Leo entered his outer office, expecting it to be quiet. To his surprise, Margaret was at her desk. "Margaret! It's 1:15 in the morning. What are you doing here?"
"You needed me and I'm here."
"But I didn't call you."
"No, but Josh called Donna and Donna called Ginger and Ginger called me and I called…"
"Okay, I get it. Thanks, Margaret. I really appreciate it. Are you up to speed?"
Looking at her steno pad, she went down her list. "Yes. CJ came by. Russell and his wife are in the Mural room going over his statement with Toby. Josh said the Chief Justice will be here in fifteen minutes. Charlie came by and said to tell you that five suitcases are on their way to Andrews. Sam said the plane will be ready to go at four am. "
"Thanks, Margaret. I need the letter from the files that the President signed transferring power to the Vice-President in case of his incapacitation. And can you find all of us some coffee? Oh, I forgot to contact the White House photographer."
"Right away. And CJ has an AP photographer all ready to go. Oh, one more thing. Charlie said he and Zoey were going back to GW and wait. Ellie should arrive about one thirty and Liz about four. Leo?"
"Yes?" He looked up from the handful of message slips in his hands.
"How's the President?"
"It's too early. The surgery wasn't scheduled to start until just a few minutes ago. We won't know anything for hours."
"Okay."
Leo sat at his desk, took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes. The past few days had been traumatic for the entire West Wing. But he had to find strength to get through the next through few weeks or however long it took Jed Bartlet to reassume the Oval Office. His rightful place. Whatever it took. However long it took. He would be strong and faithful to the office and maintain it so it would remain intact when Jed was ready for it one more time.
"Leo?"
He didn't know how long he had stayed there or whether he had even dozed off. The next thing he heard was Margaret whispering his name in his ear. Opening his eyes, he saw Josh looking at him and Margaret at his elbow. "Leo, are you okay?"
"Yeah. Guess I was taking a cat nap. Are we ready?"
"Yes."
Leo stood and made his way over to the Oval with Josh following him. Sam, CJ and Toby were standing behind the Vice-President and his wife. Leo plastered his famous crooked smile on his face and extended his hand. "Hello, Bob. Sorry we have to meet like this, but are you ready?"
"Yes, I am."
"Mr. Chief Justice, if you please."
Facing the Chief Justice of the United States and with his wife holding the Russell family bible, Bob Russell placed his left hand on the bible and raised his right hand.
The Chief Justice began. "Repeat after me."
"I do solemnly swear"
"I do solemnly swear"
"that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States,"
"that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States,"
and will the to the best of my Ability,
"and will the to the best of my Ability,"
"preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America."
"preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America."
"so help me God."
"so help me God."
"Congratulations Mr. President." The Chief Justice shook the new President's hand. Russell then kissed his wife and accepted the handshakes of everyone in the room. After the congratulatory actions, he looked around and said, "I know this is not under the best of circumstances. But I promise each of you that I will continue President Bartlet's policies as best as I can. I pray that this is only temporary and that President Bartlet will make a speedy recovery and will soon be back at the desk behind me."
Leo looked at the Senior Staff's faces. Just like him, they didn't believe a word the new President was saying. "CJ, can you escort the President and First Lady to the briefing room? I'm sure the press is anxious to see them. Mr. President, your first security briefing will be at 0800 here in the Oval. I'll be here to assist you in any way I can. In the meantime, if you'll excuse me? Sam, Josh, Toby, I need to see you in my office."
He left the new President and First Lady in CJ's capable hands as he walked to his office and the others followed him. Shutting the door, he sat down at his desk, took the hot coffee in his hands and motioned for the others to pick their cups up. "I want you to create a list of current activities and their status that President Bartlet was working on and any recommendations that he might have made regarding their resolution. I need them on my desk by nine am. I know we all are exhausted, but we need to get Russell settled before anyone gets any rest. Tomorrow we will need him to meet with the National Security Council, the Congressional Leadership, and the Cabinet. Josh, I hope you sent messages to all these people tonight."
Leo was relieved when Josh nodded yes. "Okay. Sam, set up meeting times and locations here at the White House. And let everyone know. You and your assistants will need to take breaks at some point in the next 24 hours, but as far as actual eight-hour sleep periods, I doubt that will be possible. Send your assistants to your apartments to get fresh clothes and use the showers in the gym. We will get through this and maybe Monday evening, that's tomorrow. right? Anyway, by then we should be caught up and can all go home and collapse. Toby, stay on top of the messages and public reaction. Let me know immediately of any nasty fallout. I will probably go back to GW in a few minutes, so call me on my cell if you need me, and I'll stay in contact with Margaret. And guys, and I include CJ too, you are all doing an incredible job here. I can't say enough how much this means to me and how much it would mean to the President, if he knew about it. And I'm talking about President Bartlet. Thanks, from the bottom of my heart."
"I serve at the pleasure of President Bartlet."
"I serve at the pleasure of President Bartlet."
"I serve at the pleasure of President Bartlet."