Chapter 11
“Good morning, Mr. President.” Sam greeted President Hoynes.
“Where’s Josh?” He asked immediately.
“He…had a medical issue that he needed to address, sir.” Sam hedged.
Hoynes paused. “What kind of medical issue?”
“He had some kind of attack during the night, sir. Donna and his detail got him to GW to check it
out.”
“Mrs. Landingham?” Hoynes called on the intercom. “Will you please call GW and get an update on
Josh for me?”
“Donna said she’d call with an update.” Sam informed him.
“She was going to have some education stats for me.” Hoynes sighed.
“She had them here and asked me to give them to you.” Sam passed over the file.
“Ever efficient.” Hoynes noted. “Do you think Josh appreciates her enough?”
“I think he does, sir, yes.” Sam replied loyally.
“Down, Sam, it was just a joke…sort of.” Hoynes’ lips twitched.
“Mr. President, Dr. Cooper is on line 2 for you.” Mrs. Landingham announced and Hoynes picked
up the phone to listen to an abbreviated version of Josh’s health status. When he hung up, he
turned his attention back to Sam.
“He’s doing well now. His breathing and rate heart have both returned to normal. They think it might
be a medication issue.” Hoynes reported.
“His doctor just tells you all that?” Sam questioned.
“Josh gave permission for the medical staff to share medical information with me.” Hoynes smiled.
“Should the need arise. I guess it just arose.”
“I guess.” Sam agreed. “You wanted to see me about the education speech?”
“Yes. It’s very good.” Hoynes acknowledged.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Soaring rhetoric and promises of sweeping reform.”
“Yes, sir.”
“We can’t do it, Sam.”
“Sir-“
“We simply can’t do it right now.” Hoynes interrupted. “We’ve had to increase our military presence
in response to increased security risks around the globe. We’re having turf wars right here in the
White House and Congress is ready to pounce on any liberal spending proposals we put forward.”
“Sir, this was a big part of President Bartlet’s move to revamp education.” Sam reminded him.
“Authorizing 100,000 new teachers who can-“
“I understand what it was, Sam. I’d love to enact it in his name. I still hope to do that one day. But it
can’t be today and we can’t talk about it in Portland tonight.” Hoynes shouted.
“Yes, sir.” Sam grimaced. “I’ll get started on it right away.” He walked out without another word and
Hoynes was left feeling like he’d just let the man down again. It was becoming a familiar feeling.
“Is Josh alright, Mr. President?” Mrs. Landingham asked from the doorway.
“It appears so, Mrs. Landingham.” Hoynes answered. “His blood pressure and breathing have
returned to normal.”
“Thank goodness.” Mrs. Landingham put a hand over her own heart. The truth of the matter was
that she never thought Josh should return to the White House. It was too big a risk to his health and
welfare. Since that decision was out of her hands, she took it upon herself to keep an eye on him
while he was there. “Is Donna with him?”
“Yes.”
She nodded, satisfied with that news. “Donna will take care of things.”
“You surprise me, Mrs. Landingham. I’d have thought the idea of some senior White House staffer
becoming involved with his assistant would not meet with your approval.” Hoynes noted.
“That’s because this isn’t some senior White House staffer and his assistant. This is Josh and
Donna. If they don’t deserve a little happiness together after all of this I don’t know who does. I’ve
watched those two dance around each other since Nashua and never ONCE did they ever do or
say anything that would embarrass the President or the White House.” Mrs. Landingham turned to
go back to her desk. “Plus, I won the pool on when they’d finally wise up.”
“Mr. President.” Ron Davis greeted from the door to the COS’s office. “Josh Lyman has had a
medical emergency, sir. I’ll take senior staff this morning.”
“I heard. I already spoke to Sam about the education speech.” Hoynes replied. “Make sure Peter
has the talking points for Portland so that there aren’t any unmet expectations once we land.”
“Yes, sir.” Davis replied. “Ziegler is still ranting about the test ban treaty. Somebody needs to make
his job description clear to him.”
“That sounds suspiciously like your job, Ron.” Hoynes pointed out.
“He pays no attention to me. He barely pays attention to Lyman.” Ron replied. “He’s going to rogue
on you one of these days and it’s going to cause you no end of trouble.”
“Are you suggesting I fire Toby Ziegler?” John asked.
“I’m suggesting that if you don’t, it’s going to come back and bite you in the ass…sir.” Ron stated
clearly and moved closer to Hoynes while lowering his tone. “That man…has his own agenda and
he doesn’t give a shit about yours. He’s expecting that Lyman can shield him from enough of his
fallout that he doesn’t have to answer to me, or more importantly, you.” Ron paused and let that
sink in. “What was that disastrous introduction for Russell but an elaborate ‘screw you’ from Toby
Ziegler?”
“If I hadn’t seen him behave the same way with Jed Bartlet, I’d buy that.” Hoynes distinguished.
“He may have tugged against Bartlet’s reins from time to time, but there was never any doubt as to
who held the reins.” Ron argued. “Who holds them now, Mr. President? You? Josh Lyman? Or has
Ziegler finally shaken them off entirely?”
“I have no love for Toby Ziegler, you know that. But firing him at this point would only cause an
uproar among the rest of the staff and I’m not ready for that right now.”
“It will be nothing compared to the uproar when Ziegler goes on the record and off the reservation.”
Davis warned.
“Not. Yet.” Hoynes got louder and more forceful. “Take care of senior staff and we’ll touch base
when you’re done.” He dismissed his DCOS.
“Yes, sir, Mr. President.” Davis acknowledged and left the Oval.
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“You keep saying this is good news, but you still can’t tell me what caused this…this…episode.”
Donna complained.
“Donna…” Josh protested weakly.
“You just…be quiet.” Donna told him sternly. “This doesn’t happen because everything is fine.”
Donna gestured to the hospital bed where Josh was lying back watching the show.
