Part 12
"Leo!" CJ hurried after him as he walked down the hall. "Is everything all right? Neither The President nor The First Lady have been seen lately."
Leo was glad he did not have to lie to her, just withhold a little information. "They will be fine. They have been through some tough times, but they will be fine. The President is taking the day off and will be back in the office tomorrow. The First Lady might need a few more day, but she will be making calls from The Residence."
"I thought the President had taken some time off already considering he has been a no show." CJ could not believe she had questioned the President's whereabouts and prepared to be shut out, but to her surprise Leo just smiled at her.
"He'll be back tomorrow." With that Leo left her alone in the hall.
------
Abbey was shocked and did not hide it.
As soon as the words left his mouth, he could tell by her expression he had made a huge mistake. "No, you didn't!"
"You're darn right we didn't! I can't believe you'd even think that." She took a deep breath as the stitches in her side reminded her not to shout.
Once again Jed regretted that his emotions had taken the upper hand. "I know. I was confused. I don't know what I was thinking. When I saw a picture of you on his bookshelf, I wondered why and all I could think of was a scorned lover."
Abbey contemplated what Jed had said. Richard had a picture of her on his bookshelf? They weren't even that close. "So you went to his home..."
"His cabin in the woods. I figured he'd be hiding out there."
"Right, and he had a picture of me?" As Jed nodded to her she continued. "And you thought that I slept with him?"
"No...yes...I mean I didn't quite believe it, but I couldn't think straight. Leo said I was foolish to even let it cross my mind."
"Great, Leo believes me, but my husband doesn't."
"I do believe you and please forgive me. I don't know why I had such thoughts to begin with. Please forgive me, Abbey."
Abbey looked at him and could see, like always, how he felt. "So when you thought we had slept together, what then? You thought I was gone so you couldn't confront me? Somehow I can't see you talking to Richard about us being lovers if he didn't taunt you with it first."
"I decided I would forgive you and cherish your memory."
"Well, isn't it a good thing I came back from the dead to deny it then?" Abbey added with a sarcastic tone.
"Abbey..." Jed tried. He knew he had made a terrible mistake when he had jumped to that conclusion and he could only hope she would forgive him.
"Forget it." Abbey waved her hand. "It's possible that if the tables were turned I might have thought the same thing."
"No, because you would have reacted with more sense than emotion."
For some reason that very sentence calmed her down considerably. "Yeah." She smiled at him.
He could tell her smile was genuine and he returned the favour. "I'm glad you're home." He leaned over and gently kissed her lips and felt her kiss him back.
They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Jed cursed quietly before he answered. "Yeah."
The door opened and Ron came inside. "Sir, Ma'am."
"Ron, do you have any idea what hell you put me through?" Jed spoke angrily as soon as he saw who it was.
"Yes, sir."
Jed spoke again after a few tense seconds. "Thank you."
"Yes, sir."
"So what's new?"
"We are questioning Dr. Hannah, but he has revealed nothing about his motive and we don't think he will." Ron hesitated. "At least not to us." Ron continued to look at The First Lady.
It only took a few seconds for Jed to realize what he was saying. "Ohhhhh, no no no no no no no...."
Abbey was not far behind in understanding what Ron meant. "Jed.."
He got up from the bed. "No way, I AM NOT letting her anywhere near that piece of garbage." He turned to Abbey. "Never."
"Sir, Dr. Hannah said he would only tell The First Lady his motive but I told him that was out of the question. I just wanted to inform you."
Jed, with hands on his hips, nodded and was gaining control of himself. "What if I want to see him?" Abbey added.
Jed was loosing control again. "Doesn't matter." Jed turned his attention back to Ron. "I will not have her in the same room as him. I'm not even comfortable with having him in the same building as her."
"Jed, I don't know about you, but I really want to know why he did this to us."
Jed did not like the way this was turning. "I'm not letting him anywhere near you."
"Ron, would you leave us for a moment, please?"
As Ron shut the door, Jed focused on Abbey. "Abigail..."
"Oh give it a rest, Jed." Abbey had put the covers aside and was slowly standing up. When Jed did not help her, it only made her more determined. "I'm going."
"Doesn't anyone ever listen to me?" Jed threw his hands in the air and sat down on a chair.
"Not when you act like that, no." Came her quick reply as she removed the hospital gown.
He tapped his fingers on a small table next to the chair. Abbey, I really....."
She looked back at him, wondering what made him stop so suddenly. "Jed?" His face had gone completely white. His eyes were fixed on the stitches on the side of her stomach, long black lines surrounded by red blotches. Images came back to him. He could see her standing in front him with blood dripping onto the floor and her face contorted in pain.
Knowing what he was looking at, she turned so the stitches would be hidden from his view.
It took him a moment to recover. "I'm going to have to learn how to live with that." He moved to open her dresser drawer, picking out a bra and bringing it to her.
"I suppose." She waited as Jed slipped the bra around her and clasped it in the back.
