Jed awoke the next morning, his throat itching and head aching. He groaned as he pushed the covers back and moved to climb out of bed. A wave of dizziness stopped him as he stood.

Abbey heard the groan of the bed springs as Jed fell back on the bed and walked in. "You alright," she asked, buttoning the sleeve of her blouse.

"I think I caught Alex's flu," he said, his voice scratchy as he spoke. He pushed himself up, wavering slightly, then moved for the bathroom.

"Jed, maybe you ought to stay in bed today. Head this thing off before it gets worse," Abbey said, her concern evident in her voice.

"I'll be fine," he called from the bathroom. The tone of his voice was evident to the contrary.

Abbey rolled her eyes and took out her medical bag. When Jed reemerged from the bathroom, she sat him down on the bed and took his temperature. Jed sat still, having learned this was the only way to keep his wife happy.

"99.00 degrees," Abbey said. "You have a fever."

"It'll go away as soon as I eat something," Jed said, standing up again.

"Jed, you know what this could be," Abbey said. "Canceling your meetings until lunch will help you get better quicker."

"Abbey, I'll be fine. I'll try to end early to get some sleep," Jed said, heading for the shower.

"I'll be checking up on you during the day," Abbey called, just before the water turned on. She knew there was no way she could keep him from going in. Thirty-five years of marriage had taught her that much, but concern still weighed on her heart. The slightest fever could kill him.

By two in the afternoon, Jed began to wonder if staying in the residence hadn't been a bad idea. His muscles had begun to ache and his headache had worsened due to the phone call he'd received from Israel.

He looked up as the door to his office opened and Abbey walked in, doctor's bag in hand. "Abbey," he said, an edge of warning in his voice.

"Jed, you look like death warmed over. I told you staying in the Residence would have been a better idea," she said, admonishing him as he sat back down.

"Good to see you too," he said sardonically. She pulled out the thermometer and stuck it in his mouth while she took his blood pressure.

"I've had Leo cancel your meetings. You're going up to bed," she said.

"Abigail-."

"Josiah Bartlet, do not argue with me on this. You know damn well what this could lead to," Abbey said, cutting him off in mid-sentence. "Take a few days off and you can head this off." Jed opened his mouth to argue, then stopped as he saw the look in her eyes. There were very few times that he had seen his wife afraid. This was one of them.

"What's he got," Zoey asked over the phone from her room at Georgetown. Even over the phone, Alex could hear the concern in her sister's voice.

"Probably the same thing I did," Alex said, laying down on her bed. "Mom canceled all of his meetings and he's sleep in their bedroom."

"Has Mom said anything about a fever," Zoey asked.

"Yeah," Alex said, "She said he had a slight fever. Why does everyone seem to be panicking over this? It's probably the flu." Alex had picked up on a sense of worry and tension that seemed to be floating around the White House all morning. She didn't understand why people were worried about the President being sick.

"Tell Mom I'll be there tonight," Zoey said. "I'm sure he'll be fine." To Alex, it seemed that Zoey was trying to convince herself more than Alex.

"Then why are you coming home? You were just here."

"I'll see you tonight," Zoey said. Before Alex could say another word, Zoey had hung up the phone.

Alex was walking down the hall, coming back from the kitchens downstairs. She had gotten hungry and headed downstairs for some fruit. She had eaten a yogurt parfait, then returned upstairs to read. Her mother's voice coming from her parent's bedroom stopped her halfway down the hall. She pressed her ear up to the door to listen to what she was saying.

"His temperature's at 101," she could hear her mother say. "He seems to be breathing alright, but he seems weaker than he should be. His pressure's lower than normal." Silence followed. Alex guessed she was talking to a doctor.

"I've had him on fluids and cancelled his meetings," her mother said, "But for God sake's Millie, he nearly passed out in the bathroom." Abbey's voice shook and Alex knew her mother was crying. "I can't calm down when this could kill him."

At her mother's words, Alex's stomach dropped and she felt her heart stop. She heard footsteps approaching and straightened up just as a Secret Service agent rounded the corner. She forced a smile and returned to her bedroom.