“I didn’t say everything is fine.” Dr. Cooper attempted to reel her back in. “I said we’ve been able to
rule out the most dangerous complications. It was not a heart attack. His heart and lungs appear to
be working just fine now. If there was something more serious going on, we’d have seen fluctuation
in those numbers, instead, they’ve been steadily improving since he arrived.”
“That’s all well and good until I take him back home and something triggers this all over again and I
lose another ten years of my life.” Donna was aware that her voice had turned strident but she was
too tired and scared to care much. Josh closed his eyes against the pain he heard in Donna’s
voice. The truth was, he’d been plenty scared too. He was still struggling to separate fact from
fiction in his head.
“We can keep him for observation for a few more hours, but the most likely cause of this event was
a medication interaction. I’m going to order new meds and we’ll see if that makes any difference for
him.”
“Can you not talk about me like I’m not in the room?” Josh requested.
“Sorry, Josh. As I was saying, I’d like to change your blood pressure meds and see if that’s the
answer to this problem you had.” Dr. Cooper reiterated.
“How do we know the new meds aren’t going to make things worse?” Josh voiced his biggest fear.
“The new drug is in a different family than the one you’re currently taking, but it’s one that you took
without incident during your recovery immediately after the shooting.” The doctor explained. “We’ll
give you your first dose now and keep you here for awhile to observe you.”
“How long is awhile?” Josh asked.
“Josh you are NOT going in to work.” Donna put her foot down.
“I can have Margaret shuffle some things to this afternoon, but-“
“Dr. Cooper!” Donna turned to him for backup.
“His vitals all look good, Donna. As long as he’s not running laps or something he should be able to
sit at a desk and work; providing that nothing else pops during the rest of our observation.” Dr.
Cooper tried to play peacemaker. “It’s nearly 6:30 now. I wouldn’t feel comfortable discharging you
before noon.”
“Okay, Donna will you call Margaret and-“
“No.” Donna refused and walked out without another word.
“Shit.” Josh muttered.
“I’ll talk to her, Josh. She’s had a rough night. Cut her some slack.” Cooper advised. “Tell me
something…Dr. Evans and Donna both mentioned that you seemed to be disoriented when you
were brought in. Have you been hallucinating? This would be important information to have in terms
of your diagnosis.”
“No.” Josh answered quickly. “I’ve had some weird dreams, that’s all; nightmares I guess. They
seem very real.”
Cooper nodded understanding. “You know, Josh, given the serious nature of the trauma you’ve
been through, it wouldn’t be unusual for you to need someone to speak to about your experience.”
“You’re saying I need a shrink?” Josh clarified.
“I’m saying it wouldn’t be a bad idea to talk to someone. It’s not just your body that has to recover
from something like this. Your mind, psychologically and emotionally needs to heal too. If you need
a referral or a recommendation…”
“Sure.” Josh agreed but Cooper noticed he didn’t go so far to request either.
“It’s just that symptoms like these can arise from severe anxiety as well as from medication or
physical problems.”
“I had a panic attack?” Josh nearly shrieked.
“I don’t know. But it would be professionally irresponsible to rule that out.” Cooper told him. “Donna
has a point, you know. It wouldn’t hurt anything to work from home today; take it easy.”
“I can’t.” Josh didn’t go into the complexities of his job or the fact that half his staff was likely to kill
the other half of his staff and bury the bodies in the rose garden if he was gone the whole day. Dr.
Cooper didn’t argue with him, but Josh could see that he was disappointed in his decision.
“I’ll send in the nurse to start the new BP meds and I’ll stop back in a couple hours to check on you.”
“Thanks.” Josh said sincerely. “Sorry you got awakened in the middle of the night because of me.”
“Like you, it’s part of my job description. Take it easy.” Dr. Cooper advised and Josh managed to
get the phone off the bedside table to call Margaret with his medical update.
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Dr. Cooper found Donna crying silently in the window seat of the family waiting room. He just as
silently took a seat next to her.
“I should just leave his sorry ass here.” Donna muttered.
“There’s no need to punish my staff just because you’re pissed at Josh, Donna.” Cooper noted drily
and got a watery chuckle out of her. “Seriously? It might be a good idea for you to get out of here
for awhile.”
“But what if he-“
“We have your cell phone number, your pager number, your home number and your work number. I’
m going to lay odds that we can get in touch with you if we need to, though I doubt we will. He’s
doing well now.” Cooper assured her.
“I was so scared.” Donna admitted.
“I’m sure.” Cooper replied. “That’s another reason you could use a break. Are you talking to anyone
Donna? Professionally?”
“About what?” Donna seemed genuinely puzzled.
“About all that you’ve been going through.”
“What I’VE been going through? I wasn’t even there the night Josh was shot.”
“Sometimes that makes things even harder. You start blaming yourself for not being there in the
first place, you overcompensate in the recovery phase, you get worn out and worn down.” Cooper
ticked off the items. Donna just stared at him in shock. “President Bartlet was killed and Josh was
critically injured. You can’t tell me that didn’t affect you.”
“No, of course it did, I just-“
“Give it some thought. I think it might be beneficial.” Cooper noted. “Just like going home and taking
a nap right now might be beneficial. Go home. I’ll have someone call you when we’re ready to
release him.”
Donna nodded solemnly and stood up to leave.
“Donna? One more thing.” Cooper asked before she could leave. “These hallucinations Josh
seemed to be experiencing earlier? Has he had any others before now?”
“Not that I know of, and there aren’t a lot of hours in the day that I’m not with him or near him.”
Donna replied.
“Josh said he’s been having bad dreams; nightmares.” Cooper told her.
“Yes. They often wake him from a sound sleep, but he refuses to talk to me about them.” Donna
answered. “Today, it was like things were getting all confused to him. He was mixing up events from
a house fire when he was little with President Bartlet.”
