A/N: Here's my new story! It's a bit different than my other stories-it's a crossover! I noticed no one has done an ER/West Wing crossover before, so that's what this is. Timeline reference: It's set between seasons 3 and 4 of The West Wing, approximately a month after "Posse Comitatus"; and shortly after the season 9 premiere of ER and the smallpox crisis. Hope you enjoy, please read and review!
Chapter 1: The Accident (June 2002)
It was a warm summer evening, and it was raining hard as President Bartlet and his Senior Staff emerged from the Chicago convention center, McCormick Place, where the President was giving a speech. Barely a month had passed since the "War of the Roses", and everyone was in much better spirits.
They were pretty pleased with themselves: the Illinois trip had gone better than they had dared hope. Although Illinois was typically a Democratic state, they had been worried that the President's MS would lead to decreased voting turnout in the Midwestern states. As it turns out, they needn't have worried; the crowd in Chicago had greeted him with a hero's welcome and had greeted the President's stump speech with applause. There was no doubt in Leo, Josh, Sam, Donna, and CJ's minds that they had earned Illinois' vote in the general election.
Only Toby was annoyed. "Sam!" he yelled over the cheering crowd as the President was ducked under the canopy (a must since Rosslyn). Toby ran over to Sam.
"He blew the D-section." Toby groused as he and Sam slid into the limo.
"What are you talking about?" Sam asked, perplexed. "The education piece?"
"Yeah. I wrote it."
"So, he ad-libbed. So what?"
"I'm just saying we need a better grasp on what our message is instead of having to fix it on our feet!"
"I thought it was inspired!" Sam replied as Leo, Josh, Donna, and CJ climbed in.
"Leo? I thought you were going with the President." Toby asked as the limo pulled away from the curb and fell in line with the motorcade.
"I wanted to talk to Josh about a couple things. The congressmen we need to talk to, stuff like that."
"Oh, Donna." Josh said. "Get me a breakfast meeting tomorrow with Skinner. I want to go over the environmental legislation for the next session."
"You're sure you want it to be breakfast?" Donna asked without looking up from Josh's calendar.
"Why not?"
"Because we're getting in late, and you should sleep in."
"Donna, I am perfectly capable of operating on four hours of sleep."
"Whatever you say, Josh."
"Donna, I'm serious!"
Meanwhile, Sam and Toby were still engaged in a heated debate.
"Are you still arguing about the education piece in the speech?" CJ asked.
"What's the argument?" Leo wanted to know.
"President Bartlet wanting to add federal funding for Head Start in the education bill?"
"The stump speech ad-lib?" Leo guessed. He'd known Toby long enough to know when ad-libs grated on his nerves.
"I don't see why he can't just stick to the script…"
Toby droned on to Leo. CJ asked Sam about local press coverage and ratings for the speech, which he had helped her coordinate in addition to writing the speech. Josh and Donna were still lightly bantering. Everyone was talking excitedly at once, and didn't seem to notice that the Secret Service agent driving the car was having trouble keeping his eyes open.
Then it happened.
The next thing the Senior Staff heard was a loud blaring of the horn as the limo slid on a slick spot in the road, veered off course, clipped the car in front of them in the motorcade, and crashed head-on into the guardrail before striking it broadside. As soon as the car skidded, everyone went sideways. Toby tried to go for CJ before her arm went through the window of the limo, and Josh jumped over Donna, determined to protect her.
The next thing Josh heard were sirens. He blinked heavily and tried to orient himself, but all he could hear were the sirens. And cello music…
He was back at Rosslyn. He tried to sit up, to get help, but his body hurt all over. He felt wetness on his mouth. Reaching up ever so slightly and touching his mouth, he lowered his hand and saw blood.
He froze.
"Josh...Josh?...Josh!"
Josh's head snapped toward the sound. Back to reality. He realized that his body must have instinctively covered Donna's, and tried to move back, give her room to sit up, but groaned in pain.
"Are you okay?" he half-groaned, half-whispered in Donna's general direction.
"Yes. I think so." Donna said, sitting up slowly and checking herself for injuries. "You-You saved me."
Josh chuckled mildly. "I just wanted to keep you safe."
"Are you OK?"
"My chest and back hurt."
There was panic in Donna's eyes, but she kept calm. "Just lie still." she told him.
It was then that he began to make sense of his surroundings. Leo was next to him on his left, apparently unconscious, his head a mess of blood. CJ was directly across from Leo, stirring but wincing as she handled her left arm, which had been smashed against the car door in the crash. Toby, also having instinctively protected CJ, was dripping blood from his arm, but was also conscious. Sam had smashed his head against the window, but had only a jagged laceration. Josh turned his head slightly to see the driver pinned against the steering wheel, obviously in bad shape.
"Is everyone all right?" CJ croaked out.
"I've got a gash on my arm a mile long, but other than that, I'm just dandy." Toby deadpanned.
"I think I'm okay." Sam shifted, the blood on his head running down his cheek, and CJ couldn't help but gasp. "Sam…"
"I'm okay, really. This isn't as bad as it looks."
"Josh, Donna?"
"I'm okay, CJ." Donna answered. "More shaken up than anything else."
Before CJ could ask how Josh was doing, the ambulance sirens grew louder and screamed up beside the demolished car. Paramedics appeared seemingly out of nowhere and began to wrench the car apart. Josh winced at the sound of the saws, but Donna put a comforting hand on his arm. Rescue was at hand, and this was not going to be like it was before.
