so I’m not really inclined to hail a
cab. They can’t go in front of the White House anyway.
It’s a nice night for a walk though. I love this time of year in D.C. The
promise of summer, the anticipation of the vacation that in reality I’ll never
get to take. I’m so lost in thought that I’m surprised when I come upon
Justice.
“Ah, government never closes, huh?” the security guard smiles at me.
“No, sir.” I smile back. “I’m here for Mike Casper.”
“Is he expecting you?”
“Not me specifically. I have something for him from Josh Lyman.” I explain.
“I’ll buzz him down.” The Guard says as he waves me through the metal
detectors to wait on the other side.
It only takes Mike a few short minutes to appear. “Uh…hi, Donna, what’s
up?”
“Oh hi, Mike.” I smile brightly. “I’ve got something here for you from Josh.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No.” I say and hand him the envelope.
“He gave this to you to bring over!?”
“No.” I say shaking my head. “He wanted to do it himself but forgot it before
the thing, so I brought it.”
What is IN that thing?
“You guys are acting weird. Are there launch codes in there or
something?” I laugh nervously.
“No.” Mike says simply. “I’m just surprised is all.”
“Okay. Well, it got here in one piece.” I snap. “The government trusts me,
so I think you two can take a freaking pill already.”
My cell phone rings and Josh’s name scrolls across the screen. “It’s
himself, Mike. Have a good night.”
“Wait, Donna…” Mike starts to say, but I flip the phone open and before I
can tout my efficiency to Josh, he lays right into me.
“Where the hell are you?” He demands abruptly. “You missed the
motorcade!”
“You left that envelope you needed to get to Mike on your desk. I brought it
over.” I explain, leaving Justice.
Silence.
“I REALLY wish you hadn’t done that, Donna.” He says evenly.
“Josh, it’s my job.” I reply.
“Not that.”
“Well, how the hell was I supposed to know that?” I counter. “You didn’t say
it wasn’t work related you went on and on about how sensitive it was. I’ve
handled ‘sensitive’ stuff before, Josh. If the government and the NSA trust
me, I think I can handle walking an envelope over to Justice and delivering
it to the FBI.”
“You walked!?”
What is the matter with him? I would have thought that nap in his office
earlier would have set him on a bit of a better course.
“Yeah.” I say slowly.
“Hail a cab.”
“What?”
“Donna, walk to the street and hail a cab.” He insists again. “Get off the
street.”
“Josh, I…”
“Would you just put your fucking hand up and hail a God damn cab!?”
I’m speechless at how frantic he sounds. Why I placate him when he’d
never be the wiser, I don’t know, but I walk to the curb and stick my hand
out for an approaching cab. “You’re giving me the money for this, you
psycho.”
“Whatever.” He says. “Are you in a cab?”
“Yes.” I say as I close the door car door and give the driver my address.
“Maybe you should go to the White House.” Josh says sounding visibly
relieved.
“I’m going home, Joshua, where I’m going to drink and try to forget about
you acting like a maniac.”
I turn my head and look back to the sidewalk where I was standing merely
five seconds ago as the cab pulls away. There’s a man standing there in a
dark coat and hat, staring right at me in the cab. If it hadn’t moved, he
could have opened the door and gotten in with me and he doesn’t look like
he’d be a pleasant traveling companion.
“Ew, who’s that guy?”
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Chapter 4
I’m paranoid, right? That must be it. Not that I haven’t had reasons in the
past to be paranoid, but nothing has happened RECENTLY to incite such
fear in me. But it’s DONNA. If anything happened to Donna because of
me…
But it didn’t. She’s home safe and sound; no harm, no foul. Mike has what
he needs and everything is fine. Now I can concentrate on the town hall.
The President is in fine form tonight. He’s going to kick ass at the Newseum
and he’s finally stopped giving me the strange looks that started when I
was swearing at Donna about getting a cab. All we need now is good news
on Toby’s brother in the shuttle and it will be JACKPOT time.
We get that good news when the President is almost through with the town
hall. Life is looking up, people! Leo gives the President the signal and I slip
out to call Donna on the way out as the President is making his closing
remarks. I was an ass to her earlier and I’m thinking if I offer to bring some
late night food over she might forgive me. I mean, I know that my motivation
was to protect Donna, but SHE doesn’t know that. I can eat a little crow
here; especially if it looks like Kung Pao chicken with egg rolls.
I try twice and she doesn’t answer. Come on, Donna. I’m trying to make up
here. Finally, the President exits and I’m forced to leave a quick message
before the motorcade leaves without me.
“Donna, I know you’re there, pick up please? I’m sorry about before. I
just…you shouldn’t be walking around there alone at night…I
was…concerned about your safety. Anyway, I might have overreacted a bit
there and I wanted to say I’m sorry. Then I thought that nothing says I’m
sorry like Chinese food, so as soon as we get back to the White House, I’m
going to get in my car, make a pit stop at Mr. Wong’s and bring over some
food, okay? Since you’re not answering, I can only assume your silence is
complicit agreement. See how I spun that? And yes, I’ll get extra egg rolls.”
I hang up the phone, my mood lighter than it’s been in days. Overall, it’s
been a good day and it’s going to end with some fiery debate and Chinese
food with one of my favorite people in the world.
Shit! They’re almost to the limo, I’ve got to catch up…
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Extra egg rolls? Is he implying that I eat too many egg rolls? He better not
be. I’m already pissed at the way he yelled at me tonight. He better not be
going there.
Okay, the apology was sweet. Nothing says sorry like Chinese food?
Typical Josh. Let’s see, by the time they get back to the White House, he
picks up his car (and my food) and gets over here…probably a half hour. I
change my clothes quick. What? I was in ratty old comfort clothes that have
holes in them and stuff. It’s not like I put on a dress! Although I do have this
red one I’d like him to see…
My clock is just chiming ten, so I decide to turn on the local news to see
how they’re covering the town hall…and maybe get a glimpse of some of
the people I work with. I know LOTS of people staffing the President. I
could see ANY of them.
They’ve got a live picture and the crowd is going wild. I smile watching the
President working the rope line. He LOVES working the rope line. When we
were campaigning for President, we were always running late because he
insisted on shaking every hand along the rope line. I decide to open some
wine while I’m waiting for Josh and move into the kitchen. Then I hear it;
gunfire.
I bolt back into the living room and scan the screen for a visual clue on who
is shooting and who they are shooting at. This is insane. I can’t see
anyone in particular, just waves of people running and screaming. Within
seconds, the President’s limo tears out of its parking spot. Thank God, at
least the President is safe.
I grab for my cell phone and call Josh but get sent directly to his voice mail.
He’s probably trying to call me. I hold the phone in my lap, willing it to ring,
while a reporter at the Newseum describes the scene.
Soon, ambulances and emergency medical staff are swarming all over the
crowd. Reporters are getting first hand accounts from witnesses that say
everything from nobody was hit, to several people were hit by bullets. Can
nobody get their stories straight?
I try Josh, but it again goes straight to voice mail. I don’t know what to do. I
know from Secret Service training that they’ll lock down the White House,
so it’s pointless to go there. I need to talk to Josh. I should be with Josh
right now.
The minutes are interminable and just when I think my blood pressure is
leveling out, they have breaking news. The President of the United States
has been shot and is being taken to GW. That’s it. That’s where Josh will
be going, so that’s where I’m going too.
Glad now that I changed clothes earlier, I simply grab my purse and take a
cab as close as it can get to the hospital. I run the rest of the way unsure
why I feel speed is urgent right now, but simply feeling that it is.
