Title: Heart Condition Chapter Seven
Rating: Teen
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the West Wing characters etc. Just trying to play a little, so please don't sue!
Author's Note: Thanks for sticking with this. It's been much more challenging to keep it going forward than I expected. We're bringing some of the West Wing folks into the fray, so things are bound to get interesting. You didn't think Will would take Donna quitting lying down, did you? Poor Will…
Chapter SevenWhen Dr Newman arrived at 6:00 AM to go over the specifics of the procedure with Josh, Donna was there to ask questions. Since Josh had the attention span of a three year old, she knew if she didn't get all the information directly from his doctor, she'd never find out. The doctor gently refused Donna's request to be in the operating room with Josh during the procedure, citing concerns about infections. While Josh was not happy about his answer, he decided not to fight it after seeing the relief on Donna's face. Dr. Newman assured him that between the light sedative and the local anesthetic, he would not only be feeling no pain, but not really caring so much if he did. After the doctor left, Donna turned to Josh with a teasing smile.
"Sounds like we'll have another drunk Josh on our hands. Should I alert the authorities?"
"Uh… yeah, sure." Josh answered distantly.
"Josh? Hello? Where are you?" Josh snapped back to attention. "Are you okay? Worried about the procedure?" Donna tried to cue into his mood as she had in the past so naturally, but came up empty. Josh swallowed a few times before blurting out.
"Why didn't you tell me you didn't want to be in the operating room? Did you feel sorry for me?"
"Josh, no…you wanted me to be there, so I wanted to be there. Yes, the idea made me nervous… but because it was important to you, I wanted to be there. I won't deny that I am a little relieved that Dr. Newman wouldn't allow it, but I really did want to be there for you." Donna's eyes were earnest, never wavering from his.
They lapsed into silence. Josh mulled over Donna's words and his own conflicting feelings. It was overwhelming to realize that she was willing to put her own discomfort aside to help him get through a frightening situation. It spoke to the depth of her feelings for him, which was both thrilling and terrifying.
Soon after, Josh was wheeled into the operating room for the pacemaker insertion. One of the nurses rolled a cot into Josh's room for Donna to try to rest a bit while he was gone. After a few minutes of flopping around trying to get comfortable, she rolled up off the cot and dug into her purse for her cell phone to check her messages. After deleting the ten messages Will had left the previous evening, she found the other expected messages from CJ, Margaret and Helen Santos checking in on Josh's condition. CJ sounded particularly panicked and Margaret had the edge of frenetic excitement in her voice that came when she thought she was about to hear some good gossip. Donna decided to call back, hoping to talk to both Margaret and CJ at once, thus making sure the entire West Wing was up to date on Josh's condition.
"CJ Cregg's office." Margaret answered, sounding exhausted despite having just arrived at work in the last thirty minutes. Donna realized with surprise that her friend was probably getting to the end of her surprising pregnancy. The campaign for President had more casualties than Josh and Donna's relationship. It had brought nearly all of their friendships from the White House to a standstill.
"Hi Margaret! It's Donna. Is CJ available?" Margaret gasped at the sound of Donna's voice. A loud clatter echoed over the line as she dropped the stack of files she'd been trying to pull together for CJ's 10AM meeting w/ the minority leader.
"Donna! Oh my God, we've been so worried. First the stuff about Josh and then this weird thing coming from Russell, and we didn't hear anything from either of you. Are you ok? How is Josh? Have you really been together since the inauguration? Why didn't you tell anybody? Toby is ready to kill Will, by the way, going on and on about honor and loyalty and moral fiber. Ginger is ready to call the men in little white coats to take him away at last." Margaret rambled on, leaving very little chance for Donna to even try to respond. In the background, Donna heard a clicking sound that she knew meant CJ was trying to page Margaret. "Uh, just a minute, Donna. CJ wants me." The line went dead for a few minutes as Margaret put her on hold.
"Donna, I'm so glad you called. Sorry about Margaret's little interrogation. I keep telling her we're wasting her talents in the West Wing. They could use her in the FBI! How are you, my friend?" At the sound of CJ's comforting tones, Donna felt a sudden urge to collapse into sobs. However stilted and uncomfortable things had been between them in the last year, CJ had always been like an older sister to her in the West Wing. Hearing her voice made Donna long for the days of filibusters and even government shutdowns. She drew in a ragged breath before responding.
"It's been a busy night. What was Margaret talking about before, something about news coming from Russell?"
"Are you sure you want to know?" The disillusionment and utter weariness in CJ's tone was shocking for a woman who had been knee deep in all kinds of political frays for the past eight years. Donna steadied herself with another deep breath before answering.
