Series: Hard Times
Title: His Final Days (Part 1)
Characters: Jed/ Abbey, everybody
Warning: MAJOR character death –YOU ARE WARNED.
Spoiler: "Abu El Banat"
Category: Major Angst/Possible AU
Disclaimer: These folks are owned by Sorkin, NBC, and Wells. I am only giving them more trouble than they can handle.
Summary: Jed is dying, eighteen months after the end of his presidency.
Author's Note: The series comes out of this first story which I wrote about a year ago (prior to some of the real storylines that have developed since). Subsequent chapters deals with the consequences of Abbey's actions. I know there are some readers who will not be able to read the material and I understand. But for others, feedback will be appreciated.
Chapter 1
"Jed, are you comfortable?"
He shook his head no.
"Can I get you some pain medicine?"
"Abbey, you know it doesn't help anymore." Even that bit of effort brought a grimace to Jed's face.
Abbey just turned and left the room. Why this? Why now? Hadn't he gone through enough? First, with the MS progressing to the point he couldn't move around. He had spent every minute of the last six months in bed.
Then the shocking diagnosis of terminal lung cancer. Abbey always knew that smoking was a bad habit. But she could never get him to stop.
And all this less than two years after the end of his presidency. All of the promises they had made, things they both wanted to do when they left Washington had never happened.
Almost immediately after returning to the farm in January, 2006, Jed started having symptoms of secondary progressive MS. It progressed rapidly. The doctors said the overwhelming stress of the past eight years was the probable cause of such a rapid onset. The terror that they had successfully kept away for the past eight years returned with a vengeance.
Walking quickly became a great effort and it took everything out of him just to go down and up the stairs once a day. Soon it became impossible. By June, Abbey had turned the living room into his bedroom. She had tried to stay with him as much as possible. But soon she had to get a hospital bed and realized that their sleeping together days were over.
They were able to handle the days without too much trouble. But the nights, separate from each other, were the toughest. They had always been together. Even in the White House, they tried not to be apart from each other more than absolutely necessary. And neither one of them got a good night's sleep when they were apart.
During the past eighteen months, the farm had seen its share of visitors. But Jed couldn't handle their pity, so he was very selective whom he allowed to come. Of course, the girls and their families were always welcomed.
Liz and Doug came frequently with Gus. Annie had just started college and tried to come whenever she was at home. Jed was so proud of her. She was a freshman at Norte Dame majoring in economics. She once had told her grandparents that it was a bit unsettling however, to read about her own grandfather in both the history and the economics texts, but she thought she could deal with it. The kids at school didn't know so at least she wouldn't be teased about her having famous relatives.
Ellie came when she could, usually with a male friend of the moment. Both Jed and Abbey figured that she would never get married, just enjoy the opposite sex. Her work came first with her. Abbey had tried to explain to her middle child that she could have a career and a family but somehow Ellie, as usual, refused to follow any accepted norms.
Zoey and Charlie came to the farm whenever they could get away from Washington. Their Christmas wedding in the East Room was the highlight of Jed's final months in office. The flowers, the music, the thrill Jed had gotten when he had walked his baby down the aisle. He had been adamant that he would not use a cane, so he leaned heavily on Zoey down the aisle. But he had made it.
Then four months later, Zoey announced that she was pregnant. Both Jed and Abbey were so excited at the prospect of another Bartlet grandchild. Although by the time Charles Josiah Young came in December of 2006, Jed didn't have the strength to hold him. But he could look at him, and with assistance, touch his perfect features. The baby was definitely a mixture of Charlie and Zoey. It made both Abbey's and Jed's hearts fill with joy to know that their youngest was happy with a family of her own. It made all of this somewhat easier to bear.