Author's Note: This story came about when I read the quote below. I think it's such a beautiful idea, and I wanted to explore it with my Bartlets. So this story is pretty AU, but I think you'll like it anyway, even if you're not into AUs (like me). Read to the end, and please review!
I'd Choose You
"And I'd choose you;
In a hundred lifetimes,
In a hundred worlds,
In any version of reality,
I'd find you and I'd choose you."
― Kiersten White, The Chaos of Stars
Dr. Abigail Barrington jogged through the hallways of her hospital, trying not to slip on the linoleum floors in her Prada shoes. She had been leading a symposium on new cardiac surgery techniques that she had developed and just gotten FDA approval for when she had gotten an emergency page. It seemed that the two other doctors who worked under her in the cardio-thoracic surgery department were already in surgery and a patient had just been brought into the ER with a major artery blockage. She had to do a quick consult and likely scrub in for an emergency bypass.
When she arrived in the trauma room, the patient had already been put into a hospital gown and gotten intubated. Abbey slipped off her shoes, losing a good five inches off her height, and began a quick examination of the patient.
Dr. Gardner, the ER resident, gave Dr. Barrington the rundown of the patient's vitals. "Forty-eight year old male, complained of chest pains before collapsing on the street. A bystander called an ambulance and performed CPR until the paramedics arrived. Patient hasn't regained consciousness. Ultrasound shows very minimal blood flow. BP has bottomed out twice, and we had to defibrillate once to find a pulse."
"Okay, Amy, thanks. Let's get him upstairs. OR four should be free. I think Dr. Cregg is supposed to be operating on an obstructed bowel in there in a little while, but you can bump her." Abbey picked up her shoes and followed the gurney into the hallway. "Margaret, you're with me," she called behind her to the redheaded nurse.
"Oh, but I think Dr. McGarry wanted me to check on his post-ops…"
Abbey rolled her eyes. "Leo will get over it. You're the best OR nurse we've got, and I'm going to need you."
Margaret nodded and followed Dr. Barrington to surgery.
After she quickly changed out of her suit, Abbey scrubbed in for the operation. She found Dr. Lyman scrubbing out from his previous surgery.
"I just clipped an aneurysm. What are you up to, Dr. B?" the curly-haired man asked with a smile.
"Bypass. Possibly a double. I'll have to get in there and see." Abbey smiled to the younger doctor. Josh Lyman had been training under her until his father had died of a heart attack, causing him to switch his specialty to neurosurgery. It fit him much better. Josh had never quite understood the artistry of the heart in the same way he recognized the delicate power of the brain.
A pretty blonde nurse stepped in to speak to Dr. Lyman. "Josh, the patient is in recovery if you wanna check on him."
"I'll be in there in a sec, thanks Donna." He smiled as he finished drying his hands.
"Josh, remember what I said," Abbey warned.
"I know! Keep my hands to myself until I'm ready to get serious."
She smirked. "That's right. See you in six hours," she said, making her way into the operating room.
After two hours of operating, Abbey realized she would have to perform a double bypass. She had hoped she wouldn't have to. This guy's arteries were weak, but the heart muscle was strong. She smiled to herself and she continued to work. "Margaret, tell me about the patient. I didn't get a chance to ask earlier."
The nurse flipped through the chart for a moment. "He was unconscious when the paramedics got to him. His driver's license says he's Josiah Bartlet. He's from New Hampshire.
Abbey looked over at his face. "New Hampshire, huh? I don't think I've ever met anyone from New Hampshire. Josiah is an interesting name. Interesting name and a good-looking face. Well, don't you worry, Mr. Bartlet," she said, addressing the anesthetized man who's chest was open on her table, "I'm gonna give you a great heart to keep you warm on those cold New Hampshire nights."
Margaret was glad her mask hid her grin. Dr. Barrington always cared a lot about her patients, but this seemed different. She hoped Mr. Bartlet would wake up and be as nice as he looked. Dr. Barrington could use a nice, good-looking man.
A few hours later, Dr. Lyman returned to the ER. "Hey, Dr. B, how's your bypass going?"
"Very well, Joshua. I did have to make it a double, but so far everything's going perfectly textbook. Why are you here?"
