Chapter 28
“How did it go with the doctor?” Ruth asked anxiously as soon as her son and
daughter in-law came in through the door.
Today they had met with the surgeon who explained the procedure and had to go
through all the possible risks. It made both of them sullen and depressed.
“Fine, Mom.” Josh assured her. “They gave me more to read about this than I got
when I was briefed as White House Chief of Staff. Here, you can have a go at it if you
want.” Josh tossed all the papers on the table in the living room.
“Let’s not leave the papers here, okay?” Donna asked pointedly. She had reluctantly
gone along with his decision to tell the children what was going on but Josh believed
she had only done that because she was afraid he’d just do it on his own and screw up
their children for life. She took the papers and shoved them into a drawer in the
kitchen. When she came back to the living room she sat in a wing back chair next to
Ruth rather than on the couch next to Josh.
Ruth noted this and added it to her mental list of danger signals in her son’s marriage.
Josh was right in that she continued to act like everything was fine, but Ruth was
astute enough to pick up the differences in her daughter-in-law.
“The kids are in the backyard. We had a picnic for lunch.” Ruth relayed. With the kids
out of school now, they provided great distraction for all of them. But there was also a
matter of keeping them busy and out of trouble. Josh had been a handful; Josh times 4
was exhausting.
“I bet they enjoyed that, Ruth.” Donna commented before looking at her watch. “I need
to call Toby. I’ll be right back.”
After she’d left the room, Ruth got up and re-seated herself next to her son and
rubbed his shoulder.
“When do they want to schedule the surgery?”
“As soon as possible…that doesn’t sound good, does it?” Josh scoffed.
“I’d prefer that they said they made a mistake and you don’t need it at all.” Ruth
admitted. “You seem nervous.”
“I’m way past nervous, Mom.” Josh answered truthfully. “The big decision now is
between a pacemaker and a heart transplant.”
Ruth’s heart stilled at the thought of a transplant; oh her son no longer carrying the
heart she gave him. “What are the pro’s and con’s?” She tried to stay logical about
this.
“A surgery to implant a pacemaker is simpler, obviously and recovery is much shorter
and it may work fine for a few years, but in 5 or 6 years I’d have to go through all of
this again. And again in another 5 years and so on for the rest of my life.”
“But that would solve your heart problems for now?” Ruth asked.
“Probably. That’s what they told us, probably.” Josh sighed. “Their concern is that the
heart muscle will continue to thicken and I’ll end up needing a transplant anyway. If I do
the transplant now instead of the pacemaker, it will be a much more serious surgery
with a much longer recovery and there’s always the risk of organ rejection.”
Josh turned around and laid his head down in his mother’s lap. “I thought I’d just know
what to do, Mom. I’d go in, listen to my options and just know.”
“There’s an awful lot to take in, right now. Give yourself a little time to think about it
and talk to Donna about it.”
“She doesn’t want to talk about it. She says it’s my decision and she’ll go along with
whatever I want to do.”
“She’s scared, Josh. Just like you, she’s scared. The two of you together are a
formidable pair, but split you up and you both falter.”
At that moment the object of their discussion came into the room with the cordless
phone. “Brian Davis returning your call?”
“Thanks.” Josh got up slowly and took the phone. He walked into his home office with it
before he began the conversation.
“Brian? Thanks for returning my call.” Josh said hesitantly. He wasn’t sure just how
angry Brian was right now and wanted to tread lightly.
“It’s pretty impolitic not to return a call from your boss.” He replied.
“I’m glad I still am…your boss, I mean.” Josh stammered then took a deep breath. “I
wanted to tell you this in person, but our paths aren’t likely to cross for awhile and I
didn’t want this to go on any longer. I need to apologize for the way I spoke to you the
last time we talked. It was…unprofessional and inexcusable. You are highly valued by
me and by this firm and I hope you can forgive me.”
There was silence for awhile before Brian responded. “Are you okay?”
“What?” Josh asked in confusion.
“Our last conversation…it wasn’t like you, and I haven’t been able to catch you at the
office all week when you usually live there. So my question is, are you okay?” Brian
explained.
Josh was literally choked up. He’d acted like an ass and instead of Brian telling him off,
Brian was asking if he was okay? “I’m okay.” He managed to get out. “I’d just really like
to know that we’re okay, you and me.”