“Okay, thanks. Go get some sleep.” Cooper directed her. Josh Lyman was a complex man so he
guessed it only stood to reason that his case was every bit as complex as Josh was. He just hoped
they could figure things out soon or else Josh Lyman was going to get much worse before he got
better.
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“You, sir, are getting sprung from here.” Dr. Cooper announced.
“Amen.” Josh responded as the nurse came in and started disconnecting his IV and various other
medical devices.
“Here is a list of Doctors you can choose from to speak to about your sleeping issues.” Josh took
the proffered list but rolled it up in his hand.
“Will you let one of my agents know that I’m ready to go?” Josh asked quietly and Dr. Cooper
looked at him with a puzzled expression on his face.
“Sure, Josh, but Donna is waiting outside for you.”
“Oh.” Josh replied feeling stupid. He’d had plenty of time to think about their ‘discussion’ in the
hours between then and now. He’d even tried to reach Donna on her cell phone, but she hadn’t
answered, so he was sure he was on his own getting home.
“Speak of the devil.” Cooper called when Donna pushed through Josh’s door. “I was just giving Josh
the good news about getting to leave. I’m sending home enough of the new BP meds to get him
through the next 14 days and then I want him back in my office.” Donna gave a short nod, but didn’t
acknowledge Josh in any way.
“You’re all set Mr. Lyman.” The nurse told him and patted his arm.
“Thanks.” He told her but his eyes stayed on Donna. Dr. Cooper decided to make himself scarce as
well.
“Call if you have any problems, questions, or concerns in the meantime?” He asked.
“Will do.” Josh promised and Cooper left Donna and Josh alone. Donna placed his backpack and a
garment bag on his bed.
“I wasn’t sure if you wanted to go directly to work or not, so I brought you some clothes.”
“That was very nice.” Josh spoke quietly. “Thanks.”
“Do you need help changing or…?”
Josh grimaced. “I think I can manage dressing myself.” Donna started to turn and leave. “But I’d like
you to stay. I’d like to talk to you about what happened earlier.”
Donna let out a chortle.
“What?” Josh demanded.
“NOW you want to talk?” She scoffed. “I’ve been begging you for weeks to talk to me about this and
you’ve refused, blown me off, every time.”
“I didn’t. At least, I didn’t mean to.” Josh amended. “I’m sorry.”
“An admission and an apology; this must have freaked you out almost as much as it did me.” Donna
noted.
“It did.” Josh admitted and was gratified to see her look at him with some emotion even if the
emotion was pity.
“When you woke up you said you couldn’t breathe because of the smoke. Were you at your old
house?”
“Yeah.”
“Is that what most of your nightmares have been about?” Donna decided to press since he seemed
to be willing to share. Josh took his time answering and stalled by starting to get dressed.
“Some of them.” He allowed. “They’re not just about one thing, one event.”
“This morning, you said President Bartlet told you not to go near the house.” Donna continued.
“He was…it was just a dream, Donna.” Josh jerkily got his pants on and buttoned his shirt. “I’m sorry
I pissed you off earlier. I need to be at work today. If I didn’t, if Cooper said it was a bad idea, I would
go home.”
Donna’s face still looked miffed but she her head moved up and down so Josh took it as a good
sign.
“Have you been at the White House?” He asked.
“Yes, the President needed some help for the Portland trip tonight. He’s been with Sam and Toby
all morning trying to hammer out his problems with the speech.”
“Has there been bloodshed?” Josh asked warily.
“Not as yet, but I won’t rule out the possibility. Davis took a couple of your meetings, including
senior staff, that couldn’t be moved, but I made sure Congressman Skinner stayed on your
schedule, so it will be a late night meeting with him. Margaret really went above and beyond for us
today, so you’re sending her flowers that will arrive this afternoon.” Donna informed him.
“Great. Then since my girlfriend is sending my assistant flowers in appreciation for all she does, it
seems only fair that my assistant send my girlfriend flowers in appreciation for all SHE does.” Josh
took her hand and tugged on it until she was standing directly in front of him. “I’m sorry. It’s just that
sometimes I worry that you’re going to take a good look at what you got yourself into with me and
then you’re going to run for the hills.”
His honesty both touched and hurt her. She laid her palm against his face. “Do you really think I’m
that stupid that I don’t see who you are? What you’re going through? Or is it that you think I’m so
weak that I can’t handle going through the rough times together? Maybe you should just give me a
call after you’ve worked it all out on your own then?”
Josh closed his eyes and shook his head. “I’m telling you why I’ve been hesitant to talk about the
nightmares. It would kill me if you left me now. And it would make me feel just as bad to think you
were only staying with me because you felt sorry for me.”
“Then listen up, Lyman, because we need to get a few things straight.” Donna instructed. “I’m with
you because I love you; warts and all.”
“Warts?” Josh’s eyebrows rose.
“Shut up.” Donna closed his jaw with her fingers. “These are tough days for everyone; the entire
country is still in mourning and on top of your personal loss, again, you’re dealing with physical and
emotional wounds that are going to take some time to heal. But however long that takes, and
whatever we have to deal with in the meantime, we’ll be handling it together. Got it?”
“Yeah.”
“I mean it Josh. I need you every bit as much as you need me. And to lose you now, after we’ve
finally found each other this way? That would kill me too. So, no more games, no more diversions,
and no more refusing to talk to each other…about anything.” Donna laid out the new rules.
“I love you.” Josh whispered and took her mouth in a kiss so she could feel the truth in it.
“I love you too.” Donna smiled softly. “I’ll take you to work, but you’re going to take a nap when we
get there. Margaret doesn’t have anything for you until 2.”
“Will you nap with me?” He asked cheekily.
“That…might be a possibility. I’m pretty wiped.” Donna admitted.
“Thank you for taking such good care of me.” He told her.
“Just don’t make me do it too often.” She replied and helped him to his feet to leave the hospital.