"You suppose?" He picked up a sweater of hers and carefully helped her into it.
"I keep telling you it's not your fault."
Once the sweater was on, he gently gripped her shoulders and turned her to face him. Slowly, he brought the sweater up over her stomach, so he could see what he had done to her once again.
She tried to remove his hands, but he would not budge. "Jed, don't do this to yourself."
He ignored her plea and continued to inspect her stitches. "They did a good job."
"Yeah."
He pulled the sweater down. "Almost as good a job as you did on me." He smiled lightly at her.
His voice had been soft and gentle. Abbey knew he was learning to deal with it. "Yeah."
They embraced, each seeking comfort from the other.
------
They watched the man who had been responsible for all their pain. He sat confident and relaxed, not too shaken with how things had gone.
Jed held onto Abbey as they waited. "I can't believe I'm letting you do this."
"Ma'am, everything is set up for your security. There will be three agents in with you the whole time. If for any reason at any time you want to end this, just say the word." Ron was not comfortable with this, but he learned long ago that saying "no" to the First Lady was never an easy task. He knew The President was not going to like what he was about to say next. "Sir, I'll have to ask you to wait here."
"You've got to be kidding?" Jed was already very uncomfortable with the thought of his wife in the same room as this madman; now he could not be there to make sure she was protected.
Abbey patted one of his arms. "Jed, it will be all right."
"Sir, the two way mirror will allow you to see and hear everything that goes on."
"Still not good enough," he muttered. He didn't want to release his hold on Abbey, but she let her arm slip from his. He watched every step she took as she walked away with Ron.
When Abbey entered the room, Richard didn't even seem to notice her. He studied his manicure after adjusting the sleeve of his shirt.
Sitting in the chair an agent pulled up for her, Abbey studied him closely. "Hello, Richard."
He looked up to meet her eyes. "Abbey." The tone was cold.
Jed watched intently, not wanting to miss a second, as his wife and this man stared each other down.
"Care to tell me what you've been up to?" Abbey asked it in a tone like she was just asking a friend how their day was.
Richard shrugged. "Nothing much."
Jed wanted to go in there and teach the man what happened when someone hurt his wife, fantasizing that he could do some really good damage before an agent pulled him off. Even though he knew Abbey would not like it, Jed felt like it was the only thing that would get through to Richard.
Abbey clasped her hands together on the table. "You've done some awful things to me and my husband."
"I like your husband."
Jed was taken aback by this response.
Abbey showed she was also surprised. "You have a very funny way of showing it."
"I had to use him." Richard said. "Only way I could get to you."
Jed could tell by Abbey's body language this was another shock and he silently cursed himself for not warning her.
For a moment no one said anything, the only sound the slight hum of the air conditioner.
Richard broke into a smile. "Isn't that a shocker? I mean we can imagine people wanting to hurt The President, but his lovely wife? Who would think of such things?"
Jed bit his lower lip in anger. After today this man would no longer be in their lives, but it would take some time to get over the damage he had done. Richard would be out of sight, but their scars would be a constant reminder that he had been there. And even after the physical healed completely, the memory might still sneak up on them.
"So..." Abbey drug the word out, bracing herself for whatever answer he might give her next question. ...why did you go after me?"
"Yes, why did I?"
"You tell me."
"You really want me to tell you? Is hubby dearest outside, listening? You sure you want him to know your dark secret?"
Jed straightened, wondering what this man was up to now.
Abbey took a deep breath. "I don't have any secrets. Jed knows everything there is to know about me."
"Aha, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight," Richard mocked.
"Look, Richard, if you are playing a game here, let me tell you right now I'm in no mood." Abbey's voice rose.
"What? You're mad and you don't think I should be for what you did to me?"
"I haven't done anything to you."
Richard jumped out of the chair.
Jed lunged forward as the agents inside did the same. He could see they were prepared to protect Abbey if she needed it, but he still wanted to be in there with her. He watched as Abbey stood up and could tell she was ready to defend herself if she had to. By the look on her face, he could see she was in pain. That was it! If this was not over soon, he would go in there and carry her out if he had to.
"Like hell you didn't." Richard now yelled at her, oblivious to anything but Abbey.
"Then you tell me." Abbey screamed back, ignoring the pain in her side. "...you tell me what I did to you?"
"You know what you did!" As he locked eyes with her he could see she was not about to back down. "You know!" He screamed again. "You know who I am. Who I really am."
Abbey shouted back with full force. "No, I don't know who you really are."
Jed was engaged in inner battle with himself. If he interrupted, then Abbey would just have to face that man again. She would not let it go until she knew why all this had happened. If he waited, who knows what it would do to her.
"YES, YOU DO!"
"NO, I DON'T!" Abbey started to breathe heavily and for a moment she thought the room was closing in on her. "WHO ARE YOU?"
Richard leaned just a little closer and made sure she was watching him. "Your son!"
That was the last thing Abbey saw or heard.
THE END