Stumbling Towards Contentment 10/14
By Ginny K.
See part one for notes and stuff.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Josh's first week went by quickly and fairly smoothly. He settled into his
office and debated whether or not to hire an assistant in addition to Nick.
For now he decided to just work with Nick. He wasn't in the mood to break in
two people at once. He did no traveling the first week, coming home every
night to sleep in his own bed.
Donna kept a close eye on him but tried not to hover. He seemed to be
handling the schedule pretty well. He made a point of trying to get to bed
at a decent hour. At Donna's insistence he had taken a sleeping pill a few
times when it was clear he was having trouble settling down.
He was late getting home on Friday night, having attended a fundraising
dinner. Coming in the front door a little before midnight he tried to be as
quiet as he could. But considering his state of exhaustion that wasn't very
quiet. Donna was dozing on the couch and the sound of his backpack hitting
the floor in the foyer woke her up.
"Josh?" she called as she rubbed her eyes and tried to sit up.
Josh stumbled into living room, shedding his suit coat and loosening his tie.
"Yeah, it's me, go back to sleep."
"How was the dinner?" asked Donna as she moved over a little, giving Josh
room to sit down.
"Boring." he said with a smile as he toed off his shoes and unbuttoned his
blue dress shirt, fumbling with the buttons on the cuff of his left sleeve.
"Good food?" asked Donna as she reached out to grab his left wrist. She
undid the buttons and motioned for Josh to hold up his other arm so she could
undo those buttons too.
"Yeah." he muttered as he tossed his tie on the coffee table, followed
quickly by his dress shirt. He pulled his t-shirt out of his pants and
collapsed against the back of the couch with his eyes closed.
"You don't have to be back in tomorrow morning do you?" she asked as she took
a good look at him.
"Nope. Not until 2:00."
"Good, you need some sleep. Why don't you go lay down, I'll turn out the
lights and be in there in a minute. I'm guessing you don't need a sleeping
pill?"
"No, but I'll take a glass of water."
By the time Donna had turned out a few lights and poured Josh a glass of
water he was sound asleep. Thankfully he had managed to undo his belt, drop
his pants on the floor and pull the covers back before he drifted off.
The next morning Donna took the boys to basketball practice at 9:00 leaving
Josh still sound asleep. He had managed to drag himself out of bed a few
minutes before they returned home about 11. The boys were excited to see him
and he showered quickly and took them to McDonald's for lunch before he
headed to the White House. He was home by 6 and Donna dragged him out to go
shopping for some new clothes.
Sunday found them doing their normal routine of homework, laundry and
preparations for the week ahead. The one exception was that Josh was in the
process of packing for a three-day trip to Michigan. Donna had already
picked out suits and ties for him, leaving him the boring underwear, socks,
and pajamas to grab out of the dresser and toss in the suitcase.
While he packed Donna was quietly reading in the chair. Every once in a
while she peered over her reading glasses at him. As much as she tried not
to show it, he saw the apprehension on her face. After he shoved a pair of
jeans in the suitcase he sat down on the ottoman in front of her. Gently
taking the file from her he put his elbows on her knees and took her hands in
his.
"Honey, I'm going to be fine."
"I know. It's just that this will be the first night since you came home
from the hospital after the stroke that we've spent apart."
"I know. I thought about that this morning."
"But I suppose we'll just have to get used to it. You packed all your pills
and stuff."
"Two prescriptions and a bottle of Tylenol."
"Heating pad and sleeping pills?"
"Donna," he whined, "I'm only going away for two nights."
"Yes, and if you don't sleep either of those nights you're not going to be
very pleasant to be around come Wednesday night. Now, the heating pad is on
the couch in your study and the sleeping pills are in the bathroom."
Josh left the room to get the missing items and Donna headed for the kitchen
to make a quick dinner.
The boys were in bed by 9:00. Donna was in the process of trying to get Josh
to go to bed around 10:00 as Nick was coming to pick him up at 5:30. Josh
was wandering around, getting a few things ready for the morning, trying to
wind down enough to sleep.
