Story: On My Honor
Chapter 2
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Previously: When Lizzie came down with the chicken pox, Abbey revealed she had never had them; Ellie's Girl Scout leader informed the troop they might have to temporarily disband, inspiring Jed to volunteer to train to be assistant leader
Summary: Jed invites a surprise guest to watch over Abbey while he's camping with Ellie; Jed and Abbey enjoy a little ribbing and political banter
"Rise and shine!" In clear deviation from the words, Jed spoke in a low whisper, unaware that Abbey was already up and thumbing through her latest medical journals.
"Hi." She lifted her head slightly to give him a quick glance and notice that she had wiped the smirk right off his face. She then returned to what she was reading.
"You know, it's no fun waking you if you're already awake. I had a plan. You ruined it." He held a large tray of croissants, assorted fresh fruits, a glass of orange juice, and a steamy mug of coffee.
"I know how much you hate it when I do that, however unintentional it might be." She adjusted the pillows behind her, sitting up to accept the tray, placing it across her hips as she greeted him with an appreciative smile. "Four days in a row. I'm going to get used to this really fast."
"To the point of reciprocation, I hope."
It was day four of Abbey's bedrest. The patchy red bumps that marked Lizzie's skin only a week earlier had now invaded hers, leaving her confined to the master bedroom while Liz, who had recovered nicely from her battle with the chicken pox, assisted Jed with the household chores. Zoey had returned from her grandmother's, but to avoid exposure to the illness, her crib had been moved to the family room.
"I'm feeling much better today," Abbey assured him as her fingers absently coiled around the coffee mug.
Jed reached for the cup, taking it out of her clutches before she burned her lips with the first sip. He blew over the top and tested the temperature before handing it back to her. "Here."
"Your bedside manner is one of a kind, Dr. Bartlet."
"Not really. I learn from the best," he returned, giving her a wink of his eye as he sat on the edge of the mattress. "Why are you up so early anyway?"
"I couldn't sleep. I've been going over some of these articles again. The feds don't seem to be taking this thing seriously. They haven't allocated any money for research."
"GRID?"
"Yes." Disappointed, she sighed as she turned the page.
Dozens of patients had died and more than a hundred others were infected with a disease initially known as Gay Related Immune Deficiency. It was new and confusing, this complex virus that shattered the immune system and usually led to a form of pneumonia so rare that Abbey had yet to see a case. What some experts privately suspected was that it reached beyond the gay community and was about to become a global epidemic with the mortality rate matching the number infected.
While Abbey - like every other doctor in the country - closely monitored CDC reports, waiting for the answers to define all the possible means of transmission, scientists and bureaucrats prepared to take a hit as their two worlds collided in a firestorm of fear and ignorance.
"It doesn't surprise me. The government doesn't even want to admit it exists."
"Jed..." She crinkled her forehead as the sound of the doorbell interrupted her. "Who's that?"
"Lizzie..." Jed shouted downstairs as he walked just outside the doorway. "...send him up!" He turned to face Abbey, dismissing her question without a second thought. "Put this on."
She accepted the red satin robe he handed her and draped it around her shoulders. "Who is it?"
"A surprise. So where were we?"
"You were about to sing Carter's praises at Reagan's expense."
"That's right." Still bitter about the change in the political climate, Jed used every opportunity to criticize Ronald Reagan. "Has the White House said one word about GRID?"
"No one has. It's barely even gotten a mention in the press."
"You turn up 80 dead heterosexuals and I guarantee you President Reagan would be all over it. It's because they think it's only going to kill the gays and they don't think anyone wants to hear about American tax dollars being spent to save bathhouses in San Francisco."
"Yeah, well, it shouldn't be a political debate. People are dying. That should be enough."
He sat in a chair, leaning forward to roll up his socks and slip into his shoes. "I don't like it anymore than you do, but it IS a political debate. Carter would have..."
"Oh, here we go again." Abbey closed her journal and threw it to the side.
"He would have! The man was a nuclear physicist, Abbey. He has a lot of respect for science and technology."
"Is this where the party is?" a third voice echoed from the threshold.
"Leo!" Jed approached his friend with his hand out, ready for a shake, but he quickly disregarding the gesture in favor of a hug. "You want some breakfast?"
"No, I'm stuffed. I grabbed a couple of muffins and some coffee on the ride over. Thanks for sending the car by the way."
"My pleasure."
"Leo, how are you?" Abbey asked, raising her head to get his attention. "We weren't expecting you until Monday."
"I called him," Jed interjected. "I asked him to come up early to keep an eye on you while Ellie and I are camping."
"And since Jenny took Mallory to visit her parents, I caught the redeye to Logan," Leo added, taking a few steps towards her, stopping just short of the foot of the bed. "How are you doing?"
"I don't need a babysitter."
"That's exactly what you need," Jed replied with a hint of levity in his tone. "I couldn't leave you here sick if I had any hope of enjoying this camping trip. My mind would have been plagued with regret. So allow me to amend my original statement slightly to say 'that's exactly what we both need.' Please don't fight me on this one."
