Mended Hearts:
POV of Greg Tymes:
DATE: 3/11/2016
My first reaction when I saw Agent Jake Moore was, "Uh-oh." I knew right away that I'd have a hard time getting him to back off. I'd seen the kid chase down Roger Schumer before. But then I wondered, why would I want him to? I'd nearly been killed after just one night without an agent.
That was when I woke up two days after the fire. After eight days in a hospital bed hanging around with Jake and getting to know Dack I decided, they weren't bad people, I just hated feeling controlled.
But, on Friday the eleventh, I was released. I was freed from my bondage. Well... almost.
Jake and Dack still hung around. And I couldn't use my left leg. That added to the fact that I no longer had an apartment or a fish tank.
Dack brought around the car and I got in back, crutches propped up against the door. Jake got in the passenger's seat and I sighed. It was going to take a LONG time for me to get used to their following my every move.
They drove me to the White House and I walked in. It was already eight at night, but I had nowhere else to go. As much as I trusted Lisa (and I'm not sure *why* I trusted Lisa) I was sure I had a stack of papers to take care of.
I took off my jacket, as Sean had gone to the store and bought me a suit for when I came out of the hospital, and tossed it on the chair in the corner of my office.
I loosened my tie, not sure why I'd even put one on, no one was around to see me.
"Hey, Jake, Dack," I yelled out my office door. "Go home, bring the night guys around. Tell them I'm sleeping here."
"Sir, you can't do-" But it was too late. I had already slammed and locked the door.
***
POV of Secretary of State Ronald Timmons
DATE: 3/12/2016
Sam made me take the day off even though we had a meeting that day. It was a Saturday and my daughter had been on Sarah to take her to the mall for the past week. Rachel was seventeen and old enough to drive herself. We just didn't trust her with the car. We figured she'd take off the first chance she got.
I was extremely surprised when she asked if there was a time that they could talk. I'd asked her if Sunday was okay. She said so but didn't seem like it. So I told her we'd talk after my meeting.
When I meantioned Rachel to Sam, he immediatly canceled the meeting and claimed to have had something to do with AJ.
It was a lie, obviously, but he went the whole nine yards. Later that day it was announced that the President and his daughter were going to the Smithsonian.
I was glad for the time I'd have with Rachel and as I said before, I was extremely surprised when she asked to talk with me. We left at ten, Zach kept trying to badger me into bringing him along as well but I told him this was the last year Rachel was my little girl and he relented.
Congress was taking the day off so I drove us to the Congress building, a place I still had access to because of my early days as one of the lawmakers ::cough:: blood suckers ::cough::
We sat down on the observation balcony and just sat for a little while. She didn't say anything but I could tell that she wanted to. After about ten minutes, I realized how stupid I was.
"Have you told your mother?" I asked.
Rachel looked at me, then realized I knew. "No."
"Paul?"
"It's not Paul's," she replied in a quiet voice. "We broke up a month ago."
"How far?"
There was a sniffling sound and I saw tears come to my daughter's eyes. "The doctor said three weeks."
Doctor. The first thing I thought about was the Press. And God did I regret that a second later because it was evident that Rachel picked up on that. She started sobbing and saying, "I'm so sorry, Daddy."
God, I couldn't take it. Here she was feeling guilty for embarrasing me. And at some early date, I probably would have cared. But not then. Not there above the Senate Chambers with my daughter. A tear went down my cheek.
I held her for a few minutes until the two of us were sure we could look at each other and not cry. She wiped her eyes.
"We're going to have to tell your mother," I said. "And there are a lot of decisions to be made."
Rachel nodded and the two of us walked out of the Senate building at peace with each other. We shared one secret and that secret had brought us back together.
***
POV of Lisa Morris
It was around noon when I came in, I'd taken the morning off. Jake and Dack were sleeping in chairs outside of Greg's office when I walked up and Jenna was banging on the door, surprisingly not disturbing the agents or the office's inhabitant. After a few more minutes of banging, she threw up her hands and stalked off in anger.
I walked over, my trusty keychain out, and unlocked Greg's office door. Jake and Dack immediately jumped up and their hands went to their firearms.
