Leo only slept off and on. Every time he woke up, his mind started racing with every thought in the book, including the fact the fact the psychiatrist would even think that Abbey would consider committing suicide. The thought that the woman he had known for over thirty years, the physician who saved lives, the Catholic who believed solidly in the sanctity of life, the mother who fought tooth and nail for the lives she and Jed had brought into this world, would consider taking her own life was just not even thinkable. But the doctor must have heard something from Abbey herself in his evaluation of her during that hour that would have led him to that conclusion. But he couldn't lay the burden of that on the girls. No, he just couldn't. They were already dealing with too much as it was.

Once the clock turned to seven am, he made two quick calls. The nurse on duty in Neuro ICU said there had been no changes in Jed's condition overnight. The call to the Psychiatric floor was a little more difficult. He had trouble explaining who he was and why he was inquiring about Abbey. The nurse was reluctant to give out information to just anyone on their patient, especially one with such high public visibility. He finally pulled rank and used the Chief of Staff identity and claimed he was calling on behalf of the President of the United States. That loosened up the information quickly. Abbey had had a restless night once the drug that she had been given in the ER wore off. They had tried small doses of three different drugs but until they doubled the third drug, they didn't get any results. She would sleep for a few more hours anyway. The doctor on call didn't understand the problem. Anyway, given her medical status, she wasn't going to be allowed any visitors until they figured out what was going on. Even her daughters couldn't see her. And certainly, non-family members were not allowed. He asked that her assigned psychiatrist give him a call. When asked why by the nurse, Leo snapped. "Because I asked."

"Well, you don't have to be so nasty."

"Please have him call me." He left his number and hung up.

Breakfast was delivered, and he was sipping his coffee as he began to call the Bartlet children. Well, the Bartlet adults.

First, Zoey. "Leo, you are talking about my mother, aren't you?"

"Yes, Sweetie. I was there. It was ugly. I'm so glad that none of you were there. Now they aren't allowing visitors, but you can see your Dad. And stay in the waiting room. I'm going to call the other two and encourage them to come down. I'll come up soon. If you need me, just call, okay?"

"Okay."

The next call was to Ellie. Luckily, she was in her apartment. It was her day off.

"Now let me get this straight. Dad was fine, and now he's back in a coma?'

"Yes."

"And the doctors think Mom was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and the medicines they tried to give her last night didn't work until they doubled the dose?"

"Yes."

"Leo, do you know how crazy this all sounds?"

"Yes Ellie, I do. But I was there. I talked to all the doctors. I saw your mom hysterical and saw her losing control. She was not herself at all. She was a totally different person."

"Okay, I take your word. I'll catch the next train down and then a taxi to the hospital."

"You might need to contact your supervisor and pack a bag. I have no idea how long this will go on. And they have to move out of the White House as soon as possible, Your mother agreed to move before this all occurred. Ron Butterfield wants President Russell more secure than he is now at the Naval Observatory."

"Oh hell, Leo. What else can happen?"

"I hope nothing else."

"Okay. I should be there by noon. Tell Zoey I'll come to the third floor waiting room."

"Thanks, Ellie. I'll give her the message."

Leo hung up. Two down. One to go.

He ate his cold breakfast and then dialed Liz's number in New Hampshire. He hoped he had waited long enough for Annie and Gus to be in school. He waited patiently for the phone to answered, but he only got her got her cell phone message "This is Liz. Leave your message and I will call you back."

"Liz, this is Leo. Please call me on my cell. I have some news about your parents. Please call me as soon as possible. Thanks."

He got up, took a shower and dressed in what he considered casual clothes and checked to see if Liz had called him back. So far, no call back. He wondered where she was and then he remembered that Abbey said she was going to open up the farmhouse today. Leo sat down and looked through his contacts, trying to find a specific number from a long time ago. He hated to use it but thought that this, if anytime, was the time and place to call in a favor. Dialing the number, he hoped Liz didn't kill him for doing this.

Liz and her friends had pulled in the driveway of the farmhouse, determined to get an early start before it got too hot. They walked up the steps, unlocked the door and put the cleaning supplies down.

"Just start opening the windows and dust the living room. I'll start cleaning the kitchen and then we'll go upstairs to the bedrooms." Liz and her friends separated and were intent on doing their tasks and didn't see the county sheriff pull into the driveway. A uniformed man got out of the car and made his way up the stairs and across the porch. Knocking on the open door, he stuck his head in and yelled, "Mrs. Westin, are you here?"

Liz thought she heard someone yell her name, but then shook her head. Nobody knew she was here but her friends and they were cleaning themselves. But then she heard the yell again. "Mrs. Westin, are you here?"

Liz came out of the kitchen at the same time her friends came out of the living room. They met in the foyer. "Are you looking for me?" Liz asked.

"Are you Mrs. Westin?"

"Yes. Are my children okay?"

"Ma'am, I have a message for you to call a Mr. Leo McGarry in Washington. He says its urgent."

"Did he say anything else?"

"No, ma'am. That's all I was told."

Liz's heart skipped a beat. Leo would not be calling unless something happened to both of her parents. If it was just about one of them, the other one would call.

"Ok. Thanks." She turned to her friends. "You can stay if you want. Here's the key. Just lock up." With those words, she was flying down the steps, across the grass and into the car. Damn, bad time for her cell phone to be broken. "Drive safely ma'am" was the last thing she heard as she spun out of the driveway. That slowed her down just a little. It wouldn't help if she had a wreck on the way back to the house.

Pulling into the driveway, not wasting anytime pushing open the door, she dialed Leo's number and waited for it to go through. She didn't realize she was holding her breath until she heard him say "Leo McGarry."

After listening to Leo's recap of the past twelve hours or so, she couldn't or wouldn't believe everything he was saying. Between her father relapsing and her mother losing her mind she just couldn't get her mind around it. Well, that probably wasn't a nice way to describe things, but at this point there was little else she could use to describe it. She was grateful that Leo was going to be around for her sisters, but she also knew they all needed to be together.

"Leo, I'll have to drive to Boston to catch a commercial flight. The perks of being a President's daughter and using Air Force jets have ended. So, it will take some time to make arrangements. And I need to talk with Doug on arrangements for the children."

"Liz, why don't you call the airport in Manchester and charter a jet? I'll pay for it."

"Leo, that's extravagant."

"Not when it comes to the Bartlet family. Really Liz, I mean it. Have them call me and I'll give them all the information they need. Please let me do this for you. You need to be with your sisters and parents as soon as possible."

Liz hesitated, but the urgency finally won out. "Okay. But when this all over, I'm going to tell Dad what you did. And you know he's probably going to insist to write you a check."

"Well, we'll fight it out then. But right now, you belong here."

"Thanks. Leo. I can't say that enough."

"You just get here, Liz. That's all that matters right now."

"Okay. Tell my sisters I'll be there as soon as I can. Bye."

"Bye, Sweetie."