Dr. Lyman shrugged. "My next surgery got pushed back, so I was kinda bored. Thought I'd come gossip with you."
"You got anything good for me?"
"Sam went out with that lawyer last night."
Abbey laughed. "Didn't I tell you that would happen? Sam's got a thing for blondes who boss him around. I knew it as soon as Ainsley Hayes got hired as the new in-house counsel. Our poor little administrator didn't know what hit him."
Josh smirked behind his face mask. He and Dr. CJ Cregg had been running a betting pool about the dating habits of Dr. Sam Seaborn, and he, on Abbey's advice, had made the winning bet.
"How's Toby doing?" Abbey asked, changing the subject.
"Frustrated. He won't tell Sam what he's doing, and it must not be working, because he's been yelling at everyone who comes in to check in on him. Leo's got an ACL repair right now, but I think he and CJ are going to force him to go out for drinks tonight."
Abbey sighed. "That's what Dr. Ziegler gets for deciding to cure liver cancer. No one said oncology research was easy." All of a sudden, part of the artery disintegrated in her hand. "Dammit," she muttered. "Josh, get out. I've got work to do."
"You got it, Dr. B." With that, Dr. Lyman left Dr. Barrington alone to save a man's life.
Four hours later, Josiah Bartlet woke up from a fog. His whole body hurt. He opened his eyes and saw a dark-haired middle-aged woman standing beside him.
"You've got a tube helping you breathe. But I'm going to take it out now. Don't try to talk just yet. Stay calm."
Her dark eyes and kind smile were very comforting, even if her tone was a little firm, so he did as he was told. He coughed slightly as the tube was removed from his throat. She handed him a glass of water and a straw. After a few sips, he felt much better.
"Where am I?" he asked, his voice gravely and hoarse.
"Harvard Medical Center. The ambulance brought you here. You had a major heart attack, and Dr. Barrington had to perform a double bypass on you. She'll be here in a few minutes to answer any questions you have. And if you need anything, my name is Debbie."
"Thank you very much. Is there a phone I can use?" he asked.
She nodded and moved the telephone on the side table closer to him. "Press nine to dial out."
After the nurse left, Jed immediately dialed his office in Manchester. "Hi, Charlie?"
"Where have you been? People have been calling all day asking why you didn't show up."
"I know. I'm in the hospital. Harvard, apparently. I had a double bypass," he informed his assistant.
"Are you alright!?" he asked in a panic.
"I think I'm okay. I'm awake. Everything hurts, but I just had life-saving surgery, so we'll see. Oh I think my doctor is coming in. I'll call later and let you know how long I'll be here."
"Never mind that. I'll be down tomorrow with your things," Charlie insisted.
He smiled. "Thanks, Charlie. I'll see you tomorrow."
Dr. Barrington walked into the patient's room just as he hung up the phone. She had been able to change out of her scrubs and back into her red skirt suit and Prada pumps. "Awake and on the phone. Just what a surgeon loves to see. Mr. Bartlet, I'm Dr. Barrington."
He shook her hand, but corrected her. "Father Bartlet."
"Pardon?"
"Father Bartlet. I'm a priest. Actually, you could call me Dr. Bartlet if you want. I've got a PhD in Theology. But you can just call me Jed."
Abbey smiled. She liked the way he spoke. "Nice to meet you, Jed. I'm Abbey. And I was holding your heart in my hands not two hours ago. Your arteries were very weak, so I put two bypasses in there to help the blood flow and to keep you from passing out from a heart attack again."
"Thank you very much," Jed said quite sincerely. He smiled. His doctor was confident and had a nice sense of humor. And she was very elegant and supremely gorgeous, which didn't hurt either.
Abbey paused for a moment. "Do you mind if I sit down? I've been standing all day, and I'm not as young as I used to be."
Jed chuckled. "None of us are. Have a seat."
She took a chair and pulled it beside his bed and sat down. "Much better. So I'm going to tell you some of the basics about your recovery and home care, and then you can ask me any questions, alright?"
"Go right ahead, doctor."
Abbey took him through all the important things he needed to know about the surgery and what he would experience in the coming weeks. When she finished, he told her that he didn't have any questions that she hadn't already answered.