…
The County General ER was eerily quiet for a Thursday night. There were half a dozen patients in Chairs, but they mostly had minor injuries and were discharged quickly. The news was playing softly in the background, playing coverage of President Bartlet's speech. Dr. John Carter was silently thanking whatever gods had decided to give them a quiet night. They needed that break. Between the death of beloved attending Mark Greene from a brain tumor, and the smallpox crisis that had snuck up on them, it had been a whirlwind month.
A few of the doctors and nurses had gone into the lounge to watch the President's speech. It wasn't that Carter didn't like politics, but he wasn't completely invested in the President's visit to Chicago the way some people on staff were.
"Carter!" He turned to see Dr. Kerry Weaver walking towards him, apparently just getting on shift. "You on tonight?"
"Yeah, but I don't know what we're going to do with ourselves all night. There's no one here."
"Yeah, that's just how it is in the beginning. Just wait." Frank, the desk clerk on duty, commented.
Suddenly, a huge burst of cheering and applause broke out from the staff lounge.
"Oh, for God's sake, what is that? A football game?" Weaver snapped irritatedly.
"The President's speech." Nurse Manager Abby Lockhart said, coming up from behind them from where she was treating a patient.
"You telling me you and Carter are the only ones working tonight? The rest of my staff's gone gaga for Jed Bartlet?"
"You know it!" Dr. Greg Pratt said from behind her. "This man has already changed our nation, and he's gonna keep changing it! Four more years!"
"Four more years! Four more years!" The voices of Dr. Jing-Mei Chen and Nurse Chuny Marquez joined Dr. Pratt in his chanting.
"All I'm saying is that I don't understand a lot about American politics." Dr. Luka Kovac was saying as he carried on a conversation with medical student Michael Gallant. "Why is the President doing campaign events when he should be running the country?"
"Because he has to prove to America that he's worthy to keep around for another four years." Gallant patiently explained.
"He's a good speaker." Kovac agreed. He turned to Nurse Haleh Adams, who was picking up a chart. "Haleh, what do you think of the President?"
"He's got my vote." Haleh told him, smiling.
"All right, that's it! Everyone back to work! I hear another word about Jed Bartlet tonight, it's scut for the rest of your shift!" Weaver yelled out. There was grumbling as everyone checked the board-it was practically empty.
Carter looked at Weaver funny. "You sure are a spitfire for someone who couldn't care less about politics."
"Oh, you didn't hear?" Haleh told him, gesturing towards Weaver. "She's voting for the other guy."
"The other-the other guy?" Carter sputtered. "You are aware Illinois is a blue state, right?"
"What? I'm from Florida, which is...incredibly not."
"Still, Rob Ritchie? Really?" But before Carter and Weaver could go any further in their mini-argument, Nurse Lydia Wright came running in. "You guys better come see what's on the news!"
The group still in the reception area instinctively gravitated towards the TV, where the coverage had been interrupted for a special report.
"We've just gotten word that a limo from the Presidential motorcade has hit a slick spot on the road and hit the guardrail of I-90. There are reported injuries, but no deceased. It has not, I cannot stress this enough, it has not been confirmed as to whether or not the President's vehicle was involved in the crash."
Suddenly, the news reports were interrupted when they heard Chuny on the MICN. "Yeah, thanks!" She hung up and ran out to Chairs.
"They're coming here!" she called out. "At least six, two critical."
"The runaway car from the motorcade?" Pratt asked, wanting to confirm.
Chuny nodded.
"Is it the President's vehicle?" Chen spoke quietly, almost afraid to ask.
Chuny hesitated, then shook her head. "No, it's not. They would've said so if it was." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't celebrate for long.
"Okay, let's move!" Weaver yelled, pulling out yellow trauma gowns for everyone. "We need all hands on deck. Haleh, clear the trauma rooms, let's discharge everyone non-essential. Frank, page Corday, get her down here now! And when you're done, call the blood bank and tell them we need all the O-neg they can spare. And someone make sure we have enough morphine on hand."
"I got it, Dr. Weaver." Nurse Lily Jarvik called, running to the back.
"The rest of you follow me! Quiet night, my foot." she muttered. She, Carter, Pratt, Chen, Kovac, Abby, and Gallant headed out to the ambulance bay to meet the incoming trauma.
"What have we got?" said Dr. Elizabeth Corday as she ran up beside them. She had only recently returned to work following the death of her husband and brief move to England, but she was ready to jump in with both feet.
'Car broke off from the Presidential motorcade and crashed. Six patients, two critical." Kovac answered.
"Got it." Corday responded, then did a double take. "When you say Presidential, do you mean…"
"The President of the United States." Kovac replied with a nod of the head.
"It's not the...President, is it?"
"No." Chen said. "Just another car in the motorcade."
Corday nodded. Suddenly, the sirens grew louder as the first ambulances began to pull into the bay.
"All right, let's move!" Carter yelled. "Gallant, you're with me!" He and Gallant ran to meet the first ambulance. Corday shook off her nerves, it being her first major trauma since she returned, and went to meet the next one. It was going to be a long night for everyone.
A/N: And there's the first chapter! This story is going to be notably shorter than my other ones, but I wanted to get this idea down. Hope you enjoy it!