Leo silently took note of the mutually loving glance that punctuated their exchange. "Seriously, Abbey, I'm looking forward to it. I needed a few more days away. Who wants to stay in an empty house?"
"You know we're always happy to have you, Leo. I just don't want you to feel like you have to take care of me."
He waved off her concern. "No way. This gives me a chance to get a jump-start on my case. I can meet with my Boston client Monday afternoon instead of Tuesday morning. Besides, you're functional. We'll recruit Lizzie for nightly games of Shanghai Rummy."
"I'll take you up on that and so will she. Careful what you wish for." Abbey laughed. "By the way, have you had the chicken pox?"
"What am I, five?" He looked at Jed, both men turning their smiles towards Abbey before Leo remorsefully cleared his throat in response to her more serious demeanor. "So how are you feeling today?"
"I'm better."
"She's well enough to tell me I'm wrong." And for Jed, that was the most accurate barometer of her health.
"I'm always well enough for that, Babe."
"Uh oh. What's the topic?"
Jed pulled up another chair right beside his and patted it down for Leo. "How much have you heard about what they're calling 'gay cancer'?"
"Hardly anything," Leo answered as he took a seat. "It got a little blurb in The Times last week. Aside from that, I wouldn't know anything about it except that a client of mine's a doctor and he's pretty cranky about the CDC's skeleton budget on this one."
"Exactly, and I'm just telling Abbey that if we had someone else in charge, someone more competent in the Oval Office, perhaps a former scientist even, things would be different."
"President Carter." Leo said it definitively as if there was no other choice.
"Absolutely!"
Abbey rolled her eyes. "The former President may have taken a proactive stand, but since he would have been fighting his recent fumbles, no one can say for sure. Jed is convinced the country would magically be free from problems if he had won reelection, never mind all the problems while he was still in office."
"Do I detect a little resentment, Abigail?"
"It's been almost a year, Jed. People were ready for a change. It's time to move on."
"People weren't ready for a change. They were ready for the latest fad and that's when John Anderson got involved." Third party candidates with a respectable following but no clear shot at the win frequently annoyed Jed.
"Yeah. Well. That's the way it goes." She lowered her head to avoid his stare.
"Abbey?"
"Yes?" She took a bite of her croissant, examining it first as she continued to refuse his gaze.
"Why do you always do that? You always look down when we talk about the election."
"Don't be silly."
"You do and you also change the subject." Jed paused momentarily. "You know, I never asked this because I just assumed..." He chuckled at the absurdity of his question. "You voted for Carter, didn't you?"
Without answering, she clawed at her shoulder to scratch the irritating bumps. "I'm in agony over here."
Jed gently slapped her hand. "Don't do that!"
"Excuse me, you have no idea how bad this feels right now!"
"And don't change the subject either. You voted for Carter, didn't you?"
"No," she answered quietly, pressing the mug to her lips immediately afterwards.
"You didn't?"
She shook her head. "No."
"Okay." Jed bit his cheek as he braced his hands on the chair and lifted himself to his feet. "Just...who did you vote for?"
"It's a secret ballot."
"Who did you vote for? Tell me it wasn't Reagan because the thought of you thinking a Hollywood movie star is qualified to run this country would just kill me."
"The people of California thought he was qualified to run their state."
Leo's grin dominated his face from ear to ear. A casual observer might have assumed they were fighting, but an intimate outsider would know this was no fight. It was Jed and Abbey just being Jed and Abbey. Disagreeing, debating, and at the end, loving each other just as much as they had before.
He sat back and enjoyed the banter between them, fondly remembering a time when his own marriage mirrored theirs. Jed and Abbey's spark was a familiar one, for it had once lit a fire between him and Jenny. But the McGarrys were different now. Explosive arguments and bitter retorts put an end to the witty repartee that had attracted them to one another.
Truth be told, he wasn't visiting the farm because Jenny had taken Mallory to visit her parents. He was visiting the farm because he needed his friends. Jenny's trip wasn't one taken for pleasure. She hadn't left for a simple visit. She had run away - from him and his excessive drinking.
He wanted to be here. To see how married life could be. To remind himself how it had been before.
"Abbey." Jed used a stern voice, as if that would force Abbey's thoughts onto a detour towards agreement.
"I didn't vote for Reagan," Abbey finally said to Jed's relief, and just when his chest expanded with a relaxing exhale, she continued. "I did vote for Anderson, however."
Jed nodded without expression. He stuffed his hands in pocket and circled around the room. "Why?"
"Unlike you, I don't think the sun rises and sets with Carter. There were some serious problems - international terrorism and rising oil prices to name just two - and I was ready for someone else to take over."
"I don't understand why you would want a former movie-star-turned-conservative-Republican in the White House, because that's exactly what happened thanks to votes like yours." The Anderson factor had cost Carter the election. Of this, Jed was certain. "You didn't really think Anderson was going to win."
"See, this is why I didn't tell you."
"Because you knew I'd respond with reason?"
"Because you're incapable of being reasonable about this."
