Chapter 11

"Leo, I have to tell you something."

"What?"

For so many years, this secret had been kept. Had to be kept. But now, she had to break down the barriers and let another person in on the secret. She trusted Leo with her life. She hoped she could trust him with this.

"Leo, I need to tell you something. Only a few people know about this. The girls. His doctor, and Dr. Hackett. I think this is the time that you also should know."

Abbey looked at her hands. She couldn't bring herself to look Leo directly.

"What is it? Abbey?"

"He has multiple sclerosis, Leo."

Leo looked at Abbey, shocked for a number of reasons. Shocked for just now hearing about such a serious illness in the President of the United States. Shocked that his life-long friend is ill. And shocked that he was never told.

"Abbey, why, why didn't you tell me this before? How long have you known? What is his prognosis?"

Abbey looked into Leo's eyes, trying not to let her tears hinder the answers that Leo needed. That he deserved.

"I knew something was wrong. I see you trying to cover the panic. I see you prescribing medication. I think you're giving him shots."

"It was diagnosed about seven years ago. His life expectancy is normal. His particular course of MS is called relapsing-remitting, which means he should experience total recovery after attacks. I give him injections of something called betaseron, and that reduces the frequency. Fever and stress tend to be two things that will induce an attack."

"Why wasn't I told about this before?" Leo was trying not to feel hurt. He was deeply concerned about his best friend's health, but he was hurt more because they had withheld the information.

"Both Jed and I decided that it would be best not to share it. And then the campaign started getting out of control and he won more and more delegates. Pretty soon, we were scared to release it. Jed wanted to be President and he was afraid that this news would be the end of his campaign. Except for one time during the campaign, he has been relapse free so we tried to push it as far away from our minds as we could. Denial has worked. Worked at least until now."

Abbey looked at Leo, hoping to see forgiveness in his eyes. She knew how hurt he was and she wished things were different, but they weren't.

Leo so wanted to forgive Abbey, to forgive Jed. Right now, both of them needed his support. But later, he knew it would have to be discussed.

"I'm okay. You and Jed need me right now. And I'm here for you."

"Thanks, Leo." Abbey leaned forward and hugged Leo. "Thanks," she whispered softly.