Title: Smile
Author: Kelley
Rating: PG-13
Category: A/U, general, Josh/Amy, [just for a little while], D/other, J/D
Spoilers: Anything through the first three seasons is fair game but I'll
try to stick to pre-"Stirred".
Disclaimers: I have absolutely no claim to these West Wing characters
whatsoever, no matter what the voices inside my head say. As for any other
references to pop culture I may make that I don't own, I am a lowly high
school student with a C+ average, no money, and a highly overactive
imagination so please don't sue! Emma Wilder, Ben Peterson, T.J. Moss,
Nicole Moss-Braun, Lily Irving, Mena Falansio, and Dr. Michael Flynn are
entirely my creation and I retain all rights to exclusively use them in my
fics.
Feedback: I will shave a monkey's uncle for feedback, baby!
Notes: The story starts after the Democratic National Convention, where the
president was re-nominated and is pretty much A/U. There will be flashbacks
that will be marked with *****. The president finally hired a replacement
for Mrs. Landingham and he chose Donna. Since she, like the rest of us,
can't stand to see Josh with Amy she took the job. Also Bruno, Connie, and
Doug never existed in this universe. Other than that, everything's pretty
much as is.
Air Force One: August 23, 2002
Donna leaned back into the plush seat as she felt the aircraft taking off. She had been working nonstop all day, staying with President as he had given several dozen interviews before taking off from O'Hare back to Andrews after the convention and she had been having to adjust his schedule what seemed like every fifteen minutes. She was dead tired and the President knew it. He had ordered her to spend the entire four-hour flight sleeping and she was being given the rest of the day off when they got to D.C. Granted, it was going to be around 11:30 pm when they landed but it was really the thought that counted. The President was really a remarkably considerable man to work and while technically Donna always had worked for him, it was a much different relationship now that she was his personal assistant.
Donna sighed, thinking about how much her professional life had changed in the past few months. She, Donnatella Igraine Moss, a college-dropout from Madison, was now in charge of helping to keep the office of the President of the United States running smoothly. Some might say it was a less strenuous job than say, Deputy C.o.S. But like there are no small parts just small actors in Hollywood, in the White House there are no small jobs just demanding, underpaid ones. Being the President's assistant was much harder than being Josh's in some respects. She had to travel much more frequently, she worked longer hours, and she was in charge of keeping the president from going crazy during the day. One an average day, the President will lose his mind roughly three to four times. It had always been Mrs. Landingham who had kept him on an even keel and now Donna had discovered that it was her duty as well. In that respect, it was quite similar to what she had done with Josh but it was different because the President didn't insult her taste in men and she didn't have to decorate the Residence for him to have a romantic evening with the First Lady. Donna chewed carefully on her lower lip, a bit of a reminder that she had promised herself she wouldn't let herself think of Josh and Amy like that. And when she says "that", she means in a romantic relationship together. She just didn't understand what Josh saw in her. Amy was a female version of Josh, which meant that she was brilliant, egotistical, and stubborn as an ox. By definition, that meant that she had to be right about everything. And Donna, knowing Josh as well as she did, knew that Josh hated being with a woman who fought him on everything. Donna just didn't get what he saw in her. Maybe he realized it was time for him to start settling down, maybe he thought it was a smart political move to be with her, maybe it was just really great sex. Although that was an option she didn't like to consider since it would mean she actually had to let herself believe that they were having sex. The only option that Donna wouldn't even think of considering was the one she dreaded most of all: that Josh's feelings for Amy weren't motivated out of politics or guilt but rather out of genuine love.
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be sleeping?" Sam's voice asked, breaking Donna out of her reverie.
Donna's tired eyes looked up at him with a surprised look. "How'd you know that?"
"I'm intuitive like that."
"Sam," she sighed tiredly.
Sam looked down sheepishly as he sat down next to her. "The President sent me here to check on you."
"Ah," she said knowingly. "Ever the busybody he is"
"Yeah but he's actually, you know, right this time. You do look pretty run down, Donna."
Donna rolled her eyes at him. "So he's gotten to you too, huh? You know just because he's the leader of the free world he has this crazy notion that he can boss everybody around. Did he send you here to take my temperature or is Mrs. Bartlet going to be waiting on the tarmac when we land?"
"Actually," Sam said carefully, "It wasn't just the President; everyone's noticed how tired you've been lately. CJ, Toby, Charlie. Josh even told me to make sure you were feeling okay while we were in Chicago before he left this morning."
"He did?" Donna asked surprised. "Why?"
"He noticed that you were looking like an extra from, "Night of the Living Dead", when we were in Chicago. He told me if I valued my job when we got back that I should make sure you were okay on the flight back since he couldn't be here."
"Oh," she said knowingly, "that's right I almost forgot. He has to go to that fundraiser with Amy tonight doesn't he? That's why he couldn't be here himself to be nosey," she answered annoyed, completely missing Sam's point that Josh was concerned about her.
Sam let out a breath before jumping in. "Okay, I'm just going to assume you're acting like this because you're sick and miserable, not because you're actually pissed at Josh for some stupid reason or another."
"I'm not pissed at him!" she cried incredulously. "Why does everybody assume that I'm pissed at him?!"
"Okay," said Sam quickly, realizing his mistake almost before the words came out of his mouth. "You're not pissed at him, its something else."
"Yes because my life doe not revolve around Joshua Lyman," Donna continued, not even seeming to hear Sam. "In fact, my life never revolved around him. I was never his little lapdog or whatever else anyone says about me."
"No one ever said you were." Sam started before Donna cut him off.
"So what if he and I were closer than most bosses are with their assistants?" she plowed through, even though she was beginning to feel a little lightheaded. All this arguing with Sam was making her tired. "We worked long hours together, naturally some form of closeness is going to form. It doesn't mean that I'm going to be pissed at him for abandoning his job, his very important job, just so he can go schmooze with his girlfriend."
"No one's saying that you are," Sam managed to get in. "We never thought that you were Josh's little lost puppy or anything like that. We just think that you've been pushing yourself a little too hard lately and it's beginning to affect your personality. You know, you've been burning the candle at both ends for weeks now. Maybe you should think about taking some time."
Sam droned on but Donna had stopped listening. She was becoming acutely aware of how dizzy she was feeling. The entire cabin seemed to be spinning and Donna was having trouble focusing her eyes. She thought it was just the change in altitude and she figured walking around the plane a little would help her. Just as she stood up, it felt like someone had jammed a cloth down her throat. All of a sudden she couldn't breathe and she turned to look at Sam who had a confused look on his face.
"Donna?" she heard him say before her legs gave out from under her. The last thing she felt was his arms reach out to catch her before she hit the floor. When she looked up, instead of Sam's blue eyes she wished she were seeing Josh's brown ones. That was her last conscious thought before everything went black.
George Washington University Hospital: The Following Morning
".But we'll need to run more tests before we now exactly what stage she's in right now so we want to keep her here for observation for a while," Donna heard the unfamiliar voice say as she was trying in vain to open her eyes.
"Can you tell us anything right now?" the unmistakable voice of President Bartlet asked. Donna as finally able to open her eyes even though the second she did she regretted it. There were suddenly all these bright colors that seemed to be attacking her line of vision all at the same time while simultaneously there was this unknown roaring in her ears that left her basically deaf. It took a few seconds but her vision finally adjusted and the roaring in her ears quieted to gentle hum. Out of the corner of her right eye, she could make out what looked to be four people huddled in the corner of the room, which she had now assumed to be a hospital room, due to the antiseptic smell and the feel of the cheap cotton gown she had on. While she was curious to know how she had suddenly transported from Air Force One to a hospital bed, she also wanted to know whom these three people were and what they were doing in her room.
Normally when Donna had a question, she just opened her mouth and asked it. Now Donna found that while she could open her mouth, her vocal cords seemed to be paralyzed. Also, moving any part of her body, her mouth included, seemed to cause her agonizing pain. The most she could get out was a quiet moan but that was more than enough to get the attention of the people in room, who promptly gathered around her bed save the agent.
