Welcome Back
They stood in the doorway, watching as the nurse checked their daughter's IV lines, adding several medications through a port on the side. Satisfied with the results, he stepped away and smiled warmly at them as he passed. Mallory lay amidst a sea of monitors and machinery, all beeping and chiming in a steady rhythm. As Leo and Jenny moved to her side, they were struck by how still she was. Their daughter had always been a bundle of energy. In fact, Leo swore she came out running and hadn't stopped since.
Jenny squeezed her ex-husband's hand. Leo looked at her with empathy, knowing exactly how she felt. "It's okay, Jenny. She's gonna be okay."
"She just looks so . . . she looks like she . . . "
". . . Like she's been shot and is lucky to be here," he whispered.
"Oh, Leo, I was so scared that we were going to lose her."
Leo wrapped his arm around Jenny's shoulder and pulled her tight. "Me too, Hon, me too." Jenny reached out to touch her daughter's hand, but stopped, hovering just above it. Sensing the hesitation, Leo took her hand, covering it with his own and gently guided it the rest of the way. He felt Jenny flinch as she touched her daughter's cool skin, "It's okay, Jen. She's a little cold, but that's because of the anesthesia. She'll warm up."
Jenny slowly sank into the chair next to Mallory's bed. After a moment, she reached out to brush a strand of hair off of her daughter's face. "Mallory, it's Mom," she whispered. "Your Dad and I are here with you. We're waiting for you to open your eyes, Baby." When she got no response, Jenny's head slowly lowered to cover Mallory's hand. "Oh, Mal," she cried.
"Shh, shh," Leo soothed. "Jenny, she's gonna be okay. She's tough, remember?" He reached down and stroked Jenny's hair, "Please, Hon, please don't cry. She can hear us, you know." Gradually Jenny's sobs quieted, and she lifted her head.
There was a light tap on the open door, "May we come in?"
Leo turned, "Abbey, Scotty, of course." Noticing the President was missing, Leo asked, "Where's your shadow?"
"Ron wouldn't let him come down this far without a little advance. He'll be here shortly."
"Sure. What was I thinking?"
Abbey smiled knowing exactly where Leo's mind had been. She turned her attention to the bed and motioned, "How's she doing?"
"I don't know, Abbey. She's so still."
"Yeah, her body is still in shock, Leo. The best thing that could happen right now is for her to rest."
"I know, but it's just so hard to see her like this."
"Jenny?" Abbey took her friend's hands in hers.
"Oh, Abbey. I'm so grateful that she's alive, but I'm so angry that she was hurt like this."
"I know what you mean, I was the same way when Zoey was hurt."
Leo turned away from them at the mention of the youngest Bartlet daughter's name. "Leo, don't start. That wasn't your fault, and none of this is your fault either."
"I really wish I could believe that."
"Are you calling me a liar?" He tucked his head but said nothing. "Leo, I love you very much. And contrary to what you may think, I have forgiven you for what happened to Zoey." He tried to hide the tears that were forming. Abbey reached out and lifted her friend's chin, forcing him to look into her eyes. "Leo? Do you know why I've forgiven you?"
"No," he said softly, dropping his head again.
"Because there's enough blame to go around. Let's start with the kidnappers and, yeah, let's put Jean-Paul right up there with them too. But if you want to expand the list, we have Jed, Charlie, Josh, the Secret Service, not to mention Zoey herself. Hell, I was ready to blame the cook if thought I could get away with it." She smiled, pausing, waiting for her friend to respond. "And last, but certainly not least, I was to blame too," she admitted as her hand moved to his shoulder. "Listen to me, Leo," she tried, but he didn't move. "Come on, Leo, look at me." He slowly raised his head. "You are not only my husband's best friend, you're my best friend too. You have been there through everything with us, including Zoey's kidnapping. Do you honestly think that Jed would have stepped down and invoked the Twenty-Fifth if you hadn't been in the West Wing? You were the only reason he even considered it. It's you, Leo, you who holds him up. You, and no one else."
He stared at his long-time friend, taking her hand from his shoulder, gently dropping a kiss on it, then holding it over his heart as her words finally registered. "You're his rock, Abbey, not me," he said quietly.
Overcome by his sincerity, she finally reached for him, putting her arms around his shoulders, drawing him into a warm embrace. "Well, I'm the one who gets to come down on him like a rock anyway. And as you well know, punishment usually includes slapping him around a bit," she chuckled. "Many times literally!"
"Hey, if there's any slapping to be done, I'm the one who's gonna do it," the President broke in.
"Good afternoon, Mr. President," Jenny chuckled as she turned to hug him tight.
"Jenny. How you holding up?"
"Hanging in there."
Jed held her hands and smiled, "Yeah. And you?" he asked, turning his attention to his best friend.
"I'm fine," he responded in true Leo-mode.
"Mmm. I can see that."
Leo, ignored the attempted dig, breaking the First Lady's hold. "You know, I never asked you, Sir. How'd the thing go last night?"
"Oh, the State of the Union is intact, and the speech was a success. In fact, Congress loved me, Leo. However, I'm afraid it wasn't even close to my finest performance." The President looked down at his best friend's daughter. "Guess I had a few other things on my mind," he added quietly.
"I guess," Leo agreed.
"How's she doing?"
"Still serious, but they tell us she's stable and improving with each passing hour."
"Well, I guess your prayers were answered, Leo."
"Yeah. Mallory told me just before she hung up yesterday, and then again before she went into surgery to 'keep the faith.'"
"So how's it going so far?"
Leo smiled, "It's been a long time gone, but I'm working on it."
"You never stopped believing, Leo. You just got side-tracked."
"I don't know about that," he shook his head.