It eats up valuable minutes trying to get by security. I forgot my badge in
my haste to get down here so I have to find an agent who knows me and
then I have to find where they’ve sequestered senior staff. Hold on, Josh, I’
m almost there.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><<><><>
“I should have never taken that stupid envelope.” I murmur.
“What’s that, dear?” Mrs. Landingham asks me.
I just shake my head. This is completely surreal. I had to tell Josh’s mom
the latest update while she was driving here. Well, her friend was driving,
which was good since I thought Sarah would break down when I told her. I
know I almost did. I just knew what Josh needed most was for me to hold it
together so I could help Sarah hold it together. That poor woman has
already lost her daughter and her husband. She can’t lose Josh too.
Neither of us can.
Let me tell you something interesting about a life and death struggle; the
real life and death type struggles. They have a way of solidifying your
thoughts and feelings and insist on an immediate re-prioritization of
EVERYTHING.
For instance, I recall perfectly that I was pissed at Josh about something
earlier this evening, but for the life of me, I have NO idea what it was. Nor
do I care what it was. I simply want Josh to wake up from surgery long
enough for me to tell him that I’m in love with him…and then probably hand
over my resignation, but that’s not the point.
That was one of those solidification of my feelings moments. When Toby
said that Josh was in surgery and that it was critical, I had a moment to
consider what my life would be without Josh in it and it broke my heart. My
life would be dull and colorless. I wouldn’t want to get out of bed in the
morning. I CERTAINLY couldn’t stay at the White House. Every aspect of
my life would be changed forever and not in a good way. But the worst part
of it, the absolute worst, would be that I would lose Josh without ever telling
him how I feel. He may not feel the same way about me and he may get a
restraining order of some kind, but once he wakes up from surgery, and he
WILL wake up from surgery, I am going to take that risk. I have to.
“When are they going to come give us another update on Josh?” I ask Sam
who’s just come back to the waiting room with coffee.
“The doctor is out there with the First Lady right now.” He motions with his
thumb.
I drop Mrs. Landingham’s hand like it’s a hot poker and dash for the
hallway. I pick up a little of the conversation as I approach them.
“…it’s complicated by his previous gunshot wound.” The doctor was
explaining. Previous gunshot wound? What the hell is he talking about?
“And the damage this time has really concentrated on his heart. We’re
preparing to do bypass while we attempt to repair it but as you know, it’s a
very complicated surgery and he’s not in the best of health to start with.”
Dr. Bartlet nods her head and I want to scream ‘no’. He’s already making
excuses and he needs to just…go back in there and fix it! Unfortunately,
my feet are cemented to the floor and my throat is frozen.
“I understand.” Dr. Bartlet told him. “Thanks for the update. I’ll be
personally responsible for his medical decisions until his mother arrives.”
“No!” I finally find my voice. “No, I am.” I object and move forward to Dr.
Bartlet’s surprise.
“Donna?” She puts a hand on my shoulder in an attempt to calm me or I
don’t know, bring back my sanity, but although I’m a little panicked, I am
absolutely sane.
“I have his medical power of attorney.” I report and then inexcusably start
digging through my purse until I realize I don’t carry it in my wallet. “It’s at
the White House. I can have someone there fax it over. Josh signed it. We
both signed it. Just in case….just in case.” I finish lamely.
The doctor looks between the First Lady and me until the First Lady
decides to believe me. “If Donna says she has it, then she has it.” Dr.
Bartlet vouches for me and that’s good enough for the doctor.
“There’s an observation area for the operating theater if you’d like to--”
“Yes!” I accept before he can finish his sentence.
“Can you give us a minute, Jim?” Dr. Bartlet requests and the doctor nods
and walks away. “Donna? Are you sure you want to do that? Seeing
anyone’s chest cracked open for surgery is…unsettling. Seeing open heart
surgery performed on someone you know--”
“Will you take me there now, please, Dr. Bartlet?” I interrupt. We’re wasting
valuable time here. She must see the determination in my eyes because
she puts her arm around my shoulder and leads me to the observation
area.
At first, when I see him, I think I’m going to vomit. This can’t be right. Dr.
Bartlet must sense my reaction because she moves the trash basket in
front of me.
“Donna, if you change your mind about staying here…”
“I won’t.” I shake my head and force myself to look back down at Josh. My
hands reach out and rest on the glass in front of me as if by their own
volition. Then something occurs to me.
“Oh my God, I didn’t even ask about the President.” I turn to the First Lady
in horror.
“He’s going to be just fine, Donna. Don’t worry. The bullet seems to have
gone out of its way not to cause any permanent damage.” She smiles at
me kindly to reassure me that she’s not mad I didn’t ask before this.
“I’m so glad.” I tell her honestly. “Josh will be so relieved to hear that.” I turn
back to the operating table.
<><><><><><><><><><><><>
“How long now?” Donna asks me and I consult my watch, just like I have
done every time she’s asked me in the roughly six hours I’ve been sitting
with her in the observation area. I can’t watch like she can though. I told Dr.
Bartlet when she asked me to do this, I’m glad to sit with Donna and help
her in any way I can, but I can’t watch what they’re doing to my best friend
below us. I wouldn’t even be here right now, if he hadn’t come to tell me he’
d found the real thing.
“He’s been in surgery 7 hours and 23 minutes.”
“Halfway done then.” She reports in a monotone voice. Josh’s mom arrived
a couple hours ago and that was another scene I’d like to never have
witnessed. Two women fearing that they’re going to lose a man they love is
way too much emotion for a mere mortal to take in. And if there was any
doubt in my head before that Donna had…more than professional feelings
for her boss, those doubts have been wiped out about now.
“Yeah, maybe I should set my stopwatch function to clock the time that’s
left.” I suggest.
“You could.” She replies. “You have an excellent watch. Josh’s watch is a
piece of shit. When he’s done with surgery, I’m going to buy him a decent
watch.” I’m really getting concerned about Donna’s state of mind.
“I’m sure he’ll appreciate that.” I muse. “But then you’ll rob him of the
excuse to come out to your desk and ask you the time all day long.” I smile
at my friend’s transparent excuse.
“That would be bad.” Donna agrees. “But he really needs a new watch.
Does Westport have a seedy part of town?”
I nearly spit coffee all over myself. “There isn’t even a semi-seedy part of
Westport. It’s extremely affluent. Why?”
“The doctor before said Josh had a previous gunshot wound and he’s
never said anything to me about being shot so I wondered if maybe it
happened when he was young and living in Westport.”
“Definitely not.” I shut that down. “You must have misheard the doctor.”
“Misheard the doctor say what?” Sarah Lyman asks when she rejoins us.
“I thought he said something about a previous gunshot wound, but I was so
shaken that maybe I just misheard him.” Donna explained.
“I’m sure that was it.” Sarah agreed. “If Josh had been shot before, I’d
certainly know it.”
“See?” I say to Donna. “You’re exhausted and upset and mishearing
things. I wish you’d stretch out on the couch here for awhile. I swear I’ll
wake you if we get any new information.”
“Thanks, Sam, that’s sweet, but I just couldn’t sleep right now.” Donna
admits and Sarah takes her hand again. They’ve both taken up a kind of
vigil at the observation window like guardian angels. I wish I could draw
because they make quite the impression standing there watching over
Josh.
I don’t know how they’re going to make it for the rest of the 14 hour
surgery. I don’t know how they’ll make it if Josh doesn’t.
What a shitty night.
<><><><><><><><><><><>
5.
You’d think by now seeing a devastated Sarah Lyman would be old hat for
me; that’s not the case.
