George Washington General Hospital
"How old are you?" Liz asked .
"I'm nineteen"
"Do you go to school in DC"
"Yeah, Georgetown," Doug answered.
"Wow. I could never get into Georgetown"
"What's your GPA"
"3.6"
"You could definitely get in. I had a 3.4 in highschool," Doug said.
"Oh. Cool"
"So. A baby. How bout that"
"You're a a real wiz with words, you know," Liz said.
Doug laughed.
"I know. I'm sorry. Anyway, tell me…about it"
"Her. Her name is Annie. Anne Rosalynn Bartlet."
"Pretty"
"Thank you. If you pass the nursey on your way out, you should go see her. She's beautiful"
"Maybe I will," Doug said. "Can I ask you a personal question"
"Um. Sure"
"What about her father"
"What about him? Jackass," Liz muttered under her breath.
"I take it…you're not together"
"Hell no! I'm not sure we ever really were. Jackass"
"How old is he"
"Who, the Jackass"
"Yeah"
"Seventeen"
"I guess he wasn't ready to be a father," Doug assumed.
"I'll say. You think I was ready to be a mother at sixteen? No. But I didn't run away from me. I didn't ignore me. I didn't ditch me. Jackass"
Doug stared at her for a moment, then smiled. She had an interesting way of talking that was rather foreign to him. Unlike him, Liz was good with words, though…in a more original way. That would be only word he could find to describe Elizabeth Bartlet. Original.
"I'm scaring you, aren't I"
"No! You're not. At all"
"Well…thanks"
"Hey, when do you get outta here?" Doug questioned.
"Tomorrow"
"Maybe we could"
Doug's sentence was interrupted when the hospital room door burst open. They both quickly turned their heads, to see Abbey and Jed boisterously enter the room, arguing about something or other.
"Liz, the Silvermans are"
They both immediately silenced themselves when they saw that their daughter was not alone. Liz smiled. She was glad her parents walked in. Now she could introduce them to her new…friend.
"Oh! Doug, these are my parents. Mom, Dad, this is"
"Doug," Abbey said.
Elizabeth frowned.
"You know each other"
"Dr. Bartlet, how are you?" Doug asked.
"Fine, thanks"
Jed looked at Abbey quizzically, and Liz expressed the same silent question to Doug.
"Doug's grandmother is a patient of mine," Abbey explained.
Instantly, Jed knew who she was talking about and looked at Doug suspiciously.
"Oh. Well, that's cool. I love coincedences," Liz said.
"When Liz said her last name was Bartlet, I didn't even make the connection. I thought your children were younger, Dr. Bartlet," Doug said.
"Liz has two younger sisters. Twelve and seven," Abbey said.
"Yeah. Just…never expected you to have a sixteen-year-old"
"How did you two…meet?" Jed asked, in an effort to change the subject.
"Doug thought I had lukemia," Liz laughed.
"That's not funny, Elizabeth," Jed said.
"I'm not laughing at lukemia, Dad! I'm laughing because the situation was…funny. And, guess what. Doug brought me flowers"
"That was nice of him," Abbey said.
"Yeah. It was kind of spur of the moment," Doug said.
"I see. Anyway. Liz, Ben's here"
"Oh, God"
"Who's Ben?" Doug asked.
"The Jackass," Liz replied.
"Elizabeth Adele!" Jed said.
"Sorry"
Doug laughed.
"Adele"
"Shut up!" Liz exclaimed.
"You've only just met me and you're already yelling at me"
"Yep," Liz grinned. "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship"
"I don't believe this!" Abbey exclaimed, the minute she and Jed exited Liz's room.
"Yeah. I know"
"I don't BELIEVE this"
"Calm down now, we don't know what's gonna happen," Jed said.
"Oh, I know what's going to happen. I should have known from the beginning. I don't believe this"
"Abbey"
"I don't believe this! I mean, I really don't believe this. This is…unbelievable"
"Let's move on to another word now, shall we"
"Damnit! You know she's gonna fall madly in love with him. The one person we don't want her to. It always works that way," Abbey said.
"Now, hold on a minute. I thought you liked this boy"
"I DO like him"
"Then what's the problem"
"He's a drug addict, Jed!"
"Oh, right. But you said he's giving it up," Jed said.
"He is. But that takes time. A lot of time. And she can't afford to play around with someone like that right now. She's got Annie to think about"
"Yeah. I don't know. Let's wait it out. Maybe she's not even interested in him…that way. They've only just met, Abbey"
"Yeah, but I saw in in her eyes"
"Saw what"
"Determination"
