A/N: Here for another round! Well, it's been a fun run. We might even be out of Part One after a year and lots of chapters. We probably should get out of Part One and move into Part Two. Oh well. Procrastination is a horrible thing, no?

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. I own nothing.

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Charlie Young's POV

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I remember the huge wave of relief that washed over me when the First Lady told us that the President was awake. He was awake. No lasting harm had been done, and he was going to be fine. Of course, I still had the overwhelming pressure of Josh resting on my chest but half of the previous weight had been removed. This time when I sank into a chair I could fully appreciate the feeling of the metal up against my tired back. They can't make the chairs at least a little more comfortable?

I stopped back in the small room where they had put us to see how everyone's mood was. The general mood was that of relief, though you could still tell by the haunted expressions that they were still thinking about Josh, who was still in surgery.

I was feeling fine until Donna came up to talk to me. "So they're sure that the President's going to be all right?" she asked nervously, biting her lip anxiously.

"Yeah, the doctors say that he should be all right. He'll be waking up any moment now. Of course there's still going to be some scarring, but when you consider what it could have been…" I stopped as I realized that I was babbling. Donna didn't seem to realize this and stood with a wistful expression on her face.

"Donna, he's going to be fine," I said, wondering if I was treading on dangerous territory. She looked at me, a surprised expression on her face. Did she really think that none of us could guess what was going on in her head? "The doctors at GW are probably some of the best in the entire world. It's going to be all right."

"Oh, I know it is," she said with a falsely bright smile. I debated on whether or not to call her bluff and then decided that if she wanted to lie to herself and make herself feel better I really had no part in that. Who was I to try to ruin her good mood, as faux as it was?

The atmosphere in the room soon became stifling and I walked outside. The deserted hallways offered more peace, but that was a mixed blessing. More peace meant more time to concentrate on thoughts. And as these things so often happened, my darkest thoughts soon rose to the surface and refused to go back down. Thoughts about Josh chased themselves around my head. This is part of the reason that I like the job I have so much. I don't have time to think about a lot of things.

I was getting ready to go find the First Lady, just to see if there was something that I could do when I ran into a young woman. Her face looked vaguely familiar, but I was sure that I had never seen her before in my life. She seemed hesitant. "Sorry," she apologized, backing up a few steps.

"It's all right," I said, surveying her. Something was just so familiar about her. It was lurking in the back of my mind, just waiting for a chance to come out. "What are you here for?" I asked, not realizing that it might be rude.

"Oh, my father was taken here earlier," she said, looking around. I watched where her eyes were darting to and I saw several men dressed in suits that had most definitely not been there before. My mouth dropped open in amazement.

"Eleanor?" I asked softly. She looked at me in surprise.

"How do you know…wait a second," she said, her eyes narrowing. "You're Charlie Young aren't you? I've seen your pictures in the papers."

"Yeah, you and the white supremacists," I muttered. She gave me a strange look, but left my remark alone. I shook my head, astounded at my rudeness. "Sorry," I apologized. "What can I do for you?"

"I just came by here to see if my father was all right," she said, looking down at the ground. I narrowed my eyes, trying to remember where she came from.

"You go to John Hopkins, right?" I asked. She nodded. "All right. The President's still asleep from the anesthesia, but if you want to go and wait he should be awake in a few minutes." She shook her head, looking suddenly fearful.

"No, that's all right," she said, taking a half-step back. "I think that I'll just go and see my mother. Do you know where she is?" I opened the door to the small waiting room where the First Lady was.

"Mrs. Bartlet," I called softly to her. She came over to me, a curious expression on her face. "Eleanor is here to see you." Her curious expression became suddenly pleased.

She walked out of the room and held her arms out. "Eleanor!" she cried. Eleanor's face suddenly became much happier.

"Mom," she said gratefully, hugging her mother tightly. "I just heard it on the news…and I just managed to get in now. Is he all right?"

I walked away from the rest of the conversation, feeling that I had no right to hear this personal family moment. I suddenly had the urge to go and see Zoey. I had no idea where she would be, but I thought that her father's room might be a good place to start.

I had guessed right. Zoey was sitting outside of the room, her hands clasped. She looked up and gave me a wan smile when she saw me. "Charlie," she said softly, standing up and moving into my arms.

I held her there for what felt like hours, eons, and ages. We had a comfortable silence where we didn't need to say anything to each other; the sound of our breathing was comfort enough. "The doctors think that he's going to wake up any second now," Zoey whispered. "We should probably get Mom in here so she can be with him when he wakes up."

"I think she's with Eleanor now," I whispered into her hair. Zoey pulled away, her eyes wide with confusion.

"Ellie's here?" she asked me. At my confused expression she shrugged. "I just didn't think that Ellie would be here," she explained. "Ellie's never liked Washington D.C. that much. She's not like me. I love it here, and I love what Dad does."

"Hopefully you love the people that he works with as well," I said teasingly. She laughed, and gently hit me in the chest. There was a slight pause after this as both of our thoughts went to Josh. "I…I…" I stammered, not managing to get anything else out of my mouth. She nodded, knowing what I meant to say.

"I think you should come with me and get Mom. She's the best person to wake him up and tell him about…and tell him," she finished lamely. She too was unable to get the words out of her mouth.

We walked into the room and saw the First Lady sitting with Donna. Donna stared at her lap while the First Lady looked around the room, her entire posture screaming discomfort. She looked up at the door when we entered. I cleared my throat and inclined my head, indicating that she should come out. She stood up, patted Donna uncomfortably on the shoulder and then joined us outside.

"They think that the President's going to wake up soon," I whispered to her. "We felt that you should be there with him when he does." She nodded and started to walk to his room. The three of us walked in silence. I stopped when we came to the room. The Secret Service agents that were always there opened the door and the First Lady and Zoey walked into the room.

Zoey realized that I was not following her and she turned around curiously. "Charlie," she said, gesturing into the room. I took a step back and shook my head.

"No, I shouldn't, it should just be family," I said firmly. This statement gave rise to another question. "Where's Eleanor? Shouldn't she be here too?"

"Oh, she just stopped by to make sure everything was all right probably," Zoey said, rolling her eyes. "She probably has class that she doesn't want to miss. Oh well. At least she stopped by."

"You go and stay with your dad," I said, forcing a smile. "I'll be out here if he needs me." She nodded and shut the door behind her. I slumped down into the chair that she had been sitting in previously.

Though things were looking up for this night, I still could not stop myself from sinking into dark thoughts. We still didn't know how Josh was. Another morbid thought came to mind. From the way that Donna was acting, and her entire demeanor tonight I could tell something. If we lost Josh tonight there was no doubt in my mind that we would also lose Donna.