“Sarah.” I say softly touching her shoulder.
“Leo.” She smiles through her tears and turns to hug me. My eyes are, of
course, drawn to Josh’s sleeping form in bed.
“Where’s Donna?”
“Crying in the bathroom.” She says. “She’s taken to doing that because
she thinks I won’t hear her in there.”
“She’s a good girl.” I nod.
“You don’t have to tell me.” She smiles. “The sun rises and sets on his
Donnatella.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed that.” I mutter.
“He deserves her, Leo.” Sarah says with a certain amount of warning in her
voice.
“Oh, I agree. But as long as he’s tangled up in this crap, he’ll never do
anything about it.”
“Tangled up…Leo…” she whispers. I get where’s she’s coming from. I was
under the same impression.
“Does the name Aribert Reiger mean anything to you?” I ask her bluntly.
“Ever hear it before from Noah?”
“He was a medical doctor, or so they called him, with the SS at Birkenau.
He was recruited by Mengele himself.” She says after a moment.
“Yeah, well, it appears Justice is going after him.” I reply.
She pauses a minute before she looks down at her son. The tears start to
fall and she shakes her head. NO ONE can break your heart like Sarah
Lyman, I promise you that.
“No Leo.” She says definitively. “YOU promised me after the last time you’d
put a stop to this.”
“I didn’t even realize he was still working with Justice.” I fess up. “I thought
he had stopped.”
“How’s the President?” she asks almost as an afterthought. “He was in
here before. Is he feeling any better?”
“He’s asleep.” I nod.
“What can you tell me about what happened?” she asks picking up her son’
s hand.
“Well, we have the guy on the ground in custody now. What we’ve got so
far is it wasn’t an assassination attempt on the President. It’s an
organization called West Virginia White Pride, they’re --”
“I’ve heard of them.” She says hollowly. Of course she has.
“At first they were claiming it was a hit on Charlie for dating Zoey, but after
a little creative interrogating by the secret service…” I trail off and look
from her to Josh and back at her.
She sucks her breath in mortified. “They were coming after Josh?”
“Apparently, he’s in deeper than I had imagined.”
“This can’t be happening again.” She says, scrubbing her hand down her
face and shaking her head. “I barely lived through it the first time.”
“AGAIN?” comes a third stunned voice to the conversation.
Damn. Now why couldn’t I remember Donna was still around?
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
I’m stopped cold by what I hear.
“I don’t understand.” I say walking to the bed. “Sarah, you said I misheard
the doctor. You said Josh had never been shot before.”
Sarah and Leo exchange looks then look back at me. “Well, he has.” Leo
says, clearly trying to figure out what to tell me right now. “It wasn’t as bad;
it was in his upper chest and it was about seven years ago.”
“He told me that was a small pox vaccination.” I drone. “I saw it once when
he was going running.”
“Well, that was creative.” Leo mutters. “Though I find that a ridiculous
excuse since smallpox vaccinations are given in the arm and NO ONE gets
a vaccination in the chest.”
I don’t get into that. I obviously WANTED to believe what he told me.
“Why is someone trying to kill him?” I ask.
“Donna…” Leo starts. I look down at Josh and run my fingers gently
through his hair as I watch him sleep. I close my eyes tightly and shake my
head. None of this is making sense.
“No, Leo.” I say adamantly popping my head back up and letting the tears
come. “I just stood over 14 hours of surgery, three hours in recovery and
not to mention what kind of therapy is coming in the near future for him. I
deserve to know what’s going on! He’d want me to, Leo.”
“Okay. Well, that last part’s just not true. He’d take me out to the woodshed
for telling you any of this.” Leo says and I fall silent.
“Leo…” Sarah says.
“Sarah, YOU knew. I’m not going to tell her everything; that’s up to Josh.
But didn’t you feel better once you knew?”
“No, because that’s when the nightmare really started.” She snaps
viciously at Leo.
“Well, I’m not blind, Sarah.” Leo says. “Donna’s not going anywhere and if
she’s going to be around him now, she needs to know.”
“PLEASE stop talking around me.” I plead desperately. I gently sit on the
bed next to Josh and look at his mother and mentor.
“You’re going to ask questions that I’m not going to answer, Donna.” Leo
says. “Some stuff is classified; but most is really up to Josh to tell you, and
quite frankly, I wasn’t entirely in the loop, which is something Agent Casper
and I are going to have a little discussion about.”
“Does this have anything to do with that envelope that Josh had a fit over?”
I ask.
“Yes.” Leo says. “That envelope contained information on a notorious Nazi
war criminal that Justice is investigating.”
“Oookaaay.” I drawl. “Justice does that all the time. What’s the big secret?”
“Josh.” Leo says, gesturing to the bed. “Josh is the secret. HE goes after
these guys with Justice.”
This. Makes. No. Sense.
“Josh is the Deputy Chief of Staff.”
“He also does this.” Leo says dryly.
“Since when?”
“Since too long.” Sarah says vaguely.
“I don’t understand.” I say. I am so lost right now. Josh is a Nazi hunter?
How could I not know this? How could he hide this from me? “Why does
somebody want him dead?”
“Donna!” Leo laughs. “A LOT of someones want him dead. He’s
responsible for the capture of over 200 of these guys.”
My eyes widen and my jaw drops open. Josh? My Josh? Josh isn’t stealthy
enough to lead a double life. Not the Josh I know.
But then it hits me like a freight train.
I obviously don’t know Josh very well.
Disclaimer: We claim these characters in the name of Waldorf and Statler,
however we sadly do not make any money off of them.
Authors: The writing team of Waldorf and Statler…doesn’t really matter
who’s who.
Rating: R
Time: Picks up with Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics
Category: Angsty AU that’s bordering on suspense
A/N: Speaking of Rick, we’d like to thank him for beta-ing this for us. (I
know! We have a beta! We really needed one.)
1.
“DONNA!”
“Oh, they’re playing my song…” I sigh in the bullpen to no one in particular.
I get up from my chair and make my way to Josh’s office where he’s
rummaging through his desk.
“I can’t find the…”
“It’s right on the corner.” I say pointing to a blue folder. He stops and blows
out a breath as he sees it right in front of his face.
“It’s like they have invisibility shields around them or something.” He picks
up the file and opens it up to review it for the first of many meetings this
afternoon. This is going to be a long day. I’ve already canceled my
tentative plans for tonight in anticipation. I know he’s going to need me at
the polling bank.
“I think you’re just trying to figure out reasons to call me in here.” I smile
and bounce around his desk a bit. He pushes the chair back and sighs in
frustration.
“What the hell is wrong with this thing?”
“It wobbles.”
“Yes, thank you. Are you going to call someone for it?”
“You were serious about that?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. Yes, I will call someone for it.” I reply.
“Listen, I think I’m going to need you to…” he starts.
“Yes, I already figured that. I canceled my plans tonight.”
“How do you keep doing that?!”
“I’m tuned to you.”
“You’re creepy sometimes.” He says. “When’s Joey starting the poll?”
“Tonight. Thus, my foresight in having to stay for it.” I sit down at the end of
his desk and look over at him.
“Did Toby find a guy yet?”
“Nope. But he’s working on it.”
“Okay. Let me know when CJ starts talking about that drug memo.”
“Okay.”
“What are you still doing here?” he smiles after a moment when I don’t
leave.
“I’m just waiting to see how else I can improve upon your day.” I shrug.
Sometimes I just like to get flirty and mess with him…which usually ends up
confusing one or both of us, but it doesn’t seem to stop either one of us.
