Title: A Broken Heart (1/?)
By: adoreleo
Rating: Overall Rating for this story is PG. Contains some strong language.
Characters: Leo, Josh, Jed, Abbey and Kate
Spoilers: Anything up to and including Birnam Woods.
Disclaimer: The characters are from the NBC, WB, TV show The West Wing; they don't belong to me.
Beta, Brainstorming & Additional Ideas By: Lynn, who always goes above and beyond the call. THANKS!!!!
Feedback: Would be greatly appreciated.
Author's Notes: After watching Episodes one and two of West Wing this year, it became clear to me that John Wells is not going to write this the way I would like to see it. So, I offer you my version of how things go, after Leo has his heart attack.
Part 1
Josh climbs into the suburban, pulls out his cell phone and dial's Leo's cell phone number. He gets a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as the phone in his hand keeps on ringing. 'That's not like Leo,' he thinks to himself. He's really been worried about Leo these past few days. He's never seen Leo look so defeated, and he looked like he'd aged years since he had let him go to Germany to be with Donna.
Whenever they talked on the phone, all Leo would talk about was how Donna was doing, he completely avoiding talking about what was going on at the White House. Josh knew something was seriously wrong when he got back and Leo was still in the West Wing and not at Camp David with the President and the rest of the Senior Staff.
Josh immediately hits redial, the last and only time that Josh couldn't get a hold of Leo by phone was in Saint Louis during the first campaign. "Shit," he inwardly mutters, thinking of the reason why Leo didn't answer back then.
Leo hears something but can't figure out what it is. The pain in his chest is keeping him from thinking very clearly. He moans out in pain as he rolls onto his back. He stares up at the sky and realizes that it's now morning. He wonders how long he's been lying out here in the woods.
He shivers a little; the damp coldness from the ground had seeped into his whole body. It's cold enough that he can see his breath. He wonders if this is how it's meant to be. Him dying alone in the woods, while others are so close to him.
The sound continues as he lies there on a pile leaves, and then the sound of a helicopter flying overhead reminds of Nam. He figures it must be Jed, flying overhead. He wonders if he'll ever see his best friend again or if Jed even wants to see him again.
That annoying sound continues on. Why doesn't that annoying bird stop chirping? It finally dawns on him that it's his cell phone ringing.
Josh impatiently waits for Leo to answer. Just as Josh is getting ready to press the end button, the line opens up. "Leo," Josh says. Josh thinks he can hear Leo's breathing and some kind of other sounds, but Leo does not answer him back.
"Leo... are you okay?" Josh hastily asks, thinking the worst, that Leo is drunk, as he intently listens for an answer. "Shut up," he yells at the others in the car. Toby is shocked by Josh's outburst.
"What the hell," Toby replies.
Josh gives him a stern look and then directs all his attention to his cell phone.
"He...lp," a very weak Leo finally manages to breathe out into his phone.
"Leo!" Josh shouts frantically into the phone.
"Heart... my... heart..." He moans out in pain.
"Oh God no," Josh shakes his head and tears threaten to fall from his eyes.
"Josh, what the hell is going on?" Toby demands.
"Leo, where are you?" Josh yells back into the phone. He listens for what seems like minutes and then finally hears Leo's answer.
"Woods..." Leo painfully gasps.
"Stop this car," Josh looks up from the cell phone in his hand and shouts to the driver, "turn around and go back to Camp David, now!"
"Leo hold on, we're going to find you," Josh waits for some response, but hears nothing. The line goes dead. Josh looks at his cell phone and dropped call appears on the screen. He immediately hits redial and gets a busy signal.
"Toby, try to call Leo on your cell phone. I need to call the President," Josh hurriedly says.
"Josh, what's going on?" Toby asks.
"I think Leo's having a heart attack and he out in the woods around Camp David somewhere. God, he must have been out there since... shit... I just let him walk away. I knew something was wrong but... I should have been there for him..." Josh pales as he thinks about Leo lying out in the woods all alone.