When she turned away, he stuffed the rolled up list of psychiatric referrals into his backpack.
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“Thanks for stopping by, Congressman.” Josh said resignedly. He and Matt had always been
friends. He truly believed he could persuade Matt to his side of this bill. Was he losing his touch or
was this a lost cause to begin with and he’d just misread the signs? Either way, it did not bode well
for Josh.
“Margaret? I thought I told you to go home before this meeting started.” Josh accused.
“I leave when you leave.” Margaret insisted. She neglected to mention that she’d promised Donna
she wouldn’t leave Josh alone in the office that night. “The President just got back from Portland. He’
s in the Oval if you want to check in with him.”
“Okay, thanks.” Josh told her and strode over to the doorway that led to the Oval and after a brisk
knock, entered. President Hoynes was sitting in one of the guest chairs, his legs spread out in front
of him and a drink swirling around in his right hand. He looked up when Josh came in and gave him
a wry grin. “Good evening, Mr. President.”
“I thought you’d have gone home by now.” Hoynes noted. “After your rough start to the day, I didn’t
expect you to come in at all.”
“The doctor cleared me to return to work, and more importantly, so did Donna.” Josh explained.
“How’d it go in Portland?”
“I don’t know…” Hoynes shrugged.
“I heard that you were holed up with Toby and Sam most of the day working on it.”
“Among other things.” Hoynes noted. “They’re excellent speechwriters, both of them. Although, if
you EVER tell Ziegler I said that, I’ll have my detail kill you and make it look like an accident.”
“Yes, sir.” Josh’s mouth twitched.
“He always thinks he’s so FUCKING superior, you know? He wants me to be Jed Bartlet and I’m not.
I won’t ever be Jed Bartlet.” Hoynes rose to pour himself a refill. “You want to join me for a drink,
Josh?”
“I’d love to sir, but with this new medication I’m not allowed right now.”
“Sucks for you.”
“You don’t know the half of it, sir.” Josh muttered. “I just finished with Congressman Skinner. I wasn’t
able to bring him over to our side of this.”
“And the hits just keep on coming.” Hoynes toasted Josh with his half full glass. “So…what do I do,
Joshua? What would the great and powerful Jed Bartlet do?” Josh understood some of the
frustration the President was dealing with but the bitterness in his voice was still disconcerting.
“Given the circumstances, I’m pretty sure he’d want to veto the bill and let them override the
veto…until I talked him out of it.” Josh opined. “It’s a futile act to veto the bill, Mr. President. It will
only add fuel to the fire. The Republicans will send it out in a direct mail piece that will garner them
millions of dollars so they can protect their children from married gay couples moving in next door
and the bill will still pass.”
“I can’t sign the damn thing.” Hoynes huffed.
“You have to pocket veto the bill.”
“Fine.” John Hoynes tossed back the rest of his drink. “I’m going to bed. You should too.”
“Yes, sir.” Josh agreed. “Goodnight, Mr. President.” Josh excused himself. When he got back to his
office, he called out to Margaret. “I’m leaving now, so you can go home too.”
“In just a minute.” Margaret stalled.
“You can call Donna on the way home to tell her you fulfilled your duty and that I’m going home in
one piece.”
“You’re not supposed to know that!” Margaret objected.
“I know everything now, Margaret. Omnipotence comes with the office.”
“Well, I’m definitely leaving now.” She snarked and grabbed her bag to head out.
“Thanks for everything today, Margaret.” He called after her.
“Thank Donna for the flowers.” She called back and made him smile.
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“He needs to get off the President’s back about the Chinese refugees.” Davis insisted.
“He’s on the President’s back?” Josh drawled. “I heard him give the President counsel which is part
of his job description. You were encouraged to give yours as well.”
“Which Ziegler continued to mock the entire time-“
“Ron-“
“You keep harping on becoming a solid team, meanwhile Ziegler does NOTHING but undermine my
professionalism and my position here.”
“That’s how Toby usually treats the DCOS, believe me, I know.” Josh joked.
“I’m saying that if you want to see a little teamwork, you should start with your buddy, Ziegler.” Davis
returned to the subject at hand.
“I really don’t believe you’re in a position to speak that way about the Communication Director.”
Josh said in a steely voice and Davis felt like the temperature dropped 20 degrees. “And don’t you
dare spout off to me about teamwork, Ron.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“How did the wrong copy of the President’s introduction get to the teleprompter, Ron?” Josh asked
quietly and saw the moment it registered with his Deputy. “Now I get that this transition happened
under the worst possible conditions. I understand that there will naturally be tension between the
Bartlet people and the Hoynes people. I don’t even have a problem with letting off some steam with
a few pranks, which is why I have let everyone off the hook on the introduction debacle. But by God,
it’s time to straighten up and fly right. Do you understand what I’m telling you?” Davis gave a brief
nod. “The President will continue to hear any and all ideas about Chinese refugees that may help
us resolve it.”
“The President is sending the Chinese refugees back. He’s already decided.” Davis responded.
“We’ll see about that.” Josh replied and sat down at his desk. “We’re done.”
Josh waited until Davis had been gone a couple of minutes before he left himself and walked down
the hall to Donna’s office, or hovel, as she referred to it. Maybe she saved some of her lunch for
him and he could just…share some with her.
But when he got to her door, he saw that the room was empty. “She went down to the mess about a
half hour ago.” One of the other staffers called out to him.
“Thanks!” Josh checked his watch and saw that he had about 15 minutes before he was due in the
Oval for the report on the refugee’s status according to the Christian League. Just enough time to
scarf down a food substance of some kind. He walked quickly down to the mess as anxious to see
Donna for a few minutes as he was to get some food. He spotted her immediately and picked up his
pace until he saw she wasn’t with one of the other assistants as he’d assumed she would be.