"Good morning, Donna," the President said, looking down on her with his concerned, fatherly face on. That was never a good sign.
Donna took a second to swallow before saying in a raspy whisper, "Good morning, Sir." A hand with a cup of something in it reached out to put the straw near her lips. She carefully sipped the cool water slowly and just as slowly the burning sensation in her throat lessened. When she was done, she looked up and saw the faces of the President, Leo, one of the president's agents still in the corner of the room, and an unknown face in sterile blue medical scrubs and a white lab coat that Donna assumed was the doctor. "What happened to me?"
The three men gave each other a look before the doctor answered. "Donna, my name is Dr. Michael Flynn." The man's soft, brown skin and intelligent face gave him an aura of gentleness and trust that Donna immediately latched onto. "I'll be your treating physician. Do you know where you are right know?" he asked as he reached into his lab coat pocket and retrieved a small flashlight which he than proceeded to shine into Donna's eyes.
"I think I'm at a hospital," she answered, squinting slightly from the bright light.
"That's right," Dr. Flynn answered, putting the flashlight back into his pocket. He then reached for her wrist and began checking her pulse. "You're at George Washington University Hospital in DC. You've had a nice little nap, young lady."
"What day is it?" Donna asked, turning to the President and Leo while Dr. Flynn continued his examination.
"Its Sunday, about nine o'clock in the morning," said Leo, his usual gruff voice replaced by a calm one with dulcet tones. Now Donna was really beginning to get worried. Something must be really wrong if even Leo was acting like this.
"Well okay," said Donna carefully as the doctor propped her up so he could listen to her heart and lungs. "So what happened to me? Did I pass out and hit my head or something?" she asked in a quiet voice, worried about herself for the first time in a long time. The three men glanced at each other again before Dr. Flynn took the initiative.
"Mr. President, Mr. McGarry," he asked as he placed the stethoscope back around his neck, "could you give us a moment? I'd rather talk to Donna in private." Even though he had already told them what he suspected was wrong when Donna was unconscious.
"Of course, Doctor," the President said. He and Leo both gave Donna's hand a squeeze as they left and the agent discretely followed them.
Dr. Flynn moved to sit in the chair on the left side of Donna's bed. While he adjusted, it gave Donna a chance to appraise the man. He appeared to be in his mid-60s, with almost snow-white hair providing a stark contrast to his black skin. His hands were large and soft, weathered from years of doing useful work. His eyes had that very honest quality that one likes to see in a doctor yet there was also deep empathy in them at the same time. Donna trusted him at once and hoped that whatever news he was about to give her was not as bad as she felt it was going to be.
"Well young lady," he said kindly. "You gave a lot of people quite a scare."
"What exactly happened?" she asked moving to sit up but realizing at once that she was too weak to do that. The doctor solved her problem by taking the remote control and adjusting the bed.
"What's the last thing that you remember happening before you woke up?" Dr. Flynn asked.
Donna searched through her foggy mind, trying to locate that elusive memory. "Um, I think I was on Air Force One," she said haltingly. "With Sam. I was with Sam on the plane and then." she paused, "I don't remember. What happened?"
"Yes you were on the plane with Sam," responded the doctor. "What happened was you appeared to have fainted onboard and you lost consciousness on and off for the rest of the flight. The cockpit radioed ahead and you were brought here as soon as you landed." Donna took a minute to absorb that knowledge. She remembered feeling lousy almost as soon as the plane took off so she must have fainted right after they left O'Hare. It startled her to think that that had been her last clear thought before she was unconscious for eight hours. 'This must be very serious' she thought to herself.
"This is very serious, Donna" the doctor said as he put on a pair of glasses, almost as if he knew what she was thinking. "You're going to have to stay here for some time so I suggest you get in contact with the people who need to be contacted."
"How long will I be here for?"
Scanning quickly through a medical chart that Donna assumed was hers, he said, "At least a couple of weeks but probably more so maybe you should call your family."
"A couple of weeks?" she asked, surprised and nervous all at once, so she started to ramble. "Why that long? I fainted, for Christ sakes it's probably nothing and you're only keeping me here so you don't piss off the President, who is just a nosey busybody so I don't get why you care so much."
"Donna," the doctor said gently but firmly, putting the folder down and looking straight at her. "When you fainted on board, at one point you stopped breathing, for no apparent reason." That got Donna's attention. "The naval doctor was able to revive you using CPR and inserting a tube down your throat to help you breathe onboard but we need to know what's wrong with you right now."
Donna couldn't even move in that instant. She felt paralyzed and the only thought that ran through her head was that she had stopped breathing. Someone had to give her CPR. Someone had to put a tube down her throat to give her oxygen. Someone had to breathe for her. Someone had to keep her alive because she couldn't. It was a sobering thought.
"I.I stopped breathing?" she asked in a stunned whisper.
"Yes," said the doctor, sympathy showing in his every gesture. "You did. And there probably is something that's seriously wrong with you right now. What exactly that is, I don't know." He reached for her left hand. "But I promise you I'm going to do everything within my power to find out what it is and cure it. But I need your help too. This may be a long process that could take anywhere from hours to weeks. It's going to be tough, disappointing, and not all that pretty. I'm going to need you to be strong for me Donna." He gave her hand a squeeze, almost as if he were making a promise or a deal of some kind. "Can you be strong for me?"
Donna just wanted to close her eyes and not open them again until this whole thing was over with. The possibility that there was something seriously wrong with her was a concept she couldn't even begin to seriously comprehend but she knew that she had to. She thought back to all the times, when people she loved where sick: nursing her little brother T.J. when he was hospitalized with pneumonia, sitting with her mom in the hospital before and after every surgery when the doctors tried unsuccessfully to stop the cancer from spreading, refusing to bring Josh any work when he was recovering from the gunshot. All of these people she loved so much and she had watched them all be strong for her even when they didn't want to be. Donna knew then that she had that same obligation to the family and friends that would be around her during this time. She made her decision right at that moment that whatever this was, she wasn't going to let it beat her, no matter how hard it was. She just couldn't let her family suffer like that again. She looked at the doctor and squeezed his hand as hard as he could.
"Absolutely," she rasped.
White House Communications Bullpen:Same Day
"Has either of you heard anything from Leo yet?" CJ asked as she walked into Toby's office, where he and Sam were. They were all tired, stressed out, and worried about Donna. Leo had insisted that they all leave the waiting room at around two am that morning to try to get some sleep for the next day. So they had all gone home but naturally none of them could sleep.
"No, nothing," said Toby, his usually gruff voice subdued by his anxiety over Donna. Out of all the people that something bad should happen to, she was at the very bottom of his list. It just wasn't fair that she should have to go through something potentially serious at this point in her life.
"Do you think that's good or bad?" Sam asked quietly, still reeling from the memory of watching his friend collapse.
"Well," started CJ carefully, sitting down next to Sam on the sofa, "I guess it means that she hasn't gotten any worse, which is good."
"But it also means that she probably hasn't woken up yet, which could be bad," finished Toby. He wiped at his tired eyes as the three of them lapsed into silence.
"What did Josh say when you called him?" Sam asked abruptly, turning to Toby.
"When?" he asked.
"Last night, from the hospital," Sam asked as he got up to stretch his aching muscles.
Toby had a curious look on his face. "I didn't call him last night. CJ and I were working on the press statements from the convention at the hospital and than Leo sent us home. Didn't you call him from the plane?"
"No," said Sam defensively, "I was too busy sitting outside Donna's room, waiting for the doctor to leave so I could go in there in case she woke up. You, on the other hand, were meeting with staff and going over a list of campaign stops for the next month," he finished accusingly.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Sam?" Toby asked, walking around his desk to stand near Sam. "That I was any less concerned about Donna than you were? That I was any less scared that something was really wrong with her?" raising his voice an octave higher as he stood in front of Sam.
