Time to shout out to the three people who have reviewed this story. You all ROCK. Seriously though, thank you so much.
I've posted two whole chapters today, and this one is actually long. I dunno. Just thank you for reviewing and reading this. Reviews give so much motivation, and I obsessively check my stats for hits. Pathetic? You bet!
The doors to the Situation Room burst open as President Bartlet and C.J. walked in at a brisk pace.
"Good afternoon, Mr. President," Kate said.
"Do we know if it was in fact Leo in the car?" Bartlet asked, getting directly to the point and motioning all those present who had stood up to sit back down.
"At this point, we still cannot say for sure," Kate replied.
"Why not? It happened in Washington, D.C., didn't it? We have a large intelligence budget, no? Then tell me why we can't find out who was in a damn car accident!"
"Sir—" C.J. said, trying to interject and stop him from becoming totally agitated. He was already volatile, but it was worth the effort to save him from an explosion early on.
"We won't know anything for certain until Agent Butterfield arrives, sir," Kate said, remaining calm. "He will give you a full briefing."
"Can you at least tell me whether or not there appeared to be any foul play involved?"
"It doesn't appear that way, sir, but we won't rule anything out until Agent Butterfield tells us exactly what he knows."
The President nodded his head and sat back in his chair silently, closing his eyes. Just then, C.J.'s cell phone rang.
"Excuse me, sir," she said, and ran out of the situation room into the hallway.
She flipped open her phone. "C.J. Cregg."
"It's Josh," the voice on the other line said.
"Do you know anything new about Leo?"
"No. Did you tell the President?"
C.J. sighed. "Yeah."
"How did he take it?"
"I – I don't know. It's all kind of a blur. I told him what had happened, and all he said to me was 'Is that why people are running around the West Wing so much?'"
"That's it?"
"Well, then he asked what hospital, what was being done, and what he should do now."
"Did you tell him to call Jenny and Mallory?"
"He said he would. I told him to come with me down into the situation room, and now we're waiting for Ron Butterfield to tell us any information."
"Good."
The two paused.
"How're you holding up?" Josh asked.
"I'm – I'm fine, I guess," she said, walking towards a wall and leaning her back against it. "I don't know, I guess it just doesn't seem real. I mean, I've seen some footage of the crash, because everyone's got it on their TVs, but I still can't believe it's Leo. I can't imagine that he's been hurt."
"Yeah."
"How's Donna?"
Josh turned and looked at his driver. "She's handling it like a pro. Being my sanity, per usual." He continued to look at her, hoping this would be the repartition for his latest meltdown.
"The girl's a rock, Josh," C.J. replied.
"Hey Donna, C.J. says you're a rock," Josh said, pulling the phone parallel to his neck while still attached to his ear, a slightly mischievous grin appearing on his face.
"What kind?"
Josh repeated Donna's words into the phone. "What kind?"
"Well, I don't think she's rough, so she's not pumice."
"C.J. doesn't think you're pumice."
"And I don't think she was born from fire because she's too sweet and doesn't have enough rage, so I'm not going to say igneous."
"Not igneous."
"But I think she's pretty adaptable to any situation, so it can be stretched to say that she undergoes metamorphoses constantly. So, I guess she's a metamorphic rock."
"You're metamorphic."
Donna smiled. "Is that just because C.J. can't think of any other kinds of rocks?"
"She just thinks you've run out of rock kinds," Josh said playfully.
"And also tell her that pumice is a specific kind of stone. Igneous and metamorphic are generalizations," Donna added.
"Donna also says that—"
"Yeah, I heard her," C.J. replied. "Ask her if she can name any other kinds of rocks."
"C.J. wants to know if you can name other kinds of rock."
"Granite…"
"Granite…"
"Limestone…"
"Limestone…"
"Fine," C.J. huffed. "But does she even know if pumice is a specific kind of stone?"
"C.J. doubts your rock identification abilities," Josh said. He then continued to talk to C.J., saying, "I think Donna must have had a pet rock growing up. Or belonged to her school's nerdy science club or something."
"Maybe geology was one of her fifteen majors?" C.J. quipped.
"Yeah, that's it!" Josh exclaimed.
"I didn't have fifteen majors, C.J.," Donna said loudly.
"She can hear me?"
Donna grabbed the phone from Josh and brought it to her ear.
"Yes, I can hear you, but it was more fun having Josh relay the information."
"Hey!" Josh shouted.
"And, plus," Donna continued, "it's bad to drive and talk on a cell phone at the same time."
"Well, yes." C.J. paused. "So, did you major in geology?"
"No!" Donna shouted.
"Rock club then?" Josh asked.
"No. I just – know things. Sort of," Donna said defensively.
"Uh-huh! She's lying, C.J.!"
C.J. laughed. "Yeah. Well, Donna, all things considered and all rocks aside, you're a truly strong person and I love you for it."
"Thank you."
C.J. chuckled and then began to talk more softly. "How's Josh holding up, really?"
"Oh, alright, I suppose," Donna said nonchalantly, trying to avoid suspicion from Josh.
"You'll call me when you have a chance to tell me the real details?"
"Yes," Donna firmly replied.
"Thanks. Hand me back to Josh, please?"
"Sure," Donna said, passing the phone over to Josh.
"What's up?"
"Please call me with any updates still, okay? Ron Butterfield will be here soon but I want reports on Leo's status from you."
"Okay. Talk to you later."
Josh closed his phone and smiled. He missed the stuff like the rock-talk C.J., Donna, and he had just had.
"You know, you forgot a very obvious kind of rock," Josh said, looking over at Donna.
"What's that?"
"Marble."
"You've lost your marbles," she snapped back, smiling.
"Ah, good one."
"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad."
"No, it wasn't," he conceded, as they drove up towards the hospital, the smiles wiped from their faces and silence engulfing the car as they remembered where they were traveling to and why they were really going.