“We’re okay.” Brian replied. “Josh?”
“Yeah?”
“Why are you lying to me?” Brian asked carefully.
“Because I’d prefer to talk to the whole team...when I’m ready.” Josh said simply.
“Okay.” Brian accepted that answer. He understood the need for some things to be
private.
“Thanks.” Josh smiled. “I hear your fiancé is setting the First Congressional District on
fire.”
“She is, but Michelle Butler is no slouch and being 20 years older than Julie gives her
this gravitas that’s hard to shake.”
“I’ve got some ideas about that. We can discuss it on our group call tomorrow night?”
“Will you be on that, or will it be Toby again?” Brian asked pointedly.
“I’ll be on it.” Josh assured him. “Thanks for calling Brian. Give Julie my best wishes
too, okay?”
“I will. Talk to you tomorrow.”
**************************************************
Ruth found Donna in the laundry room sobbing. Without a word, Ruth turned the
younger woman into her arms and cried with her.
“Donna, honey, talk to me.” Ruth commanded.
“I’m so scared I’m going to lose him. These doctors talk to you about numbers and
options and risks like it’s some hypothetical case and not a human being standing right
in front of them; a husband, a father, a son, a friend.”
“I know. I know.”
“We’re so…I don’t know…out of sync or something. Does that make sense?”
“Perfect sense.”
“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to say.”
“You need to get back in sync. You know, when Noah was so sick, when he was in the
middle of chemo, I moved into another room too. I was so afraid I would bump him and
hurt him or disturb what little rest he was able to get. I thought I was being brave and
thoughtful…but about a week or so later, when I woke up in the morning, I found Noah
had followed me into the guest room and slept with me in his arms all night long.”
Ruth pulled back to look into Donna’s eyes, drying them with a towel from the laundry.
“I said, ‘You fool! What are you doing in here when everything you need to be
comfortable is in the other bed?’ “
“What did he say?” Donna asked.
“He said, ‘You’re the fool woman. The only thing I need to be comfortable is in my arms
right now’.” Ruth laughed through the tears at the memory of that moment. “Go talk to
Joshua Donna. All he needs is you.” Donna nodded and went in search of her
husband.
She found him in his home office staring out the window onto the backyard. The kids
were playing some kind of King of the castle game. Tori was repeating the rules for her
siblings who were paying absolutely no attention to her. Ben was defending the tower
of the play castle Josh and Toby had put together several years ago. Ally was calling
for a rescue and Jake was hitting everything and everyone he could reach with his
sword (stick). Donna watched Josh watch the kids for a few minutes, then came up
behind him and wrapped her arms around his chest, leaning her chin on his shoulder.
“Look what we did, Joshua.” Donna murmured.
“Yeah, just look that them. We’d better start saving money for bail.” Josh joked.
“You should get the ICD.” Donna said suddenly before she lost her courage.
Josh nearly fell over in his haste to turn around and face her. “What?”
“I’ve been thinking and you should get the ICD.” She repeated. “It may work perfectly
for you and I don’t like the all the risks that come with a transplant. Why go to that
extreme measure if the ICD will take care of it?”
“When did you come to this conclusion?” He asked.
“While I was talking to your mother.” She replied. “I also been thinking that I don’t want
to sleep apart from you anymore. I don’t care if I bother you during the night. I want to
be there next to you.”
Josh smiled his relief and whispered, “I’ve missed having you in my arms.”
“I’ve missed being there; and it will also cut down on my trips in there during the night
to make sure you’re breathing.” She admitted.
Josh felt himself melt at the thought of Donna creeping in quietly each night to watch
over him. “If you sleep with your head on my chest you’ll be able to hear my heart all
night long.”
“Deal.” Donna placed her head there now. It was still a bit uneven but it was beating.
“We need to tell the rest of the staff what’s going on.” Josh added. “I nearly told Brian
when I was talking to him. He already suspects something.”
“I’ve been thinking about that too. Making forty-some phone calls will just exhaust us
both. Let’s write and email together and send it out to the team.”
“You’ve been doing a lot of thinking, I see. We can send an email but we’ll have to set
up a conference call or answer 50 emails filled with questions.” Josh replied.
