Jed had been up now for almost thirty-six hours and had finally decided to go upstairs to the Residence and take a short nap.
But before he could lay down, the phone rang. He was too tired to go back downstairs, but if he had to, he would. The job didn't stop just because the President was exhausted. "Hello?"
"Jed, it's me." The voice he longed to hear was finally making its way across the country.
"Abbey! How are you?" His exhaustion briefly left him, replaced with joy over finally hearing his wife's voice.
"I'll be okay. Listen, I don't have long. The agent gave me his phone and I don't want to keep it too long. I am fine. I promise. They say I might be evac'ed out of here tomorrow. The hospital has most of its power back, so the patients are fine. I just wanted to hear your voice."
"I love you, Babe. I can't wait to see you."
"Me neither. The girls okay?
"Yeah. I called them as soon as Ron gave me the good news. Abbey, I'm sorry about Dr, Lang. He was a good man."
"He was, Jed. They were all good people."
There was a slight pause in the conversation as both thought about the loss of life at the Convention Center, and how close Abbey had come to being one of them.
"Can you call Lilli's husband and tell him she's fine?"
"Charlie has already done that. I'll meet you at Bethesda when you arrive. I love you."
"Listen, I need to go. I'll see you soon. I love you too. Bye."
"Bye." And then the line was dead. But he had heard her voice and he was satisfied.
He started to lay down, satisfied that Abbey would be okay, when the phone rang again. "Yes?"
"Jed, it's me."
"Leo!" His voice was a little rough around the edge, but it definitely was his Chief of Staff.
"Mallory gave me permission for one call so you should consider yourself lucky."
"How are you?"
"Sore. But the docs say I'll live."
"What did they find?"
"A couple of blockages. They put some stents in to open the vessels and told me I was damn lucky that it happened where it did. Otherwise, I might have come home in a box."
Jed shivered at that thought. "How long are you going to stay out?"
"Well, I thought maybe a week or so, but my daughter also talked with the doctors and she said that two weeks or more is the bare minimum. And she's taking me to her house so she will make sure that I take at least that."
Jed laughed. "Women. They always get their way, don't they?"
"Yeah. Anyway. I just wanted to give you an update. I'll be here overnight at least so I'll call Josh tomorrow morning and let him know what's on my desk."
In the background, Jed heard Mallory yelling "No, he won't."
"Tell Mallory that I will have Josh call you in two days, okay?"
"Okay. Mallory is now over here asking for the phone, so I guess I have to hang up. I'll talk to you later."
"Leo, take care of yourself. Please."
"I promise. I guess I will now have to let you and Abbey mother-hen me."
"Yes. And don't forget it."
"I won't. Bye."
"Bye."
Now Jed could lay down and sleep knowing that his world, which had been upside down, was finally right-side up. About time.
THE END
