Leo sank into a gloomy mood, trying to decide how to break bad news to an already ill President. Then the phone rang. As Leo stood up and crossed the room to his desk, he tried to decide if he was emotionally strong enough to answer the phone.

But one way or another, he had to know.

The group in the office looked at him as he picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Leo?"

The voice was not male. It was distinctly female. It was definitely Abbey's.

"Abbey, is that you?"

A brief laugh, and then she continued. "Yes, Leo, It's me. Sorry to make you wait for this call, but we were having problem getting a connection in the mountains. We had to wait until we got back to the helicopter to have better connections."

He looked around the office and every face mirrored his…broad grins on all the faces looking back at his.

"Where are you right now?"

"Well, I don't really know, but we are heading back to Washington and I think Ron has said we'll land on the South Lawn. That is, if we get permission from the Chief of Staff to ruin the lawn."

Leo laughed. "I think the Chief of Staff will give his permission to land on his lawn. How do you feel?"

"Well, much better than I did. Dr. Scheer kept me pretty drugged up at the hospital. But at the cabin, he left me alone and I guess I detoxed. At least Stanley thinks so. Whatever, I slept off the drugs and feel pretty good now. I can't go dancing, but I think I can at least stay awake for a while. Leo, how's Jed? Stanley told me what happened last night."

"Once Hackett got an IV in him and raised his blood sugar, he became his ornery self. It was not an MS episode. He just was not taking care of himself. Not eating, sleeping, you know, the usual stuff."

"Yeah, I know. Don't tell him about me. I want to surprise him."

"Oh, no way. I want to see his expression myself. Now, you will have one problem."

"What's that?" Her light voice turned instantly serious.

"Hackett found some pretty, young Navy nurses to take care of him. You're going to have to compete against them."

Abbey laughed. "Well, I think I have a few ways of winning that competition."

Leo sighed. "It is so good to hear your voice."

"And yours."

"How long before you land?"

"Let me ask Ron."

Leo heard some muffled voices and then Abbey got back on the phone. "Ron said fifteen minutes. Are you going to meet me?"

"Hell yeah."

"Good. And Leo, ask CJ to try and keep the press away. I'm really not looking my best right now. I think she'll understand."

"Of course. I'll tell her. See you soon. Bye."

"Bye."

The office erupted into cheers and hugs. The First Lady was safe and well enough to be coming back to the White House. Prayers had been answered.

"CJ!"

"Yes, Leo?"

"Abbey has requested no press. She says she not looking her best right now."

"I'll do what I can, Leo. But this is the time that they are arriving for work and the morning shows are doing standup on the front driveway."

"Try, CJ."

"Sure, Leo."

"Okay, Ron says they'll be here in fifteen minutes. Josh, notify the First Lady's staff so they will be out there. I don't want her to have a whole lot of interaction. After all she's been through, she doesn't need to be overwhelmed the first few minutes she's back. Please pass that word around. She wants to see the President as soon as possible and then probably go to the Residence. She'll set the schedule. Understood?"

"Yes, Boss."

The staff dispersed to their assigned tasks. Leo stuck his head around the corner. "You heard?"

"Yeah. Congratulations."

"Thanks, Margaret. There's still some stuff to get through, but hopefully we're over the roughest. I'm going out to greet her now. Wanna come?"

"Absolutely."