"I think it's better that I find out before Josh does, don't you?" CJ chuckled ruefully.
"Considering he's in the hospital for a heart condition, you are probably right. Will released a statement last night that you had been fired for disloyalty to the Russell campaign. He claimed that you had been involved in an inappropriate relationship since the 2nd inauguration. He listed incidents of proof- the trip to Germany, the snowball thing, something about your hotel rooms on the campaign trail in Iowa- all complete bullshit of course. Anyone who knows anything knows that, but it's made both of you look…. Not so great."
"Wow, that's low, even for Will. I mean I knew he wasn't above using people's dirty little secrets against them, but I had no idea he'd lie outright. He knows damn well there hasn't been anything going on with Josh and I until now… maybe not even now. What do I do?"
"Well officially, the White House has no comment on the situation other than to say that Joshua Lyman and Donna Moss were exceptional members of the Bartlett staff and that we are grateful for their service. But Annabeth and Leo have been holed up in her office since 6 AM working on back roads methods of getting our displeasure at the situation out there. Sam just called and mentioned a libel suit. He's ready to drop everything to come out and handle it himself. And the President… well let's just say that the Oval Office walls have been hearing some pretty choice words lately. I'm pretty sure that Curtis has the Staff Physician on standby in case he works himself into a full attack."
"What? Oh my God, CJ. That… I don't know what to say. He shouldn't be getting himself worked up over this." Donna was aghast at the havoc her little political scandal was creating throughout their extended circle of friends and colleagues.
"Relax, Donna. He's just worked up. Abby isn't worried, so the rest of us aren't either. My point is that the White House will be behind you in this mess. We can't come right out and say the Vice President is an incompetent nincompoop who hired the most immoral, unscrupulous liar ever to be known in politics, but we'll be there. So how's Josh? I take it you didn't know anything about this?"
"No… I figured Will would pull something after I quit last night, so I purposely didn't turn on the TV while Josh was here. They just took him to put in the pacemaker. He's supposed to relax for a few days before getting back into things. This certainly won't help." Donna bit her lip, trying to process all of what CJ had just told her. It was like their worst nightmare, the unspoken reason they had never acted on their feelings for each other.
"But he's ok? The statement from Santos was just that he had checked into the hospital due to a pre-existing heart condition and would be on leave indefinitely. They called him a great public servant who put the country's future above his own health. Josh would be proud."
"I'm sure he will be. As far as his health goes, the pacemaker should take care of the problem. His cardiologist is pushing a more heart friendly lifestyle, but I don't know to what extreme. A better diet and exercise can be managed, but I have no idea how he can cut down on stress."
"And how are you doing? You quit your job over this?" CJ asked leadingly, but without judgment. Donna hesitated for a moment, remembering their uncomfortable conversation during a lockdown the year before.
"Yes, I did. Helen called to tell me Josh had been rushed to the emergency room and I had to be here. I talked to Will, but all he could see was the politics involved. I didn't come running back when he called, so he showed up and threw a tantrum like a little boy. He tried to tell me that Russell wanted me gone, but he could save me if I left right then. So I quit. It was probably career suicide, but I couldn't leave Josh alone. We've sat at each other's bedsides too many times and put our lives on hold for too long. I don't want to waste another chance just because it doesn't look good politically. I can't live my life that way, even if it means that I have to wait tables or pump gas to pay the rent."
"Don't worry about that. You'll get another job, lots of people have been very impressed by your work on the Russell campaign. By the end of the day, I'm sure there will be a ton of offers coming your way." CJ reassured her. Donna wasn't quite sure her friend was being completely honest, but was flattered anyway.
"Thanks, CJ. I really appreciate your support."
"I had better let you go. I have a hunch the Santos campaign is trying to get you on the phone. I'll talk to you later, ok?"
"Talk to you soon, CJ. Thanks for everything!" Donna disconnected the call and had to work hard to calm the panic and fury that were racing through her body. Will had done the unthinkable. He had lied and twisted the most sacred thing in her life to something tawdry and disgusting. She and Josh were finally at the cusp of something really remarkable and Will Bailey may have single handedly ruined it. Just as the rage inside her had built to a near blinding level, her cell phone rang, nearly stopping her heart cold.
"Hello." Donna answered distractedly.
"Donna, hi. It's Helen Santos. How are you this morning? How's the patient? Driving you crazy yet?" Helen's voice was just a bit too perky, cluing Donna into the fact that the call was a bit more than a social call.
"Hi Mrs. Santos. I'm all right, a bit irate at the antics of my former boss. I bet there are some questions you folks would like to have answered about now."
