Both the President and Leo continued to work nonstop on the flight back to Washington. Neither one of them heard any more from Cedars-Sinai, but given the information they were receiving from FEMA, they knew communication was so badly disrupted hardly anyone was being able to get messages of any kind out.
Leo's chest was getting tight, but that did not slow him down. He reached down and felt his little bottle of pills, but got distracted and never took one. By the time the plane touched down at Andrews, he was getting very uncomfortable and knew that, unless he got relief shortly, trouble was on the horizon.
The President, Leo and Charlie got off the plane and got into the Presidential limousine for the twenty-minute ride back to the White House. Leo tried to open the bottle without the President seeing it, but he was unsuccessful.
"Leo, what are you doing? What are those pills for?" as Leo slipped one under his tongue.
"Nothing, Sir."
"Leo, tell me."
"Nothing, Sir."
Jed grabbed for the bottle and took it out his friend's hand. Reading the label was easy for the man married to a cardiac surgeon.
"Nitroglycerin. LEO!"
"Don't shout, Mr. President."
"I will shout when you have been hiding something from me. How long have you had this?"
"Sir, can I have them back? I need to take another one."
Jed handed him the bottle and Leo slipped another one under his tongue. The first one had given him no relief.
"I got them from the flight surgeon the first night of the trip. I had a little episode that I thought was indigestion and he thought it was more than that. Apparently, it was."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Charlie just looked at Leo. He knew that sooner or later the President would find out about Leo's trouble, but he had been sworn to secrecy.
"I didn't want to worry you."
"Leo, you're stupid, you know that?"
"Yeah, that's what I've been told a few times." He opened the bottle and slipped a third one under his tongue. The second pill hadn't relieved the pain in his chest. He prayed that this third one would.
The limousine arrived at the White House, but Jed didn't make any effort to get out. "You want to tell me now what your doctor told you last week? Or do I need to call him myself?"
"Please don't, Mr. President. I will tell you that he told me I've used up probably eight of my nine lives and I needed to take better care of myself. And I needed to tell my friends so they could mother-hen me."
At that, the President smiled. "And that is exactly what Abbey and I are going to do. Now, let's get to work."
"No, Sir."
Jed turned back to his Chief of Staff. "Why not?"
"Because the Flight Surgeon said that if the third pill didn't relieve my chest pain, I needed to seek medical treatment. So, if you don't mind, can you have the ambulance that's behind us take me to GW or Bethesda because I think I'm having a heart attack."
The President yelled for Ron. "I need an ambulance now. Leo's having a heart attack."
Ron spoke into a mic and instantly a contingent of agents scrambled in to action. Some ran to get the paramedics from the ambulance about three cars back in the Presidential motorcade while another one opened the door on Leo's side and leaned in to monitor the Chief of Staff. Ron spoke to the Medical Office and within seconds the doctor on call was out on the driveway with his bag and portable defibrillator. He took the agent's place in front of Leo while the paramedics brought the stretcher from the rear of the ambulance.
Meanwhile, the President and Charlie stood back and watched the actions of the personnel trying to save the life of not only the President's Chief of Staff, but also his best friend. Josh and Sam appeared as they had been notified the motorcade had returned, but didn't know why the President had been delayed from arriving in the Oval.
Leo, in the meantime, just laid back in the seat trying to catch his breath and trying to deal with the crushing pain. He knew people were all around him, trying to help, but was just trying to focus on himself at the moment.
In what seemed like forever, but was just minutes, two agents reached in and eased the Chief of Staff out of the car and helped him onto the stretcher. The paramedics inserted the oxygen tubes in his nose and turned on the tank. After belting him in, they pushed the stretcher to the ambulance, loaded him in, and drove away with sirens on.
"Ron, where are they taking him?"
"Just a minute, Mr. President, I'll check." He spoke into his mic and then listened for the reply in his earpiece. "GW, sir. That's the closest."
"Keep me informed."
"Yes, Sir. Of course."
The President turned to Josh, Sam, and Charlie, and motioned to them. "Come on. We still have work to do."
'What the hell else can happen?' Jed thought as he made his way to the Oval Office. This was one trip he would long remember.