"Guys, just stop it," CJ said, holding up her hands and moving in between the two men. "All of us are stressed out and we're all worried about Donna. That doesn't mean that you two can go out onto the playground and have a fight during recess. Okay?" The two men looked at each other before retreating, Sam back to the sofa and Toby to his desk. "Alright," CJ sighed after a minute, running a hand through her hair and launching into Press Secretary mode. "If he asks, we didn't call him because we all know how limited his time with Amy is and we didn't want to worry him until we knew anything for sure." She paused and tapped her foot lightly against the floor. Neither Toby nor Sam made a move. "So someone just has to call Josh right now and tell him what happened."
"Or you could just turn around and tell him face to face, save yourself the trouble," a voice from the doorway proclaimed. CJ, Sam, and Toby turned around to see Josh leaning against the doorway, his backpack slung across his shoulder. He looked fairly relaxed but tired and he could immediately sense that something was up.
"What's going on?" he asked as he came into the room, simultaneously reading a memo of some kind. The three of them all looked at each other, trying to gauge what Josh's reaction would be when they told him. "Don't tell me you guys caused some major crisis in the past twenty-four hours I was gone that you now need me to fix," he said jokingly, hoping it was something minor that he could finish before lunch. When no one laughed or tried to retort him, he got the message loud and clear: Something really bad had happened.
"Josh," said Toby carefully, deciding to delve into this slowly. "How long were you standing in the door just then?"
"A minute, why?" he asked putting his backpack down by the sofa and placing the memo on the coffee table, giving Toby his full attention. CJ and Sam both moved to sit down on the sofa and Toby leaned against his desk while Josh remained standing near the door.
"Something happened on the plane last night," Toby said. His eyes left Josh's as he continued. "Donna got really sick and she was brought to GW when we landed."
As soon as Josh had heard the words "Donna" and "GW", he began to get nervous. "What exactly happened?" he asked quietly.
Sam took over for Toby. "She fainted right after take off and she was...um...in and out of consciousness the rest of the flight."
"Wait, she was unconscious on the flight?" Josh asked stunned. A million thoughts raced through his mind. 'Did she hit her head on something? Was it something that she ate? Is she taking medication for something?' he thought to himself as his feet were rooted to the floor of Toby's office. "I need to call her. When did they release her?" he asked.
"From the hospital?" Toby asked. Josh nodded. "They didn't, she's still there. They wanted to keep her there for observation was the last that Leo knew when he called us."
"Leo's with her right now?"
"Yes, Leo and the President both stayed with her," CJ answered. "Leo told us to go home and he promised he'd call when Donna woke up or they had any new news."
"Well has there been any news since then?"
"No, we haven't heard anything," said CJ. "Which could be good."
"Or bad but we were still trying to decide when you walked in," Sam added, making a weak attempt at humor. By the look that everyone gave him he knew instantly that his attempt failed.
Josh shook his head, rubbing his eyes with his palms. "I don't get it, why didn't I get a phone call the minute you guys realized something was wrong?"
"We know how little time you have with Amy and we didn't want to worry you until we knew anything for sure," Toby answered almost in sync with Sam's answer. The two men looked at each other coldly than at the ground.
"You forgot," Josh laughed cynically. "Donna is sick and hospitalized and none of you had the decency to call me!" he practically shouted. "Was I just supposed to find out this morning from the gossip at the coffee maker like a stupid intern or something?!"
"Josh calm down please," CJ, ever the peacemaker, said just as Toby's cell phone started to ring. As Toby answered it, she continued. "It was a hectic night and we were all worried and yes we wrong not to call you. But it wasn't intentional. Now you need to relax because Donna sure as hell isn't going to get any better with you having a nutty right in front of her. Okay?" she finished. Josh nodded slowly and basically fell onto the couch, resting his head in his hands. Toby hung up the phone and looked at them.
"That was Leo," he said. "She just woke up."
"Is she all right?" Josh asked, immediately springing to his feet.
"I don't know, all he said was that she woke up and the doctor was speaking to her," Toby responded. "And that the President was on his way back here. He wants to meet with us."
"When's he going to get here?" asked CJ.
Just then, they heard the familiar wail of sirens that identified that the President was going in through the side entrance. A few minutes later, the four of them were standing in the Executive Office, waiting for the President to arrive. When he did, there was an instantaneous change in stature and manner among them all to accommodate for the enormous presence that is Jed Bartlet.
"Come on in," he said, not even stopping before striding into the Oval Office. "Charlie, get me the memo that the director of the NSA left for me about Qumar and arrange a meeting with State Dept. officials for around noon."
"Yes sir," said Charlie, already moving to complete the tasks before the President finished giving them.
"Is everything all right, Sir?" Toby asked when they all stepped into the office.
The President moved behind his desk, putting on his glasses and reading the memo that Charlie had quickly found and placed on his desk. "Thank you, Charlie," he said as he sat down. "Could you close the door please?"
"Yes, Sir," answered Charlie, moving to leave the room.
"No, no stay Charlie," the President replied when he saw Charlie going through the doorway. "You probably need to hear this too."
A minute passed as the President continued to read the memo and Charlie situated himself on the sofa with Sam. CJ and Toby sat in the sofa opposite them and Josh was standing near one of the armchairs, his arms folded tightly across his chest, his eyes tense. When he was finished reading the memo, the President placed his glasses on his desk and stood up to come around the desk and sit in the armchair closest to the desk.
"Is everything all right, Sir?" Toby asked again, deliberately.
"The Qumari military has been receiving citations from the UN Security Council about its numerous uses of brutal force when breaking up protests in the region," the President said in his soft yet commanding voice. "Koffi Anun wants me to send a representative to the next meeting of the General Assembly in two weeks."
"He meant with Donna, Sir" Josh said impatiently.
"Yeah I know he did," Jed Bartlet sighed. "I was just hoping to avoid that question for as long as I possibly could."
"What's wrong?" Josh demanded. "What's wrong with her?"
"Her doctor thinks that it's something called aplastic anemia but they need to run more tests before they're sure," Jed said, wiping at his tired eyes.
"So they don't know yet? It could be nothing at all right?" Josh asked hopefully.
"No," Jed said quietly. "The doctor, uh Dr. Michael Flynn, is an expert in the field of hematology and he's just waiting for the test results to confirm it before he tells Donna. But he's positive that it's aplastic anemia."
"What's that, some kind of disorder or something?" Sam asked, after the quiet had passed.
"Yeah," the President answered. "It's a blood disorder. It's actually pretty rare but it's generally found in women in Donna's age group. It means her red blood cells are depleting too fast for her body to keep up. That leaves her weak, which is why she's been so tired lately.
"Can it be treated? CJ asked.
"It depends on what stage it's in. In the first two stages, it's treatable through medication and periodic red blood cell transfusions. When it gets into the third stage, a bone marrow transplant is needed and sometimes even a liver transplant and if a suitable match isn't found the disease will go into the fourth stage." Jed bit his lower lip softly before continuing in an even quieter voice. "The disease is terminal in the fourth stage."
"Well what stage is Donna in?" Toby asked.
The President paused before answering. "She's borderline between the third and fourth stages."
Toby cleared his throat. "Well.uh.and that means?"
"If she doesn't get a successful bone marrow transplant in the next few weeks." he said.
"She's gonna die?" finished Josh, looking to the President for confirmation. Jed cast his eyes downward and nodded to the affirmative. Everyone in the room was stilled into silence, each lost in the seriousness of that statement. They were all inadequately prepared for this. Give them a speech to right or a vote to swing; they could all handle that. But losing one of their closest friends to a rare disease? None of them, least of all Josh was anywhere close to being prepared for that.
"Um. do you know if they're going to release her soon, Sir?" asked CJ, her eyes just a little bit watery.
"No," said the President. "They want to keep her there in case there's an emergency. She could have serious problems quickly if this disease isn't properly monitored. They're also going to start giving her daily transfusions to try to reverse the process of the disease. Dr. Flynn says that that can happen occasionally."