Instead she was sitting with the new guy…Nancy’s assistant…Reese! She was sitting with Reese
and they seemed to be more engrossed in each other than the food. His fast tempo slowed and his
walk turned into the swagger that anyone who knew him would recognize instantly. Josh Lyman was
sizing someone up.
“…So I said I could have it in about 4 hours.” Reese was telling her. “The entire sit room busts out
laughing at me. Then Leo pats my shoulder and says, ’30 minutes, son’.”
“That sounds just like Leo.” Donna chuckled in response. When she caught sight of Josh her eyes
lit up. Josh was still having ‘sleep issues’ but aside from the major tension at work, he seemed to be
doing better. Still, she loved seeing him for herself so she could judge just how well he was doing.
“Josh!” She stood up and kissed him briefly. “I didn’t think I’d see you for lunch.”
“Obviously.” Josh replied and the biting tone had her squinting her eyes at him.
“Margaret said you were in with Davis and then you were due in the Oval so…”
“I got done reaming out Davis earlier than expected.” Now Donna’s eyes widened. There was no
way Josh would talk that way about his Deputy in front of a virtual stranger…who worked in the
White House.
“Tough day?” Jack asked Josh.
“They’re all tough lately. Are you done eating?” Josh directed his question back to Donna.
“Yes, sorry. I waited until 2, and then I had to eat something. I have some sandwich left.”
“Nah…I’ll grab something to take back upstairs with us.” Josh decided and quickly selected some
food before coming to stand beside the table where Jack and Donna were still talking. “Ready?”
“Ummm…sure. I’ll see you later, Jack. Thanks for sharing your table.” Donna smiled at him and
wisely waited until they were well on their way upstairs to talk to Josh about his behavior. “I’m not
sure, but I think you might have been able to be a little more rude to Jack back there.”
“I thought we were having lunch.” Was Josh’s reply.
“We were; at 12:30.” Donna noted. “At 2:00 I still needed to eat and Margaret wasn’t sure how much
longer you’d be. Now it’s 2:45, and you’re just getting to eat. We’ll set aside the fact that you should
be eating earlier than this with your noon medication-“
“It’s now my 3:00 medication.” Josh corrected her.
“Josh! You can’t blow the medication off like that. Dr. Cooper told you how important it was that you
take the meds on time.”
“He also said how important it was to take it with food and since I didn’t have anything to eat at 12…”
“Then you ask Margaret, or me, to get something for you.”
“Yes, mother.” Josh muttered and Donna stopped dead in her tracks. “What?”
“Don’t talk to me like that.” Donna insisted. “What is wrong with you lately?”
“I thought we were going to have lunch together, and instead I find you with Reese, again.” Josh
explained.
“I ate a meal with Jack Reese, again, because you bailed on me, again, and he offered me a spot at
his table.” Donna countered.
“So this is my fault?” Josh said incredulously.
“It isn’t anybody’s fault, Josh. This isn’t a fault kind of situation. It’s simply that our schedules haven’t
been meshing so well lately.”
“We made a deal, Donna. Barring national emergencies, our lunch dates our sacred.”
“Yes, but again, I’d point out the fact that I haven’t been the one to break them.”
“So, it IS my fault!” Josh tossed back.
“Could we have this conversation in private instead of, say, the West Wing hallway?” Donna
suggested.
“We don’t need to have any conversation anywhere. We’re done with this.” Josh decreed and
walked ahead of her back to his office. Donna waited a beat and then followed him, giving Margaret
a jaunty wave before slamming Josh’s door shut.
“Tell me this is NOT about me eating with Jack Reese. You KNOW that we’re just friends and you
KNOW I’d rather being eating with you. So what is this really about?” Donna asked.
“The President isn’t listening to me. My deputy is organizing a coup. A group of Chinese refugees is
depending on me to save them from being sent back to China where they will be tortured and for
the third time this week I missed my lunch with you!” Josh bellowed and sat heavily on his couch.
“Well then…” Donna sat next to him. “I certainly hope that list wasn’t in order of importance.”
Josh let out a snort. “I don’t think I’m capable of prioritizing anything right now.” He admitted.
“Then let me help.” Donna offered. Josh’s snapping and sniping had left as quickly as it had
appeared. That was the only part of the pattern of the last few weeks that was consistent. “We
leave ON TIME tonight and have a late lunch…around 7. We’ll get your detail on a counterstrike
plan for Davis.”
“A counterstrike?” Josh repeated.
“I’m learning a lot briefing the President on security issues.” Donna bragged a bit. “They’ll take him
out and bury his body where it will never be found. The President is going to listen to you and the
refugees are going to owe you a tremendous debt of gratitude, because in my research, I came up
with the perfect solution.”
“You’re kidding me. Don’t toy with me, Donnatella.” Josh warned.
“I wouldn’t toy with you, Josh! At least, not at work.” She smirked.
“Then tell me about this brilliant solution of yours.” Josh challenged her.
“It’s not my brilliant plan; it’s been done before. I just found it.” Donna explained. “I will tell you all
about it while you eat your lunch and take your medicine.”
“Deal.” Josh agreed and took a bite of his sandwich to prove his credibility.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Chapter 12
“How’s he doing?” Danny asked as he kissed his wife’s head.
“He’s doing really well.” C.J. noted sadly. Well…partly sadly. She was glad Peter was stepping up
and handling the press corps well, even while part of her wished he would tank and they’d beg her
to go back.
Danny seemed to understand C.J.’s warring emotions over Peter’s success in the briefing room.
“Give him a few minutes. Maybe he’ll trip on his way out.” C.J. slugged Danny on the shoulder.
“He’s managing the wide-eyed incredulous look very nicely.” C.J. watched Peter carefully. “I can’t
believe our well trained reservists were overtaken by a group of emaciated Chinese refugees.” She
parodied.
“He’s coming right along.” Danny agreed. “But he lacks a certain je ne sais quoi, in my opinion.”
