By noon, they had had only two updates. So far, the actual surgery had lasted six hours and everyone was exhausted. Abbey and Mallory had dozed off several times but had not really slept. The Senior Staff kept walking in and out, never really sitting in a seat longer than ten or fifteen minutes in a stretch. Although the food had been refreshed, no one really ate. Jed had gotten stuck at the White House and Abbey bet he wasn't a happy camper. Josh would be taking the brunt of it and she really felt sorry for him. But the country couldn't be run from a hospital waiting room, especially if there was an incident occurring that required the President's attention in the Situation Room.
Abbey wondered what was taking so long. She wasn't a neurosurgeon but had heard stories about those surgeries lasting hours and hours. Even some of her surgeries had gone ten or twelve hours. But it was different when somebody you loved was the patient and had been on the table for that length of time. Finally, she turned to Mallory. "Come on. Let's walk. I've got so much nervous energy. I've got to walk some of it off."
"Okay."
The two women walked out of the waiting room with Abbey's agent of course following them. They walked the length of the hallway and were turning back toward the elevator when they saw the doors open and Dr. Turner and another older man exit. The two groups saw each other at the same time and Dr. Turner motioned for them to go into Leo's empty cubicle. Both women knew that meant the surgery was over and the next few minutes would tell them what they had been desperately waiting for.
As they entered the cubicle, Abbey dialed Jed's direct line, praying he was at his desk and not too busy.
"Yes?"
"Jed, it's me. The doctors are here. Can you listen?"
"Yes, I'm alone."
Dr Turner nodded. "Mrs. Bartlet, Ms. O'Brien, this is Dr. Wilson. He's Chief of Neurosurgery and performed the operation on Mr. McGarry."
Each woman shook hands with the newly introduced physician and waited to hear the news.
"Dr. Wilson, my husband is listening on the phone. He couldn't be here."
"Mr. President."
"Hello Dr. Wilson. Please tell us what's going on. How is Mr. McGarry?"
"The surgery, for its complexity, went fairly smoothly. The bullet was deeply embedded in the tissue next to the cord but not in the cord itself. We had to be very careful not to touch any of the cord tissue as we tried to remove it. I hate to use the term 'dig' it out but that's what it basically amounted to. There will be a fair amount of swelling for a few days but eventually that will go down and he will regain feeling in his lower extremities. For the next few days, he will remain here in ICU as he stabilizes and his cord recovers. He will then be transferred to a regular room and I anticipate a short stay in rehab so we can see how well he can walk. But in time, I think he will regain full control and be good as new."
Both Abbey and Mallory let out a breath of relief. Jed did too, but there was no one to hear or see him.
"Dr. Wilson, how long do you think before he has total recovery? Mr. McGarry is not a patient man." asked Abbey. She then heard a snort on the phone.
"Mrs. Bartlet, that depends on him. At the earliest, I see him coming back to full speed is a couple of months. It all depends on him."
Mallory asked the main question on her mind. "When can we see him?"
"He's in Recovery right now. He's had a lot of anesthesia so I want him semi awake before I will let him come back up here. That will probably take another couple of hours. His vital signs were stable during surgery which was amazing. According to Dr. Turner, your father had a lot of reasons not to even make it through this surgery. Mrs. Bartlet, as a surgeon yourself, you know that sometimes you just have to believe in something, or someone, else helping your patients survive something like this."
Abbey nodded. "Yes, I do. Something unexplainable."
"Well, if there are not any more questions, we're going to check on our patient. Mrs. Bartlet, if there are any questions you know how to reach me."
"Thank you, Dr. Turner. And you too, Dr. Wilson. My husband and I and Ms. O'Brien appreciate everything you have done. And I mean everything."