"Is she in any pain?" Sam wanted to know.
"They're giving her medication to control it, also to prevent her from having anymore episodes like the one she had on the plane." He paused for a second. "She's very well taken care of there and I placed Secret Service agents outside her door to prevent any unwanted visitors."
"The press knows?" a surprised CJ asked.
"One of the President's closest staffers collapses on Air Force One and is rushed to GW upon landing?" stated Toby. "I think there gonna be a little curious."
"Yeah I'll go talk to her today about releasing statements," CJ said, mentally preparing a list of things that she would need to do. "Does her family know yet?"
"We've been trying to get in touch with them since we landed but we haven't been able to locate anybody," said the President.
Charlie responded with, "I'll pull her personal records, get her emergency contacts."
"Or maybe Margaret or Ginger would know who she'd want to call," added Sam.
"What time is it?" Josh finally asked after remaining silent during the whole exchange.
"It's almost ten o'clock," said Charlie with a glance at his wrist.
"Damn it, I'm gonna be late," said Josh moving towards the door.
"Where are you going?" asked a confused Sam.
"Rittenhower wanted a meeting on sugar subsides in the southeast and I blew him off Friday at the convention so I've got to meet with him for brunch in twenty minutes," Josh replied, heading out the door. "When are we gonna meet again?"
"Josh I don't think that you should take." started Jed.
"Sir if I don't take this meeting, Rittenhower will raise nine kinds of hell when we try to get the education reform bill out of his committee," Josh stated almost immediately putting on the mask of political operative that hid his pain. "That is not something that we want coming up so close to November. If I take the meeting, I can fix this so it won't be an issue.
"Yeah but Josh do you really think that now is the time to." Sam scoffed
"Yes," said the President, looking at Josh carefully. "Meet with him, Josh, but don't make any commitments until you talk with Leo."
"Yessir," said Josh, leaving the room.
The four people in the room all turned to look at the President who had moved back behind his desk, each of them not understanding why he'd just let Josh go and all of them fairly angry about it. Of course, none of them could directly vocalize their anger at him in a way that they wanted too. But they all wanted to know why.
"Sir?" CJ asked. "May I ask why you just did what you did right then?"
"Well first off he's right," the President, opening some folders and scanning the documents inside before signing them. "We do need Rittenhower's support if the EEA is ever going to get out of committee." He put the pen down and took off his reading glasses to look at all of them. "And secondly he's not ready to deal with Donna just yet."
"Not ready to deal with Donna?" asked Sam incredulously. "She's is sick, hospitalized, and she needs him. When he was shot, she was there for him, no questions asked. And now she needs him and he's running away."
"And why do you think that is Sam?" Jed asked, getting frustrated. ""He's scared out of his mind because the most important person in the world to him is lying in a hospital bed dying and there isn't anything he can do to help her! He can't save her but he can save the EEA and you know why?!" Jed took a breath to calm himself down before he continued. "Because that's what Josh does. Something is wrong, so he comes along and fixes it. He can't fix Donna but he can fix the god damn EEA."
Sam nodded, a little taken aback by the President's diatribe. "Yeah, he can," said Sam in calm, yielding voice. "But Donna is a person who needs to fix things too. And she waited fourteen hours in that same waiting room for him. And she was with him for three months before she saw results with him. That was three months of yelling and frustration and pain before he began acting like a human again and then she waited three more months before she could start worrying about herself and not about whether or not she was gonna go into his apartment and find him in a pool of his own blood," he said deliberately. "Now she's the one in that hospital room and instead of being in that waiting room, he's going for to meet with an uptight Republican to discuss farming laws and the Redskins over coffee. You're telling me you're all okay with that?"
"No I'm not," said Toby. "But like the President said, what can we do? We can't drag Josh there kicking and screaming and we can't wave a magic wand and cure Donna."
Sam shook his head, his face looking like he was defeated. "So what do we do?"
Toby looked around the room at the helpless faces of his friends and colleagues. He was feeling a little like it was the night of a major Senate vote and no one would take his phone calls. There was absolutely nothing any of them could do at this point and they all knew it.
"I don't know," answered Toby.
GWU Hospital: Donna's Room (simultaneously)
"How is everyone?" Donna asked when Leo walked back into the room after going to make a phone call back to the White House.
"Okay," he responded, sitting across from Donna in a wide, uncomfortable hospital chair. "They're all worried about you. Everyone's asking to be kept updated on your condition." He stopped and grinned at her. "Hell, even Oliver Babish called to see how you were doing."
"Oh they shouldn't do that, they've got more important things to worry about," she said quietly, her throat still sore from the breathing tube the naval doctor on Air Force One had placed down her throat.
"Donna the President of the United States was down here for almost five hours after he had just received re-nomination at the Democratic National Convention to make sure you were gonna be okay," said Leo, with just the hint of a smile. "I'd say that rates you pretty important on his list of priorities."
Donna shook her head. "I'm just his assistant," she said.
"You're his daughter, Donna, just as much as his own girls are," he told her, not oblivious to the surprised expression she wore on her face when he said it. "You do know that don't you?"
Donna cleared her throat. "So, um, have you heard anything from my family at all?" she asked, clearly uncomfortable with the subject.
"Yeah," said Leo. "You're sister's going to be here by tonight but your brother couldn't catch a flight until tomorrow morning. We, uh, couldn't find your dad at the number that was in your file, do any of you know where he'd be?"
"No," answered Donna. "We don't know where he is." She paused for a second before deciding to continue. "You see, he fought in Vietnam before I was born but he was a ground soldier and he's had.problems for a while now." She gave Leo a little half smile. "Most of the time he stays close to home but sometimes.well uh it takes some.we have to wait until someone calls to tell us where." she trailed off.
"It's okay," said Leo raising his hand. "You don't need to go into this. It's your family; you don't have to explain it to me or anybody else."
"Yeah," Donna replied nodding her head. She wiped at her eye, swapping away the almost nonexistent tear. The two of them remained silent like that for a few minutes; Donna picked imaginary lint off her blanket and Leo began studying his shoes as if they held the secrets of the universe. Donna was finally the one to break the silence by asking, "Has my doctor talked to you yet at all?"
Leo looked up at her. "Hmm?"
"I said 'has my doctor talked to you yet at all'," Donna repeated. "About me, I mean."
"Oh," said Leo, trying to stall. "No, no that's.that's between you two. You know doctor/patient confidentiality and all."
"Yeah except he did talk to you and the President before you knew that I was awake," she said pointedly, looking straight at him. "What did he say to you? Did he tell you what he thinks is wrong with me?"
Leo nodded slowly. "Some stuff, nothing real specific. Just that you've got some kind of blood disease that's pretty rare."
"And that I'm going to die in 4 to 6 weeks if I don't get a bone marrow transplant, right?" she finished, casting her eyes downward.
Leo reached out and took her hand in his. He could see that she was becoming very distressed about this and knew that it wasn't good for her. So he did the best he could to try to calm her. "Donna, look at me," he said. "It is not going to come that okay? You're gonna be fine."
"Yeah Leo, whatever you say," she answered, still not looking at him.
"No, Donna I'm serious." he began sternly.
"And so am I," she cut off. "I need a bone marrow transplant so the new marrow will begin "teaching" my body to make more red blood cells. If it doesn't happen soon, I'll die. That's not a hypothetical, that's a fact. And the odds are not in my favor of a transplant working, even if they do find a correct match, which is still very unlikely giving that I have one of the rarest blood types in the world."
"Oh screw odds makers, they don't know anything," Leo replied. "Odds makers have predicted the following: the New England Patriots to finish last in the AL East, the NASDAQ to drop 1,000 points by the end of the year, and in 1998 they picked Republican Senator Warren McGregor to win the presidency in a landslide victory. Any of those things happen at all?"
"First," Donna began. "I hate football. Second, I don't play the stock market. And third." she paused. "Well I can't come up with a third right now. But it still doesn't change my condition in any way."