"Donna, you're hovering." he said plainly as she stood in the doorway and
offered him a cup of tea. He was in his study going over a few things and
packing his backpack. She came in and sat on the edge of the desk, playing
with a picture of the boys. Josh was starting to get a little annoyed with
her. He knew she was just trying to look out for him but at times it just
got to be too much. Too much of a reminder that maybe he did need someone to
look after him. "Donna, please, I just need half an hour then I'll go to
bed." he said in a slightly more dismissive tone than he had planned.
"Fine." she muttered as she slid off the desk and went down the hall to their
bedroom.
For a second Josh thought about following her but he knew he'd be better off
finishing what he had to do and then going to talk with her. Besides, he
could hear the water running in the tub. That meant she'd be soaking in the
bubbles for at least 45 minutes.
Twenty-five minutes later he appeared in the doorway to the bathroom.
He watched for a minute as Donna lounged in the tub reading a magazine. Her
hair was piled up on her head and she was squinting as she had forgotten her
glasses.
"You know, it would be a lot easier to read if you were wearing your
glasses." teased Josh.
"Yeah. I forgot them and didn't feel like climbing out to get them."
"I'll be back." said Josh as he walked into the bedroom and grabbed her
glasses off the nightstand. "Here." he said, handing her the glasses. "Look,
I'm sorry about before."
"Me too. I guess I'm not handling this whole thing too well."
"I think we both need a little work."
"Yeah."
A few minutes later Donna got out and they went to bed. Josh left before
anyone was up the next morning.
And so as winter turned to spring Josh and the rest of the family settled
into a somewhat predictable routine over the next few months. Josh was
usually gone 2 or 3 nights a week. He made a point of catching up on his
sleep the day he returned from a trip, often working from home that day.
The campaign was going well. Hoynes was very understanding about the fact
that Josh had his limits, both physically and mentally.
Much to Donna's surprise Josh did indeed seem to be taking pretty good care
of himself. Of course she kept a close eye on him but tried her best not to
hover. He saw the therapist regularly and walked for exercise when he could.
The swallowing difficulties plagued him off and on somewhat but he just ate
what he could. He had just had an appointment with Dr. Connors in April and
she assured him he was doing just fine.
The first half of Spring flew by and the family suddenly found themselves
faced again with the month of May. Jake had wanted the family to go away
again to celebrate his birthday but Donna was swamped at work and Josh was
scheduled to leave for a 5 days swing through the west coast the night of
Jake's birthday. After much discussion, pleading and deal making Josh decided
to take Jake with him on his trip. Josh was spending one night with Sam and
Sam had volunteered to keep Jake a second night.
The family celebrated Jake's birthday a day early by going out to dinner and
to the movies. By 4:00 the afternoon of his 8th birthday he and Josh were on
their way to Andrews Air Force Base to board Air Force One.
Jake quickly became the press mascot on the plane, giving Josh some time to
catch up on some reading and most importantly to catch up on some sleep. The
last few days had been rough, there was the trip to prepare for, he was
having trouble eating, he was tired. And then there were the emotions that
surfaced every May from the shooting and now he had the anniversary of the
stroke to deal with too. He had seriously thought about just hiding himself
away at home for a few days but he knew that would just give him more time to
brood. And would give Donna something to worry about. And she didn't need
any more things to worry about.
An hour in to the flight Josh was restlessly wandering around the plane
having just finished a short meeting with Hoynes. Dinner was about to be
served and he was looking for Jake. He found him in the press cabin sitting
next to a cute blond reporter from the New York Times. They were eating
hamburgers and fries. "That's my boy." Josh muttered to himself. Jake
looked up and waved before turning his attention back to his new found
friend.
Josh wandered into the conference room to find his own dinner waiting for
him, a club sandwich and a bottle of iced tea. He took out some reading
material and spread it out in front of him on the table. For the next hour
or so he read and picked at the food on his plate. Nick wandered in and sat
down across from him, handing him a fax that had just come up to the plane.
