Josh walks into a room in the Bartlet farmhouse. Leo, Toby, and Sam are going over the speech with Doug and Connie. It's going about as well as it usually does. Josh just walked past Cerulean napping with Fred in the other room, and he hopes the argument doesn't wake her. God knows she doesn't get enough sleep.
"He has to sell the greatness of America," Doug insists.
"Why?" Sam says.
"Because it's an implicit argument to stay the course!"
"We're selling the greatness of America," Sam replies.
"Not enough!"
"We're selling it in paragraphs one, two, eight, sixteen, twenty-six, thirty-six-"
"Listen, it's a simple equation. Bartlet rules America. America rocks, therefore Bartlet rocks," Doug says. There's a collective raising of eyebrows from the Senior Staff. There are so many things wrong with that train of thought Josh doesn't even know where to start. Perhaps with the casual disregard of democracy. Bartlet rules America? If Bartlet ruled America, we wouldn't be having this stupid discussion.
"America… 'rocks?'" Sam says, unsure.
"Bartlet 'rocks?'" Toby is more incredulous than Sam.
"Yes." Doug is completely unaffected by their reaction. Josh stifles a laugh.
"He really doesn't that much," he says. "Leo? Can I see you for a second?" Leo looks grateful for an escape.
"Yeah." He gets up and follows Josh out into the hallway as Doug sighs in frustration. When they're out in the hall, Josh turns to Leo.
"RU-486," Josh says.
"There's nothing we can do-"
"The last thing we need is to come out of the gate waving a flag to the American heartland-"
"Look, Josh-"
"-saying we don't share your values!" Josh finishes.
"The President understands all that," Leo says.
"And?" Josh prompts.
"That's the way it goes." Leo turns to walk away. Josh follows him.
"Leo!"
"The FDA is an independent agency. They can announce when they want," Leo says.
"The FDA is a division of HHS and technically not an independent agency."
"Technically?"
"I can keep the President away from this. I can call the FDA's chief of staff, I got him his job," Josh says. "They can wait-"
"No!"
"Two weeks- to announce the drug. They don't have to do it on Monday. I can fix tobacco," Josh says.
"Tobacco?" Leo replies, giving Josh a look. Josh realizes what he said and shakes his head.
"No, I meant 486," he says weakly. Leo's look is a mix of stern and sympathetic.
"Leave the FDA alone." Leo turns to go again. Josh doesn't have any more to say and sighs. Before either can do anything else, a shrill shriek comes from the room Cerulean's in.
Josh bolts towards the noise. Cerulean is sitting upright in the chair, sobbing. Josh is at her side in seconds. Sam is right behind him and scoops Cerulean into his arms. Josh turns his gaze from them to see Leo, Toby, Doug, and Connie in the doorway. Everyone except Toby is alarmed by Cerulean's hysterics. Toby seems resigned.
"Josh," Sam says. Josh hears the unspoken plea and goes to the bystanders. He begins ushering them away.
"It's all right, nothing to see here. Sam's got this," he says as they go back into the other room. Josh can still hear Cerulean's sobs so he tries changing the subject. "Are we still arguing about the President rocking? Because I can confirm he's an absolute nerd."
"What the hell was that?" Doug asks, eyes wide.
"Nightmares. It's completely normal," Josh says. "Sam's got her, she'll be fine in a minute or two." Probably, he thinks. He hasn't actually witnessed one of these before.
"What kind of nightmares end like that?" Doug says.
"Just leave it alone, all right? Making a big deal of it will only make it worse." The sobs ebb and the soft sound of Sam's voice is just barely audible.
"If Sam needs to take her home, I can arrange something," Leo says.
"He doesn't want that. Cerulean doesn't want that," Josh says. "She loves being here with us." Leo nods, slightly unsure.
"If we're all finished prying into Cerulean and Sam's personal life, I'd like to get back to the speech," Toby says. He adds with a slight grumble, "As ridiculous as most of the conversation is…"
Sam carries Cerulean in at that moment. She's red-eyed and sniffling but the crisis appears to be over. Sam turns to Doug, looking as though nothing had just happened.
"Where were we?" Sam says. Doug resumes his argument of selling the greatness of America without any further prompting. Josh sighs in relief. Thank God Doug wasn't a complete asshole.