He leans forward on his hands and is inches from my face. I feel very warm
now. “You improve all of my days simply by being a part of my life.”
Damn, that was a good one.
But he hasn’t moved yet. In fact, he’s getting closer. Weird moment! Weird
moment!
He’s kissing me.
Damn, it’s nice. It’s not deep or long, just a sweet kiss on the lips that lasts
a little longer than it should between a boss and his assistant.
Wait a minute. That doesn’t sound right. Bosses don’t generally kiss their
assistants on the lips, so yeah…this is out of ordinary. He pulls away
smiling and resumes his position before dropping down and sighing over
his wobbly chair.
Okay. Odd. We just kissed a little bit there and he doesn’t seem all that
phased by it. He has kissed me before. He kissed me on the cheek when
we won the election and after the President was sworn in, and he’s kissed
me on the forehead when I’ve given up working on a dark and
uncomfortable campaign bus in favor of going to sleep on his shoulder.
So yes, while that kind of behavior is odd for most every other boss and
assistant, it’s not for us. So you can see why I’m still confused.
Look what happened to me! I used to be a coherent person until Josh did
that!
“Mike Casper called.” I croak, suddenly remembering that I had a message
for him.
“What’d he want?”
“It was weird. He just left a message and all it is is a name.”
“What’s the name?”
“Aribert Reiger.”
Josh freezes momentarily and when he looks back up, something’s
different about him. “Are you sure you got that right?”
“Yeah, he spelled it and everything. Who’s Aribert Reiger?”
“Uh, I don’t know. I guess that’s why I’m heading over to Justice to find out.”
“What?” He moves over to his safe, which I’ve NEVER seen him open. I can’
t see inside, but he pulls out a leather bound folder and puts it in his
backpack.
“Clear my schedule. I’m going to be at Justice all afternoon.”
Holy crap! He’s serious!
“Josh! You can’t do that today. You have to meet with Hooper and Strom.
The poll is tonight. Leo will implode.”
“This is more important, Donna.” He says in all seriousness.
“Greetings, mi compadres!” CJ sings as she comes into the office bearing
a newspaper. If she notices Josh’s stone face and my look of
astonishment, she doesn’t pick up on it.
“I swear, sometimes I think you two should date. Look how adorable you
are.” She drops a newspaper onto Josh’s desk and we both lean over to
look. It’s an article on the dinner the other night and there’s a picture of
Josh and I there. It’s a very nice picture outside the hotel we were at and
under the caption, it says, ‘Deputy Chief of Staff Joshua Lyman and
Guest,’ which is crap because I was working, but I like that they made that
mistake.
“Yes, well, I can make even Josh look good.” I chuckle, but the memory of
that kiss is still fresh and I’m left wistfully thinking that one day soon I will be
his ‘guest’ at one of these things.
Josh, however, hasn’t said a word. He seems rooted to his spot and is
staring at the picture. Finally, he clears his throat. “CJ, can you excuse us?
I’m heading out for the afternoon and I have to go over a few things with
Donna before I go.”
“Uh…sure.” CJ says. She seems a little confused about what he might
have to say to me that she can’t hear. I’m right there with you, sister.
CJ leaves the room and closes the door behind her. To my surprise, Josh
adds the newspaper to the contents of his backpack.
“Listen,” he says softly and turns to me. “I’m really sorry about before with
the…” he doesn’t say kiss, but waves his finger between our faces. “It was
out of line and I promise it won’t happen again.”
“I don’t know.” I smile. “It didn’t seem so bad.”
“I’m really sorry, Donna.” He says again. And I can tell by the look in his
eyes, he truly means it. It really saddens him to say this. It’s almost like he
really wanted it, too. “It won’t happen ever again. I’ll call you when I’m on
my way back.”
He throws his backpack over his shoulder and strides right out of the
office. I’m left there wondering just what the hell happened here.
I roll over the events of last few minutes in my head. This makes no sense.
With one cryptic call from Mike Casper, he cancels his whole day?
Someone’s going to have to pay for all this in blood, and who do you think
is going to be fed to the lions? Me. I’m always the one that has to take the
punches from his off the cuff decisions like that.
“Hey, Donna.” Leo says entering the office. “Did I just see Josh leave?”
“Uh…yeah.” I say trying to pull myself back to the realm of those with a
clue. “He’s having me cancel his afternoon. Something came up.”
“Cancel his…what the hell for!?” Leo barks. See? See Donna get thrown
under the train.
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “Mike Casper called. He left a weird message and
Josh canceled his day.”
“Mike Casper?” Leo asks sharply. “What was the message?”
“Aribert Reiger.” I say immediately. What the hell is going on? Now Leo
looks like he’s turning to stone.
“You’re sure about that?” Leo says in a clipped voice and I nod hopelessly.
“Thanks, Donna.” He nods and leaves the office.
What the hell is going on?
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
2.
More than a little high off the nine point bump that CJ just announced, I
take stock in my very own merry band here. Sam seems to have gotten
over having his picture with a call girl plastered all over the paper. CJ is
bubbling over with ideas on how to play the nine point bump and where we
should take it legislatively. Toby, I may be mistaken, but I believe Toby is
smiling! Joey, and her sidekick Kenny, are actively involved in the
discussion. It was a great idea bringing her on board. Then my gaze falls
on my Deputy.
He’s making a good show of things. He tried to goad Joey into a debate on
English as the national language and somebody else might miss the signs,
but my Deputy is phoning it in. He could debate this topic in his sleep and it
looks like he is. There! Another yawn!
First, Josh disappears for hours with some concocted story about going to
Justice. Then, after a brief appearance at work, he’s gone again until staff
this morning and he’s barely able to stay awake. Please! Does he think I’m
stupid? Donna’s joined us and she’s giving Josh odd looks too. This can
be nothing but trouble.
I strategically step between them and speak to Josh in a lowered voice.
“Late night?” I ask and Josh doesn’t even flinch.
“Had some trouble sleeping.” He admits. Yes, you’re always supposed to
keep your lies as close to the truth as possible. Well done.
“Whatever could be the cause of that do you think?” I press. Don’t do this,
Josh. Don’t put me in this position with you.
“Could be almost anything.” Josh smiles. “I’m always thinking, you know.”
He quips.
“…about the Mets maybe.” Donna mutters next to me. This woman picks
up on everything, I swear.
“Let me save you some emotional heartbreak, Josh. The Mets don’t have a
shot.” I shoot back. Obviously, now is not the time to go into this. Damn it.
“You know me, Leo, ever the optimist.” Josh’s eyes hold mine for a few
seconds and I get the underlying meaning to his words. I shake my head
sadly.
“And one day, you’re going to pay for that.” I tell him honestly. “Go home
and get some sleep.” I order. “This party is breaking up anyway.” I nod at
where the rest of our group has risen and started to wander out.
“Yes, sir.” Josh salutes and with a hand on Donna’s back, leaves me alone
with the President. For the love of God, Josh, don’t do something stupid.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><<><><><><><><><>
I rap twice quickly and walk into Josh’s office to find him on his cell. His feet
drop off the desk and he looks angrily at me.
“Damn it, Donna, I’m on the phone.” He snaps.
“Sorry, I didn’t know that.” I back out the door and close it again with a little
more force than might be actually necessary to, you know, shut a door. He’
s been impossible for days. I thought it was concern over the President’s
climbing negatives, but we got new numbers a few days ago and he’s up
nine points. Everyone else around here is on cloud nine. What the hell is
the matter with Josh?