“Je ne sais quoi?” C.J. repeated, amused. “And just what is the quoi, in your opinion, Daniel?’
“I never feel the urge to kiss Peter.” Danny declared.
“I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that.” C.J. drawled. “What are you doing?”
“I’m making love to my wife.” Danny explained. “I must be doing something wrong if you’re not
picking up on these signals.” He noted while he ran his hands under C.J.’s shirt and started lifting it
over her head.
“It’s the middle of the day.” C.J. pointed out.
“So?” Danny replied. “My column is done and you’re gainfully unemployed so I think our schedules
are looking free.” Danny realized his strategic error as soon as the words left his mouth. C.J.’s head
dropped against his chest; and not in a good way. His wife was depressed. She was experiencing
depression over a lack of direction in her career….or even finding a new career.
It wasn’t for a lack of offers. She’d made quite a name for herself as Press Secretary and Danny
imagined she could write her own ticket just about anywhere she wanted to go. The problem was,
she didn’t know where she wanted to go, or what she wanted to do.
“Come on.” Danny tried to distract her. “Make love with me Claudia Jean.” He pulled her to her feet
and led her to the bedroom while he began to undress her.
“I need a job, Danny.”
“You’re pretty good at this.” Danny quipped and got slugged again. “Could you stop with the
hitting? It cuts the mood a bit.”
“I need a job. I need to feel useful again.”
“We could make a baby.” Danny offered smiling. “I hear they keep you very busy and make you feel
extremely useful.”
“Takes at least nine months.” C.J. pointed out. “I’ll kill myself from boredom long before that.”
Danny gave up trying to get his wife in the mood and rolled over on his back. “Claudia Jean? You
have to find a job; this week if possible. This depression is starting to affect our sex life and that’s a
sacrifice I’m not willing to make.”
“I don’t know what to do, Danny!” C.J. complained. “Everything I look at seems so…unimportant!
Where do you go after the White House?”
“Josh left the door open for you to do some consulting for them.”
“I’m not working with Hoynes.”
“I wouldn’t want you to. I’m talking about working with Josh.”
“That’s only one degree of separation from working with Hoynes.”
“Fine.” Danny gave up his first choice for her in a heartbeat. “The Post would love to have you
even-“
“We are NOT working at the same place. We’ll end up divorced before the end of the month.”
“What about the TV offer from MSNBC?”
“They want me to legitimize a Washington gossip show.” C.J. shook her head. “I’d want to get into
serious issues and that’s not what they’re offering.”
“Then come up with a counterproposal.” Danny suggested.
“What?”
“God, C.J., the perfect thing isn’t going to come along and land in your lap like magic twice! You
may never get another Jed Bartlet so you have to create your own perfect project. Put together a
counterproposal and pitch it to them. You could sell ice to Eskimos. You could get them to give this
a try with you.” Danny shook her gently. “Try.”
“Okay…I will.” C.J. got up and straightened her clothes determined to go over to her laptop and put
together a kick ass proposal as only she could, “Oh, and just for the record, Daniel, working for Jed
Bartlet wasn’t the only thing I was lucky enough to have fall in my lap like magic.” She winked at him
and Danny chuckled. He’d give her an hour to start putting things together before he gave this
seduction business another try. He had a feeling she might be more receptive now.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
“It looks good, Sam.” Ainsley noted handing him back the speech. “Very good.”
“Doesn’t matter. It will never come out of the President’s mouth.” Sam took it from her and tossed it
on his kitchen counter. They were making a late dinner together and Ainsley got the idea he didn’t
care whether the words ever came out of the President’s mouth either.
“How’s the salad coming along?” She asked pointedly when she noticed he was just sort of tossing
lettuce leafs in the bowl.
“Well…” Sam looked it over objectively. “I think it needs something.”
“There are some carrots in the fridge you can peel for it and some croutons on the top shelf above
you.” Sam wordlessly carried out her instructions and her radar went up another notch. In all the
time they’d spent together, Ainsley had noted one thing; it was never silent.
“Sam? What’s wrong?”
“Huh?”
“Something’s wrong and I’m just wondering what it is. Or is it something you can’t discuss?” Ainsley
guessed.
“It’s something I don’t want to discuss.” Sam shrugged.
“Okay, then stop mangling the vegetables and bring the salad to the table. The chicken is ready.”
Ainsley smiled.
She waited patiently through the first five minutes of silence and ate her dinner. Then, as she
predicted, it all came tumbling out.
“I got a job offer today.” He admitted.
“Don’t you get those every day?” She asked and chuckled when he made a face. “Let me rephrase.”
“Please.” Sam requested.
“What’s different about this job offer that has you so serious and quiet?” Ainsley asked.
“I’m tempted to take it.”
“Seriously?”
“Very seriously.”
“What is it? Who is it for?”
“Chief of Staff to Parker.”
“Jeff Parker? Congressional Minority Leader Jeff Parker?” Ainsley confirmed.
“Yep.”
“Well hell, Sam, if you want to go back to a Congressional office I can hook you up with the Majority
leader and you can do it up right.” Ainsley quipped.
“As much as I appreciate the offer, I’m afraid our ideological differences may cause some conflicts.”
Sam noted.
“We do okay with them.” Ainsley shrugged and Sam realized what he said may have come off
differently than he intended.
“We certainly do.” He smiled and leaned over to kiss her cheek. “But you have certain attractions
for me that the Majority Leader is lacking.”
“How does Josh feel about this possible career move?” Ainsley asked and immediately saw Sam
stiffen in response to Josh’s name.
“I…haven’t talked to him about it yet.” He admitted. “He’s so busy and stressed and I’m not sure it’s
even something I want to pursue.”
”Okay…have you done a pro/con list?”
“You and your pro/con lists.” Sam chuckled.
“They work.” Ainsley defended herself.
“I’m not saying they don’t, I’m just suggesting perhaps they’re overused just a tad.” Sam pointed out.
