Red - Part 2


Abbey

I went to the residence; I wanted and needed to check on Jed.
We had placed someone in the room with him just as a precaution, and it had slightly worried me that Jed had not objected, but simply hit the pillow and went to sleep.

It was about 7 pm when I quietly entered the quiet room. I found Jed in bed, sound asleep, his chest just barely able to rise and fall within all of those wrappings, but he was fine.

He would be fine.

Jacobs gave me a slight nod and stepped towards the door, thinking I wanted to be alone.
I did want to be alone, and yet I didn't.

"No, you can stay," I whispered.

He looked slightly surprised, but stepped back in place and at attention, almost disappearing into the wall itself.

Oh, what a marvel I was looking at:

Jed.
Asleep.
And in the afternoon, nowhere near his normal bed time.

The equipment would be coming up soon; if they weren't already in the hall outside, I would be surprised.

Jed must have felt me staring at him because he opened his eyes.

"Oh, don't trust me, so you've gone to the point of watching me sleep, huh?" Jed asked me, clearly exhausted, but not to the point of preventing his sarcasm from showing.
"Caught red handed…" I replied, smiling. He then tried to sit up. "No, Jed. Don't get up; you can stay in bed while we bring in the equipment."
"What equipment?" Jed asked, not knowing of the little 'chat' in the hall, or of the equipment.
"The heart monitor, the IV pole…" I began only to be cut off by Jed.
"I thought I was out of the hospital." He stated, probably louder than he intended.
"We want to be safe," I answered.

"How much safer can I get? I've got armed guards right outside these doors, a whole platoon of 'em all over the grounds, -and- one right in this room," pointing at Jacobs, holding in the grimace at having moved quickly, but I noticed.

Jed wasn't liking this, but if he knew what that jerk doctor wanted to do, he would take this in a heartbeat.

"Jed, if you won't do it for your sake, do it for mine," I said, knowing that would get his attention.

He looked at me.

"Abbey, I am fine, just sore and a little tired, nothing that sleep and time won't fix."
"Jed, I know you understand how hurt you were, but you must realize, we need to continue to monitor you. Your heart had retained some bruising, and we want to be safe."
"Do I have to be hooked up all the time?" Jed asked, knowing I wasn't going to let him win this one, so trying to negotiate.
"I tell you what, we will just hook you up at night," I compromised.

"And the IV's?" he asked, just having been freed from them, he was dreading the possibility of becoming their prisoner once again.
"No IV's unless we feel you need them," I agreed.
"Ok," he said, relaxing onto the bed all the way.
"Ok," I replied just as Jacobs put his hand up to his ear.
"They have the equipment here Mrs. Bartlet," he told me.

- - -

That night they had brought the equipment into the residence, quickly transforming it into a kind of hospital, though much more to Jed's liking. The doctors still wanted to be safe, as did Abbey, hooking him up to heart monitors and such at least when he slept at night, and they kept a close eye on his temperature, the last thing they wanted was an infection, or worse…

He was not hooked up to the IV's, however, if need be, they could.

The stitches were still in, to Jed's disgust, and had a simple patch over them.
It had only been one day since he had left the hospital and flown back to the White House, and it was now about 10 am.

"Abbey, can't I go to the Oval?" Jed asked.
"No Jed, you are lucky I am even letting you read those files." Abbey stated, walking back in from the bathroom.

Jed stopped his fuss, putting his glasses back on his face, carefully looking down at the page. The last thing he wanted to do was to 'pop' any more stitches.

"Have you seen anybody?" Jed asked, speaking of Josh, Toby and the others.
"Jed, it is 10 am, they are probably working and think you are asleep," Abbey said, stealing half of the file stake in front of him.
"Hey! I wasn't done with those!" Jed said, attempting to snatch them back, but stopping himself at feeling the tension in his ribs.
"Yes, you are," she stated. "Do you understand the word 'rest'?"

"Do you understand the word 'b o r e d o m'?" he asked, eyeing her, clearly emphasizing the last word.
"Jed, how do you expect to heal if you don't rest?"
"Abbey, I am in bed, I had over ten hours of sleep last night. What do you want me to do? Sleep like Rick Van Winkle?" he asked.

Abbey was about to reply when someone knocked on the door.

Before Abbey could stop him, Jed summoned them in.

"Come in!" he called.

Leo carefully stepped in.

"Ah, Leo," Jed said, happy to see him.
"Good morning sir. Doing work already?" he asked, noting the small pile before him, and a bigger pile in Abbey's arms.
"I was…" Jed said, Abbey flashing him a look.

"Just wanted to see if you were awake, sir," Leo said, taking note of all of the machines in the room.
"Anything going on?" Jed asked; attempting to sit up more, Leo noticing the trouble he was having trying to do so.

- - -

Leo

I still could not believe that just a few weeks ago everything was so different.

Jed could move without pain and America had not suffered the loss of life.
My friend had not nearly died; he would not be still in bed, but in the Oval Office.
He wouldn't be so weak and sore, wouldn't have his chest wrapped, and wouldn't have that bandage on the side of his neck.

"Leo?" Jed asked, seeing I was just standing there. I suddenly realized both Abbey and Jed were giving me worried looks.

"Oh. No, no, just came in to see how you're doing, and to check in."

"O-k," Jed said, "anything I need to do?"

"Yeah, get some rest, and let the rest of us take care of everything," I said, unable to hide the smile that crossed my face as he rolled his eyes.

I left with a smile, thankful my friend was still here, and that I could still tease him.

- - -

CJ

Was it really in these halls where I was running? Needing to find the President or Leo? Knowing that we needed to get a handle on the, at the time, recent attack before there was a panic?

Several cities had been hit. Countless car bombs it seemed…and countless lives…

I found Jed and Leo were already right on top of it, just as they should, when I met up with them in one of the Halls in the West Wing. The President immediately asking if I had the press ready.

I had, of course.

Jed will never cease to amaze me in the way he can seize the floor with simply entering a room. The way he takes over, every eye on him, all focused, not only on him, but what he is saying.

And he certainly said it all when he addressed the nation concerning the first attack.

I felt the mood change in the room from fear, shock and uncertainty, to resolve, confidence, and readiness as he completed his statement, saying these words:

"I stand before you now, not only as your president, but as a fellow American, asking all who hear my voice and who love this great nation, to stand as one. We must be vigilant, we must be watchful; we must be ready. For these terrorists are not going to stop unless we make them.

"They will try to hit us again, but we will be prepared; the tables shall be turned, and it will be because of us, standing together."

This is the Man I serve; this is the Man I respect.

- - -

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