Josh dials Charlie's cell phone and prays that he can get though. He can't believe that Camp David doesn't' have better cell phone reception than it does. 'God what is this the dark ages?' he angrily thinks to himself as he waits for Charlie to answer.
Charlie pulls his ringing cell phone out of his pocket and flips it open. His eyes widen as he listens to a very panicked Josh quickly explain what's going on, and then he looks at the President, "Sir, it's... it's Leo."
The President looks up from his notebook, frowns and shakes his head no. He has no desire to talk with his oldest friend right now. He's still very upset with him.
"No, Sir. He's not on the phone it's... about Leo... its Josh..." Charlie's hand is shaking as he passes the phone to his boss.
"Yeah, Josh," the President says. He's sure that Josh has found out about his and Leo's earlier confrontation and wants him to reconsider Leo's offer to leave.
"Sir... it's about Leo..." the frightened voice says on the other end of the phone.
"Josh... the decision's been made. I don't want to talk about it," he says in an angry and impatient voice. "And if you can't go along with my decision, then maybe you need to follow Leo and leave too."
A very stunned Josh doesn't know what to say. "Sir... I don't have any idea what the hell you're talking about. I just called to tell you that Leo's missing. But, it appears that you don't care at all about what's happened to your best friend of over forty years."
"Josh, what's going on? Tell me." Jed's heat skipped a beat the second he heard Leo was missing.
"I called his cell... he finally answered and... all I could make out was help... and my heart... Sir, you need to bring Marine One back here now. He's down in the woods somewhere around Camp David. We need your copter to take him to the hospital that is... if we find him in time."
The President's face loses all color, and he turns towards Abbey and reaches for her hand, "Josh, we'll be right there. Find him, you hear me, find him!"
Josh doesn't wait for the suburban to come to a complete stop before he is out the door and off and running to the area where he last saw Leo. Toby, Will and Kate are close on his heels.
Josh crosses the bridge and makes his way up the steps. When he reaches the landing he looks at the two walkways, trying to decide which way to proceed.
Toby finally catches up with him, "Josh," Toby tries to catch his breath, while leaning over on his knees. "This place is huge. How are we going to find him? We need help," he says as he pulls his cell phone from his pocket.
"You can waste time if you like, but I'm going to find him," Josh says as he starts off on the path on his right.
"Josh," Toby grabs a hold of his arm, "calm down for just a second," he says as he looks between Kate and Will, with a firm grip still on Josh's arm, "I'm going to call the Secret Service and tell them what's going on and for them to get the President's medical team back here, now."
Toby looks back at Josh, who looks like he's either going to kill him or come completely undone. "Josh, I know how you feel about Leo. We're going to find him, but you need to calm down, and we need to look for signs of where he might have walked."
Josh slowly nods his head and breathes a heavy sigh, "Okay.'
"Will and I'll go this way," Toby says pointing to his left, "you and Kate go that way."
"Guys," Kate interjects. "Watch the ground closely and look for signs of Leo's footprints in the wet ground." Anyone nods their heads and they all head off down their assigned paths.
Josh starts off again on the path to the right. His eyes are glued to the ground, looking for any sign that Leo might have left. "This I pointless," Josh says shaking his head. "How do we know which set of footprints are Leo's and which are somebody else's."
"If Leo was having problems on the trail, I imagine his shoes would leave staggered markings or even he might be dragging his feet." Kate offers. She really has no clue, but she doesn't want Josh to know that, because that won't help his panic.
"Yeah and I noticed that he'd been limping more the last couple of days. He sometimes drags his right leg," Josh softly informs her.
"Yeah, I noticed that too. But, I really don't know him that well and I wasn't sure if he always limps that much or not."
"It's been worse this past year..." Josh says as he keeps walking quickly down the path, starring at the dirt, looking for any signs. He abruptly stops and looks at Kate, "I should have noticed before... done something... he's not had the easiest of years this past year."