"Down boys," Lisa said and the two agents went at ease, Dack sitting back down and Jake discretely moving into position by the door.
"Greg," I said, seeing him asleep at his desk. "Greg!"
He jumped up and then cursed after whacking his bad leg underneath the desk. It was all I could do to keep from laughing but I know that would just get him mad and throwing things. And we didn't need nonconventional projectiles flying around on a Saturday morning.
"What?" he asked.
"You're sleeping," I told him.
He rubbed his eyes. "You're right. I *was* sleeping."
"Well, get up."
He glared at me but complied, grabbing his crutches and walking over to to where I stood. His hair was a mess and being a guy, he obviously didn't have the cosmetic appliances to fix it in his office.
I left and returned with a brush, comb and mirror and set them on his desk. Then I went to work.
Greg is my boss so I saw him several times during the day. We worked on a speech together. But we didn't once mention his homelessness or his injury. Didn't mean I didn't think about it.
I have no idea why I cared. What had Greg Tymes ever done for me that was worth giving a damn about him?
So, that night, when I was leaving at ten, I saw Jake and Dack still outside of Greg's door. I walked over and went in to see Greg getting comfortable and about to go to sleep on his chair. I looked at him and shook my head.
"Come on," I said.
"What?" Greg asked.
I tossed him his jacket. "You can stay at my place tonight. My roommate moved out so I have an extra room and, you're gonna love this, she left her fish tank."
I could tell that Greg was considering it. At that point I was considering what the hell had was going through my mind when I made the offer.
"You don't mind?" he asked me.
'YES!' I thought but, "No," came out.
Greg tilted his head a little, like he was aware of my mental conflict and afraid to tread into the realm of Lisa. But he had nowhere else to go, hotel's were too open and too expensive to stay in for long and with his burnt leg, he'd have a hard time apartment shopping.
"Well... fine," was his answer. "Thanks."
My jaw dropped. He said something that wasn't offensive or annoying.
Greg grabbed his things, there wasn't very much, and followed her out of the West Wing with the two agents trailing behind. As they walked towards the agents's car, Lisa wondered once more, what the hell she'd been thinking.
POV of Greg Tymes:
DATE: 3/11/2016
My first reaction when I saw Agent Jake Moore was, "Uh-oh." I knew right away that I'd have a hard time getting him to back off. I'd seen the kid chase down Roger Schumer before. But then I wondered, why would I want him to? I'd nearly been killed after just one night without an agent.
That was when I woke up two days after the fire. After eight days in a hospital bed hanging around with Jake and getting to know Dack I decided, they weren't bad people, I just hated feeling controlled.
But, on Friday the eleventh, I was released. I was freed from my bondage. Well... almost.
Jake and Dack still hung around. And I couldn't use my left leg. That added to the fact that I no longer had an apartment or a fish tank.
Dack brought around the car and I got in back, crutches propped up against the door. Jake got in the passenger's seat and I sighed. It was going to take a LONG time for me to get used to their following my every move.
They drove me to the White House and I walked in. It was already eight at night, but I had nowhere else to go. As much as I trusted Lisa (and I'm not sure *why* I trusted Lisa) I was sure I had a stack of papers to take care of.
I took off my jacket, as Sean had gone to the store and bought me a suit for when I came out of the hospital, and tossed it on the chair in the corner of my office.
I loosened my tie, not sure why I'd even put one on, no one was around to see me.
"Hey, Jake, Dack," I yelled out my office door. "Go home, bring the night guys around. Tell them I'm sleeping here."
"Sir, you can't do-" But it was too late. I had already slammed and locked the door.
***
POV of Secretary of State Ronald Timmons
DATE: 3/12/2016
Sam made me take the day off even though we had a meeting that day. It was a Saturday and my daughter had been on Sarah to take her to the mall for the past week. Rachel was seventeen and old enough to drive herself. We just didn't trust her with the car. We figured she'd take off the first chance she got.
I was extremely surprised when she asked if there was a time that they could talk. I'd asked her if Sunday was okay. She said so but didn't seem like it. So I told her we'd talk after my meeting.
When I meantioned Rachel to Sam, he immediatly canceled the meeting and claimed to have had something to do with AJ.
