Josh appeared in the doorway in an instant, shutting the door behind him. "How do you not tell me this?"
"I didn't tell anyone." He rubbed his face. "I need to call my wife." Josh nodded, leaving the room, still angry, but going to pull Helen's medical records, something he realized he should have done before.
"Mrs. Reynolds," a staffer called, looking at the television.
"Yeah! I see it," Alice said, going to find Helen.
Ronna, angry at Josh, had switched over to Helen's campaign when they'd parted and was standing outside Helen's door. "She's locked herself in."
"I know. I'll handle this." She smiled and knocked on the door. "Helen, let me in." Helen waited, but eventually let her in, her eyes red. Alice shut the door, locking it back. "Has Matt called yet?" She shook her head, going to lay back down, curling into a ball. Alice sat on the bed and rubbed her back. "He's gonna call and we're gonna have to deal with this."
"I already dealt with this." She wasn't sure she could do it again. Last time she'd had Matt.
"I know. I know."
Helen's cell phone rang next to them on the bed. She finally looked at the caller ID and took the call. "Helen, honey...God, I don't know what to say." Matt was speechless and felt like he was going through this all over again with her, except them being states apart. "I love you."
"I'm sorry. I didn't..." She wasn't one on crying, but was close to tears.
"No, shh. Nothing is your fault. I'm coming out there, all right? I'm coming out there." She didn't argue with him, just held the phone in her hand. "I am so sorry I'm putting you through this again. I never meant for this..."
Alice picked up the phone. "Matt?"
"Alice, is she okay?"
"Not really, no. I'll stay with her until you get here." There was no doubt in her mind that he would come.
"I don't know how I can thank you," Matt said, his voice starting to waiver.
"Don't worry about it." She'd been there for all three miscarriages and when the kids were born; she knew better than anyone except Matt and Helen themselves what her friends were going through.
"I'll be there as soon as I can." Both hung up.
Leo had silently let himself in as Matt hung up the phone. "How is she?"
"Feeling like she's going through it again. I have to get to her." He looked up at Leo.
He nodded. "I was about to tell you that. Josh and I can hold down the base here, postpone events or I can take some of them. You need to address the issue, but that comes later."
"I know, but right now all I'm doing is going to be with my wife. And you need to tell Josh that coming in and asking me how I could have not told him is not the best thing to say right now. And yes, I do get it, Leo."
Leo thought about Lillianfiled. "I'll tell him."
February 13, 1999
"Here comes the other one!" The doctor's excitement seemed a strange contrast to how weak and tired Helen was. The pain was intense and she grabbed Matt's hand as their daughter arrived.
"It's a girl! It's a baby girl!" He cried in excitement and turned to his wife. "Helen? Helen?"
Blood was everywhere and Helen's eyes closed, unable to grasp or even hold his hand. "Outside, sir. You need to wait outside." One of the nurses tried to escort Matt outside as the other nurses and doctor tried to stabilize her.
"Helen! What's happening with my wife! Let go of me!" He struggled to get free and tried to get back to Helen. One of the nurses carried the babies to the nursery. "What's happening?"
"She's hemmoraging, sir. You cannot be in here." Matt let himself be pushed out of the room, watching in horror and disbelief as the door closed. He walked to the nursery and watched his son and daughter, wondering if they would ever get to see their mother.
David and Alice had follwed the nurse, keeping an eye on the babies. David had six months leave and had gotten to be home for his own daughter's birthday as well as his godchildren's. He turned and saw the look on his friend's face. "What? What happened?"
"She's hemmoraging. They're taking her to surgery."
He instantly put a protective arm around Alice, standing between her and his friend. He knew how frightened Matt had been after the three miscarriages, although he'd never mentioned it to Helen or Alice.
"Mr. Santos?"
"Yes?" Matt turned to the voice that had called his name.
"Your wife is still bleeding severely. Nothing we've tried will work. There's only one other option but we need your permission."
"What?"
"A hysterectomy. We would remove her uterus. Her tubes and ovaries would remain, but she couldn't have more children and there are some complications. We wouldn't bring this to you if there were other options, but we already had to start her on a transfusion."
"Do I have to sign anything?" He handed Matt the clipboard with papers. Matt's hand shook as he took the pen. He read over the papers, signing them and handing them back.
Present Day
"Matt," Alice whispered, bracing herself against the bed to get up, trying not to wake Helen.
He walked over, hugging her. "Thanks for staying with her."
"I'll be in my room if she needs me." She left, giving them privacy.
Matt sat down on the bed, stroking his wife's hair gently back. She turned to him, putting an arm around him. He lay down with her, holding on to her. "I'm sorry." He kissed her neck.
She lay her head on his chest. "You didn't know." She'd been waiting for it since the DNC, before that, since Matt had run for his first term of Congress.
"I should've. It's no holes barred. I should've thought of it."
"Mom called."
"Yeah."
"The kids don't understand. I told her we'd deal with it later. And the boys all want to hunt down the reporter." She always grouped his brothers in with hers as 'the boys'.
He smiled slightly. "Yeah, they wanna protect their sister."
"Yeah, well, where are they at Christmas when Dad's being a pain in the ass?" He kissed her forehead. "I don't know what you should do. The phrase 'none of your business' seems to work so well."
"I know." He rubbed her back in circles, like he had when she'd finally let him hold her again after the miscarriages.
"On the other hand, who better to argue for the limits of partial-birth? I mean, we had a choice and I made it. I don't regret it for anything."
"I know. I know you don't."
She changed the subject. "The bishop really banned you from his Church?"
"Refused me communion."
She rolled her eyes. "Well, all Democrats can't be Jed Bartlet." She kissed his cheek. "There's plenty of other Churches we can go to. It's not like you got excommunicated."
He nodded. "I'll get us through this."
"Give 'em the pictures of the bed again; maybe they'll forget?"
"I don't think so. It's worth a try."
She smiled slightly. "Ronna's still mad, mostly at Josh."
"Yeah."
"Some at you."
"I know, but we had to do something..."
"Yeah, but it's Ned. He's been here forever. Besides, if it wasn't for him, Josh would have found out why you really skipped those years on your reserve training."
"Yeah, I know."
"Can we have a shared experience? It doesn't have to be a movie. Just something."
"Yeah. I'll talk to Josh and Leo about it."
"No, right now." She didn't want to talk, didn't want to think, about the miscarriages anymore; she had for two months already. "I want to do something, anything, together, to get my mind off the fact that I lost three children, something I've been thinking about since the DNC and my best friend announcing she was pregnant."
"We could watch your all time favorite movie. A walk, you name it."
"Not a walk. I don't wanna go out."
"Movie then?"
"And I can get loud?"
"As loud as you want." She smiled, setting the movie up and watching it curled in his arms. He held her tight, rubbing her back, stroking and kissing into her hair, resting his cheek against her head.