This Man
by ladero
Rating: G
Diclaimer: Do not now nor have I ever owned these characters. I'm currently borrowing them a while.
A/N: This is my first time trying my hand at fanfic, so please be gentle. Feedback would be greatly appreciated.
She looks down at this man, whose face is finally relaxed in sleep, a brief respite from the terrible pain that is slowly stealing him from her.
She remembers her life with this man. She recalls way he infuriated her with his brashness, his ego, and his occasionally thoughtless behavior. She remembers the banter that had been the hallmark of their relationship. She can't help but smile at the memory of the way they were back then.
The memories of a time before this illness claimed precedence in their lives come back in flood.
She remembers being on the telephone, as this man came walking into the office that she would later learn belonged to him. She still can't believe that he gave her his badge in a moment that changed the course of her life.
Flashes of the night she learned that this man had been shot come back in a rush. She remembers being so worried about the president, never imagining that this man could be hurt. Her heart clinched with fear when she learned that he was in surgery fighting for his life. This man she worked with each day and often long into the night, this man she longed for in the deepest reaches of her soul was laying on a table with his chest cut open. She prayed as she had never prayed before while she stood outside the operating room watching them work feverishly to save him. She never forgets to say a prayer of thanks that he survived his injuries.
She thinks back to a time when the positions were reversed and this man sat beside her hospital bed wondering whether she would survive. He had left his job at a time when the White House was in turmoil to be at her side. She wonders why it took her so long after that incident to realize that he shared her feelings. She smiles at how blind the two of them were in those days.
He turns in his sleep and murmurs her name. The sound draws her out of her reveries and she turns her attention the man beside her. He's still asleep and she takes a moment to study the man she has loved for so long. Time has left its mark in the lines on his face and hair that was once curly, slightly reddish-brown is now grey and sparse. He's as still handsome in her eyes as he was when he possessed what he liked to call "boyish charm" and gorgeous dimples.
The years have been kind to her and this man. They have raised a family and shared the joys and sorrows that come with parenthood. They had left their mark on the world with their work in government. They had enjoyed friendships that had endured through the years. Most of all they had had each other to depend on as the years went by. They had loved each other deeply and completely. That is the reason that she can sit here next to this man and know peace. She knows their time together is near its end, but she is grateful that she has been able to spend her life with this man, her Joshua.