Can you feel the angst tonight?

Things had been speeding along, but, somehow, in the car, time seemed to stop. He had yelled at Donna, asking her why she couldn't go faster, only to have her reply that 85 was the fastest she felt comfortable driving at right now. He also asked her why it took so long to get there; Donna said it didn't. Josh couldn't believe her.

He felt negligent, he felt responsible. What would Leo have been doing today had he not made him run for Vice President?

"C.J.'s telling the President?" Donna asked quietly.

It took a minute for Josh to return back to the planet Earth. "Um, yeah. She said she was going to."

"I can't even begin to imagine how horrible that must be for her."

"Yeah," Josh replied numbly. But, he thought, I'd rather do it than C.J. – I want a chance to explain myself, to ask the President for forgiveness.

"And he'll be calling Mallory and Mrs. McGarr— Leo's ex-wife?"

"I'd assume so. It makes the most sense," Josh replied.

"Is there anyone else we should be calling?"

"I don't know. You talked to Lou."

"Yeah," Donna sighed. "She'll take care of everyone over at the campaign."

She paused for a minute. Then continued. "I was just wondering if – who – if anyone was going to call Sam. And Toby."

"Oh, God," Josh whispered. "Sam."

"Should you or I call him?"

"I – I don't know. I think I'll call. I don't think that he'll be on C.J.'s list. She's going to have a lot to do just dealing with the President. And investigating what the hell happened."

"And Toby?" Donna said timidly.

"Yeah. I'll have to call him."

There was silence for a minute. It seemed strange to them to talk of all their old friends, the old gang. And to call and tell them that the leader was apparently near death. It just didn't seem right.

Donna broke the reprieve, asking,

"How long has it been since Sam last saw Leo?"

"I don't know. A while. They were supposed to meet up for lunch when Leo was in California a few months back, but it never happened."

"Should we be calling him?"

Josh turned and looked at Donna, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean Sam hasn't spoken to Leo – or, well, hasn't seen him – in quite some time," she replied, switching back and forth from keeping her eyes on the road and looking at Josh. "It's just that I'm wondering if we really should be calling Sam to tell him that Leo was in a car accident."

"You'd rather we wait to see if Leo's okay to call?"

"I don't know."

"Then what's the point in calling at all?" Josh's voice began to get more tense and angrier with each word.

"If it's a false alarm and Leo only has a few cuts and bruises – well, then we'll have worried Sam for no reason."

"So you'd rather we wait for Sam to see it on CNN."

"No, it's just that –"

"No, no, I see what it is," Josh said, his voice gaining a shrill laugh as he spoke. "You don't want to call Sam until we know something for sure. But, if Leo's fine, you don't care about calling him. All you want to do is wait until Leo's dead. Because, then, you can call Sam, but he'll be grief-stricken without the minutes of worry before hand, and then it'll make sense to call him. I mean, God, Donna, why would anyone call a friend who lives across the country to tell them a mutual friend was in a car accident? It's a waste of caring. It's not as if Sam's going to hop on a super sonic jet and fly out to see Leo within the next twenty minutes. And, since he isn't, we shouldn't bother him with the details!"

Josh finished speaking and Donna waited to reply. It isn't his fault he was acting like this, she told herself, it's what happens to him when things get scary. The sarcasm, the grief, all signs he's stressing. And I'm the one who has to help him.

"I'm just trying to assess the situation, Josh. I'm sorry."

Josh turned his entire body towards the window and whispered a hostile "Yeah," as they drove on towards the hospital.