"All I'm saying," began Leo, "is that you shouldn't put too much faith in playing the odds. They're gonna find a match for you, the transplant will work, you'll be fine, and then you can go back to working sixteen hours a day on a presidential re-election campaign," he said.
Donna nodded. "So what do I do until then, Leo?"
Leo could see that the conversation was beginning to wear on her and that she needed a good answer. She needed not necessarily an honest answer, just a good one. He just didn't have one. So he told her the same thing that Jed and the others were telling themselves right then.
"I really don't know what to do," he regrettably, honestly replied.
Air Force One: August 23, 2002
Donna leaned back into the plush seat as she felt the aircraft taking off. She had been working nonstop all day, staying with President as he had given several dozen interviews before taking off from O'Hare back to Andrews after the convention and she had been having to adjust his schedule what seemed like every fifteen minutes. She was dead tired and the President knew it. He had ordered her to spend the entire four-hour flight sleeping and she was being given the rest of the day off when they got to D.C. Granted, it was going to be around 11:30 pm when they landed but it was really the thought that counted. The President was really a remarkably considerable man to work and while technically Donna always had worked for him, it was a much different relationship now that she was his personal assistant.
Donna sighed, thinking about how much her professional life had changed in the past few months. She, Donnatella Igraine Moss, a college-dropout from Madison, was now in charge of helping to keep the office of the President of the United States running smoothly. Some might say it was a less strenuous job than say, Deputy C.o.S. But like there are no small parts just small actors in Hollywood, in the White House there are no small jobs just demanding, underpaid ones. Being the President's assistant was much harder than being Josh's in some respects. She had to travel much more frequently, she worked longer hours, and she was in charge of keeping the president from going crazy during the day. One an average day, the President will lose his mind roughly three to four times. It had always been Mrs. Landingham who had kept him on an even keel and now Donna had discovered that it was her duty as well. In that respect, it was quite similar to what she had done with Josh but it was different because the President didn't insult her taste in men and she didn't have to decorate the Residence for him to have a romantic evening with the First Lady. Donna chewed carefully on her lower lip, a bit of a reminder that she had promised herself she wouldn't let herself think of Josh and Amy like that. And when she says "that", she means in a romantic relationship together. She just didn't understand what Josh saw in her. Amy was a female version of Josh, which meant that she was brilliant, egotistical, and stubborn as an ox. By definition, that meant that she had to be right about everything. And Donna, knowing Josh as well as she did, knew that Josh hated being with a woman who fought him on everything. Donna just didn't get what he saw in her. Maybe he realized it was time for him to start settling down, maybe he thought it was a smart political move to be with her, maybe it was just really great sex. Although that was an option she didn't like to consider since it would mean she actually had to let herself believe that they were having sex. The only option that Donna wouldn't even think of considering was the one she dreaded most of all: that Josh's feelings for Amy weren't motivated out of politics or guilt but rather out of genuine love.
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be sleeping?" Sam's voice asked, breaking Donna out of her reverie.
Donna's tired eyes looked up at him with a surprised look. "How'd you know that?"
"I'm intuitive like that."
"Sam," she sighed tiredly.
Sam looked down sheepishly as he sat down next to her. "The President sent me here to check on you."
"Ah," she said knowingly. "Ever the busybody he is"
"Yeah but he's actually, you know, right this time. You do look pretty run down, Donna."
Donna rolled her eyes at him. "So he's gotten to you too, huh? You know just because he's the leader of the free world he has this crazy notion that he can boss everybody around. Did he send you here to take my temperature or is Mrs. Bartlet going to be waiting on the tarmac when we land?"
"Actually," Sam said carefully, "It wasn't just the President; everyone's noticed how tired you've been lately. CJ, Toby, Charlie. Josh even told me to make sure you were feeling okay while we were in Chicago before he left this morning."
"He did?" Donna asked surprised. "Why?"
"He noticed that you were looking like an extra from, "Night of the Living Dead", when we were in Chicago. He told me if I valued my job when we got back that I should make sure you were okay on the flight back since he couldn't be here."
"Oh," she said knowingly, "that's right I almost forgot. He has to go to that fundraiser with Amy tonight doesn't he? That's why he couldn't be here himself to be nosey," she answered annoyed, completely missing Sam's point that Josh was concerned about her.
Sam let out a breath before jumping in. "Okay, I'm just going to assume you're acting like this because you're sick and miserable, not because you're actually pissed at Josh for some stupid reason or another."
"I'm not pissed at him!" she cried incredulously. "Why does everybody assume that I'm pissed at him?!"
"Okay," said Sam quickly, realizing his mistake almost before the words came out of his mouth. "You're not pissed at him, its something else."
"Yes because my life doe not revolve around Joshua Lyman," Donna continued, not even seeming to hear Sam. "In fact, my life never revolved around him. I was never his little lapdog or whatever else anyone says about me."
"No one ever said you were." Sam started before Donna cut him off.
"So what if he and I were closer than most bosses are with their assistants?" she plowed through, even though she was beginning to feel a little lightheaded. All this arguing with Sam was making her tired. "We worked long hours together, naturally some form of closeness is going to form. It doesn't mean that I'm going to be pissed at him for abandoning his job, his very important job, just so he can go schmooze with his girlfriend."
"No one's saying that you are," Sam managed to get in. "We never thought that you were Josh's little lost puppy or anything like that. We just think that you've been pushing yourself a little too hard lately and it's beginning to affect your personality. You know, you've been burning the candle at both ends for weeks now. Maybe you should think about taking some time."
Sam droned on but Donna had stopped listening. She was becoming acutely aware of how dizzy she was feeling. The entire cabin seemed to be spinning and Donna was having trouble focusing her eyes. She thought it was just the change in altitude and she figured walking around the plane a little would help her. Just as she stood up, it felt like someone had jammed a cloth down her throat. All of a sudden she couldn't breathe and she turned to look at Sam who had a confused look on his face.
"Donna?" she heard him say before her legs gave out from under her. The last thing she felt was his arms reach out to catch her before she hit the floor. When she looked up, instead of Sam's blue eyes she wished she were seeing Josh's brown ones. That was her last conscious thought before everything went black.
George Washington University Hospital: The Following Morning
".But we'll need to run more tests before we now exactly what stage she's in right now so we want to keep her here for observation for a while," Donna heard the unfamiliar voice say as she was trying in vain to open her eyes.
"Can you tell us anything right now?" the unmistakable voice of President Bartlet asked. Donna as finally able to open her eyes even though the second she did she regretted it. There were suddenly all these bright colors that seemed to be attacking her line of vision all at the same time while simultaneously there was this unknown roaring in her ears that left her basically deaf. It took a few seconds but her vision finally adjusted and the roaring in her ears quieted to gentle hum. Out of the corner of her right eye, she could make out what looked to be four people huddled in the corner of the room, which she had now assumed to be a hospital room, due to the antiseptic smell and the feel of the cheap cotton gown she had on. While she was curious to know how she had suddenly transported from Air Force One to a hospital bed, she also wanted to know whom these three people were and what they were doing in her room.
Normally when Donna had a question, she just opened her mouth and asked it. Now Donna found that while she could open her mouth, her vocal cords seemed to be paralyzed. Also, moving any part of her body, her mouth included, seemed to cause her agonizing pain. The most she could get out was a quiet moan but that was more than enough to get the attention of the people in room, who promptly gathered around her bed save the agent.
"Good morning, Donna," the President said, looking down on her with his concerned, fatherly face on. That was never a good sign.
Donna took a second to swallow before saying in a raspy whisper, "Good morning, Sir." A hand with a cup of something in it reached out to put the straw near her lips. She carefully sipped the cool water slowly and just as slowly the burning sensation in her throat lessened. When she was done, she looked up and saw the faces of the President, Leo, one of the president's agents still in the corner of the room, and an unknown face in sterile blue medical scrubs and a white lab coat that Donna assumed was the doctor. "What happened to me?"
