A/N: This chapter contains the sequence from the season 2 episode "The Midterms." Credit goes to the writers of the episode for most of the dialogue. The medical science that saves Felicity's life is fictional but important in her character journey.
Enjoy!
Jed sat heavily in a chair next to what had become their temporary bedroom across the hall. There was also a bed in Felicity's room, but given the monitors and the constant movement of the medical staff in and out, one of them usually came in here for a decent sleep at some point during the night.
"I don't like this, Abbey. You've been the one building her immune system up all these months, not me."
"True. But genetics are 50/50, handsome. Felicity is half you and half me. The reason why Dr. Keller wants your blood and the immune cells in it, is because Felicity's immune system is more likely to recognize them and let them help."
"Yes, and my genes are tainted."
"What are you talking about?"
"The MS, Abbey! Do you think I want to pass this thing onto my daughter?"
"Of course not," Abbey replied. "But Jed…this could be our baby's only shot at survival. I think it's worth the risk."
"Why can't they take immune cells from Liz or Ellie instead? I will do anything for Felicity but I don't want to give her this."
"I know you don't. But our children are not us, Jed. The only reason why this transfusion could work at all is because Felicity's immune system is under-developed," She said. "And to be perfectly honest, Felicity wouldn't acquire MS this way. She would already have the makings of it."
Jed sighed. "Just the thought that our baby could have this…"
"I know," Abbey replied simply. "But we have to take the risk. She can only be protected by the two of us. Please, Jed. I can't bury her. I can't even think about it. She's our baby. Please."
Jed closed his eyes. A fleeting image crossed his mind. One a few years down the road, where Felicity was running around, healthy, surrounded by her family. Then, he had another image. One of a coffin, and a funeral. He physically shook his head to shake this image from his brain. He knew what he had to do.
"Okay," Jed told her. "We'll do it."
Over the next hour, Jed and Abbey had their blood taken as if they were donating it to Felicity. While they recovered by eating a good meal and drinking juice, the blood was taken to the lab and spun down to the immune cells Felicity desperately needed. Just before eight that night, Felicity received the first of her parent's immune cells. Only time would tell if it worked.
Late the following afternoon, a town car pulled up in front of Children's National. Logan Huntzberger emerged from the back seat carrying a beautiful flower arrangement and a soft giraffe stuffed animal for Felicity with a messenger bag on his shoulder. He went inside the brightly colored lobby and followed the Secret Service agents posted in intervals around the it to the elevator and up to the private unit Felicity was in. He pressed the bell by the door and Charlie opened it, poking his head out.
"Hey Logan," Charlie said, recognizing Alex's boyfriend.
"Hi Charlie, I came down to surprise Alex and pay a visit to Felicity," He said, indicating the flowers and the stuffed animal in his arms.
Charlie opened the door to admit Logan into the hallway, "Alex isn't here. But I'd be happy to take something."
"Here." Logan handed Charlie the stuffed giraffe. "Do you know where Alex might be?"
"Maybe in the Residence?" Charlie guessed. "She's, ah, trying to lay low right now."
"Lay low? Why would she need to lay low?"
"Well," Charlie said and hesitated. "Alex said something at her graduation and her diploma is being withheld. I heard her explaining it to Zoey."
Logan grinned, "She's not going to live this down."
In truth, Logan was already well-aware of what Alex had done. Emily and Richard's production person who was responsible for recording the ceremony sent him a copy of the graduation tape. He had been unable to go because his own graduation had been scheduled the same day. Since the shooting postponed their original plan to celebrate in Maine for a few days, he saw the tape last night and decided to pay Alex a visit.
"I think she said something about making better laws around guns. It didn't go over well."
"I don't imagine it would in that crowd. But I'm not surprised Alex ended up saying something."
Charlie nodded. "I'm not surprised, either, given what I know about Alex. But I think that whatever Alex is going through, is small potatoes compared to the President and First Lady."
