"That's it. Open your eyes. I know it's a struggle, but you can do it."
Abbey really didn't want to do what the voice was telling her to do. What she really wanted to do was to go back to the beautiful place where there was no noise, only quiet and whatever she thought was what occurred.
"Mrs. Bartlet, it's time you joined us."
'What the hell was this person saying? Time to join us?' Abbey was going to show her. She struggled and finally a little bit of light hit her senses. Now, that would show this person she meant business.
"That's good. Now open them a little more."
'Hell, lady, they're open.'
"A little more, Mrs. Bartlet. I want to see them open all the way."
Abbey closed her eyelids, paused, and then really gave it her all. This time light flooded her eyes. She quickly closed them and waited.
"That's great. Mrs. Bartlet. Let's keep them open a bit longer the next time. I've turned down the lights so it won't be so bright."
Once again, Abbey gave it everything she had and opened her eyes wide. This time they stayed open. She looked up and saw a woman's masked face looking down at her. 'Where was she? This woman looked like a doctor. Last thing she remembered she was about to give a speech.'
"That's better. You have a tube in your throat helping you breathe, so you can't talk. Do you understand?"
Abbey nodded. Of course, she wanted to say "I'm a doctor, you idiot. I put the damn tubes in people. I know all about them.'
"I'm Sarah Mason, a nurse anesthetist. You're in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. You've been very sick and you've had major surgery, but I think you're going to be okay."
Abbey relaxed a little bit. At least she knew where she was and what had occurred.
"Now, I want you to sleep a little bit more and when you wake up again, we're going to try and get you in a more comfortable setting. And remove that tube. Do you understand?"
Abbey nodded. She was tired. Just this little bit of interaction was tiring. She had more questions, but had no more energy to try and fight the need for more sleep.
Across the country, the ambulance pulled up to the emergency room at GW and the stretcher holding the White House Chief of Staff was rushed into the ER and into the nearest trauma room. The cardiologist on call met the stretcher and started barking orders.
"Get him on the monitor. Get another IV started. Put a mask on him! Draw some enzymes stat! Notify the cath lab! Tell them we'll be there in 15 minutes!"
Each team member knew their role and hurried to complete their assigned task. In the meantime, Leo just laid on the stretcher, in a daze, hearing all the noise in the room, but not really caring. All he cared about was the pain in his chest and wondering if this was what death felt like.
"Mr. McGarry, can you hear me?"
Leo turned to the voice. "Yeah?" muffled through the oxygen mask.
"Are you in pain?"
"Yeah."
"On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the most intense, what is your pain?"
Leo had to really think though the fog that was settling in his brain. "Eight."
The doctor listened and barked a new order. "2 mgs Morphine IV stat."
"NO!" Can't" Leo tried to scream through the mask.
The nurse leaned over him. "What did you say, Mr. McGarry?"
Leo pulled down the mask, "Can't take narcotics. Was…addicted…"
The nurse went over to the doctor and informed him of the problem. He changed the drug and the nurse gave Leo the new drug through the IV. "This drug is fine, Mr. McGarry."
Within minutes, the pain was relieved, and Leo was finally able to relax a little bit.
The next thing Leo knew he was being moved out of the Emergency Room. The nurse leaned over and spoke. "We're moving you to the cath lab. They are going to take real good care of you."
Leo nodded. He hoped the nurse knew that meant thanks.
At the White House, Charlie knocked on the Oval Office door. "Mr. President, Ron would like to talk with you."
"Send him in."
Ron entered and Jed looked up. He hoped he had good news.
As usual, Ron looked stoic. Tired, but stoic.
"Have any news?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Well?"
"Mr. McGarry is stable and has been moved to the cath lab. I've been told the procedure may last as long as two to three hours. I have an agent with him and we have called his daughter to go to GW to be with him."
"Thanks, Ron. Anything else?"
"Yes, Sir. We finally have been in touch with the agent with Mrs. Bartlet."
"Abbey? How is she, Ron?" Jed held his breath, not knowing exactly what Ron was going to say, but hoping for good news.
"He has sent word that she had a successful surgery and has just recently come out of the anesthesia. The staff at Cedars-Sinai is trying to find a room for her so she and Lilli can be together. LA is still a mess, but we are trying to arrange a helicopter evacuation from the hospital to Camp Pendleton, the Marine Base in San Diego. From there, an Air Force med evac will fly her to Andrews. Apparently, there is a fairly large number of service personnel that were injured in the earthquake and the hospital at San Diego can't handle them all. I'll let you know when the plans are made."
"That's the best news I've heard in a long time. Thank you, Ron. For everything."
"Yes, Sir."
Jed swore he saw just a sliver of a smile on Ron's face, but if he did, it was only for a split second.
Either way, Jed could tell that Ron was happy as well, even if he didn't show it.