The three men gave each other a look before the doctor answered. "Donna, my name is Dr. Michael Flynn." The man's soft, brown skin and intelligent face gave him an aura of gentleness and trust that Donna immediately latched onto. "I'll be your treating physician. Do you know where you are right know?" he asked as he reached into his lab coat pocket and retrieved a small flashlight which he than proceeded to shine into Donna's eyes.
"I think I'm at a hospital," she answered, squinting slightly from the bright light.
"That's right," Dr. Flynn answered, putting the flashlight back into his pocket. He then reached for her wrist and began checking her pulse. "You're at George Washington University Hospital in DC. You've had a nice little nap, young lady."
"What day is it?" Donna asked, turning to the President and Leo while Dr. Flynn continued his examination.
"Its Sunday, about nine o'clock in the morning," said Leo, his usual gruff voice replaced by a calm one with dulcet tones. Now Donna was really beginning to get worried. Something must be really wrong if even Leo was acting like this.
"Well okay," said Donna carefully as the doctor propped her up so he could listen to her heart and lungs. "So what happened to me? Did I pass out and hit my head or something?" she asked in a quiet voice, worried about herself for the first time in a long time. The three men glanced at each other again before Dr. Flynn took the initiative.
"Mr. President, Mr. McGarry," he asked as he placed the stethoscope back around his neck, "could you give us a moment? I'd rather talk to Donna in private." Even though he had already told them what he suspected was wrong when Donna was unconscious.
"Of course, Doctor," the President said. He and Leo both gave Donna's hand a squeeze as they left and the agent discretely followed them.
Dr. Flynn moved to sit in the chair on the left side of Donna's bed. While he adjusted, it gave Donna a chance to appraise the man. He appeared to be in his mid-60s, with almost snow-white hair providing a stark contrast to his black skin. His hands were large and soft, weathered from years of doing useful work. His eyes had that very honest quality that one likes to see in a doctor yet there was also deep empathy in them at the same time. Donna trusted him at once and hoped that whatever news he was about to give her was not as bad as she felt it was going to be.
"Well young lady," he said kindly. "You gave a lot of people quite a scare."
"What exactly happened?" she asked moving to sit up but realizing at once that she was too weak to do that. The doctor solved her problem by taking the remote control and adjusting the bed.
"What's the last thing that you remember happening before you woke up?" Dr. Flynn asked.
Donna searched through her foggy mind, trying to locate that elusive memory. "Um, I think I was on Air Force One," she said haltingly. "With Sam. I was with Sam on the plane and then." she paused, "I don't remember. What happened?"
"Yes you were on the plane with Sam," responded the doctor. "What happened was you appeared to have fainted onboard and you lost consciousness on and off for the rest of the flight. The cockpit radioed ahead and you were brought here as soon as you landed." Donna took a minute to absorb that knowledge. She remembered feeling lousy almost as soon as the plane took off so she must have fainted right after they left O'Hare. It startled her to think that that had been her last clear thought before she was unconscious for eight hours. 'This must be very serious' she thought to herself.
"This is very serious, Donna" the doctor said as he put on a pair of glasses, almost as if he knew what she was thinking. "You're going to have to stay here for some time so I suggest you get in contact with the people who need to be contacted."
"How long will I be here for?"
Scanning quickly through a medical chart that Donna assumed was hers, he said, "At least a couple of weeks but probably more so maybe you should call your family."
"A couple of weeks?" she asked, surprised and nervous all at once, so she started to ramble. "Why that long? I fainted, for Christ sakes it's probably nothing and you're only keeping me here so you don't piss off the President, who is just a nosey busybody so I don't get why you care so much."
"Donna," the doctor said gently but firmly, putting the folder down and looking straight at her. "When you fainted on board, at one point you stopped breathing, for no apparent reason." That got Donna's attention. "The naval doctor was able to revive you using CPR and inserting a tube down your throat to help you breathe onboard but we need to know what's wrong with you right now."
Donna couldn't even move in that instant. She felt paralyzed and the only thought that ran through her head was that she had stopped breathing. Someone had to give her CPR. Someone had to put a tube down her throat to give her oxygen. Someone had to breathe for her. Someone had to keep her alive because she couldn't. It was a sobering thought.
"I.I stopped breathing?" she asked in a stunned whisper.
"Yes," said the doctor, sympathy showing in his every gesture. "You did. And there probably is something that's seriously wrong with you right now. What exactly that is, I don't know." He reached for her left hand. "But I promise you I'm going to do everything within my power to find out what it is and cure it. But I need your help too. This may be a long process that could take anywhere from hours to weeks. It's going to be tough, disappointing, and not all that pretty. I'm going to need you to be strong for me Donna." He gave her hand a squeeze, almost as if he were making a promise or a deal of some kind. "Can you be strong for me?"
Donna just wanted to close her eyes and not open them again until this whole thing was over with. The possibility that there was something seriously wrong with her was a concept she couldn't even begin to seriously comprehend but she knew that she had to. She thought back to all the times, when people she loved where sick: nursing her little brother T.J. when he was hospitalized with pneumonia, sitting with her mom in the hospital before and after every surgery when the doctors tried unsuccessfully to stop the cancer from spreading, refusing to bring Josh any work when he was recovering from the gunshot. All of these people she loved so much and she had watched them all be strong for her even when they didn't want to be. Donna knew then that she had that same obligation to the family and friends that would be around her during this time. She made her decision right at that moment that whatever this was, she wasn't going to let it beat her, no matter how hard it was. She just couldn't let her family suffer like that again. She looked at the doctor and squeezed his hand as hard as he could.
"Absolutely," she rasped.
White House Communications Bullpen:Same Day
"Has either of you heard anything from Leo yet?" CJ asked as she walked into Toby's office, where he and Sam were. They were all tired, stressed out, and worried about Donna. Leo had insisted that they all leave the waiting room at around two am that morning to try to get some sleep for the next day. So they had all gone home but naturally none of them could sleep.
"No, nothing," said Toby, his usually gruff voice subdued by his anxiety over Donna. Out of all the people that something bad should happen to, she was at the very bottom of his list. It just wasn't fair that she should have to go through something potentially serious at this point in her life.
"Do you think that's good or bad?" Sam asked quietly, still reeling from the memory of watching his friend collapse.
"Well," started CJ carefully, sitting down next to Sam on the sofa, "I guess it means that she hasn't gotten any worse, which is good."
"But it also means that she probably hasn't woken up yet, which could be bad," finished Toby. He wiped at his tired eyes as the three of them lapsed into silence.
"What did Josh say when you called him?" Sam asked abruptly, turning to Toby.
"When?" he asked.
"Last night, from the hospital," Sam asked as he got up to stretch his aching muscles.
Toby had a curious look on his face. "I didn't call him last night. CJ and I were working on the press statements from the convention at the hospital and than Leo sent us home. Didn't you call him from the plane?"
"No," said Sam defensively, "I was too busy sitting outside Donna's room, waiting for the doctor to leave so I could go in there in case she woke up. You, on the other hand, were meeting with staff and going over a list of campaign stops for the next month," he finished accusingly.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Sam?" Toby asked, walking around his desk to stand near Sam. "That I was any less concerned about Donna than you were? That I was any less scared that something was really wrong with her?" raising his voice an octave higher as he stood in front of Sam.
"Guys, just stop it," CJ said, holding up her hands and moving in between the two men. "All of us are stressed out and we're all worried about Donna. That doesn't mean that you two can go out onto the playground and have a fight during recess. Okay?" The two men looked at each other before retreating, Sam back to the sofa and Toby to his desk. "Alright," CJ sighed after a minute, running a hand through her hair and launching into Press Secretary mode. "If he asks, we didn't call him because we all know how limited his time with Amy is and we didn't want to worry him until we knew anything for sure." She paused and tapped her foot lightly against the floor. Neither Toby nor Sam made a move. "So someone just has to call Josh right now and tell him what happened."