"Yeah, well that could be said about a lot of you in the White House," Kate says.
"That's for sure," Josh says, thinking about Donna. "But... Leo has sacrificed so much to this job... I just hope that its..."
"Josh, we need to stay positive," Kate says as she takes the lead on the path. She wants to get Josh to slow down, before he has a heart attack of his own.
"Yeah," Josh pants out.
"So, how did Leo hurt his leg?" She asks trying to get Josh's mind off of the possibility that they might not find Leo in time or that it might be too late already.
"It happened in Vietnam. The plane he was flying went down in the jungle. My dad told me that Leo almost lost his leg. Leo's never talked about it with me," he says in a hurry. He just wants Kate to stop asking questions and for them to find Leo.
"Your dad and Leo know each other?" Kate asks with some surprise in her voice.
"They did. My dad... died a few years ago. He and Leo worked together at a law office. They were... drinking buddies." Josh quickly stops, his breathing coming in pants, lowers his head in shame, remembering that, at first, when he couldn't get a hold of Leo on his cell phone, that he thought he might have started drinking again.
"Oh," is all that Kate can say as she too stops. She, like anyone else in the world that watches TV, knows that Leo is a recovering alcoholic. After meeting the man, she can't picture him ever being out of control like that.
Josh hurries past Kate and then immediately stops, noticing some distinct signs of someone leaving the trail. He takes off running and yelling for Leo in the direction of the footprints. Branches from the trees are hitting and cutting his face, but he doesn't seem to notice.
"Josh," Kate shouts after him, as she follows him deeper into the woods. She doesn't think that Leo would have left the trail. "Leo wouldn't have left the path and gone off into the woods."
Josh stops after running a few more yards, pulls out his cell phone and calls Leo's number. He hopes that by now Leo has flipped his cell phone shut, or the phone has reset itself. Josh stands there panting waiting for the call to go though. Finally, he hears the phone ringing on his cell and then he hears Leo's distinct cell phone chirping off in the distance. "Leo, I'm coming," Josh shouts as he heads towards the sound.
At first, Josh thinks the shape in the distance in front of him is just a pile of leaves, but as he gets closer he realizes that it's Leo lying there. He runs as fast as can to his fallen hero and mentor. "Leo...oh God please don't let him be dead," Josh pleads, as he falls to his knees next to Leo and puts a hand on his neck to feel for a pulse.
At first, Josh thinks that he's dead, because he's he doesn't think he feels a pulse and Leo is so cold and gray looking. But, Leo moans and moves a little, then slowly opens his eyes, "Josh," he whispers and then gives him the smallest smirk of a smile, then a crushing chest pain overcomes him, and his face tightly scrunches, his eyes close and breathes quickly as he rides out the wave of pain.
"Leo, it's going to be okay," Josh tells him as he grabs a hold of Leo's cold and clammy hand and squeezes it. "Help is on the way." Josh takes off his flannel shirt and puts it over Leo to try to warm him up.
Kate hands Josh her jacket to place under Leo's head, and then steps back as she watches the tender scene not wanting to intrude or upset Leo. She's sure that he hates her. After a few seconds, she remembers to call the Secret Service and let them know where they are. Her next phone call is to Toby, and then she calls the President.
"Sir, Josh found him," Kate informs the President.
"Miss Harper how is he?" Jed asks, his voice full of concern.
"Sir, I'm not a doctor..." she says as she walks further away so that Josh and Leo can't hear her.
"Cut the crap and tell me how he is," the President demands.
"Sir, he looks... bad and to tell you the truth, I can't believe he's... still alive. He's in a lot of pain, and he's having some trouble breathing..."
Jed's head falls down, and he almost drops the phone. Abbey, who has been watching and listening, takes the phone from her husband's hand.
"Kate, do you know how to perform CPR?" Abbey asks.
"Yes, Ma'am I do," she answers back quickly.
"Okay, watch Leo carefully. If he goes into arrest, you're going to have to give him CPR. I'm not sure how much help Josh is going to be if that happens."