"Thanks." muttered Josh as he read the paper Nick handed him.
"You didn't eat much." Nick pointed out as he motioned to Josh's plate.
"Not hungry." mumbled Josh as he looked up at Nick. It was at moments like
these that he regretted the fact that Nick and Ben had become friends. The
tag team worrying and hovering got on his nerves at times. But he knew that
if things continued the way they had been over the past two or three days he
was headed for trouble. "Actually, it wasn't going down too well." he
admitted.
"You want me to see if I can track down some ice cream or something?"
"Yeah, thanks. And do me a favor and peek in the Press Cabin, see if Jake is
still using the Lyman charm on that reporter."
"No problem." said Nick with a grin.
Josh took a glance at the mess of papers in front of him, shoved them into
his backpack and then put a call through to Donna.
"Hello."
"Hi, it's me."
"Josh, you ok. You sound like crap."
"Gee thanks Donna, I can always count on you to make me feel better."
"Josh..." she said with a slightly warning tone in her voice.
"I'm tired, I couldn't eat. Nick went to track down some ice cream. Jake is
busy in the Press Cabin using his considerable charms on a cute blond
reporter." he said with a little laugh.
"He's a Lyman."
"He sure is. How's Jessie?"
"Fine. He and Ben went out to get pizza for dinner."
"Do you managed to have an evening alone?"
"Yep and I'm enjoying it immensely." sighed Donna as she sank further down
into the bathtub.
"Are you taking a bath?"
"For the past hour or so." she admitted with a laugh.
"Then I'll let you go. Nick just came in the door with some ice cream."
"OK. Josh, get some sleep on the plane, you need it."
"I will. I'm going to eat this and then curl up in a corner. I'll call you
in the morning. Love you."
"Love you too, bye."
Josh hung up and took the ice cream from Nick. He ate most of it, checked on
Jake and curled up in a quiet corner to get a few hours sleep.
TBC
By Ginny K.
See part one for notes and stuff.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Josh's first week went by quickly and fairly smoothly. He settled into his
office and debated whether or not to hire an assistant in addition to Nick.
For now he decided to just work with Nick. He wasn't in the mood to break in
two people at once. He did no traveling the first week, coming home every
night to sleep in his own bed.
Donna kept a close eye on him but tried not to hover. He seemed to be
handling the schedule pretty well. He made a point of trying to get to bed
at a decent hour. At Donna's insistence he had taken a sleeping pill a few
times when it was clear he was having trouble settling down.
He was late getting home on Friday night, having attended a fundraising
dinner. Coming in the front door a little before midnight he tried to be as
quiet as he could. But considering his state of exhaustion that wasn't very
quiet. Donna was dozing on the couch and the sound of his backpack hitting
the floor in the foyer woke her up.
"Josh?" she called as she rubbed her eyes and tried to sit up.
Josh stumbled into living room, shedding his suit coat and loosening his tie.
"Yeah, it's me, go back to sleep."
"How was the dinner?" asked Donna as she moved over a little, giving Josh
room to sit down.
"Boring." he said with a smile as he toed off his shoes and unbuttoned his
blue dress shirt, fumbling with the buttons on the cuff of his left sleeve.
"Good food?" asked Donna as she reached out to grab his left wrist. She
undid the buttons and motioned for Josh to hold up his other arm so she could
undo those buttons too.
"Yeah." he muttered as he tossed his tie on the coffee table, followed
quickly by his dress shirt. He pulled his t-shirt out of his pants and
collapsed against the back of the couch with his eyes closed.
"You don't have to be back in tomorrow morning do you?" she asked as she took
a good look at him.
"Nope. Not until 2:00."
"Good, you need some sleep. Why don't you go lay down, I'll turn out the
lights and be in there in a minute. I'm guessing you don't need a sleeping
pill?"
"No, but I'll take a glass of water."