"Or you could just turn around and tell him face to face, save yourself the trouble," a voice from the doorway proclaimed. CJ, Sam, and Toby turned around to see Josh leaning against the doorway, his backpack slung across his shoulder. He looked fairly relaxed but tired and he could immediately sense that something was up.
"What's going on?" he asked as he came into the room, simultaneously reading a memo of some kind. The three of them all looked at each other, trying to gauge what Josh's reaction would be when they told him. "Don't tell me you guys caused some major crisis in the past twenty-four hours I was gone that you now need me to fix," he said jokingly, hoping it was something minor that he could finish before lunch. When no one laughed or tried to retort him, he got the message loud and clear: Something really bad had happened.
"Josh," said Toby carefully, deciding to delve into this slowly. "How long were you standing in the door just then?"
"A minute, why?" he asked putting his backpack down by the sofa and placing the memo on the coffee table, giving Toby his full attention. CJ and Sam both moved to sit down on the sofa and Toby leaned against his desk while Josh remained standing near the door.
"Something happened on the plane last night," Toby said. His eyes left Josh's as he continued. "Donna got really sick and she was brought to GW when we landed."
As soon as Josh had heard the words "Donna" and "GW", he began to get nervous. "What exactly happened?" he asked quietly.
Sam took over for Toby. "She fainted right after take off and she was...um...in and out of consciousness the rest of the flight."
"Wait, she was unconscious on the flight?" Josh asked stunned. A million thoughts raced through his mind. 'Did she hit her head on something? Was it something that she ate? Is she taking medication for something?' he thought to himself as his feet were rooted to the floor of Toby's office. "I need to call her. When did they release her?" he asked.
"From the hospital?" Toby asked. Josh nodded. "They didn't, she's still there. They wanted to keep her there for observation was the last that Leo knew when he called us."
"Leo's with her right now?"
"Yes, Leo and the President both stayed with her," CJ answered. "Leo told us to go home and he promised he'd call when Donna woke up or they had any new news."
"Well has there been any news since then?"
"No, we haven't heard anything," said CJ. "Which could be good."
"Or bad but we were still trying to decide when you walked in," Sam added, making a weak attempt at humor. By the look that everyone gave him he knew instantly that his attempt failed.
Josh shook his head, rubbing his eyes with his palms. "I don't get it, why didn't I get a phone call the minute you guys realized something was wrong?"
"We know how little time you have with Amy and we didn't want to worry you until we knew anything for sure," Toby answered almost in sync with Sam's answer. The two men looked at each other coldly than at the ground.
"You forgot," Josh laughed cynically. "Donna is sick and hospitalized and none of you had the decency to call me!" he practically shouted. "Was I just supposed to find out this morning from the gossip at the coffee maker like a stupid intern or something?!"
"Josh calm down please," CJ, ever the peacemaker, said just as Toby's cell phone started to ring. As Toby answered it, she continued. "It was a hectic night and we were all worried and yes we wrong not to call you. But it wasn't intentional. Now you need to relax because Donna sure as hell isn't going to get any better with you having a nutty right in front of her. Okay?" she finished. Josh nodded slowly and basically fell onto the couch, resting his head in his hands. Toby hung up the phone and looked at them.
"That was Leo," he said. "She just woke up."
"Is she all right?" Josh asked, immediately springing to his feet.
"I don't know, all he said was that she woke up and the doctor was speaking to her," Toby responded. "And that the President was on his way back here. He wants to meet with us."
"When's he going to get here?" asked CJ.
Just then, they heard the familiar wail of sirens that identified that the President was going in through the side entrance. A few minutes later, the four of them were standing in the Executive Office, waiting for the President to arrive. When he did, there was an instantaneous change in stature and manner among them all to accommodate for the enormous presence that is Jed Bartlet.
"Come on in," he said, not even stopping before striding into the Oval Office. "Charlie, get me the memo that the director of the NSA left for me about Qumar and arrange a meeting with State Dept. officials for around noon."
"Yes sir," said Charlie, already moving to complete the tasks before the President finished giving them.
"Is everything all right, Sir?" Toby asked when they all stepped into the office.
The President moved behind his desk, putting on his glasses and reading the memo that Charlie had quickly found and placed on his desk. "Thank you, Charlie," he said as he sat down. "Could you close the door please?"
"Yes, Sir," answered Charlie, moving to leave the room.
"No, no stay Charlie," the President replied when he saw Charlie going through the doorway. "You probably need to hear this too."
A minute passed as the President continued to read the memo and Charlie situated himself on the sofa with Sam. CJ and Toby sat in the sofa opposite them and Josh was standing near one of the armchairs, his arms folded tightly across his chest, his eyes tense. When he was finished reading the memo, the President placed his glasses on his desk and stood up to come around the desk and sit in the armchair closest to the desk.
"Is everything all right, Sir?" Toby asked again, deliberately.
"The Qumari military has been receiving citations from the UN Security Council about its numerous uses of brutal force when breaking up protests in the region," the President said in his soft yet commanding voice. "Koffi Anun wants me to send a representative to the next meeting of the General Assembly in two weeks."
"He meant with Donna, Sir" Josh said impatiently.
"Yeah I know he did," Jed Bartlet sighed. "I was just hoping to avoid that question for as long as I possibly could."
"What's wrong?" Josh demanded. "What's wrong with her?"
"Her doctor thinks that it's something called aplastic anemia but they need to run more tests before they're sure," Jed said, wiping at his tired eyes.
"So they don't know yet? It could be nothing at all right?" Josh asked hopefully.
"No," Jed said quietly. "The doctor, uh Dr. Michael Flynn, is an expert in the field of hematology and he's just waiting for the test results to confirm it before he tells Donna. But he's positive that it's aplastic anemia."
"What's that, some kind of disorder or something?" Sam asked, after the quiet had passed.
"Yeah," the President answered. "It's a blood disorder. It's actually pretty rare but it's generally found in women in Donna's age group. It means her red blood cells are depleting too fast for her body to keep up. That leaves her weak, which is why she's been so tired lately.
"Can it be treated? CJ asked.
"It depends on what stage it's in. In the first two stages, it's treatable through medication and periodic red blood cell transfusions. When it gets into the third stage, a bone marrow transplant is needed and sometimes even a liver transplant and if a suitable match isn't found the disease will go into the fourth stage." Jed bit his lower lip softly before continuing in an even quieter voice. "The disease is terminal in the fourth stage."
"Well what stage is Donna in?" Toby asked.
The President paused before answering. "She's borderline between the third and fourth stages."
Toby cleared his throat. "Well.uh.and that means?"
"If she doesn't get a successful bone marrow transplant in the next few weeks." he said.
"She's gonna die?" finished Josh, looking to the President for confirmation. Jed cast his eyes downward and nodded to the affirmative. Everyone in the room was stilled into silence, each lost in the seriousness of that statement. They were all inadequately prepared for this. Give them a speech to right or a vote to swing; they could all handle that. But losing one of their closest friends to a rare disease? None of them, least of all Josh was anywhere close to being prepared for that.
"Um. do you know if they're going to release her soon, Sir?" asked CJ, her eyes just a little bit watery.
"No," said the President. "They want to keep her there in case there's an emergency. She could have serious problems quickly if this disease isn't properly monitored. They're also going to start giving her daily transfusions to try to reverse the process of the disease. Dr. Flynn says that that can happen occasionally."
"Is she in any pain?" Sam wanted to know.
"They're giving her medication to control it, also to prevent her from having anymore episodes like the one she had on the plane." He paused for a second. "She's very well taken care of there and I placed Secret Service agents outside her door to prevent any unwanted visitors."
"The press knows?" a surprised CJ asked.
"One of the President's closest staffers collapses on Air Force One and is rushed to GW upon landing?" stated Toby. "I think there gonna be a little curious."
"Yeah I'll go talk to her today about releasing statements," CJ said, mentally preparing a list of things that she would need to do. "Does her family know yet?"
