Here is the alternate story. More to come, stay tuned!
"Josh…" Santos' voice had the edge of a warning to it. That was one thing Josh missed about President Bartlet that Santos lacked. He had a sort of emotional detachment, trying to be the best President he could be. It made for a lousy husband and the First Lady was feeling the effects.
"Sir, these are my friends. I know you hardly knew them, but it's important that I be here for a while longer until we hear something more." Josh said, firmly.
Santos had little choice, "Alright, keep me updated as well."
"Yes, sir." Josh slipped back into the waiting room. Danny jumped, having been waiting for a doctor. Realizing it was Josh, he sighed.
Josh gave him an apologetic look. In the next two hours, President Bartlet and Josh had both left. Will and Kate were saying their goodbyes to Danny, asking him to keep them updated with any new information. Danny had told everyone that staying wasn't necessary and that he would call if he heard anything. Donna and Abbey stayed stubbornly behind, however. Toby had barely moved and Danny knew he was in for the long wait. He knew if anyone loved C.J. as much as he did, it was Toby. As much as Danny appreciated their friendship and devotion to C.J., he wanted to be alone. He was afraid that if he asked to be alone, he would regret it though and so stayed silent.
"Mrs. Bartlet," Donna broke the repressive silence, "Did anyone figure out what happened, why they were shooting?"
"It was a hate group. White supremacists." She answered with an edge of disgust to her voice, "President Santos has been getting attacks from them since the beginning."
"Sounds familiar." Danny mumbled bitterly, remembering Rosalyn.
"How's the baby?" Abbey asked, trying to get Danny's mind off of the surgery.
"She's great. Fat, loud, demanding." He chuckled, "But, it's the most amazing thing I've ever done. C.J. wants to betroth Alice to Huck." Danny allowed himself a smile. It was, of course, a joke between the three parents.
That made Toby look up, "Yeah, I got that email." He gave them the tiniest of smiles, "Alice is going to be too busy being President."
Danny smirked, "Yeah." Talking about their children did seem to ease the pain of waiting a little bit. Another hour slipped by but after the gates had been opened for conversation, the wait didn't seem as bad.
The doctor finally came in, looking ragged. Danny shot to his feet.
"Mr. Concannon?"
"Yeah."
"It was touch and go for awhile there, we had a hard time trying to stop internal bleeding. She's not out of the woods yet or anything, but we're able to begin repairing organs now that the bleeds have stopped. She'll need a blood transfusion and the surgery will probably last another eight hours or so. We can't make you very comfortable here, if you wanted to go home, we can keep you updated by phone."
"We live in California." Danny told him, "I'll stay." He turned to the room of people still waiting, "You guys can go, I'll call you as soon as they know anything else."
"I'm staying." Toby declared.
Donna and Abbey took the permission to leave. Abbey hugged Danny again, "I'll let Jed know. Please call us the moment you hear anything, day or night. She'll be back home before you know it, Danny." She kissed his cheek.
"Okay." Danny agreed.
The two remaining men, both deeply in love with the same woman, sat silently, waiting for news. The difference, though, was that Toby had never pursued C.J., nor would he have. He preferred that she be happy with Danny. He had come to terms long ago that they were never meant to be and treasured their friendship more for it. He would never quite be over her and would always harbor feelings, but Toby had never won but a single fight in his life and that was Bartlet for America.
C.J. won nearly every fight she tackled, however, and this gave him hope that she would win this one too.
