The Presidential party was on their way back to Air Force One when Ron's phone rang. "Hello?"
"Agent Butterfield, this is Agent Thomas, finally reporting in."
"Thomas? We've been trying to reach you, What's your status?"
"I'm fine. I here with Mrs. Bartlet's Chief of Staff. Does the President want to talk with her?"
"Yes, the President wants to talk with Lilli. Just a minute."
Ron turned around and leaned over the seat. "Sir, Agent Thomas is calling from LA. He's with Lilli. She hasn't seen Mrs. Bartlet since before the surgery, but do you want to talk with her?"
"Yes!"
Ron handed him the phone and Jed began to talk with Lilli as Leo and Charlie listened.
"Lilli! Thank God! How was Abbey the last time you saw her?"
"Mr. President, she was very sick. She lost consciousness at the Convention Center and had not regained it when they took her to surgery. They said she had an abscessed ruptured appendix. She had been throwing up off and on all day, but kept saying she was okay. I tried to help her, but she kept refusing." Lilli tried her best not to cry when talking with the President, but it was very hard. "Sir, I tried. I really did. I have never been with her when she's been so sick."
"That's okay, Lilli, you tried. She can be really stubborn at times. How bad is it out there?"
"Sir, I don't know how bad it is outside, but there seems to be a lot of damage here at the hospital."
"Okay. Well, we are headed back to Washington. When you get to see my wife, please tell her I love her very much and I will try every way possible to get you both out of there. You got that?"
"Yes, Sir."
"I have to go now. If you can call me again, please do so. I need to hear how the surgery went."
"Yes, Sir, if I can call again, I will."
"Thanks, Lilli. I appreciate this call. Bye for now."
"Bye, Sir."
Jed handed Ron back his phone. He sat silently for a few minutes, thinking about the bad the devastation must be out in LA at this time. And how the person he loves the most was trapped in the middle of it. He just had to find a way to get her out of it. But he also had a responsibility to the millions of Californians who also had been caught in the living hell that was going on out there. There had be a way he could do both. There just had to be a way he could do both.
After take-off, the President and Leo was busy strategizing what needed to be done next to help the victims of the earthquake. The President had already talked to the FEMA director and the Governor. Upon the Governor's request, he had mobilized the National Guard under the direction of the governor and declared a major disaster for the state. Now, it was a matter of waiting to see what was needed next from the federal government.
The transportation infrastructure was completely disrupted. Because the disaster had occurred just before sunset, very few pictures were available of the damage. But first reports indicated the heaviest damage occurred in the downtown area. Freeways were cracked and bridges collapsed. LAX runways were buckled and inoperable. John Wayne airport in Orange County, normally an alternative to LAX had a power outage with no idea when they would be operable again. Planes scheduled to land at LAX and Wayne were being diverted to San Diego and San Francisco.
Along with the power and gas lines ruptured, fires were breaking out without the fire departments unable to reach them to extinguish them. The Emergency Response System was receiving reports of people trapped in collapsed structures, but because of the disrupted infrastructure, they were unable to send response teams. Police and news helicopters flying over the city with spotlights were sending back images of massive destruction of structures and homes, especially older ones built prior to the passage of the stricter building codes in 1994 after the Northridge quake. This particular quake was even stronger than the 1904 earthquake that devasted San Francisco.
The President and Leo were watching CNN when one particular image came on the screen. The announcer was saying, "And this is all that is left of the Los Angeles Convention Center. The wide span building could not stand up to the intense shaking and movement of the quake. The roof collapsed into the building itself, and, as you can see, anyone in it would have been killed instantly by the weight of the debris coming down. We understand that some sort of international meeting was being held there this week, but we have no information yet as to whether or not anyone was in the building at the time of the roof collapse. In other news…" Jed muted the sound and looked over at Leo.
"My God, Leo. If Abbey had not gotten ill, she would have been there. At least, there's a chance she can come out of this alive. But Eric Lang, Director of the National Cancer Institute was there. I guess he gave Abbey's speech for her after they took her to the hospital. I know Abbey told me he was scheduled to be on a panel discussion after her speech. I don't see how he could have survived."
"No, Sir. I don't either," was all a stunned Leo could say.