“That sounds about right.” Donna agreed. “Do we want to think this over some more?”
she asked, clearly not referring to the group email but to their decision to go with the
ICD.
“I think if we’re going to do ICD, the sooner the better.” Josh stated. “We’re on the
same page with this?”
“We are in perfect sync.” Donna agreed. “I’ll get on the email, you call the doctor.”
*****************************************************
“Ms. Peterson? What was your reaction to Mrs. Butler’s announced support of the
current tax cuts?”
“It wasn’t surprise if that’s what you’re asking. This tax cut benefits nobody but the very
wealthiest Americans. The people affected in my district could be counted on both
hands.”
“Mrs. Butler feels that this will stimulate the economy for all Americans.”
“Mrs. Butler should know better. She lived through Reaganomics and the trickle down
theory. History has shown us that approach only makes the rich, richer and the poor,
poorer. What I’m proposing, should I be fortunate enough to represent the 1st District
in Congress, is a series of job creation projects that will inject cash into the pockets of
the working poor and the middle class who are the ones who make our economy turn.”
“Has your campaign been able to reach an agreement with the Butler campaign about
the number of debates and when they might occur?”
“We’ve offered 3 debates spread out over the months of August, September, and
October to be chosen by the Butler campaign. But so far, we’re sitting home on a
Saturday night waiting for the phone to ring. You guys need to get on that.”
“We’ll see what we can do. Do you have any comment about the recent events in
South America?”
“I’m getting new information about the conflict every hour just like you. I’m hopeful that
the conflict will be resolved quickly and peacefully, but I think what we have to look at is
the underlying cause of the conflict. These are people in dire economic need. We
need to help our neighbors to the south.”
“Why should Americans take on the burden of the South American countries?”
“Besides the fact that it’s the right thing to do?” Julie pierced the gaze of the reporter
questioning her. “Look, we can ignore it and go on our merry way. But there’s civil
unrest there, as today’s events indicate, and sooner or later it’s going to spill right over
our border.”
“That’s all for now. Thank you.” Holly pulled her away. Once they were clear she
continued. “Nice job on the Reagan reference. They’ll all use that quote and
remember how aged the old bat actually is.”
“Try not to say ‘old bat’ out in public.” Brian advised as he came up alongside them.
“How’d it go?”
“Like clockwork.” Holly affirmed. “I think the reporter from the Strib has a crush on
Julie. He’s always trying to get her to look at him.”
“As spokeperson, I expect you to remind the reporter from the Strib that Julie is very
much taken.” Brian pointed out before giving his fiancé a searing kiss.
“Hey, we agreed to no PDA’s in public.” Holly reminded them both.
“Oh, yeah.” Julie replied. “I forgot.”
“Uh-huh.” Holly checked her Blackberry and began reading her emails while Julie and
Brian walked behind her talking about plans for the evening. So they almost ran into
her when she stopped suddenly and gasped.
“Geez, Holl, warn a guy, will you? What’s wrong?” Brian asked when he saw the
distress on her face.
Holly didn’t say anything, but only passed her Blackberry for Brian and Julie to read.
“Damn.” Brian swore.
“You didn’t know anything about this? He didn’t mention anything when you two
spoke?” Julie asked.
“No. Well, he said there was something, but that he wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. I
can see why.”
“Do you need to go back to D.C.?”
“I might.” Brian thought a minute before calling Billy. “Hey, it’s me. Yeah, we just got the
email…No, I don’t think so either…You want Holly too?...Right…Well, I get along pretty
well with the candidate so I think I can manage that…right…I’ll get on it right now.”
“What’s going on?” Holly asked.
“You and I are taking a flight to D.C. in the morning. We’re all meeting in the D.C.
office at noon.” Brian told her.
“Who is ‘all of us’?”
“Everyone on the Lyman consulting payroll that can get there.” Brian answered. “It’s a
solidarity thing.”
“But I thought the email said there would be a noon conference call.” Julie jumped in.
“Billy and Lou decided to change that to an in person meeting.” Brian explained. “Holly,
would you book a couple tickets for us? Charge them to my card.” Holly nodded and
took his card from him.
“Sorry. I know we had plans for tonight and tomorrow.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. This is important. Would you like me to come too?”