I give him a few minutes to finish his call and then try again. I have to get
him moving or he’s going to be late for his meeting in the Roosevelt room. I
open the door cautiously, ready in case he takes my head off again. But to
my surprise, he’s leaning against the window, just staring outside. One
doesn’t get the opportunity to see Josh Lyman still like this very often. He
looks contemplative or reflective. Usually Josh does that out loud…with me.
“Josh?” His head swivels around to me.
“Langton?” he sighs.
“Yeah, five minutes in the Roosevelt room.” I remind him and he nods.
“Are you okay?”
Josh smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I snap at you and you’re
concerned about my well being?”
“That’s not you.” I explain. “Not unless it’s teasing. Who was on the phone,
your mom?”
He looks puzzled now. “No…just a personal call.”
“Well, tell her to stop keeping you up so late. At your age, you need decent
sleep to keep up your cognitive abilities.” I tease. He predictably rolls his
eyes.
“Right.” He says sarcastically, but offers no more information. Shit. Okay, I
was fishing. Something is keeping him up nights and I was thinking that it
might be a woman, but if it was a woman, he’d be strutting around more
wouldn’t he? It’s just that ever since that kiss, I can’t stop thinking about
kissing him again. “I blew it.”
Subject change! “Blew it with what?”
“With the VP meeting. Leo’s pissed.” He admits and sits on the edge of his
desk.
“I thought you got the VP on board?”
“I did.”
“Then why is Leo pissed?”
“It was the way I did it. Leo says there’s a way to be a person and I --” Josh
stopped mid sentence. “It doesn’t matter. I was tired and wasn’t thinking
clearly or I wouldn’t have made such a boneheaded mistake. Now Leo’s
pissed.”
“He can’t be too pissed. You got the VP on board. You had the meeting
with Leo and you still have all your fingers.” I reason.
“What the hell?”
“He didn’t cut anything else off, did he?” I try to tease it out of him and sit
next to him on the desk; hip to hip, shoulder to shoulder. But he doesn’t
look at me.
“Some days, I wonder what the hell I’m doing here.” He sighs. This is very
bad. Josh ALWAYS knows what we’re doing here. He’s usually the one that
reminds everybody else.
“Okay, that’s enough.” I tell him. “You just need some sleep and you’ll get
your perspective back. Are you going to be able to make it through the
town hall tonight?”
“With you by my side, anything is possible.” He smiles at me and I see a
hint of what I saw the other day just before he kissed me. Maybe he was
worried that he was taking advantage of me before and that’s why he
backed off? Maybe if I made it clear…
“I’ll always be at your side.” I promise and his eyes soften.
“That’s what the Government pays you the big bucks for, right?” He jokes.
“Nope.” I shake my head no. Then because I can’t help it, I add, “That’s
what your MOTHER pays me the big bucks for.” This makes him chuckle.
“No doubt.” He agrees. “We spend so much time together my mother is
convinced you’re her best shot at grandchildren.”
Now it’s my turn to chuckle. It might be the tiniest bit self-conscious.
“Roosevelt room?” He confirms as he stands up.
“He’s waiting for you.” I tell him and hand him the appropriate file.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
I literally have to shake myself a couple times to stay awake for this
meeting. Langton is dull under the best circumstances, and these are not
the best circumstances. This is just one of the reasons it’s probably a bad
idea to pursue this, but…
“…and I’ll tell the President so.” Langton finishes up.
“Let me bring him this information first, Congressman. We may be able to
find a compromise here, okay?”
“I’m serious here, Josh.”
“Believe me when I say I know that, sir. It won’t be today, we’re prepping for
the town hall, but I’ll take it to him tomorrow, first thing. Thanks for coming
by.” I quickly rise and shake his hand before he thinks of ‘one more thing’
to tell the President. I need to get out of here and take a walk for a few
minutes.
When I get out to the sidewalk, I pull out my cell and call a number I know
by heart.
“What do you know?” I ask
“Exactly what I knew when I spoke to you an hour and a half ago.” He
snarks at me.
“I can change the course of the country in an hour and a half. You guys
must move much slower over there.” I snark back.
“Yeah, we’re kind of hamstrung by the laws and company rules and such.”
“Come on. Throw me a bone here.”
“When I have one, I’ll toss it straight to you. Didn’t I before?”
“Yeah…”
“Then get me the stuff you promised me so I can get some results for you.”
And he hangs up on me. I get no respect around here.
I walk back into my office to find Charlie and Zoey fighting in my office.
What the hell? Just what I do not need today.
“I’m sorry, we were just using your office for a minute.” Charlie apologizes.
“You can keep fighting in just a second. I just need to find something.” I
explain and sit down to rifle through my desk. Only there’s no chair and my
ass falls straight to the floor. Shit.
“DONNA!”
“We should get something temporary so that doesn’t happen.”
“Thanks.” I get up off the floor to see Charlie and Zoey leaving my office in
all due haste. I find the envelope I left earlier and stick Mike Casper’s name
on it. I set it to the side and look for the remote control so I can watch C.J.’s
briefing. I get so absorbed in it that I almost miss Donna picking up the
envelope for Mike.
“Give that back!” I shout and she jumps.
“I was just going to have it messengered over for you.”
“You don’t know where it’s supposed to go.” I object, still holding my hand
out for it.
“Well, I dropped out of college, that’s true, but I can read an envelope and
this one says Mike Casper on it so I’m GUESSING that means it’s going to
Mike Casper at his F.B.I. office.” She drawls.
“No!”
“No, it’s not going to Mike? Because then I have to question YOUR skills in
this area, Joshua, because this is certainly your handwriting here.”
“I mean, yes, it’s going to Mike, but it’s not going by messenger.” I explain.
“I’m delivering it to him after the thing at the Newseum tonight.”
“It will be, like, ten o’clock , Josh!” She points out. She has to pick NOW to
be logical. After a whole thing with her friend Curtis and the wheel of my
chair?
“Justice doesn’t keep bankers hours, Donna, give me the damn envelope!”
I snap.
She hands it to me like it’s a ticking time bomb. “There you go. Everything
okay now?”
“I’m not melting down. It’s just that it’s urgent he get this before tomorrow
and it’s sensitive, so I want to hand it to him personally.” I calm my body
and voice down.
“Okay. You only had to say so.” She’s still looking at me funny. “You really
need some sleep, Josh.”
“I know.” I reply and tilt my head back on my temporary chair only to
discover it doesn’t have a head rest. Lovely. “I’ll get some sleep tonight.
After the thing in Rosslyn.”
“You promise?” She asks.
“Swear to God.” I affirm holding the envelope to my chest. Maybe if I just
close my eyes for awhile….
I must have drifted out because the next thing I know, Donna’s shaking me
awake.
“Josh? The President wants you for a final run through before the
motorcade leaves for the Newseum. Something about the answer on
children’s healthcare?”
“Shit!” I jump up. “How long have I been sleeping?”
“A couple hours.” She answers.
“A couple hours?!” I shout.
“You needed the rest; it’s going to be a long night tonight. You had nothing
pressing, relax.” She pats my arm. “Now go see the President.”
I take off at a half run, slipping on my suit jacket. I have to slap my cheeks
a bit and I stop briefly to get a cold cup of water from the dispenser.
Now, I’m ready for the President. The rehearsal goes well with the new
answers and we get into the motorcade with high spirits. I just can’t shake
the feeling that I’m forgetting something….
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
3.
Sigh.
You know he really is hopeless without me. Sitting right there on his desk is
this urgent envelope for Mike Casper.
I pick it up and head over to the Press Room. Carol’s outside. “Are they
done?” I ask her.
“No, they’re taking forever.” Carol says rolling her eyes. “It’s looking like
they’re going to go right up until they have to leave.”