It was a lie, obviously, but he went the whole nine yards. Later that day it was announced that the President and his daughter were going to the Smithsonian.
I was glad for the time I'd have with Rachel and as I said before, I was extremely surprised when she asked to talk with me. We left at ten, Zach kept trying to badger me into bringing him along as well but I told him this was the last year Rachel was my little girl and he relented.
Congress was taking the day off so I drove us to the Congress building, a place I still had access to because of my early days as one of the lawmakers ::cough:: blood suckers ::cough::
We sat down on the observation balcony and just sat for a little while. She didn't say anything but I could tell that she wanted to. After about ten minutes, I realized how stupid I was.
"Have you told your mother?" I asked.
Rachel looked at me, then realized I knew. "No."
"Paul?"
"It's not Paul's," she replied in a quiet voice. "We broke up a month ago."
"How far?"
There was a sniffling sound and I saw tears come to my daughter's eyes. "The doctor said three weeks."
Doctor. The first thing I thought about was the Press. And God did I regret that a second later because it was evident that Rachel picked up on that. She started sobbing and saying, "I'm so sorry, Daddy."
God, I couldn't take it. Here she was feeling guilty for embarrasing me. And at some early date, I probably would have cared. But not then. Not there above the Senate Chambers with my daughter. A tear went down my cheek.
I held her for a few minutes until the two of us were sure we could look at each other and not cry. She wiped her eyes.
"We're going to have to tell your mother," I said. "And there are a lot of decisions to be made."
Rachel nodded and the two of us walked out of the Senate building at peace with each other. We shared one secret and that secret had brought us back together.
***
POV of Lisa Morris
It was around noon when I came in, I'd taken the morning off. Jake and Dack were sleeping in chairs outside of Greg's office when I walked up and Jenna was banging on the door, surprisingly not disturbing the agents or the office's inhabitant. After a few more minutes of banging, she threw up her hands and stalked off in anger.
I walked over, my trusty keychain out, and unlocked Greg's office door. Jake and Dack immediately jumped up and their hands went to their firearms.
"Down boys," Lisa said and the two agents went at ease, Dack sitting back down and Jake discretely moving into position by the door.
"Greg," I said, seeing him asleep at his desk. "Greg!"
He jumped up and then cursed after whacking his bad leg underneath the desk. It was all I could do to keep from laughing but I know that would just get him mad and throwing things. And we didn't need nonconventional projectiles flying around on a Saturday morning.
"What?" he asked.
"You're sleeping," I told him.
He rubbed his eyes. "You're right. I *was* sleeping."
"Well, get up."
He glared at me but complied, grabbing his crutches and walking over to to where I stood. His hair was a mess and being a guy, he obviously didn't have the cosmetic appliances to fix it in his office.
I left and returned with a brush, comb and mirror and set them on his desk. Then I went to work.
Greg is my boss so I saw him several times during the day. We worked on a speech together. But we didn't once mention his homelessness or his injury. Didn't mean I didn't think about it.
I have no idea why I cared. What had Greg Tymes ever done for me that was worth giving a damn about him?
So, that night, when I was leaving at ten, I saw Jake and Dack still outside of Greg's door. I walked over and went in to see Greg getting comfortable and about to go to sleep on his chair. I looked at him and shook my head.
"Come on," I said.
"What?" Greg asked.
I tossed him his jacket. "You can stay at my place tonight. My roommate moved out so I have an extra room and, you're gonna love this, she left her fish tank."
I could tell that Greg was considering it. At that point I was considering what the hell had was going through my mind when I made the offer.
"You don't mind?" he asked me.
'YES!' I thought but, "No," came out.
Greg tilted his head a little, like he was aware of my mental conflict and afraid to tread into the realm of Lisa. But he had nowhere else to go, hotel's were too open and too expensive to stay in for long and with his burnt leg, he'd have a hard time apartment shopping.
"Well... fine," was his answer. "Thanks."
My jaw dropped. He said something that wasn't offensive or annoying.
Greg grabbed his things, there wasn't very much, and followed her out of the West Wing with the two agents trailing behind. As they walked towards the agents's car, Lisa wondered once more, what the hell she'd been thinking.