“You’re just still sore that I did one for whether or not I should go out with you.”
“Hey, I’m just delighted I came out on top on that one.” Sam continued to laugh. “Though the fact
that I was asking you out on a DINNER date seemed to weigh in my favor if I recall.”
“Stop!” Ainsley laughed too. “There were other considerations besides dinner.”
“Like what?”
“I’m not telling.” Ainsley refused.
“Uh-huh.” Sam grinned wickedly at her. “Maybe we should do another list now that our relationship
has progressed beyond the early dating stage. Perhaps there are some new items we could add to
the pro column.”
“I’m sure there are.” Ainsley agreed. “But there’s really no need for a new pro/con list. Pro/con lists
are for helping to make decisions. There are no decisions currently on the table.”
“You never know when one might come up.” Sam shrugged and stole a glance to see Ainsley’s
reaction to his hint. She blinked a couple times and looked back at him with a pleasant expression
on her face.
“Well, when one does, I’m you can help me develop my new list.” She promised. “Though from
where I’m sitting it looks like the list would be pretty lopsided. However, the list would have to include
your job prospects so you better get that worked out.”
“Yeah…” Sam’s expression turned glum again. “I’m supposed to call Parker tomorrow and set up a
lunch. Once I do that, I really have to tell Josh. I don’t want him to hear it from someone else. I
guess I just worry that he’s going to take this personally; like I’m leaving him high and dry.”
“I think if you explain it to him he’ll understand.”
“Maybe…he’s been awfully moody lately. We had one great week with the Chinese refugee story
and now the last two weeks, we’re stuck in the muck again.” Sam complained. “We have to figure
out something about the- Never mind. Let’s not talk about work anymore, it’s just depressing. Let’s
talk about Christmas. Are you planning on going home for the Holiday?”
“I was thinking about it.” Ainsley hedged. “But I haven’t bought a ticket or anything. Are you
planning on going to California?”
“I could. Mom would like it, but it might be nice just to stick around here.” Sam explained. “The
holiday traveling leaves a lot to be desired and I always come back more exhausted than when I
left.”
“True. And to buy tickets at this point would be insanely expensive.” Ainsley added.
“Exactly…If you wanted to, we could spend Christmas together?” Sam offered. “I can bake an
awesome turkey.”
“Are you bribing me with food?”
“Whatever works.” Sam decided.
“Being with you works.” Ainsley told him. “But I still want the turkey.”
Sam laughed. “Of course you do.”
<><><><><><><><><><><><><>
“You can’t hold this administration together with your personal will and some duct tape, Josh.”
“I beg to differ, sir, that’ exactly what I AM doing.” Josh protested.
“That’s what you’re trying to do, and valiantly so, but it’s starting to crumble around you.” Jed
pointed out. “Toby is looking for an excuse to pack up and get out and with Davis around he won’t
have to look very hard. You’re losing Sam.”
“I am NOT!” Josh stopped his breakneck pace through the West Wing corridors to argue the point.
“Sam would never leave me with all this going on.”
“He wouldn’t be leaving you, son, he’d be leaving his job at the White House.”
“He promised he’d stick around and help me with this.”
“And I’m sure he meant it; probably still does. But would you want him to? He’s one of your best
friends, Josh. Do you really want him to stay when he’s miserable and feeling useless out of an
obligation?”
“Well…noooo…but I can’t do this without Sam. God, do you know how many fires I’m putting out
every day?” Josh replied.
“You can’t put out every fire, Josh, not even with Sam’s help. Things are slipping away from you.”
“Things are going better.” Josh maintained. They were. They had to be or what the hell was he
doing here? “We’re still reaping the rewards from our deft handling of China.”
“That was a beautiful play.” Bartlet nodded and smiled in appreciation of the Machiavellian solution.
“I’d have given anything to have seen the expression on the General Chairman’s face when he was
told his citizens had escaped from the detention center.”
Josh smiled too. “That was Donna. She dug up some obscure reference to another incident and did
some more research and voila!” The pride in Josh’s voice was unmistakable.
“Yes, but you took it and ran with it; convinced the President to execute the play. That was no small
thing to get Hoynes to take that kind of risk when his Presidency is already on shaky ground.”
“It was the only logical solution.” Josh reminded him.
“Not everybody would have seen that. Not many would have seen that. They would have played it
safe and sent them back.”
“Maybe. But if Donna hadn’t found the precedent…”
“You’ve always made a formidable team.” Jed remembered. “Wasn’t she behind the antiquities act
on the banking bill, too?”
“Yes, sir.” Josh chuckled. “She’s quite something…as she’s frequently telling me.”
“Listen to the woman, Josh, she’s never steered you wrong.”
“I try, sir.” Josh acknowledged and sighed as he resumed walking the halls. Where the hell as he
going anyway?
“The sit room.” Jed answered as if Josh had spoken his question out loud. Josh did a double take
but continued on the path to the sit room with Jed matching him stride for stride.
“What’s going on in the sit room?” Josh asked.
“Hell if I know. I don’t get the daily briefings anymore, Josh.” Jed laughed at his little joke and Josh
ahd to curb the urge to apologize for his faux pas. Josh pressed his palm to the identification unit
and the men walked in.
One of the brass was filling the President in on a potential terrorist threat. Before he’d even finished
his statement, Davis was urging the President to send out an airstrike. What the hell was Davis
doing in the sit room?
“Just a moment, Mr. President. We don’t have all the information we need to make a decision like
that yet.”
“If you wait, you’ll appear weak and we are already dealing with that, aren’t we sir?” Davis replied.
“It isn’t weak to gather all the information. It isn’t weak to seek a non-violent solution, Mr. President.”
“And if we’re attacked while you’re gathering information, Mr. President?” Davis asked.
“Ron’s right. I have to appear decisive.” Hoynes decided and walked over to pour himself a drink at
the bar. Why was there a bar in the sit room?
