Breaking the News (2/4) "Mom"

Josh dug his phone out of his pocket and just stared at it for a long moment. He knew he had a phone call to make, but he was avoiding it.

"I can call her for you Josh," Donna offered, understanding his dilemma.

Josh shook his head. "No, I need to do it. She needs to hear it from me—from me and definitely not from the news." He left his place against the window and next to Donna to pace the hallway. He flipped open his phone and dialed the familiar number. "Hi Mom," he said.

"Hello Joshua," his mother, Rebekah, said. She stood in her kitchen, the kitchen that Josh had only been in a handful of times, and looked at the clock. "What's the matter Joshua? It's too early for you to be calling to gloat. The election hasn't been called yet."

"Mom, you need to," his voice broke. He took a deep breath and started again, willing the tears to hold. "Mom, you need to sit down."

"What happened?" she asked again. She did as he asked, though, and sat in a kitchen chair. She knew that her son's news couldn't be good, not with Josh's voice breaking. "Tell me Josh. Tell me what happened."

"Leo's gone, Mom." His voice broke again, but this time he couldn't stem the tears. "He died a few minutes ago."

Rebekah drew in a sharp breath, and she felt her throat close up. She'd known Leo for years. He and Noah had been friends for years, and with time, she'd come to know Leo as a friend as well. "How?" she asked.

"Another massive heart attack," Josh answered. "Not an hour ago, Annabeth went to find Leo for interviews and whatnot, and found him unconscious and not breathing." Tears swam in his eyes, and he blinked rapidly to clear his vision, without success. He took a deep, not so steady breath and spoke again. "I don't know what to do now."

"Listen to Donna. Think about what Leo would want tonight. You know he'd want you back at that hotel, trying to put Matt Santos into office." She changed tacks. "When will the funeral be? I want to be there."

Josh shook his head, before remembering he was talking to his mother on the phone, and that she couldn't see him. "I don't know. It's all happening so fast."

"Does Mallory know?" Rebekah asked. She was controlling her tears, knowing Josh needed a rock right now. She could cry after she finished comforting her son. She knew Donna would also be crying her own tears tonight. So for a few moments, the role of Josh's rock fell to her.

"She was here for the election. Annabeth called her as the ambulance left the hotel." Josh was quiet for several moments. "I'm not sure what I'll do if we win tonight. I don't know how I'll run the country without Leo."

"You'll manage. You always do. It wasn't your fault, Joshua. You didn't force Leo to join the ticket. In all your years growing up, do you ever remember you father making Leo do something he didn't want to do? The answer's no Josh. Leo never did anything he didn't want to do. Leo wanted to join the ticket. Take comfort in the fact that Leo was doing what he wanted to right up until the end," his mother advised. "Now go back to that hotel, and do what you need to do to make Leo's final wish come true. Go enjoy your night." She hung up, not giving Josh the chance to argue with her.

Josh looked at the phone, realizing that his mother had stopped any arguments he could make. He closed the flip phone and stopped his pacing to look at Donna. "What now? What do I do now, Donna?" he asked brokenly.

She gathered him in her arms. "We go back to the hotel, and finish putting Matthew Santos into office. It's what Leo would have wanted, so that's what we're going to do. And then after we win tonight, we'll celebrate Leo's life, because he'd hate all of us crying over him."

He nodded and wiped the tears from his face, and together with Annabeth, they left the hospital.