“I need Josh.” I say.
“Well, it’s his turn with the President.” Carol said. “I have strict instructions
not to disturb them unless something explodes.”
“Shit.” I sigh and blow out a breath.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“It’s just that he’s got this package that needs to go over to Mike Casper at
Justice and he forgot it. He said it absolutely has to be there tonight.”
“So have a messenger do it.” She shrugs.
“He said he didn’t want it messengered. He said it’s sensitive and he
wanted to do it himself.”
“Well, that ship has sailed.” Carol says. “Why don’t you just bring it over?”
“Well, I’m supposed to go to the town hall thing.” I say looking at my watch.
“It would be close, but I might be able to make it. I don’t know though. He
seemed pretty adamant that he do it.”
“Donna, he trusts you with absolutely everything in his life.” Carol reminds
me. “I’m sure he won’t completely freak out that you delivered an envelope
for him. I mean, it’s not like it’s got launch codes in it.”
“True.” I say.
“And you’ll get to see cute Agent Casper.” Carol smiles.
“This is also true.” I smile back. Mike’s adorable.
“Maybe that’s his problem.” Carol chuckles. “Maybe he’s afraid Agent
Casper is going to ask you out.”
“Please.” I scoff. “Josh doesn’t care who I date. He’s made it very obvious
that he has no interest in, and I quote, ‘the revolving door of local gomers I
date.’ I doubt he’d be upset if Mike asked me out.”
“For someone who knows her boss so well, Donna, you sure miss a lot of
clues.” Carol says.
“What’s that mean?” I ask.
“Nothing.” She says shaking her head. “You better get going if you have
any hope of getting back here in time.”
Damn. She just blew me off. “All right. I’ll see you later at the thing.”
I move quickly back to the bullpen and grab my tote bag, sliding the
envelope in and then head out through security. I wonder what the hell is in
here that’s so important? This is the part of my job I absolutely hate. The
confidential part. I’m a natural gossip and so having something like this in
my hot little hands and not opening it makes me nuts. Not nuts enough to
put my job on the line, but still…
I check my watch as I step out onto the sidewalk and see that I have time to
walk over. I have next to no cash on me, so I’m not really inclined to hail a
cab. They can’t go in front of the White House anyway.
It’s a nice night for a walk though. I love this time of year in D.C. The
promise of summer, the anticipation of the vacation that in reality I’ll never
get to take. I’m so lost in thought that I’m surprised when I come upon
Justice.
“Ah, government never closes, huh?” the security guard smiles at me.
“No, sir.” I smile back. “I’m here for Mike Casper.”
“Is he expecting you?”
“Not me specifically. I have something for him from Josh Lyman.” I explain.
“I’ll buzz him down.” The Guard says as he waves me through the metal
detectors to wait on the other side.
It only takes Mike a few short minutes to appear. “Uh…hi, Donna, what’s
up?”
“Oh hi, Mike.” I smile brightly. “I’ve got something here for you from Josh.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No.” I say and hand him the envelope.
“He gave this to you to bring over!?”
“No.” I say shaking my head. “He wanted to do it himself but forgot it before
the thing, so I brought it.”
What is IN that thing?
“You guys are acting weird. Are there launch codes in there or
something?” I laugh nervously.
“No.” Mike says simply. “I’m just surprised is all.”
“Okay. Well, it got here in one piece.” I snap. “The government trusts me,
so I think you two can take a freaking pill already.”
My cell phone rings and Josh’s name scrolls across the screen. “It’s
himself, Mike. Have a good night.”
“Wait, Donna…” Mike starts to say, but I flip the phone open and before I
can tout my efficiency to Josh, he lays right into me.
“Where the hell are you?” He demands abruptly. “You missed the
motorcade!”
“You left that envelope you needed to get to Mike on your desk. I brought it
over.” I explain, leaving Justice.
Silence.
“I REALLY wish you hadn’t done that, Donna.” He says evenly.
“Josh, it’s my job.” I reply.
“Not that.”
“Well, how the hell was I supposed to know that?” I counter. “You didn’t say
it wasn’t work related you went on and on about how sensitive it was. I’ve
handled ‘sensitive’ stuff before, Josh. If the government and the NSA trust
me, I think I can handle walking an envelope over to Justice and delivering
it to the FBI.”
“You walked!?”
What is the matter with him? I would have thought that nap in his office
earlier would have set him on a bit of a better course.
“Yeah.” I say slowly.
“Hail a cab.”
“What?”
“Donna, walk to the street and hail a cab.” He insists again. “Get off the
street.”
“Josh, I…”
“Would you just put your fucking hand up and hail a God damn cab!?”
I’m speechless at how frantic he sounds. Why I placate him when he’d
never be the wiser, I don’t know, but I walk to the curb and stick my hand
out for an approaching cab. “You’re giving me the money for this, you
psycho.”
“Whatever.” He says. “Are you in a cab?”
“Yes.” I say as I close the door car door and give the driver my address.
“Maybe you should go to the White House.” Josh says sounding visibly
relieved.
“I’m going home, Joshua, where I’m going to drink and try to forget about
you acting like a maniac.”
I turn my head and look back to the sidewalk where I was standing merely
five seconds ago as the cab pulls away. There’s a man standing there in a
dark coat and hat, staring right at me in the cab. If it hadn’t moved, he
could have opened the door and gotten in with me and he doesn’t look like
he’d be a pleasant traveling companion.
“Ew, who’s that guy?”
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Chapter 4
I’m paranoid, right? That must be it. Not that I haven’t had reasons in the
past to be paranoid, but nothing has happened RECENTLY to incite such
fear in me. But it’s DONNA. If anything happened to Donna because of
me…
But it didn’t. She’s home safe and sound; no harm, no foul. Mike has what
he needs and everything is fine. Now I can concentrate on the town hall.
The President is in fine form tonight. He’s going to kick ass at the Newseum
and he’s finally stopped giving me the strange looks that started when I
was swearing at Donna about getting a cab. All we need now is good news
on Toby’s brother in the shuttle and it will be JACKPOT time.
We get that good news when the President is almost through with the town
hall. Life is looking up, people! Leo gives the President the signal and I slip
out to call Donna on the way out as the President is making his closing
remarks. I was an ass to her earlier and I’m thinking if I offer to bring some
late night food over she might forgive me. I mean, I know that my motivation
was to protect Donna, but SHE doesn’t know that. I can eat a little crow
here; especially if it looks like Kung Pao chicken with egg rolls.
I try twice and she doesn’t answer. Come on, Donna. I’m trying to make up
here. Finally, the President exits and I’m forced to leave a quick message
before the motorcade leaves without me.
“Donna, I know you’re there, pick up please? I’m sorry about before. I
just…you shouldn’t be walking around there alone at night…I
was…concerned about your safety. Anyway, I might have overreacted a bit
there and I wanted to say I’m sorry. Then I thought that nothing says I’m
sorry like Chinese food, so as soon as we get back to the White House, I’m
going to get in my car, make a pit stop at Mr. Wong’s and bring over some
food, okay? Since you’re not answering, I can only assume your silence is
complicit agreement. See how I spun that? And yes, I’ll get extra egg rolls.”
I hang up the phone, my mood lighter than it’s been in days. Overall, it’s
been a good day and it’s going to end with some fiery debate and Chinese
food with one of my favorite people in the world.
Shit! They’re almost to the limo, I’ve got to catch up…
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Extra egg rolls? Is he implying that I eat too many egg rolls? He better not
be. I’m already pissed at the way he yelled at me tonight. He better not be
going there.
