Chapter 1

"Abbey, you have to tell Jed what's going on. He's your husband and he has a right to know there might be something wrong."

"But Millie, he's just been so worried over some type of crisis with Turkey. He's gone half the night in the Situation Room and I just don't want to bother him."

"Abbey, it could be nothing. We both know that. But he has a right to know that you're not well."

The two women were sitting in the sunroom off the main hall of the Residence, each holding a glass of wine and their feet propped up on the coffee table. Millie had been trying to persuade Abbey to discuss her health with Jed, but Abbey was stubbornly refusing to even consider it.

"Maybe after I see the doctor on Friday. Jed leaves Friday morning for a weekend trip to Florida and that will give me time to get my act together with facts. If I don't have the facts, all he will do is jump to the most serious illness known to man. So just let me get the facts and then I'll let him know."

"You promise?"

"Yes, I promise. I just don't think it's serious enough to worry him about it unnecessarily."

"Abbey, you mean well, but you're playing with fire. Jed will not like it when he finds out something has been wrong for the last few weeks and you've been withholding it from him."

"Well, I am doing it for him. He'll understand."

"Abbey, I don't think so. I've been around you a few times when he has found out something you kept from him. Even if it for his own good, he won't take it that way. He'll get very angry with you. Does he suspect something is wrong?"

"No. I've been very careful to act normal around him. Except for being tired, I've been successful in acting like everything is fine."

"Abbey, you and Jed are joined at the deepest level. I have never met two people who are so emotionally tied to each other. You read each other's minds, finish each other sentences. I can't believe he doesn't suspect something."

"Well, he doesn't. If he did, he would have talked to me."

Millie sighed. "You know more than you're letting on, don't you? You're a physician for God's sake. He needs to know what you suspect. Don't keep it from him."

"Millie, I'm not going to worry him unnecessarily. He is President of the United States and he's got more important things to worry about than some minor problem I might have."

Millie shook her head again. "Is there anything I can say to persuade you otherwise?"

"No. My mind is made up. I'll tell Jed after I see the doctor. And not a moment before."

"You're stubborn, you know that?"

"This time it's for his own good. He'll understand."

"I hope so. I only hope so."

Millie just shook her head. Abbey could be a jackass herself at times.