“I wish I’d had one in here.” Bartlet quipped, again responding to Josh’s thoughts.
“Sir, I beg you to listen to me. We can get the information we need to make an accurate decision
without losing political ground. These men are professional soldiers. Give them a little more time to
come up with a plan.”
“We don’t have time. We’re running out of time, Josh, don’t you see that?” Hoynes responded.
“General Martin? You have the ‘go’ order.”
“No, wait!” Josh shouted. “I can fix this. Just give me a minute. Let me think.”
“We have a ‘go’.” General Martin repeated and immediately the wall on the sit room lit up like a
Christmas tree. Explosions erupted everywhere and smaller screens showed fires raging out of
control.
“Jesus…” Josh whispered. “What are we doing? What the HELL are we doing?”
“It’s a hell of a mess.” Jed decreed.
“Mr. President, you have to stop this.” Josh begged Hoynes who was shaking his head sadly.
“It was inevitable, Josh. You knew it was going to blow up in our faces one day.” Hoynes told him.
“No! We could stop it. We still can! Just…order them to stop. They need to stop and put out the
fire.”
“He can’t.” Bartlet said quietly.
“I can’t.” Hoynes repeated.
“Why not?” Josh shouted but Hoynes and the rest of the people just silently left the sit room while
fires continued to rage on every screen.
“Josh, you don’t have the power to stop this. Hoynes doesn’t either.”
“Then who does?”
“I don’t know.” Bartlet said quietly.
“What do you mean you don’t know?! You’re the President for God’s sake!”
“No, I’m not.” Jed countered and stopped Josh in his tracks.
“No…you’re not.” Josh repeated slowly and turned back to the screens. The fires had been
replaced with scenes from Rosslyn. Some of it looked like news footage and other bits looked like
his own personal memories from that night; fragmented and distorted. Then came the sirens…
“You’re not there anymore, Josh.” Bartlet reminded him. “You’re safe now.”
“They’re everywhere.” He commented and turned a slow circle in one spot seeing the flashing lights
and hearing the sirens in surround sound.
“Josh…listen to me.” Jed physically turned Josh toward him, but the younger man’s attention was
still riveted on the screens around him.
“They won’t stop.” Josh told him. “Make them stop.”
“I can’t.”
“Please! Please make them stop.” Josh covered his ears.
“I would if I could. I swear I would.” Bartlet promised. Suddenly, Josh felt the impact of the bullet
strike his chest and he gasped in pain and shock. “You can’t stay here, Josh. You need help.”
“I’m all alone here.” Josh looked around the room in panic.
“No, you’re not.” Jed assured him before he woke up in a cold sweat. His hands were shaking and
he was gasping for air. He could feel the impact on his chest like a phantom pain and it took him a
good minute or two to convince himself he hadn’t been re-injured in some way. Once he felt a bit
calmer he left the bedroom on trembling legs to find Donna.
Since it was Sunday morning, and there wasn’t anything major brewing, they weren’t planning on
going into the West Wing, which was probably why Donna had let me sleep in. He found her in the
living room cheerily decorating their Christmas tree singing carols in her slightly off key but highly
enthusiastic voice. The sight made him smile so he simply leaned against the wall and watched her
for awhile. Donna loved Christmas; loved everything to do with Christmas, the music, the
decorations and especially the presents. His Donnatella adored presents. What he loved was how
she was just as excited to give presents as she was to receive them. She put a lot of thought into
the presents she gave and wanted to make sure it matched the recipient perfectly.
He’d been so nervous about giving her the antique book last year. He wanted to give her something
as unique and special as she was, but he was concerned at the time about stepping over the line
between friendship and something more with someone who worked for him. He’d watched her while
she read his inscription and it had made his heart swell that his carefully chosen present with his
carefully scripted words had made such an impact.
He must have moved or made some little noise that alerted her to his presence because she turned
suddenly and made eye contact with him. “Hi, you’re up!”
“I’m up.” Josh confirmed but stayed where he was leaning against the wall so Donna went to him.
“I’m decorating the tree.”
“So I noticed.” He chuckled and ran his hands up and down her arms. “It looks good.”
“I’m not done yet.” Donna protested. “Come help me finish.”
“I don’t have much tree decorating experience, Donnatella. In fact, I don’t have any tree decorating
experience.”
“Then this is your lucky day because I am a tree decorating expert and I am willing to take you on
as an apprentice to learn the art of tree decorating.”
“I’m THAT lucky?” Josh teased.
“You really are.” Donna nodded and pulled him reluctantly with her to the tree where she directed
him to place several ornaments on the tree. She was giddy with happiness and it was infectious.
There was lovely Christmas music playing in the background and the twinkle of lights from the tree
made quite a picture, so Josh was at a loss to explain why he had this building feeling of impending
danger. He was about to beg off when she declared she had the last item for the tree. It was a shiny
silver star that she had him place on the very top of the tree.
“Perfect timing!” She declared. “The last song on the CD finished at almost the exact same time we
finished decorating.”
“Are we done now?” Josh asked plaintively.
“Yes, Ebenezer Scrooge, we are done decorating, but now comes the best part; the enjoying.”
“The enjoying?” Josh repeated.
“Yes, see we come over here and lie down on the blanket in front of the tree and enjoy it.” Donna
demonstrated. “Come on!”
“We just, what, look at it?” Josh confirmed, but he did join Donna on blanket where he took her in
his arms and held her tight.
“Yes, we just look at it.” Donna chuckled. “Together; we look at it together. Because decorating
Christmas trees and everything else we do at holiday time isn’t nearly as much fun when you’re
alone.”
“No.” Josh agreed. “Being alone is the worst.”
“Hanukah starts tomorrow.” Donna mentioned.
“I’d heard a rumor.” Josh drawled.
“This is going to be the best holiday season ever.” Donna decided.