By the time Donna had turned out a few lights and poured Josh a glass of
water he was sound asleep. Thankfully he had managed to undo his belt, drop
his pants on the floor and pull the covers back before he drifted off.
The next morning Donna took the boys to basketball practice at 9:00 leaving
Josh still sound asleep. He had managed to drag himself out of bed a few
minutes before they returned home about 11. The boys were excited to see him
and he showered quickly and took them to McDonald's for lunch before he
headed to the White House. He was home by 6 and Donna dragged him out to go
shopping for some new clothes.
Sunday found them doing their normal routine of homework, laundry and
preparations for the week ahead. The one exception was that Josh was in the
process of packing for a three-day trip to Michigan. Donna had already
picked out suits and ties for him, leaving him the boring underwear, socks,
and pajamas to grab out of the dresser and toss in the suitcase.
While he packed Donna was quietly reading in the chair. Every once in a
while she peered over her reading glasses at him. As much as she tried not
to show it, he saw the apprehension on her face. After he shoved a pair of
jeans in the suitcase he sat down on the ottoman in front of her. Gently
taking the file from her he put his elbows on her knees and took her hands in
his.
"Honey, I'm going to be fine."
"I know. It's just that this will be the first night since you came home
from the hospital after the stroke that we've spent apart."
"I know. I thought about that this morning."
"But I suppose we'll just have to get used to it. You packed all your pills
and stuff."
"Two prescriptions and a bottle of Tylenol."
"Heating pad and sleeping pills?"
"Donna," he whined, "I'm only going away for two nights."
"Yes, and if you don't sleep either of those nights you're not going to be
very pleasant to be around come Wednesday night. Now, the heating pad is on
the couch in your study and the sleeping pills are in the bathroom."
Josh left the room to get the missing items and Donna headed for the kitchen
to make a quick dinner.
The boys were in bed by 9:00. Donna was in the process of trying to get Josh
to go to bed around 10:00 as Nick was coming to pick him up at 5:30. Josh
was wandering around, getting a few things ready for the morning, trying to
wind down enough to sleep.
"Donna, you're hovering." he said plainly as she stood in the doorway and
offered him a cup of tea. He was in his study going over a few things and
packing his backpack. She came in and sat on the edge of the desk, playing
with a picture of the boys. Josh was starting to get a little annoyed with
her. He knew she was just trying to look out for him but at times it just
got to be too much. Too much of a reminder that maybe he did need someone to
look after him. "Donna, please, I just need half an hour then I'll go to
bed." he said in a slightly more dismissive tone than he had planned.
"Fine." she muttered as she slid off the desk and went down the hall to their
bedroom.
For a second Josh thought about following her but he knew he'd be better off
finishing what he had to do and then going to talk with her. Besides, he
could hear the water running in the tub. That meant she'd be soaking in the
bubbles for at least 45 minutes.
Twenty-five minutes later he appeared in the doorway to the bathroom.
He watched for a minute as Donna lounged in the tub reading a magazine. Her
hair was piled up on her head and she was squinting as she had forgotten her
glasses.
"You know, it would be a lot easier to read if you were wearing your
glasses." teased Josh.
"Yeah. I forgot them and didn't feel like climbing out to get them."
"I'll be back." said Josh as he walked into the bedroom and grabbed her
glasses off the nightstand. "Here." he said, handing her the glasses. "Look,
I'm sorry about before."
"Me too. I guess I'm not handling this whole thing too well."
"I think we both need a little work."
"Yeah."
A few minutes later Donna got out and they went to bed. Josh left before
anyone was up the next morning.
And so as winter turned to spring Josh and the rest of the family settled
into a somewhat predictable routine over the next few months. Josh was
usually gone 2 or 3 nights a week. He made a point of catching up on his
sleep the day he returned from a trip, often working from home that day.
The campaign was going well. Hoynes was very understanding about the fact
that Josh had his limits, both physically and mentally.