Alex paced the length of her room as she thought about what she had heard. She didn't understand her father was so sick. She just thought it was the flu. She didn't know what was wrong and knew something had been kept from her. Frustrated, she pulled her hair back and pushed the sleeves of her sweater up. She was going to find out what was going on.

She knocked on the door to her parent's bedroom and waited for her mother to answer. "Come in," she finally heard her mother call.

Abbey looked up as Alex entered and saw the look on her daughter's face. She knew it was time to tell her.

"What aren't you telling me," Alex asked, crossing her arms.

"Alex-," Abbey said.

"Dad has a temperature and you're on the verge of calling in a haz-med team," Alex said, "What is going on?"

"Honey, sit down," Abbey said, motioning to the couch.

Alex sat down, crossing her arms and pulling her legs onto the couch next to her.

"Honey, do you know what Multiple Sclerosis is," Abbey asked, sitting down on the table in front of her. Alex nodded her head slowly, realization hitting her. Abbey knew she didn't need to say much else as she saw realization dawn on her.

"How long," Alex asked, her voice cracking.

"He's had it for eight years," Abbey said, "Honey, a fever could kill him." Alex watched as a tear slid down her mother's face slowly.

"Is he going to die," Alex asked. At the shelter, she had known a woman, Edie, that had had MS. She had died of it one night, after having been reduced to no more than a shaking, immobile person. Alex knew all to well the effects of the disease.

"Eventually," Abbey said truthfully, "But, not now. That's why he needs to get his rest and get better. Do you understand?" Alex nodded her head, not knowing what to say next.

"Why didn't you tell me," Alex finally asked.

"It just never came up," Abbey said.

"It never came up? My dad has a disease that is slowly killing him and it never came up," she said, pushing herself up. "Zoey was born with a twin and no one told her. Did that never come up either? You know, for a family that's in the spotlight, it certainly has a lot of secrets." She turned on her heel and ran out, the door slamming behind her. Abbey heard the door slam and sank down on the couch.

Alex ran down the stairs, tears streaming down her face. She ran all the way to the basement, through a passage she had found in wandering the White House. The passage was dark and musty, but it was secretive and what she needed was privacy.

She pulled her knees to her chest as tears fell down her face. Her father had MS. They had known for eight years, but had never bothered to tell her. It was just one more thing that made her feel like a stranger to the family. But, what scared her most was that her father, a man she had come to love, could be taken from her.

Apart of her knew she had overreacted to her mother, especially given the condition her father was in. She pushed herself up off the ground and wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.

Abbey looked up as the door to the bedroom opened and Alex entered, her eyes red and tearstained. "I'm sorry I yelled at you," Alex said, her voice broken by her emotions. "I know it didn't make anything easier."

"Alexandria, we didn't tell you because we didn't want you to know," Abbey said. "Please understand that." Alex nodded, biting her lip as she stood with her arms crossed. She still stood near the door, not wanting to get near her mother. She was struggling with her trust with her mother.

"Right now, his disease is in a remission state. It only acts up now and then, but that will change in a few years. It will become more active and it will make it harder for him to walk and think," Abbey explained. "Right now, I do think he has the flu, but as I said earlier, a fever can be devastating."

"So, it's my fault he's sick," Alex said slowly.

"Oh God no," Abbey said, "Honey, it's no one's fault. He was so determined to make sure you got better that he stayed by your side when I wasn't there."

"Will he get better?"

"Honey, I-" Abbey began to speak, then saw the fear in her daughter's eyes. Suddenly, she realized what Alex's anger was about. Alex, who had been in the family for four months hadn't felt apart of the family because her father's MS, something that everyone else knew and she didn't. And to couple that, the man that Alex had come to call her father was in danger of dying. She knew that her daughter had every right to be upset.

"Will he get better," Alex demanded, her gaze hardening.

"I don't know," Abbey said, looking down at her hands. "Right now, he has a 80 chance of getting better."