Okay, the apology was sweet. Nothing says sorry like Chinese food?
Typical Josh. Let’s see, by the time they get back to the White House, he
picks up his car (and my food) and gets over here…probably a half hour. I
change my clothes quick. What? I was in ratty old comfort clothes that have
holes in them and stuff. It’s not like I put on a dress! Although I do have this
red one I’d like him to see…
My clock is just chiming ten, so I decide to turn on the local news to see
how they’re covering the town hall…and maybe get a glimpse of some of
the people I work with. I know LOTS of people staffing the President. I
could see ANY of them.
They’ve got a live picture and the crowd is going wild. I smile watching the
President working the rope line. He LOVES working the rope line. When we
were campaigning for President, we were always running late because he
insisted on shaking every hand along the rope line. I decide to open some
wine while I’m waiting for Josh and move into the kitchen. Then I hear it;
gunfire.
I bolt back into the living room and scan the screen for a visual clue on who
is shooting and who they are shooting at. This is insane. I can’t see
anyone in particular, just waves of people running and screaming. Within
seconds, the President’s limo tears out of its parking spot. Thank God, at
least the President is safe.
I grab for my cell phone and call Josh but get sent directly to his voice mail.
He’s probably trying to call me. I hold the phone in my lap, willing it to ring,
while a reporter at the Newseum describes the scene.
Soon, ambulances and emergency medical staff are swarming all over the
crowd. Reporters are getting first hand accounts from witnesses that say
everything from nobody was hit, to several people were hit by bullets. Can
nobody get their stories straight?
I try Josh, but it again goes straight to voice mail. I don’t know what to do. I
know from Secret Service training that they’ll lock down the White House,
so it’s pointless to go there. I need to talk to Josh. I should be with Josh
right now.
The minutes are interminable and just when I think my blood pressure is
leveling out, they have breaking news. The President of the United States
has been shot and is being taken to GW. That’s it. That’s where Josh will
be going, so that’s where I’m going too.
Glad now that I changed clothes earlier, I simply grab my purse and take a
cab as close as it can get to the hospital. I run the rest of the way unsure
why I feel speed is urgent right now, but simply feeling that it is.
It eats up valuable minutes trying to get by security. I forgot my badge in
my haste to get down here so I have to find an agent who knows me and
then I have to find where they’ve sequestered senior staff. Hold on, Josh, I’
m almost there.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><<><><>
“I should have never taken that stupid envelope.” I murmur.
“What’s that, dear?” Mrs. Landingham asks me.
I just shake my head. This is completely surreal. I had to tell Josh’s mom
the latest update while she was driving here. Well, her friend was driving,
which was good since I thought Sarah would break down when I told her. I
know I almost did. I just knew what Josh needed most was for me to hold it
together so I could help Sarah hold it together. That poor woman has
already lost her daughter and her husband. She can’t lose Josh too.
Neither of us can.
Let me tell you something interesting about a life and death struggle; the
real life and death type struggles. They have a way of solidifying your
thoughts and feelings and insist on an immediate re-prioritization of
EVERYTHING.
For instance, I recall perfectly that I was pissed at Josh about something
earlier this evening, but for the life of me, I have NO idea what it was. Nor
do I care what it was. I simply want Josh to wake up from surgery long
enough for me to tell him that I’m in love with him…and then probably hand
over my resignation, but that’s not the point.
That was one of those solidification of my feelings moments. When Toby
said that Josh was in surgery and that it was critical, I had a moment to
consider what my life would be without Josh in it and it broke my heart. My
life would be dull and colorless. I wouldn’t want to get out of bed in the
morning. I CERTAINLY couldn’t stay at the White House. Every aspect of
my life would be changed forever and not in a good way. But the worst part
of it, the absolute worst, would be that I would lose Josh without ever telling
him how I feel. He may not feel the same way about me and he may get a
restraining order of some kind, but once he wakes up from surgery, and he
WILL wake up from surgery, I am going to take that risk. I have to.
“When are they going to come give us another update on Josh?” I ask Sam
who’s just come back to the waiting room with coffee.
“The doctor is out there with the First Lady right now.” He motions with his
thumb.
I drop Mrs. Landingham’s hand like it’s a hot poker and dash for the
hallway. I pick up a little of the conversation as I approach them.
“…it’s complicated by his previous gunshot wound.” The doctor was
explaining. Previous gunshot wound? What the hell is he talking about?
“And the damage this time has really concentrated on his heart. We’re
preparing to do bypass while we attempt to repair it but as you know, it’s a
very complicated surgery and he’s not in the best of health to start with.”
Dr. Bartlet nods her head and I want to scream ‘no’. He’s already making
excuses and he needs to just…go back in there and fix it! Unfortunately,
my feet are cemented to the floor and my throat is frozen.
“I understand.” Dr. Bartlet told him. “Thanks for the update. I’ll be
personally responsible for his medical decisions until his mother arrives.”
“No!” I finally find my voice. “No, I am.” I object and move forward to Dr.
Bartlet’s surprise.
“Donna?” She puts a hand on my shoulder in an attempt to calm me or I
don’t know, bring back my sanity, but although I’m a little panicked, I am
absolutely sane.
“I have his medical power of attorney.” I report and then inexcusably start
digging through my purse until I realize I don’t carry it in my wallet. “It’s at
the White House. I can have someone there fax it over. Josh signed it. We
both signed it. Just in case….just in case.” I finish lamely.
The doctor looks between the First Lady and me until the First Lady
decides to believe me. “If Donna says she has it, then she has it.” Dr.
Bartlet vouches for me and that’s good enough for the doctor.
“There’s an observation area for the operating theater if you’d like to--”
“Yes!” I accept before he can finish his sentence.
“Can you give us a minute, Jim?” Dr. Bartlet requests and the doctor nods
and walks away. “Donna? Are you sure you want to do that? Seeing
anyone’s chest cracked open for surgery is…unsettling. Seeing open heart
surgery performed on someone you know--”
“Will you take me there now, please, Dr. Bartlet?” I interrupt. We’re wasting
valuable time here. She must see the determination in my eyes because
she puts her arm around my shoulder and leads me to the observation
area.
At first, when I see him, I think I’m going to vomit. This can’t be right. Dr.
Bartlet must sense my reaction because she moves the trash basket in
front of me.
“Donna, if you change your mind about staying here…”
“I won’t.” I shake my head and force myself to look back down at Josh. My
hands reach out and rest on the glass in front of me as if by their own
volition. Then something occurs to me.
“Oh my God, I didn’t even ask about the President.” I turn to the First Lady
in horror.
“He’s going to be just fine, Donna. Don’t worry. The bullet seems to have
gone out of its way not to cause any permanent damage.” She smiles at
me kindly to reassure me that she’s not mad I didn’t ask before this.
“I’m so glad.” I tell her honestly. “Josh will be so relieved to hear that.” I turn
back to the operating table.
<><><><><><><><><><><><>
“How long now?” Donna asks me and I consult my watch, just like I have
done every time she’s asked me in the roughly six hours I’ve been sitting
with her in the observation area. I can’t watch like she can though. I told Dr.
Bartlet when she asked me to do this, I’m glad to sit with Donna and help
her in any way I can, but I can’t watch what they’re doing to my best friend
below us. I wouldn’t even be here right now, if he hadn’t come to tell me he’
d found the real thing.
“He’s been in surgery 7 hours and 23 minutes.”