"Donna, I hate this. Really neither Matt or I give a damn if you've been married this whole time, but Matt is kind of funny about lying to the press." Helen's voice lost the false perkiness, and her concern was clear.
"I told you before, until now there has been nothing more than friendship between Josh and I. There were feelings between us, but neither of us acted on them. This exact scenario was the nightmare, the unspoken argument for us not being together. For about an hour and a half it looked like we might have the chance to be together, but now Will has blown that all to hell." Donna vented, pacing around the small hospital room in a very Josh-like manner.
"Whoa, Donna, slow down. I'm confused. You've been with this guy, well not with him, but certainly in love with him if yesterday was any indication of your feelings, for nine years, right? All this time, you've put your feelings on the shelf for political reasons, which is complete bullshit if you ask me, but that's just me. So yesterday the man you've been pining away for has a life threatening cardiac crisis. Apparently some time early this morning you and he decided to – I don't even know what you call it after all this time- but now because some asshole created a minor political scandal that can be shut down in about two phone calls, you are willing to call it quits. Are you kidding me?" Helen's interrogation fueled her rage at her former boss.
"You are right… I'm just not sure Josh will agree when he finds out about it. I don't know if you've noticed, but Josh kind of lives for politics. He gave up everything for this campaign, it would kill him to be the reason for it de-railing."
"That's part of why I'm calling you and not somebody else from the campaign. I think we may have an idea to take care of this before Josh has to even know it was a problem. Are you interested?" Helen spoke with scarcely hidden glee. While most political maneuvering made her blood run cold, the idea of righting this wrong and sticking it to the man who had made her husband's life miserable was very exciting.
"Of course I'm interested. What do you have in mind?"
"Well, Ronna got a call from an Annabeth Schott at the White House. She's sure most of the White House press corps are skeptical about the Vice President's claims. She wants to drop a few names of folks that could dispute Mr. Bailey's claims- normal, non-political people. Off the record, of course. Got any ideas?"
"Uh… well there's always the guy I was dating when Josh came to Gaza. I got the impression he and Josh had a few conversations about things between us. Things didn't work out between Colin and I, but it wasn't acrimonious or anything. The hotel clerk at the Holiday Inn in Iowa where Josh and I ended up across the hall from each other can probably state that I tried to get a different room once I realized I was across the hall from Josh. I don't know if he'd remember for sure, but he seemed to kind of have a crush on me and I might have flirted a little to get my way, so who knows? That's probably all for non-political types. Amy Gardener would be a good one too since Josh has dated her on and off over the years, but she's a lobbyist and isn't too crazy about me, so she might not work."
"I actually already talked to Amy last night after this broke and she's going to be on Larry King tonight with Leo McGarry and somebody else Annabeth cooked up- a Danny someone who writes for the Post. He's working on an op ed piece on this whole mess, which Annabeth seems to think will have everyone ready to send you crazy kids off into the sunset and give the Santos campaign the nomination. I'll give her the other names and let her do her magic." Donna was speechless at the efforts the White House and the Santos's were going to defend them.
"Leo is going on Larry King? To defend US? He was 90 of the reason I never told Josh how I felt about him. I knew he would never want to do anything that would disappoint Leo." Donna said in awe after a few moments of silence.
"According to Annabeth, he's the one leading the charge. Something about Josh being a son to him. Donna, we have this covered. You just take care of Josh and we'll take care of politics. This is a fight Matt is going to win no matter how many rounds he has to go to do it." The firmness in Helen's tone pushed away any lingering doubts Donna may have had about political fallout from her relationship with Josh.
"Helen… I can't even begin to thank you for this. I will not forget your kindness and support." Donna's voice shook with emotion and the ever- present tears again threatened to fall from her eyes.
"Donna, I like you. I think you are good for Josh and I haven't even seen the two of you together. This is a fight that is right, that is worth the scuffle and we will win. This kind of political mud slinging is against everything my husband has ever been about. We won't let one of our own be hurt by it. And by the way, we both consider you one of our own now."
"I appreciate that. Tell the Congressman thank you for me. I had better let you go. I think Josh's mother should be landing pretty soon and I want to warn her there may be press waiting for her."
"Matt sent his Secret Service agents to help escort her to the hospital, so I would imagine she will be there soon. Take care, Donna. We'll stop by the hospital later today to check on Josh." Helen disconnected the call and Donna sat silently clutching her phone, the enormity of all that was being done on her behalf by people she had either not known at all before yesterday or had had next to no contact with for the last several months still sinking in. Despite their worst nightmare coming true, it seemed that things were going to work out for she and Josh.