Much to Donna's surprise Josh did indeed seem to be taking pretty good care
of himself. Of course she kept a close eye on him but tried her best not to
hover. He saw the therapist regularly and walked for exercise when he could.
The swallowing difficulties plagued him off and on somewhat but he just ate
what he could. He had just had an appointment with Dr. Connors in April and
she assured him he was doing just fine.
The first half of Spring flew by and the family suddenly found themselves
faced again with the month of May. Jake had wanted the family to go away
again to celebrate his birthday but Donna was swamped at work and Josh was
scheduled to leave for a 5 days swing through the west coast the night of
Jake's birthday. After much discussion, pleading and deal making Josh decided
to take Jake with him on his trip. Josh was spending one night with Sam and
Sam had volunteered to keep Jake a second night.
The family celebrated Jake's birthday a day early by going out to dinner and
to the movies. By 4:00 the afternoon of his 8th birthday he and Josh were on
their way to Andrews Air Force Base to board Air Force One.
Jake quickly became the press mascot on the plane, giving Josh some time to
catch up on some reading and most importantly to catch up on some sleep. The
last few days had been rough, there was the trip to prepare for, he was
having trouble eating, he was tired. And then there were the emotions that
surfaced every May from the shooting and now he had the anniversary of the
stroke to deal with too. He had seriously thought about just hiding himself
away at home for a few days but he knew that would just give him more time to
brood. And would give Donna something to worry about. And she didn't need
any more things to worry about.
An hour in to the flight Josh was restlessly wandering around the plane
having just finished a short meeting with Hoynes. Dinner was about to be
served and he was looking for Jake. He found him in the press cabin sitting
next to a cute blond reporter from the New York Times. They were eating
hamburgers and fries. "That's my boy." Josh muttered to himself. Jake
looked up and waved before turning his attention back to his new found
friend.
Josh wandered into the conference room to find his own dinner waiting for
him, a club sandwich and a bottle of iced tea. He took out some reading
material and spread it out in front of him on the table. For the next hour
or so he read and picked at the food on his plate. Nick wandered in and sat
down across from him, handing him a fax that had just come up to the plane.
"Thanks." muttered Josh as he read the paper Nick handed him.
"You didn't eat much." Nick pointed out as he motioned to Josh's plate.
"Not hungry." mumbled Josh as he looked up at Nick. It was at moments like
these that he regretted the fact that Nick and Ben had become friends. The
tag team worrying and hovering got on his nerves at times. But he knew that
if things continued the way they had been over the past two or three days he
was headed for trouble. "Actually, it wasn't going down too well." he
admitted.
"You want me to see if I can track down some ice cream or something?"
"Yeah, thanks. And do me a favor and peek in the Press Cabin, see if Jake is
still using the Lyman charm on that reporter."
"No problem." said Nick with a grin.
Josh took a glance at the mess of papers in front of him, shoved them into
his backpack and then put a call through to Donna.
"Hello."
"Hi, it's me."
"Josh, you ok. You sound like crap."
"Gee thanks Donna, I can always count on you to make me feel better."
"Josh..." she said with a slightly warning tone in her voice.
"I'm tired, I couldn't eat. Nick went to track down some ice cream. Jake is
busy in the Press Cabin using his considerable charms on a cute blond
reporter." he said with a little laugh.
"He's a Lyman."
"He sure is. How's Jessie?"
"Fine. He and Ben went out to get pizza for dinner."
"Do you managed to have an evening alone?"
"Yep and I'm enjoying it immensely." sighed Donna as she sank further down
into the bathtub.
"Are you taking a bath?"
"For the past hour or so." she admitted with a laugh.
"Then I'll let you go. Nick just came in the door with some ice cream."
"OK. Josh, get some sleep on the plane, you need it."
"I will. I'm going to eat this and then curl up in a corner. I'll call you
in the morning. Love you."
"Love you too, bye."
Josh hung up and took the ice cream from Nick. He ate most of it, checked on
Jake and curled up in a quiet corner to get a few hours sleep.
TBC