"I am not incapable of being reasonable about this or anything else," he replied defensively. "I was just shocked by the revelation and I still don't understand why anyone would want to waste a vote during a Presidential election, but I can only assume you made the decision you did after careful examination of your options."
"Good." Abbey sighed as she reached for a strawberry.
"I'm okay. I'll deal with it. My ability to reason is still intact."
"Okay then." Leo rose from his chair, his eyes never leaving Jed's erratic pace.
His arms folded across his chest, Jed moved towards his wife. "A few months ago, I wanted to set Millie up with a colleague of mine. You said he was a Libra and that it would never work out because the planets were out of whack. Remember?"
Leo shot him a quizzical look, but Abbey knew her husband well enough to know exactly where he was headed. Grasping at straws wasn't unheard of for a man like Jed, someone who often looked beyond easy explanations in search of elaborate reasons that never quite made it on anyone else's radar. Even if he really was willing to accept the simple notion that Abbey chose Anderson because she believed he was the best candidate, well, it was still fun to tease her about it.
"I didn't reject Carter because he's a Libra," Abbey argued.
"You're sure?"
"Ellie's a Libra."
"Ellie's not President."
"And if she was, you actually think anyone would dare not vote for her because of her sign?"
"Who knows what goes through someone's mind when they hit the ballot box. Who knows what you were thinking when you voted." His adrenaline always soared when he tweaked her.
"I already told you what I was thinking and you told me that you were going to drop it."
"I'm just saying. You've been known to be a bit of an astrological bigot in the past." Clearly amused by the disgruntled expression he provoked, Jed chuckled.
Abbey curled her lips together before responding. She knew a few adjectives he despised just as much. "You're oppositional."
"Oh please. That's ridiculous," he protested, dropping his hands to his side. "I am not oppositional."
"Okay," Abbey smiled, savoring the irony while bypassing Jed to lock eyes with Leo.
"Not funny," Jed declared as he noticed the silent exchange. "It's your vote. It's a free country and I have no right to tell you who to pick to lead it. I won't say another word about it."
"Thank you."
He kneeled beside her and touched the back of his hand to her forehead. "You're a lot cooler than yesterday."
"I told you. I feel better." Abbey pulled herself up, stretching her upper body to press her lips to his in a kiss. "But thanks for checking. I love you."
"I love you too." Jed picked up half a croissant and handed it to her. "Eat your breakfast." He stood to address Leo. "Make sure she eats her breakfast."
"I will," Leo promised, still admiring their playful interaction.
"Lizzie's bus will be here in 20 minutes. Wendy's mom is picking Ellie up in a half hour and I'm driving into Boston to drop Zoey off at Abbey's parent's before work. Ellie and I are leaving right after school this afternoon."
"We'll be fine. Don't worry."
"Easier said than done, my friend." Jed looked at Abbey once more, his body language showing his reluctance to leave.
"I'll be much better by Sunday," she said.
"Yeah?" He scoffed, staring at the red eruptions that were visible now that her robe had slid slightly off her shoulders.
"Don't laugh. It's getting better. In fact, I'll probably be back at work by Tuesday."
"To treat all those poor, unsuspecting patients."
"Your concern is touching," she teased as she took another nail to an itchy patch of skin.
"I told you not to do that." Jed pulled her hand away. "Tape oven mitts over her hands if you have to," he advised Leo.
"That's cruel, Bartlet," Abbey spat out.
"I have to save you from yourself, Sweet Knees. If only you had asked for my help when you voted last November."
"Jed," she growled. He surrendered instantly, his hands raised to cut off her objection.
"Last joke about that." He reached for a bottle of calamine lotion on the nightstand and handed it to Leo. "This is what she uses."
"You want me to rub it all over her?"
Jed's narrow eyes answered his question, but to avoid confusion, he replied verbally as well. "No."
"Just wanted to make sure," Leo teased, shooting Abbey a mischievous grin.
"I want you to remind her to use it whenever she tries to scratch."
"And if it's really bad, Leo, I WILL want you to rub it all over me," Abbey added in a low, breathy voice, one provocative enough to bring out the infamous twitch in Jed's eyebrow.
"Knock it off," Jed admonished her with a steely glare.
"I'm just having as much fun with you as you were having with me, Gumdrop." She yanked on his wrist, bringing him down to her level for one last kiss and just as she pulled away, she whispered, "I voted for Carter."
"You're a little trickster." Jed brushed her hair out of her face and tenderly ran his fingers over the rosy swells that covered her neck.
"It was fun to see you get all worked up."
"Cruelty is not an attractive trait, Love." He pinched the tip of her nose. "I'll call you when we get there."
"Keep an eye on Ellie and thank Mom for taking Zoey. Tell her I'll call her later."
"I promise - on all three counts." Jed lowered his forehead to touch Abbey's before he stood up to leave. "I'll see you Sunday, Leo. Thank you, again, for flying out early."
"Have a good time. Don't worry about a thing."
"Easier said than done," he repeated as he gathered a duffel bag and headed out the door.
TBC