"Got that right." Logan responded. "So, shall we go see the little princess?"
Charlie nodded, and Logan followed him down the hall.
Abbey sat by Felicity's crib in the oversized cream chair and a half that usually belonged in the nursery. It migrated here over the day before Felicity fell ill to make anyone who stayed up with her more comfortable. Since then, Abbey and Jed spent many hours together in this chair hoping that they could hold Felicity in it again. According to the lab results in her hands, things were looking up as the 24-mark approached. Felicity's fever was down and her numbers were improving. But the inflammation in her body had yet to go down, which meant it was still very much fighting the infection.
She looked up as Charlie came through the door with Logan.
"Logan," She said, rising. Abbey gave him a tired smile. "What are you doing here?"
"I came down to surprise Alex and to pay Felicity a visit."
He paused when he looked over and saw the sick little girl in her crib. An image of Alex in a hospital bed flashed before his eyes.
"Thank you for coming," Abbey replied, squeezing his shoulder lightly. She had an idea of what he might be thinking.
Logan stepped closer to the crib. "Hey, Fizzy," He said softly. "It's Logan. I hope you feel better soon. You'll be your old self in no time. You're just like your cousin."
At this, Abbey smiled. "The immune cells seem to be working. But there's no overall change."
"Well, if you need anything, you'll let me know, yeah?"
"Of course I will," Abbey assured him.
"Scoring brownie points with my niece, I see," Jed observed entering the room from across the hall.
Logan turned and shook Jed's hand, "Something like that, sir," he replied. "Alex told me she was coming back. So I thought it was only right if I was here too."
"I appreciate that."
The door at the end of the hall opened and Alex walked up the hallway with clothes for Felicity in her arms. She blinked when she saw Logan standing with Jed, Abbey, and Charlie.
"Logan, what are you doing here?"
"Coming to check on you." Logan said sweetly. "So…what's this I hear about you going off the rails in your commencement speech?"
Alex turned to him and smiled sweetly back at him, "What are you talking about?"
"You know what I mean, Coco. The story you told."
"We don't need to talk about that now, love."
"Is there something we should know about?" Abbey asked pointedly.
"Trouble in paradise?" Jed asked, going against his instinct to ask what the story was all about.
"Jed, be nice," Abbey warned with a small smile. "It's their first fight."
"And possibly last," Alex said, giving Logan a scathing look.
"Well, I think that Alex should be the one to tell you guys. After all, the video evidence'll tell the whole story on FOX News tonight."
"Logan, be serious."
"I am. You didn't think this was going to stay quiet did you?"
"Is this because we decided not to go to Maine?"
"What? No. I came here to tell you that you made the news because I knew you were never going to tell your Aunt and Uncle anything."
"The news?" Jed replied. He looked at Alex. "Okay, dear niece. Spill it."
"Oh, I don't think you need to spill it." Logan said a little too gleefully. He held up a videotape. "Let's just replay the evidence, shall we?"
Alex closed her eyes. "This is not happening." She muttered.
Logan went over and put the tape into the TV in one corner of the room. It switched screens to Alex, standing at a lectern in her cap and gown. He pressed play.
"…It stands to reason then, that we should have modern day federal legislation designed to treat weapons as a solemn privilege rather than a right that goes unchecked. We don't because to craft such legislation would require putting aside political differences and ignoring outside interests among other arguments. Every day 230 people are shot and wounded by gun violence. The time for inaction is over. It's time for change…"
Jed paused the tape. "Since when are you in the business of pursuing legislation?"
"Uncle Jed…"
"What have you gotten yourself into, Alexandra?"
Alex sighed. "I went off my approved speech." She took the remote from her uncle and went back to the beginning. "You really have to see the whole thing now."
Pressing play once again, Alex beamed at the assembled crowd on the screen.
