This is when the story begins to become dragged out and gets quite preposterous. Bear with me.
"I need you to call the Secret Service and give Donna and me clearance to see Leo," Josh said quickly.
"They aren't letting you in?"
"No, even though I am the campaign manager of the campaign in which he is the incumbent for Vice President, so, I was hoping that since you're the White House Chief of Staff and everything, you could call and get us in."
"Okay, fine," C.J. sighed, the things she had to do piling up uncontrollably. "I'll do it, just sit tight."
"Yeah." He closed his phone and began to pace again, while Donna sat calmly and patiently.
"Before, before when the President was shot and you weren't with us that night, was the security this hard to get through?"
"Yeah, it took me forever."
"How long?"
"What?"
"How long did it take you once you arrived?"
"I don't know. Half-hour, maybe?"
"Jesus," Josh said, taking his hand to his head.
"But, this is different. It's not the President of the United States who's in here, it's Leo. And, while Leo may as well be as important as the President on a lot of counts, he doesn't have the title which invokes so many privileges. Don't worry about it, we'll get in."
"Yeah."
Josh walked around a little bit more, and Donna remained to sit. She had never been to the hospital more than three times in her life before Josh was shot in Rosslyn. After that, her frequent flyer miles to GW were pretty damn high. Then, take in the time to get Josh's hand fixed, getting blown up in Gaza and flown to Germany… well, the numbers had totaled. Donna was now a knowledgeable person about hospitals.
Josh interrupted her thoughts, asking, "When you got to the hospital that night, what did you say to the Secret Service agents who were guarding the doors?"
"That I worked at the White House, and I showed them my ID card."
"But they didn't let you in?"
"No. I had to find an agent I knew."
"Did you try telling people you worked for me?"
"After the first agent I just went and looked for someone I knew."
"It really took that long to find someone?"
"Yeah. It was chaotic."
"But, once you found someone, they let you in?"
"Right away."
"But you didn't know any details until you got inside, right?"
"No. Nothing until I got into the waiting room with Toby and the First Lady and everyone."
They went back to their separate little worlds: Josh, blaming himself for Leo's accident, and Donna, worrying about Josh. They way it always had been for her. The way it always would be.
"What was it like trying to see me in Germany?"
Josh snapped his head around to look at Donna. "Huh?"
"When you came to see me in Germany, how hard was it to get in?"
Josh stared at her for a minute, wondering why she would bring that time up. The time when he hopped on a plane, no questions asked, flew to a foreign country, and then found Donna had slept with a photojournalist. A British one. Who was, well, rather good-looking.
Josh brushed the thought out of his head and laughed. "Well, the nurse at the desk basically wouldn't let me, so I had to play the White House card. Told her my rank of a three- star general."
"And then?"
"Then I was there."
"So, that doesn't sound too challenging."
"Well, after flying over an ocean, it had better been pretty easy."
"I bet you liked using the three-star general line."
"You better believe it," Josh replied with a smirk.
Their comfortable silence after their conversation was interrupted as the Secret Service agent who had originally barred them from the hospital returned.
"Mr. Lyman, Ms. Moss, I just received word from Ms. Cregg and Agent Butterfield: you two are able to go inside."
"Thanks," Josh said, as he ran in and Donna followed after grabbing her purse.
Once inside Josh stopped. It seemed almost – normal, except for all the Secret Service people and FBI agents running around. There was no sense of urgency, or, for that case, emergency.
"We've gotta see Leo McGarry –"Josh said, turning around to look at the Secret Service agent who had let them in and followed them into the building. "Where is he?"
"Excuse me a minute, Mr. Lyman, I'll have to check with another one of the agents," the armed escort replied, and walked over to a group of agents huddled in a corner.
"What do you think it is that's going on?" Josh whispered to Donna as she walked up next to him.
"I don't know. Maybe it's more national security related than we thought."
"A car carrying the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate?"
"It doesn't have to be foreign terror. It could be a radical right group."
Josh looked away, and then returned to lock his eyes with Donna's. "Do you seriously think that – I don't know – the Fascist Anarchist Absolutists of Annapolis, Maryland would attack Leo's car?
"No."
"Okay."
"But I don't think there is such a person who is a Fascist Anarchist Absolutist, by the way."
"More the reason Leo's car wasn't attacked by them." Josh surveyed the area. "I don't know, Donna. Something's up. It just doesn't seem right."
"Mr. Lyman –"
Josh turned around. The original Secret Service agent had brought along another friend.
"Yeah?"
"Mr. Lyman, my name is Agent Dempsey, and this, who you've been talking to, is Agent Bernard."
"Hi," Josh said, extending his hand to the new agent and then taking it back and pointing to Donna. "This is Donna Moss, Press Secretary for Santos for a Brighter America."
"Hello, Ms. Moss," Agent Dempsey replied. "Now, Mr. Lyman, Agent Bernard said that you were trying to get in to see Leo McGarry and that Ms. Cregg from the White House called to give you clearance."
"Yeah. And Ron Butterfield did too, apparently."
"Right. Before we can accommodate you by any means, we need to know whether or not there will be more people coming."
"What do you mean?" Donna asked.
"What I mean is that before we can give you any information about Mr. McGarry's status – well, it's just that we'd rather inform the entire group as a whole, rather than singularly informing groups, or, having the word spread by means of television and other news sources."
"We're the only two from the campaign coming right now," Josh answered. "But, Congressman Santos will be wanting to visit his running mate later, I'm sure, as well as the President visiting Leo."
"Yes, sir. And, if those are the only other people arriving, when will they be here?"
"Hold on," Josh said, extending his finger towards Agent Dempsey. "What's the deal here? Leo's," Josh laughed, "Leo's been in a car accident. It will not just be Donna and me who have come to visit him. Leo has a daughter, and a large group of people who may as well just be family. If you're trying to restrict the numbers of visitors, or—"
"We're just trying to keep any information from leaking to the media."
"Why, though?" Donna shot in.
"It's – it's sort of a complicated situation. Why don't – I'll have Dr. Morgan come and speak to you two. He's the doctor who – he'll tell you everything. I don't feel comfortable discussing this without the correct medical terms. But, you two need to promise me that anything Dr. Morgan says will be kept within a small group of people. A group you can trust. If the media gets wind of what has happened before we're ready to deal with it – well, it could be catastrophic. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Josh said with conviction.
"Ms. Moss?"
"Yes."
"I'll be right back with the doctor. In the mean time, Agent Bernard will help you with anything you need." And with a smile, Agent Dempsey walked off and Josh pulled Donna over to him.
"What the hell is going on here?"
"I have no idea," Donna replied breathlessly.