"And the 20?"

"He'll get worse. It'll force his MS out of remission," she said truthfully. Alex nodded, tears filling her eyes. "But…that's only a 20 chance." She stood up and met her daughter's eyes that were still filled with fear. As a mother, she wanted to do whatever possible to erase that fear, but knew she couldn't. "I'm going to go check on him. If you want to see him, come by later. I'm hoping his temperature will be down by then." Alex nodded and walked out of her parent's room.

Abbey sat by her husband's side, holding his hand as she had so many times before when he'd been sick. She remembered the time he had gotten sick at her parent's house. It had been the first time the MS had really kicked up. The time at Nantucket had been during a private vacation they had had when Zoey was old enough to leave with her parents for more than a day. Their vacation had been ruined, but Jed had made it through alright. Ever since the diagnosis fourteen years earlier, Abbey had cursed the disease that threatened to claim her husband's vitality.

She felt him stir and looked down to see him looking back up at her with his bright blue eyes. "Hey," she said, brushing the stubborn lock of hair out of his eyes, "How'd you feel?"

"Like death warmed over," he croaked out.

"You look like it to," she said with a smile. "Do you feel up to eating something?" He groaned as he pushed himself up with the help of Abbey. She brought a tray with a bowl of soup on it closer and helped as he slowly at. "Alex was here. She wanted to see you."

"She doesn't need to get sick again," Jed said.

"She'll be fine," Abbey said, "She needs to see you." Jed heard the tone of his wife's voice and knew what she meant.

"Okay," he said, "What's Leo have to say?"

"Israel has stepped down from attacking and Africa is receiving the medical supplies it needs," Abbey said, "No reading the briefings until we can get your temperature below one hundred."

"Abbey," he started to say.

"Jed, I just had to tell our youngest daughter that you had MS. Now, she is scared that the man she has come to call her father is going to die. So, if you read one memo or one briefing before your temperature goes below one hundred, God help me if I don't kill you myself," Abbey said tersely. Her fear and exhaustion had reached a peak and she wasn't about to let Jed work before he was physically ready to.

Jed was surprised at his wife's tone, but knew better than to test her. Telling Alex must have not been easy for her. He nodded and finished his soup before closing his eyes to sleep some more.

Alex crept into her parent's room close to eight o'clock. Her mother had gone downstairs to get some work done, leaving her father asleep. She had checked with Lilly about her mother's schedule. She sat down in the chair next to her father's bed, propping her feet up on the edge of the bed, hugging her knees.

She studied her father, who was asleep in the bed. He looked pale and she could tell his breathing was ragged. A part of her still blamed herself for getting sick and spreading it to him. "Hey kiddo." She was startled out of her thoughts and looked down to her father, who was wide awake.

"Hey," she said softly, "How do ya feel?"

"Fine," he said. Alex raised her eyebrow and Jed shook his head, closing his eyes. She was just like her mother. "So, Mom told you, huh?"

"Yeah," Alex said, "She said it just never came up before."

"It didn't," he said, "Between your kidnapping and everything's that happened, it didn't come up."

"I'm sorry I got you sick," Alex said.

"Not your fault," he said. "You know what MS is?" Alex nodded slowly, looking down at her hands. "You've seen the worst I take it." Alex nodded again, still not looking up. "Alexandria, I'm not going to die any time soon. You know, that right?"

"Yes," Alex said softly.

"Then why were you upset," Jed asked.

"Because I don't know if you'd be there for my graduation or when I get married," Alex said, "Because this family has shown me that I have a chance at a future and you're apart of this family." She looked up, finally meeting his eyes.

"I know," he said softly.

"Anyways, I better let you sleep before Mom throws me out," Alex said, standing up. "I'll see you tomorrow." She kissed him softly on the cheek, then turned to leave.

"Alex," her father called. She turned to face him, smiling softly. "Don't give your mom too much trouble. She doesn't need it right now."

"Yes sir," Alex said, her smile broadening. She turned and left, shutting the door behind her.