"Yes Ma'am, I'll keep a close watch on him."
"Is Jed's medical team there yet?"
"No Ma'am, not yet. I called the Secret Service, and they're on their way to our location."
"Okay, we'll be there soon. Bye."
"Bye, Ma'am," Kate says, as she presses the end button on her cell phone and turns her attention back to Leo and Josh.
"Josh... Mallory... take care of her... she'll need..." Leo says, in breathless voice as a tear rolls down his face.
"She needs her dad and you're going to be there for her," Josh stops him from continuing. "I need you too... and the President needs you..." Josh says without thinking.
Leo shakes his head at Josh's last comment, "Nah... not any longer..."
"Leo, I don't know all that has happened between you two, but when I told him about what happened to you, he got really upset and ordered me to find you."
Leo gives Josh a tight-lipped grin and closes his eyes.
"Leo, you need to stay with me. Leo!" Josh lays his other hand on Leo's shoulder.
Leo slowly opens his eyes, "Josh, whatever... happens... don't... don't blame yourself," he gasps with a heavy breath, then he takes a couple of quick breaths, "and don't let ...Jed... blame himself... it's nobody's fault....
Kate's heart goes heavy. She can't help but think she helped drive a wedge between Leo and the President. She never meant to, she just wanted a peaceful solution to the situation and was tired of all the destruction going on in the world. All she ever wanted was to impress them both and gain their respect, but that has all backfired on her. She feels she's the main reason that he's laying on the ground out here in the woods.
"Josh, I'm umm...gonna go back to the trail and guide the Secret Service here," she says starting to takes a step backwards, already forgetting her promise to the First Lady. But, she stops quickly when she hears Leo's raspy voice.
"Commander?"
"Yes, sir," she says, quickly stepping to Josh's side and looking down at the man she respects.
"Not your... fault either," he says, looking up at her with his eyes full of pain.
"Sir, you should stop trying to talk and try to relax. Josh is right, help is on the way and I should get back there to guide them back here," she replies in a soft tone. She's about to go, when she hears several sets of running footsteps behind her.
The Secret Service arrives with a stretcher and immediately, but carefully loads Leo onto it and quickly head off for the main compound of Camp David.
Just as they reach the clearing, the medical team is pulling up. They jump out of their black suburban and run toward the group of agents. The agents gently lower Leo to the ground. Josh is quickly by Leo's side. Leo has been in and out of consciousness on the trip to the compound, but he is awake now, and they both hear Marine One approaching and look up at it as it flies overhead.
"Josh," Leo chokes out, as he reaches and grabs Josh arm. "He's gonna need ya..." Leo's hand drops to his side as his whole body goes limp.
"Leo!" Josh shouts.
Josh is pushed aside by one of the doctors from the President's medical team. "He's gone into cardiac arrest," the doctor shouts to the rest.
Marine One lands. Jed is impatiently waiting for the door to open and for the steps to appear. He runs down them and heads towards Leo. Abbey is right behind him. He's shocked to see the doctor compressing Leo's chest, and then another person from the medical team rips open his shirt and t-shirt, and yells, "Clear."
Jed starts to go closer, he wants to touch Leo and let him know he's here, but Abbey grabs him and holds him back. "Jed, there's nothing we can do right now, except stay out of the way. Let them do their job."
"It's all my fault, I pushed him away, I should have seen what was going on," Jed suddenly cries out. "I did this to him."
"Jed, you need to calm down. If anyone should have seen the signs, it was me. I mean he did look more tired than usual when he got here, and he's lost weight lately, but I never even thought... I mean, I'm a doctor for God's sake. I should have seen it sooner." Tears fall down her face as she buries her head in her husband's chest.
"He did a pretty good job of hiding it from all of us," Jed whispers into his wife's hair as he holds her close to him, with tears running down his face, as he watches his Presidential medical team fight to save his best friend.
TBC?