"…Today we celebrate this momentous occasion, the day we have eagerly anticipated for this last year and even more before that. We will leave this campus destined for greater things. For the colleges we attend, for our careers on the horizon, and for the lives we will build.
We stand in rarified air. Kingswood Academy taught us to dream bigger, work hard, and leave this place better than we found it for the classes behind us. We are privileged to hold these values and to be graduating from an institution that prepared us to apply them to the world beyond these walls. The world will test these values early and often. How we respond to them will help to shape the people we become once we leave here.
I know many of my fellow graduates are surprised to see me here today. I've spent most of this week in the hospital doing everything I could think of to help my family. Keeping busy helped keep my mind off the reason why we were there. But I can't forget. I can't forget the way the Secret Service rushed my father and I into a room, locked it, and waited by the door with their weapons drawn poised for a threat. I can't forget how long it took to find out if people I love and others I respect and admire were alive or dead. And I can't forget the moment we were told that my baby cousin was shot by someone motivated by hate.
We studied the second amendment sophomore year during our American Constitution class. I was assigned to form an argument for our final debate in favor of updating it to reflect the way weapons are used in the modern day. Nowhere in the second amendment does it say that we have the freedom to use a weapon against another American because of the way they look, who they love, where they come from, or what they believe. I argued that we should update the second amendment because our founders lived in an America comprising thirteen eventual states. They could not conceive of the fifty states and territories that would form these United States or how diverse in thought, culture, and belief Americans would be.
It stands to reason then, that we should have modern day federal legislation designed to treat weapons as a solemn privilege rather than a right that goes unchecked. We don't because to craft such legislation would require putting aside political differences and ignoring outside interests among other arguments. Every day 230 people are shot and wounded by gun violence. The time for inaction is over. It's time for change.
As we celebrate this milestone and our accomplishments today, we must not forget that we are able to do so because of the people who came before us demanding change. Eighteen generations ago, my ancestors fought for America's independence. My great-grandmothers fought for the right to vote fifteen generations later. Now it is my turn to take up the mantle for change and I'll start by lobbying my Congressional representatives.
If there is anything I have learned during my time here at Kingswood Academy, it's that there is at least one person that will stand beside you in any endeavor, if not more. I hope there will be no more. And it goes without saying that none of us would be here without the support of our parents and our families. So thank you Mom and Dad, Aunt Abbey, and Uncle Jed, Lorelei, Rory, and my cousins. I love you and I am only standing here because of you.
Congratulations Kingswood Academy, Class of 2000. Today we celebrate. Tomorrow we take on the world through action."
Jed and Abbey sat in silence as the tape clicked off. Then Abbey turned around.
"Oh, Alex…"
"Alexandra Eloise Gilmore…" Jed started. "Do you have any idea what you've implied here? What you've started?"
"I think it means I'll be spending my summer and the fall semester getting to know the US Capitol Building and the congressional staffers very well," Alex replied. "I've already made a few connections."
Behind her, Logan smiled to himself but said nothing.
"Alex, honey, we appreciate the thought. But you can't spend your days roaming the Capitol building."
Alex took a breath. "The school's already holding my diploma until I apologize. And I am not sure I want to apologize."
"Not sure you want to apologize?" Jed said, raising his voice and standing up.
"Uncle Jed, I want to do the right thing. And I know I made a mistake, but I'm not backing down now that it's out."
"Alex, do your parents know?" Abbey gently asked.
"Well, they were there, so…"
"I bet Emily's having a field day." Jed grumbled. "Her daughter the politician."
"Jed!" Abbey said warningly.
"I don't have the political capital to do this, Alex. And my staff knows it. You have no idea the work you've just piled on them."
"I know you don't. But I have a lot of social capital and I plan to use it to get this done. It won't be easy and it'll take a long time. But I will do whatever it takes to prevent something like this from happening ever again."
"It's going to take more than social capital. You're going to need help."
"Uncle Jed is right, Alex, you can't talk your way through this."
