Two weeks later and things were still tense between Jed and Abbey. Since her refusal to make love on New Year's night, there had been no attempts on either person's part to bridge the gap. Jed was busy trying to finish up the State of the Union speech, which took up a lot of his time, while Abbey was finalizing her plans to be gone to Manchester over President's Day weekend. That meant Lili rescheduling two local speeches but those weren't big deals.
The biggest issue was Jed's unexpected trip to Europe in early February for the meeting of the European Economic Council. He had accepted an invitation to speak at the opening session and wanted Abbey to accompany him. That would delay her trip to Manchester by two weeks and make it harder to get away unnoticed.
Trying to balance the dual issues of politics and her health left her confused so she made another call to Bob Nolan. In the past, he had always been a good source of advice.
"So, you see, I just don't know what to do. I know I'm having more symptoms. The drug doesn't seem to be working and the ache in my arm appears to come more often. But if I don't go with Jed to Europe, then the political fallout will be tremendous."
"Abbey, why haven't you told Jed about this?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Just because."
"That's not an answer."
"I know that's not an answer."
"Wouldn't you skin him alive if he kept something like this from you?"
"Yeah. But this is different."
"Why is this different?"
"It just is."
"Abigail Bartlet, may I be blunt with you?"
"Of course, you can."
"You're a damn fool."
Abbey knew it was true. She should have told her husband this at least a month ago. She should have said something the day she talked with Dr. Hackett in the Medical Office. Now he was so involved in the most important speech of the year and she knew how important that speech was, this was not the appropriate time to drop this bomb on him. "Yes, I am."
"So, what are you going to do about it?"
Abbey sighed. There was really only one thing she could do. "Tell him."
"When?"
"Now."
"When?"
"Now."
"Abbey, I know he's got a lot on his mind and you hate to bother him, but this is serious. He needs to know and you can't mess with your health any longer. You need to get this done as soon as possible. I will tell Dr. Scott to be on standby. Let me know when you are coming. Abbey, I beg you. Don't put this off."
"I hear you, Bob. I promise you."
"Okay. I'm expecting to hear from you. Bye."
"Bye. I'll call you soon."
They hung up. Abbey waited a minute, but reluctantly called the familiar number.
A male voice picked up. "Abbey, hello."
"Jed, we need to talk. Can you come up here now?"