“Halfway done then.” She reports in a monotone voice. Josh’s mom arrived
a couple hours ago and that was another scene I’d like to never have
witnessed. Two women fearing that they’re going to lose a man they love is
way too much emotion for a mere mortal to take in. And if there was any
doubt in my head before that Donna had…more than professional feelings
for her boss, those doubts have been wiped out about now.
“Yeah, maybe I should set my stopwatch function to clock the time that’s
left.” I suggest.
“You could.” She replies. “You have an excellent watch. Josh’s watch is a
piece of shit. When he’s done with surgery, I’m going to buy him a decent
watch.” I’m really getting concerned about Donna’s state of mind.
“I’m sure he’ll appreciate that.” I muse. “But then you’ll rob him of the
excuse to come out to your desk and ask you the time all day long.” I smile
at my friend’s transparent excuse.
“That would be bad.” Donna agrees. “But he really needs a new watch.
Does Westport have a seedy part of town?”
I nearly spit coffee all over myself. “There isn’t even a semi-seedy part of
Westport. It’s extremely affluent. Why?”
“The doctor before said Josh had a previous gunshot wound and he’s
never said anything to me about being shot so I wondered if maybe it
happened when he was young and living in Westport.”
“Definitely not.” I shut that down. “You must have misheard the doctor.”
“Misheard the doctor say what?” Sarah Lyman asks when she rejoins us.
“I thought he said something about a previous gunshot wound, but I was so
shaken that maybe I just misheard him.” Donna explained.
“I’m sure that was it.” Sarah agreed. “If Josh had been shot before, I’d
certainly know it.”
“See?” I say to Donna. “You’re exhausted and upset and mishearing
things. I wish you’d stretch out on the couch here for awhile. I swear I’ll
wake you if we get any new information.”
“Thanks, Sam, that’s sweet, but I just couldn’t sleep right now.” Donna
admits and Sarah takes her hand again. They’ve both taken up a kind of
vigil at the observation window like guardian angels. I wish I could draw
because they make quite the impression standing there watching over
Josh.
I don’t know how they’re going to make it for the rest of the 14 hour
surgery. I don’t know how they’ll make it if Josh doesn’t.
What a shitty night.
<><><><><><><><><><><>
5.
You’d think by now seeing a devastated Sarah Lyman would be old hat for
me; that’s not the case.
“Sarah.” I say softly touching her shoulder.
“Leo.” She smiles through her tears and turns to hug me. My eyes are, of
course, drawn to Josh’s sleeping form in bed.
“Where’s Donna?”
“Crying in the bathroom.” She says. “She’s taken to doing that because
she thinks I won’t hear her in there.”
“She’s a good girl.” I nod.
“You don’t have to tell me.” She smiles. “The sun rises and sets on his
Donnatella.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed that.” I mutter.
“He deserves her, Leo.” Sarah says with a certain amount of warning in her
voice.
“Oh, I agree. But as long as he’s tangled up in this crap, he’ll never do
anything about it.”
“Tangled up…Leo…” she whispers. I get where’s she’s coming from. I was
under the same impression.
“Does the name Aribert Reiger mean anything to you?” I ask her bluntly.
“Ever hear it before from Noah?”
“He was a medical doctor, or so they called him, with the SS at Birkenau.
He was recruited by Mengele himself.” She says after a moment.
“Yeah, well, it appears Justice is going after him.” I reply.
She pauses a minute before she looks down at her son. The tears start to
fall and she shakes her head. NO ONE can break your heart like Sarah
Lyman, I promise you that.
“No Leo.” She says definitively. “YOU promised me after the last time you’d
put a stop to this.”
“I didn’t even realize he was still working with Justice.” I fess up. “I thought
he had stopped.”
“How’s the President?” she asks almost as an afterthought. “He was in
here before. Is he feeling any better?”
“He’s asleep.” I nod.
“What can you tell me about what happened?” she asks picking up her son’
s hand.
“Well, we have the guy on the ground in custody now. What we’ve got so
far is it wasn’t an assassination attempt on the President. It’s an
organization called West Virginia White Pride, they’re --”
“I’ve heard of them.” She says hollowly. Of course she has.
“At first they were claiming it was a hit on Charlie for dating Zoey, but after
a little creative interrogating by the secret service…” I trail off and look
from her to Josh and back at her.
She sucks her breath in mortified. “They were coming after Josh?”
“Apparently, he’s in deeper than I had imagined.”
“This can’t be happening again.” She says, scrubbing her hand down her
face and shaking her head. “I barely lived through it the first time.”
“AGAIN?” comes a third stunned voice to the conversation.
Damn. Now why couldn’t I remember Donna was still around?
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
I’m stopped cold by what I hear.
“I don’t understand.” I say walking to the bed. “Sarah, you said I misheard
the doctor. You said Josh had never been shot before.”
Sarah and Leo exchange looks then look back at me. “Well, he has.” Leo
says, clearly trying to figure out what to tell me right now. “It wasn’t as bad;
it was in his upper chest and it was about seven years ago.”
“He told me that was a small pox vaccination.” I drone. “I saw it once when
he was going running.”
“Well, that was creative.” Leo mutters. “Though I find that a ridiculous
excuse since smallpox vaccinations are given in the arm and NO ONE gets
a vaccination in the chest.”
I don’t get into that. I obviously WANTED to believe what he told me.
“Why is someone trying to kill him?” I ask.
“Donna…” Leo starts. I look down at Josh and run my fingers gently
through his hair as I watch him sleep. I close my eyes tightly and shake my
head. None of this is making sense.
“No, Leo.” I say adamantly popping my head back up and letting the tears
come. “I just stood over 14 hours of surgery, three hours in recovery and
not to mention what kind of therapy is coming in the near future for him. I
deserve to know what’s going on! He’d want me to, Leo.”
“Okay. Well, that last part’s just not true. He’d take me out to the woodshed
for telling you any of this.” Leo says and I fall silent.
“Leo…” Sarah says.
“Sarah, YOU knew. I’m not going to tell her everything; that’s up to Josh.
But didn’t you feel better once you knew?”
“No, because that’s when the nightmare really started.” She snaps
viciously at Leo.
“Well, I’m not blind, Sarah.” Leo says. “Donna’s not going anywhere and if
she’s going to be around him now, she needs to know.”
“PLEASE stop talking around me.” I plead desperately. I gently sit on the
bed next to Josh and look at his mother and mentor.
“You’re going to ask questions that I’m not going to answer, Donna.” Leo
says. “Some stuff is classified; but most is really up to Josh to tell you, and
quite frankly, I wasn’t entirely in the loop, which is something Agent Casper
and I are going to have a little discussion about.”
“Does this have anything to do with that envelope that Josh had a fit over?”
I ask.
“Yes.” Leo says. “That envelope contained information on a notorious Nazi
war criminal that Justice is investigating.”
“Oookaaay.” I drawl. “Justice does that all the time. What’s the big secret?”
“Josh.” Leo says, gesturing to the bed. “Josh is the secret. HE goes after
these guys with Justice.”
This. Makes. No. Sense.
“Josh is the Deputy Chief of Staff.”
“He also does this.” Leo says dryly.
“Since when?”
“Since too long.” Sarah says vaguely.
“I don’t understand.” I say. I am so lost right now. Josh is a Nazi hunter?
How could I not know this? How could he hide this from me? “Why does
somebody want him dead?”
“Donna!” Leo laughs. “A LOT of someones want him dead. He’s
responsible for the capture of over 200 of these guys.”
My eyes widen and my jaw drops open. Josh? My Josh? Josh isn’t stealthy
enough to lead a double life. Not the Josh I know.
But then it hits me like a freight train.
I obviously don’t know Josh very well.