"Sure you do. You've prayed every day, your whole life, Leo. You prayed when you were you were a kid, you said a prayer when you went off to Vietnam, every time you climbed into that F-105, when you got married, when Mallory was born, and I know for sure that you prayed when Josh and I were shot at Rosslyn. You get up every day and say that you're not going to drink today – that's a prayer, too. I know you, Leo. You've said many, many prayers over the years."
"Maybe. I'm not so sure He ever really listened."
Jed smiled at his friend and glanced skyward. "He was listening, Leo, but remember what we were taught," he questioned. "All prayers are answered. It's just that sometimes, the answer is 'No.'"
"Yeah."
Suddenly, there was movement from the bed. "Mmm."
"Mal?" Leo moved to his daughter quickly and took her hand in his. "Mal? Open your eyes, Baby," he encouraged.
"Come on, Sweetheart. You can do it. Come back to us," Jenny added, reaching for her daughter's other hand.
"Mmm." Mallory batted her eyes in an effort to focus. "Mom? Dad?" she whispered.
"Hey, Kiddo. How ya doin'?"
"Dad!" She tried valiantly to lift herself off the bed.
"Whoa there! Easy now." Mallory's strength suddenly left her as quickly as it came.
She allowed Leo to gently guide her back to her pillow. "Hurts, Dad."
"I know, Mal. They're giving you stuff for it, but you shouldn't try to move. It won't help. But just in case it's worn off, I'll get the nurse," he said as he started to move to the door.
"Don't leave me, Dad," she pleaded.
"Shhh, shh, okay. I'll call him from here." He reached for the call button that would summon help to his daughter's room, then continued. "Hey, Jed and Abbey, and Uncle Scotty are here too."
"How you doing, Kid?" the President asked.
She tried to look around the room, "Hey, everyone . . . guess this isn't . . . how we all . . . wanted to get . . . together again, huh?"
They chuckled in spite of themselves. "No, Mallory," her mother spoke up. "I think that we would rather have gotten together for something like your birthday."
"Birthday?" Mallory frowned with concentration. "Dad, what day is it?"
"It's Wednesday."
"Your birthday . . . tomorrow . . . sorry for spoiling it. Was gonna get your . . . birthday present in . . . Orlando."
"Wasn't your fault. And you waking up is the only birthday present I need, Mallory," her father said as he brushed a strand hair off her forehead. "Just remember though, you gotta work on getting better, 'cause you owe me a date. You promised to go to dinner with me when you got back, remember?"
She closed her eyes as the morphine began its hold on her once again. "Never left you . . . Dad."
"Thank God for that," Leo smiled as he squeezed her hand.
"See, Leo?" Bartlet grinned.
"Oh, just give it up, would ya?" Leo shook his head, grinning sideways at his friend.
"Never," Jed smiled in return.
Tears began falling down Mallory's cheeks, "Dad, why did this happen? Who would do . . . I don't know . . . what I did to deserve . . . "
"Shh, shh," he comforted. "Listen to me, Baby. Don't think ever think that what happened was your fault in any way, shape, or form. I don't want you to worry about that guy, or anything about the shooting. You're safe now," Leo reassured, as he brushed the tears from her face. "You just take it easy, concentrate on getting better, okay?"
"Yeah." Her eyes began to drift shut. "Dad," Mallory whispered, "would you hold me? You know . . . like you did . . . when I was little?"
Leo was taken aback. He looked at the others in the room for guidance, uncertain of how he should respond. Finally he replied, "Mal, um, I'm not sure the doctors and nurses would appreciate me climbing into bed with you." He gently patted her hand, "I might be in their way or something."
She opened her eyes slightly, "Please, Dad. I need your . . . arms around me . . . to feel safe."
Looking at his daughter's face, seeing the pain in her eyes, Leo finally understood just how much she needed him . . . and just how much he needed her.
Sensing that Mallory and her father wanted to be alone, Abbey suggested, "Why don't we go to the waiting room. I asked that food be brought there because Jed can't go the Mess, and I think it would be a little more private for everyone. Leo, we'll go and let you and Mallory talk."
"Not sure how much talking we'll do, but thanks," he nodded, grateful for the gesture. "Jenny?"
"I'm think I'm going to go lie down for a bit. I'm pretty tired and Abbey's right, you and Mallory need to spend some time together. Alone."
He nodded and dropped a kiss on her cheek. As his family and friends quietly exited, Leo slipped his shoes off and crawled into bed next to Mallory, taking care not to disturb her leg. Lying on his side, he wrapped his arms around his daughter, settling in behind her, letting her head come to rest against his chest. He slowly stroked her hair, like he did when she was three years old and couldn't sleep.
"I love you, Dad," she mumbled as her eyes closed once more.
Leo whispered, "I love you too, Baby." As he traced small circles on her temple, she slowly drifted off, her breathing becoming deep and regular. Leo watched her chest rise and fall, as he reflected on how lucky they both were.
Slowly, Leo became aware of the rhythmic whir of the monitors as his mind replayed the last two days and all they held. In the past 36 hours, a madman had set out to destroy his life, and as a result, his daughter had nearly been taken from him. His relationship with his family and friends, especially Abbey, seemed to be back on track, and most importantly, his little girl was going to be okay. Thank you for taking care of her. Thank you for restoring my faith . . .
As he relaxed into sleep, a fleeting thought crossed his mind. At some point, he had to figure out what was going with Tommy and the whole Clemmons mess. But I can't think about that right now, he scolded himself. He was completely exhausted, and it was really warm in the bed next to Mallory. Finally, it was all too much to resist. His eyelids became slits, then closed as he followed his daughter down into blissful sleep, safe in the knowledge that for tonight, if only for tonight, no one could touch his family.
TBC in Family Matters