"We've been trying to get in touch with them since we landed but we haven't been able to locate anybody," said the President.
Charlie responded with, "I'll pull her personal records, get her emergency contacts."
"Or maybe Margaret or Ginger would know who she'd want to call," added Sam.
"What time is it?" Josh finally asked after remaining silent during the whole exchange.
"It's almost ten o'clock," said Charlie with a glance at his wrist.
"Damn it, I'm gonna be late," said Josh moving towards the door.
"Where are you going?" asked a confused Sam.
"Rittenhower wanted a meeting on sugar subsides in the southeast and I blew him off Friday at the convention so I've got to meet with him for brunch in twenty minutes," Josh replied, heading out the door. "When are we gonna meet again?"
"Josh I don't think that you should take." started Jed.
"Sir if I don't take this meeting, Rittenhower will raise nine kinds of hell when we try to get the education reform bill out of his committee," Josh stated almost immediately putting on the mask of political operative that hid his pain. "That is not something that we want coming up so close to November. If I take the meeting, I can fix this so it won't be an issue.
"Yeah but Josh do you really think that now is the time to." Sam scoffed
"Yes," said the President, looking at Josh carefully. "Meet with him, Josh, but don't make any commitments until you talk with Leo."
"Yessir," said Josh, leaving the room.
The four people in the room all turned to look at the President who had moved back behind his desk, each of them not understanding why he'd just let Josh go and all of them fairly angry about it. Of course, none of them could directly vocalize their anger at him in a way that they wanted too. But they all wanted to know why.
"Sir?" CJ asked. "May I ask why you just did what you did right then?"
"Well first off he's right," the President, opening some folders and scanning the documents inside before signing them. "We do need Rittenhower's support if the EEA is ever going to get out of committee." He put the pen down and took off his reading glasses to look at all of them. "And secondly he's not ready to deal with Donna just yet."
"Not ready to deal with Donna?" asked Sam incredulously. "She's is sick, hospitalized, and she needs him. When he was shot, she was there for him, no questions asked. And now she needs him and he's running away."
"And why do you think that is Sam?" Jed asked, getting frustrated. ""He's scared out of his mind because the most important person in the world to him is lying in a hospital bed dying and there isn't anything he can do to help her! He can't save her but he can save the EEA and you know why?!" Jed took a breath to calm himself down before he continued. "Because that's what Josh does. Something is wrong, so he comes along and fixes it. He can't fix Donna but he can fix the god damn EEA."
Sam nodded, a little taken aback by the President's diatribe. "Yeah, he can," said Sam in calm, yielding voice. "But Donna is a person who needs to fix things too. And she waited fourteen hours in that same waiting room for him. And she was with him for three months before she saw results with him. That was three months of yelling and frustration and pain before he began acting like a human again and then she waited three more months before she could start worrying about herself and not about whether or not she was gonna go into his apartment and find him in a pool of his own blood," he said deliberately. "Now she's the one in that hospital room and instead of being in that waiting room, he's going for to meet with an uptight Republican to discuss farming laws and the Redskins over coffee. You're telling me you're all okay with that?"
"No I'm not," said Toby. "But like the President said, what can we do? We can't drag Josh there kicking and screaming and we can't wave a magic wand and cure Donna."
Sam shook his head, his face looking like he was defeated. "So what do we do?"
Toby looked around the room at the helpless faces of his friends and colleagues. He was feeling a little like it was the night of a major Senate vote and no one would take his phone calls. There was absolutely nothing any of them could do at this point and they all knew it.
"I don't know," answered Toby.
GWU Hospital: Donna's Room (simultaneously)
"How is everyone?" Donna asked when Leo walked back into the room after going to make a phone call back to the White House.
"Okay," he responded, sitting across from Donna in a wide, uncomfortable hospital chair. "They're all worried about you. Everyone's asking to be kept updated on your condition." He stopped and grinned at her. "Hell, even Oliver Babish called to see how you were doing."
"Oh they shouldn't do that, they've got more important things to worry about," she said quietly, her throat still sore from the breathing tube the naval doctor on Air Force One had placed down her throat.
"Donna the President of the United States was down here for almost five hours after he had just received re-nomination at the Democratic National Convention to make sure you were gonna be okay," said Leo, with just the hint of a smile. "I'd say that rates you pretty important on his list of priorities."
Donna shook her head. "I'm just his assistant," she said.
"You're his daughter, Donna, just as much as his own girls are," he told her, not oblivious to the surprised expression she wore on her face when he said it. "You do know that don't you?"
Donna cleared her throat. "So, um, have you heard anything from my family at all?" she asked, clearly uncomfortable with the subject.
"Yeah," said Leo. "You're sister's going to be here by tonight but your brother couldn't catch a flight until tomorrow morning. We, uh, couldn't find your dad at the number that was in your file, do any of you know where he'd be?"
"No," answered Donna. "We don't know where he is." She paused for a second before deciding to continue. "You see, he fought in Vietnam before I was born but he was a ground soldier and he's had.problems for a while now." She gave Leo a little half smile. "Most of the time he stays close to home but sometimes.well uh it takes some.we have to wait until someone calls to tell us where." she trailed off.
"It's okay," said Leo raising his hand. "You don't need to go into this. It's your family; you don't have to explain it to me or anybody else."
"Yeah," Donna replied nodding her head. She wiped at her eye, swapping away the almost nonexistent tear. The two of them remained silent like that for a few minutes; Donna picked imaginary lint off her blanket and Leo began studying his shoes as if they held the secrets of the universe. Donna was finally the one to break the silence by asking, "Has my doctor talked to you yet at all?"
Leo looked up at her. "Hmm?"
"I said 'has my doctor talked to you yet at all'," Donna repeated. "About me, I mean."
"Oh," said Leo, trying to stall. "No, no that's.that's between you two. You know doctor/patient confidentiality and all."
"Yeah except he did talk to you and the President before you knew that I was awake," she said pointedly, looking straight at him. "What did he say to you? Did he tell you what he thinks is wrong with me?"
Leo nodded slowly. "Some stuff, nothing real specific. Just that you've got some kind of blood disease that's pretty rare."
"And that I'm going to die in 4 to 6 weeks if I don't get a bone marrow transplant, right?" she finished, casting her eyes downward.
Leo reached out and took her hand in his. He could see that she was becoming very distressed about this and knew that it wasn't good for her. So he did the best he could to try to calm her. "Donna, look at me," he said. "It is not going to come that okay? You're gonna be fine."
"Yeah Leo, whatever you say," she answered, still not looking at him.
"No, Donna I'm serious." he began sternly.
"And so am I," she cut off. "I need a bone marrow transplant so the new marrow will begin "teaching" my body to make more red blood cells. If it doesn't happen soon, I'll die. That's not a hypothetical, that's a fact. And the odds are not in my favor of a transplant working, even if they do find a correct match, which is still very unlikely giving that I have one of the rarest blood types in the world."
"Oh screw odds makers, they don't know anything," Leo replied. "Odds makers have predicted the following: the New England Patriots to finish last in the AL East, the NASDAQ to drop 1,000 points by the end of the year, and in 1998 they picked Republican Senator Warren McGregor to win the presidency in a landslide victory. Any of those things happen at all?"
"First," Donna began. "I hate football. Second, I don't play the stock market. And third." she paused. "Well I can't come up with a third right now. But it still doesn't change my condition in any way."
"All I'm saying," began Leo, "is that you shouldn't put too much faith in playing the odds. They're gonna find a match for you, the transplant will work, you'll be fine, and then you can go back to working sixteen hours a day on a presidential re-election campaign," he said.
Donna nodded. "So what do I do until then, Leo?"
Leo could see that the conversation was beginning to wear on her and that she needed a good answer. She needed not necessarily an honest answer, just a good one. He just didn't have one. So he told her the same thing that Jed and the others were telling themselves right then.
"I really don't know what to do," he regrettably, honestly replied.
