Chapter 18

"How are you feeling?"

"Are you asking as a doctor or as my wife?"

"Whichever one will get a straight answer from you."

Jed shrugged. He never could get around Abbey when she was in her doctor mode.

They had been resting almost a week in Manchester after discharge from the hospital and Jed was making plans to return to the Oval Office in a couple of days.

"I'm a lot better than I was. At least from what you told me."

Abbey walked over and sat down by Jed's side on the sofa. "You know you were pretty sick there for a while."

"Well, I don't remember a whole lot of it. But I do remember one thing."

"What's that?"

"You sitting by my bed and telling me to fight. To come back to you."

"Oh Jed!"

"And I came back because of you. Just you."

The tears fell quickly down Abbey's face. She leaned over and grabbed his face. Her lips met his as she shared her relief with him. "I love you so much."

"I do too, Hon. I do too."

"You know you almost died twice."

"But I'm alive now. God allowed me to live. And I've decided to use my illness to my advantage."

"How are you going to do that?"

"The nation has to get prepared to deal with this. My illness shows people just how serious this flu can be if it gets started here. Who better to talk about it than someone who has survived? Abbey, it's not at all like the regular seasonal flu that people stay in bed for a few days and then go back to their lives. There will be many deaths from this flu if human to human transmission becomes a reality. And my experience will really help to bring that across."

"But your illness was caused through transmission from chickens to humans."

"Transmission is not the important factor here. What's most important is the human lives affected by it. And I can speak from a personal perspective. This country has already lost two very important people to the flu and I could have been number three. So I have to be the messenger, the town crier so to speak. I think that's why God let me live. To warn others to take precautions."

Abbey grabbed his hand but didn't answer.

"Hon, there's danger ahead and I have to warn them."

"Jed, you can't save the world."

"I know I can't. But I can try and save a country."

Abbey leaned over and kissed her husband again. "That's my Jed. Still the knight fighting for what's right."

"Yeah. Want to join me?"

"I'm always with you Jed. Always."

Another kiss sealed the pact.

THE END