“I would, but you’ve got the fundraiser tomorrow night and I’m not sure when I’ll be
back.”
“Okay, but we’ve still got tonight right?” Julie smiled.
“Yeah, we do.” Brian agreed and kissed her again. Holly would never know.
*****************************************************
His suspicions began when Donna hung up the phone without a word when he walked
into the kitchen.
“Who was that?” he asked his wife.
“Wrong number.” She replied without looking at him.
“But the phone rang like five minutes ago.” Josh countered.
“What, are you the phone police. When the phone rang it was Liz with a question.
Then, when I was on the phone with her, another call beeped in and I switched over.
That was the wrong number.”
“Ah-kay.” Josh reached into the fridge and poured himself a glass of juice.
“Ummm…do you mind if we go into the office to take the conference call?”
“Why?”
“All the kids are home and inside, since it’s raining, and I wanted to pick some things
up while I was there.”
“You can go ahead. I’ll catch it in my office.” Josh drank his juice in one gulp and left
his glass on the counter.
“Nice try, Joshua, in the dishwasher, please.” Donna told him. “Why don’t you come
with me? You haven’t been out of the house all day.”
Josh laughed as he put his glass away. “All day? It’s 11:30 in the morning! Look,
everyone will have gotten the email and I don’t want to be stared at.”
“Used to be you liked being stared at. Come with me. I just want some company.”
Donna pouted a bit and leaned closer to Josh. “A little company and a
little…privacy…” she pouted a little more.
“Seriously, Donna, what are you up to?”
“If you can’t tell, you’re sicker than I thought.” Donna pointed out as she took his
bottom lip between her teeth. “Come with me, Josh.” She stepped up the kissing and
added some hands across his back. “Please?”
“Ah-kay. Sure. Why not?” Josh allowed Donna to lead him to the car and into the
office. “If we’re late getting on the call because you wanted to stop and make out-“
“Josh!” Donna shushed him, but too late.
“I wouldn’t use that excuse.” Liz smiled. “People will talk. You’re all set up in the
conference room.”
“Why the conference-“
“I needed some things in there.” Donna cut him off and continued to pull him after her.
She opened the conference room double doors and Josh stopped in shock.
Nearly every employee of Lyman Consulting, from both offices, were crowded into the
conference room. Josh felt his eyes well up in the obvious show of affection and
support from his friends and colleagues.
“I thought you people were paid to be other places.” He said with a smirk.
“Not today.” Lou replied. “Now that you’re in a weakened condition, we thought we’d
gang up on you and take over.”
“Just like you to hit when the opponent is down.” Josh smiled at her.
“You won’t be down for long.” Came a voice Josh hadn’t heard in a long time.
“Peyton? What the hell are YOU doing here?”
“The President couldn’t make the trip, Secret Service are so damn picky, so he sent
me as an envoy. I can stay as long as you need me; President’s orders.”
“You called Sam?” Josh asked Donna who just shrugged. Peyton had joined Sam’s
gubernatorial campaign back in the day and had been with Sam ever since; all the way
to the White House. “It’s good of you to come, Peyton. I’ll call to thank the President
personally for the loan.”
“So, Liz, what have we got on the agenda?” Josh called to their office manager.
“Only 1 item; the formation and organization of Team Josh.” Liz announced.
“No.” Toby countered shaking his head.
“Toby, we already voted on this, it’s Team Josh.” Mandy reminded him.
“No, Team Jericho.” Toby argued. “Joshua led the Israelites with strength and courage
and brought the very walls of Jericho down.”
“As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you or forsake you.” Josh
quoted the Bible verse his parents had taught him in childhood. Toby nodded and
gave a small smile, pleased that Josh made the connection. Then he added to the
quote.
“Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you
wherever you go.” Toby recited with his head down as if in prayer. Finally, Billy broke
the silence.
“We’re here for whatever you need, boss.” Billy clapped him gently on the shoulder.
Josh looked around the room at Mandy and Peter, Lou and Toby, Allen, Billy, Brian
and Holly, as well as the 2 dozen others that had gathered there for him, for Team
Josh, and felt optimistic for the first time in weeks. When he looked beyond them, he
saw Donna, still standing in the doorway. Her eyes were overflowing with tears but the
message he got from her was anything but sad.