"Then what can I do?" Alex sighed.
Tuesday Morning:
"It's called the "theory of everything.'" Josh's voice came through CJ's speakerphone.
"The theory of everything?" CJ repeated as she shuffled through papers at her desk. "Is it comprehensive?"
"CJ!"
"That was a joke there, pal of mine. Carol, get me the OMB stats."
"They're on your desk." CJ's ever-faithful assistant called back.
"He's making me crazy." CJ muttered to no one in particular.
"You know, I heard that." Josh said.
"Yeah, I understand how a speakerphone works! So psychics at CalTech and the Fermi National Accelerator Lab are close to announcing…"
"Theoretical physicists!"
"I should jot that down…"
"CJ, Josh has to go now," Donna interjected. "He's being discharged today."
"Oh. Talk to you later, mi amor."
Josh continued to rant, but the phone beeped as Donna hit END CALL.
CJ hurried into the bullpen, where she was intercepted by Toby, who wanted to talk about the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the CPI jumping up.
"The prices are always dropping and don't reflect significant technical improvements like airbags in automobiles, which increase the price of the car very slightly, but provide a much greater value to the consumer. You got all that?"
"Let's find out." CJ said as she ventured closer to the briefing room, only to be interrupted by Sam.
"Holy Interruptus, Batman."
"Something happened at Alex's Chilton graduation."
"You mean Kingswood Academy?" CJ asked. "Chilton is where the younger Gilmore wants to go."
"Yes," Sam amended. "Something happened at the graduation. There was an issue."
"What sort of issue?"
"Well, apparently, Alex added something in her valedictorian speech that was passionate and respectful. You might be asked about it. Put it off. The President found out last night but he's not ready to say anything yet."
"Okay, how bad is it?"
"It's not bad, just...delicate."
"Okay, I'll file it away." She paused. "Passionate and respectful, huh?"
Sam nodded. "On the heels of what's happening with Felicity, I think it's something we need to keep an eye on."
"Will do." CJ replied as Sam walked off. She rounded the corner.
"CJ!"
She turned to see Leo. "Leopold."
"Listen, I have an update on Felicity."
"Is she dead?" CJ said automatically. Given this new infection, she knew that the little girl could be on death's door.
"She's alive and kicking, CJ," Leo said quietly. "Just not a lot of progress yet. Doctors won't know anything until tonight. If signs are encouraging, they'll try to wake her up, I just got off the phone with the President. He was about to take a nap with Abbey. They've both been up most of the night. Limit it to thoughts and prayers."
"Will do. Listen, do you know anything about Alex's graduation?"
"FOX got a copy of the tape. The President isn't too happy that Alex went off the reservation. But Sam and Toby were already working on something related to legislation and they're willing to let it play out for a few days."
"There's a tape?"
"Courtesy of Richard and Emily and a three-man camera crew."
"Why am I not surprised?" CJ muttered as she headed into the briefing room and behind the podium.
"Good morning, everyone. I want to start with an update on Felicity Bartlet. She remains in critical but stable condition at Children's National. The President requests that thoughts and prayers continue at this time. I also want to talk today about the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And as a special treat for our friend Josh Lyman, who's recovering very nicely at G.W., the President's science advisors are telling us that psychics at CalTech and the Fermi National Accelerator Lab...you know what, I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be physicists."
Josh banged his head on the headboard in frustration as he watched CJ's briefing.
"Josh," Donna said and turned off the TV with the remote. "Are you ready to go home or what?"
"CJ did that to annoy me," He said.
"Because you're an easy mark."
"Hey."
Donna shrugged, "You asked. Now, are you ready to go home or should I tell the nurses you're in for another night?"
Josh stared up at Donna, love and admiration in his eyes. "With you? Always."
A flicker of a grin crossed Donna's face. This could work out.
Two hours later, Josh was walking into his apartment. "Home sweet home!" He called out.