"Then do you mind if I ask you a question?" she asked.
"Ask away."
"You're from New Hampshire, is that right?"
"Yes. Manchester."
"What are you doing in Boston?"
"I was attending a symposium at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross," he explained. "And I'm glad I chose to visit Cambridge this morning, because it allowed me to have a heart attack only a few blocks from the best hospital in the world."
"Well I'm sure the Lord is looking out for you, being a man of God."
Jed chuckled. "I like to think so."
"That's such an interesting coincidence, though. I was presenting at a symposium myself when I got paged to perform your surgery."
"I'm sorry I interrupted you."
"Well this is my job. I'm sure you get calls at inconvenient times to perform exorcisms," she said with twinkle in her green eyes.
He laughed. She liked the way he laughed. He laughed with his whole being, even if it was likely painful in his post-op condition. He replied to her quip, "I have never performed an exorcism, and I doubt I ever will. Are you a Catholic, doctor?"
"I am, actually. I got my Bachelor's in Biology from Notre Dame."
His eyes widened. "I got my Bachelor's in Theology from Notre Dame! What years were you there?" he asked.
"I graduated in '67."
"So did I! What an interesting coincidence!"
Abbey smiled. It was an interesting coincidence. "Have we ever met before? Because I feel like I know you."
Jed's expression softened. "I feel the same way. But I'm sure I'd remember you if we had met before, a woman as stunning as you."
She tried not to blush, but she couldn't help it. "Just my luck. The only man to compliment me is a priest."
"I'm sure you hear it all the time."
"Not as often as I should."
"Are you married, doctor?"
Abbey shook her head. "Divorced. I know, I'm an awful Catholic."
Jed shrugged. "It is not my place to judge. Besides, you save lives. You saved my life. God would rather you be a good person and a bad Catholic rather than the other way around."
Abbey felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. A warm joy spread over her body. It was a shame that he was a priest, but she didn't care. Every word out of his mouth was like poetic music.
Before she could say anything in response to him, she saw Dr. Lyman waving to her from the hallway. "Excuse me for just a moment," she said, standing up. She walked over to Josh. "What's up?"
"We're all going out with Toby. You wanna come?"
Abbey glanced back at the man in the hospital bed. "No, I think I'll pass tonight. Next time."
"Okay," Josh replied, suspicious of whatever what going on with Dr. Barrington. "See you tomorrow…"
"Yep. See you tomorrow, Josh." With that, Abbey went back into Father Bartlet's room and sat back down beside his bed. "Alright. Now tell me about this symposium you were going to. Make me a better Catholic."
Jed smiled. He was glad she was back. And she wanted to talk to him more. He did like talking to her. "Well, I didn't actually make it to the symposium."
"Then tell me about your PhD in Theology. What did you write your dissertation on?"
"I'll tell you about my dissertation if you tell me about your symposium that I interrupted."
Abbey grinned, causing her nose to wrinkle in a very adorable fashion. "Deal. You first."
Jed woke up with some confusion. He felt his chest. No stitches or scar. He blinked and looked around in the dark. Abbey's dark hair was sprawled out on the pillow beside him. He let out a sigh of relief. He leaned over and pressed a reverent kiss to her lips.
She groaned at being woken from her rest. "What are you doing?"
"I needed to do that."
Abbey rolled over reluctantly to face him. "Why did you need to wake me up at four in the morning?"
He reached over to push her hair behind her ear. "I had a dream. Very strange dream. And I couldn't kiss you in my dream, so I had to kiss you here."
"That's nice, sweetheart. But we're in the Governor's Mansion in Concord. Where we've been for the last two years. And you can kiss me whenever you want."
To prove the point, he kissed her once more. "Good. I don't like thinking of a world where I can't kiss you."
Abbey shook her head with a small smile. "Doesn't exist. There is no world in any universe where you can't kiss me or I can't kiss you."
"Is that so?"
"Yep. Because no matter what, we'd find each other."
Jed pulled his wife into his arms and held her tight. "No matter what, no matter where, no matter when, I'd choose you."
Abbey yawned and snuggled into his embrace. "And I'd choose you."
It didn't take them long to happily fall back asleep.