Chapter Four TOBY's POV

I hung up the phone and shook my head. No, I HADN'T done all I could. And I wasn't about to let CJ think she could handle this on her own.

I sat back at my desk, rubbing my pen over my lips. The office door suddenly flew open, making me almost jump out of my seat. It was Leo. He paused for a moment, embarassed he had startled me so. I looked up at him, and he hovered in the doorway like he forgot what he was going to say. "Uh, did you get a hold of CJ?"

I nodded. He shuffled into the room, "Well, how is she?" he asked uncomfertablely. These kind of situations weren't his specialty. Come to think of it, they usually weren't mine, either.

I shrugged at Leo's question, "As good as she should be, it being the morning after the incident."

Leo shifted awkwardly and nodded,"Okay, I just wanted to check." It struck me odd to see Leo act this way. Usually the rolls were reversed.

Leo turned to head for the door, but stopped and looked back at me.

"Toby, is there anything I can do to help?" I blinked, and searched for an answer. I hadn't expected him to ask THAT. C'mon, speechwriter. Leo stared at me, waiting. "Uh, just say a prayer for her, Leo," I heard myself say. Wow, was THAT out of character. Leo must have noticed as well, because he gave me the smallest of looks, then he assured me he would. With that, he left.

Suddenly the idea of all ideas hit me. It was perfect! Just the right thing for CJ! But not now! No, too soon...we'd have to wait. "Ginger!!" ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* *ONE WEEK LATER* CJ's POV

As I walk down the halls to the briefing room, I still get the looks. Still see the whispering. the staff still treats me like I was glass. Fragile. Breakable. Do Not Touch.

But the way Josh and Sam and the others treated me was nothing compared to how the assistants were around me. Mine included. Carol acts more nervous in my presence than I'd ever seen her. I cannot have a decent conversation with her without her looking at me like she expected me to have a mental breakdown. Ugh, it was so exasperating.

I walked into the press room, and almost smiled as I made my way up to the podium. Almost. This was my turf, my territory. The press didn't care if you lost anything from a bodyguard to a button.

"Alright, boys and girls, let's make this short and sweet. The president will be leaving for Indiana next week. There, he will be campaigning for a few days. The time of departure and arrival are still in question. Susan, then Mark." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TOBY's POV

CJ's recovery was slow and grueling. She put on a tough act in front of people, but I could sometimes hear her crying silently to herself as I passed her closed office door.

Hearing her stifled sobs tore me apart over and over again. It was enough to make me propose my idea to the rest of the staff.

So I did.

After my suggestion was presented, my colleagues looked at me with a mixture of wonder and shock.

Josh leaned forward and folded his hands by his knees. "Toby, it's a great idea--"

"BRILLIANT idea," Sam interjected.

"--but do you really think YOU could and would do it?"

I turned towards Josh and looked at him hard. "If I wouldn't do it," I pressed, "why would I even bring it up?"

That left Josh silent, nodding as if he understood. Understood the real reason I was doing this. I then looked to Leo. "What do you think?"

Leo sighed and made a hand gesture as if he wasn't going to try to argue, "I told you I would do something to help. I guess this is it."

I smiled for the first time in a week. It was set.

(Author's Note: Sorry I made this so short, but I'll make up for it next chapter :-D)