Chapter 12

As CJ entered the private waiting room that had been set aside for the Presidential party, she noted Leo slumped in one of the chairs, his rugged face even more lined than normal. His head jerked up as he heard someone approach.

Smiling, he patted the chair next to him. "Sit. Take a load off."

"How is he?"

"Asleep. The injuries and pain medication have finally caught up with him."

"How's Abbey?"

Leo shook his head. "The same. Still unconscious. And we don't know why. Her doctors think that her severe blood loss or the mild concussion from the blast might be the cause. But I don't know."

"I heard that her anesthesiologist was pulled from the case in the middle of surgery by order of the Secret Service."

Leo stared at her. "How did you know? It was top secret."

"Look, I found out. I'm not about to go spreading the information." Looking directly at her boss, she asked the question that she had had since she had discovered this information. "I heard that he was a known Chechen sympathizer. Does the Service think he gave the First Lady a drug that's keeping her unconscious?"

Leo looked at her, and then averted his gaze. "That's a possibility. But the tox screen only came up with the drugs listed on the operative record. And it's been more than nine hours since the attack. You would think that any drug that had been given to her would be out of her system by now.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep this from the President. He's very anxious to see her or at least be told that she's awake. And as you can imagine, he won't be kept away from her much longer. His guilt for allowing her to come is already high. And if anything happens to her, I'll have a real mess on my hands."

"What does Ron say? Does he believe something like that happened?"

"He doesn't know. He doesn't have the medical background to come to such a conclusion. But he has sent blood samples to several US military labs, including Germany, trying to come up with an answer."

"What happened to the anesthesiologist?"

"He was taken away and interrogated. He swears that his medical oath, the Hippocratic Oath or whatever it's called, prevents him from killing a patient. He knew of the President's support of the Russians against the Chechen uprising but swears he did nothing to harm the First Lady."

"Do you believe him?"

Shaking his head back and forth, Leo replied quietly. "I don't know, CJ. I just don't know."

"Excuse me. Mr. McGarry?"

Leo and CJ looked up at one of the agents in the Presidential detail.

"Yes?"

"Agent Butterfield needs your assistance with the President."

"What's wrong?"

"The President is demanding to see Mrs. Bartlet. He's getting very agitated and Agent Butterfield thought your presence might calm him down."

Leo shrugged. "I think my life has just gotten harder." He stood up, smoothed his rumpled suit and walked away.

CJ was glad she had not been asked to come with him. Even as a good a friend as Leo was, she was sure that he would have big problems in a matter of minutes.

Presidential-sized problems.