"Joshua, don't shout." Rachel said, entering from the laundry room with some of Josh's shirts. "And come give me a kiss."
"Hi, Ma," Josh said, kissing Rachel on the cheek. "Thanks for staying, but you know you don't have to."
"Nonsense!" Rachel replied. "I don't have anything to get back to. You're more important."
"Still, thanks for coming," He said, hugging her for good measure. "I don't think I'm staying long though."
"And why not?" Rachel asked.
"Because he has a date with a girl," Donna answered, coming up behind him. "Not me."
"Who's this girl, Joshua?"
Josh smiled, "I was thinking about going to see Felicity Bartlet. She was looking for me."
Rachel nodded with a smile. "Go on. And give the President and First Lady my best."
"I will, Ma," Josh assured her. He turned to Donna. "Shall we?"
Donna took his arm. "Let's go."
At the hospital, Felicity was in her crib. The multitude of tubes and wires snaking around her were covered by a beautiful white blanket that was Felicity's favorite to hang out in since birth. It smelled like Abbey and of Jed too. Abbey was curled up in the chair by Felicity's bed asleep, lured back to it after being unable to sleep without her baby.
Emily came down the hall a few moments later and watched her little sister sleep. "Oh Abbey," She breathed.
Abbey stirred, startled to find her sister standing in the doorway.
"Emily." She greeted. "When did you get here?"
"Just a few minutes ago. Richard and Alex are at the Residence." Emily approached the crib quietly. "Any change?"
"No," Abbey said. "If things stay stable, they'll try waking her up tonight."
"That's good news, isn't it?"
"If she wakes up."
From behind Emily, Josh entered the room. "Good afternoon, ma'am, Mrs. Gilmore."
"Hi Josh," Abbey said surprised. "I didn't expect to see you here. You should be at home resting."
"I heard Felicity was looking for me," He explained.
"So we decided to come," Donna said, coming up beside him.
"I thought I heard voices," Jed said, coming into the room. "Josh! They sprung you from GW."
"Yes, sir. I thought Donna and I could come check on Felicity."
Abbey rose from her chair and gave Josh a quick hug before giving him a once over and peppering him with questions.
"Abbey, go easy on Josh," Jed said.
"Jed, the man came here right from the hospital. He could easily overdo it."
"I'll keep an eye on him, ma'am," Donna said. "I'll be staying with him."
Abbey raised her eyebrows. "Temporarily or permanently?"
"Well..." Josh trailed off, "we're sort of thinking, you know, permanently?"
"Isn't that interesting," Emily said, eying her sister. "Score one Madam Matchmaker."
"Don't encourage her," Jed warned but then he smiled. "But I suppose it is a happy development, especially now."
"I agree," Abbey said. "Congratulations you two. But seriously Josh. Take it easy."
"I will, Dr. Bartlet," Josh looked over at Felicity. He wasn't quite prepared for all the machines surrounding her or the tape over her eyelids to keep her eyes from getting dry. She looked far from the baby who gave him a hug before they left the museum.
"Hey, Felicity," He said quietly, approaching the crib. "So, we both ended up in the hospital, but…you're still fighting." He sighed. "If I thought I had something constructive to say, I'd say it, but….I don't know what to say, kid." Then, he thought of something he could say. "You know, when I was a kid and my sister died, I was known around Westport as 'the kid whose sister died'. I don't know if that ever went away, at least not back home. So, I want you to find something to define you. I don't want you to just be 'the girl who got shot', okay?"
"She won't be, Josh," Donna said, appearing beside him. "We'll make sure."
Felicity's ventilator started beeping rapidly and Josh looked over at it, "What's going on?"
Abbey rushed over to it and looked at the machine and then at Felicity, "Felicity is trying to breathe on her own."
Jed approached the bed and stroked the top of Felicity's hand, "Hey lovebug, welcome back."
Felicity's fingers twitched in response, giving the first sign that their big gamble paid off.