Tough Job

by elsiecarson

THE IRON LADY. Denis Thatcher is trying to support his wife through the Falklands War crisis, but is having trouble getting her to look after herself. As the crisis worsens she sleeps less and less and he gets more and more worried. RIP Margaret Thatcher.

2. What's Going On?

When the alarm goes off early the next morning Denis groans and Margaret leaps out of bed. She could always go with less sleep than he could. Almost immediately the phone rings and Denis knows he's not going to go back to sleep again. He gets up and pulls his dressing gown on. When he gets down to the dining room Margaret is standing, stoic, looking out the window. When Denis gets closer to his wife he notices the tears flowing down her face. "M.T. what's wrong? You don't usually cry. What was the phone call about?"

"The Argentineans have bombed the H.M.S. Sheffield in retaliation for us sinking their ship. They have enough missiles to cripple our navy and I have to make a decision about this war. Do I continue this or do I pull my navy out and bring them home? We've already lost too many men in this war." Margaret sinks onto the window seat.

"Now listen M.T., you can't pull out of the Falklands now. You can't be seen as wavering on this decision. Steady the bus, M.T." Denis says firmly. "Be who you have to be."

"It's hard." Margaret sighs.

"No one ever said going your own way was going to be easy. You've always been capable of going your own way without the support of others. Make the decision you know is right to make." Denis stays firm and pours Margaret a cup of tea.

"I never thought being Prime Minister would require so many difficult decisions. I thought it would all be so easy to fix. Why did I think that? Nothing else was easy in my political life so why should policy while I'm Prime Minister be easy? What was I thinking?" Margaret runs her hands over her face before she picks up her teacup.

"Margaret, this is what you wanted. When you ran for leader of the party you weren't sure you were going to win, but you friends in the party made you believe you could win both becoming leader of the party and Prime Minister. You wanted to change the country and you have. Stay strong, M.T." Denis tucks into his breakfast. It's his favourite meal of the day because his wife is usually in the best mood first thing in the morning.