Wow! Okay, I can't thank you enough for the feedback! It makes me so happy there are still people out there still as crazy for The West Wing as I am! And a special shout-out to Maddinjim! Here's another chapter! I hope you like!

Enjoy!

I'm Not Fine

"Okay, I think it's time we took a break." Leo announced as he stood up from the table not giving Annabeth, Otto or Lou a chance to say anymore. He still wasn't used to being treated like a candidate.

"We should go over…" Lou started but Leo held up his hand to stop her.

"We'll meet back here in 30 minutes…" He cut her off. "Does anyone know where Josh is?"

"He's in with the Congressman." Otto answered, getting to his feet. "Do you need him?"

"Nah," Leo shook his head and moved towards the door. "I'll be back in 30…."

"Leo?" Lou followed him out of the room.

"Lou, I'm just going to get a cup of coffee and maybe read a newspaper…" Leo told her, not bothering to slow his pace. "We'll pick this up again in 30 minutes."

"It's not that…" Lou jogged a little to catch him up. "What's going on?"

"In the world? I'll tell ya after I've read the paper…" Leo quipped.

"I mean with you…or Josh." Lou replied. "Or you and Josh…The Congressman is worried about it…Does he know what's going on? Should the rest of us be worried?"

Leo sighed as he stopped and turned to face her. "No, you shouldn't worry about it."

"Leo…"

"Josh has got everything in hand…It's nothing to do with the campaign…"

"He's campaign manager." Lou stated. "A very high profiled campaign manager…In fact, a lot of people knew who he was before they knew who Santos was…"

"It won't affect the campaign, Josh will make sure of that…" Leo started to walk away again.

"Leo." Lou reached out to stop him from leaving. "We've all heard the rumors…"

"Rumors?" Leo questioned, tensing a little.

"The shooting." Lou shrugged. "I mean, you go through something like that then there is bound to be a lasting effect on you physically and mentally…"

"Listen…" Leo wasn't sure if he was relieved she didn't know about the cancer or be concerned about what gossip was going around about Josh's PTSD.

Josh hadn't made an announcement to the press about it but he hadn't kept it secret either. In a town like DC, word was bound to get around about it; luckily so far no one had tried to use it against him.

"If the stress of this campaign…"

"It's not." Leo cut her off, firmly.

"I'm just saying that people are here to help." She claimed. "Like I said, Josh is an important member of this team and it's important that he's at his best…"

"Careful, Lou…You're starting to sound like you like and care about him." Leo smirked.

"I do not." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yes, it's a stressful time for Josh…for all of us….but Josh has got this…he knows what he is doing." He tried to reassure her. "Everything is fine."

"Everything?" Lou repeated. "So, Josh is fine?"

There was a slight pause but Leo then forced himself to nod his head. "Yeah…Josh is fine."

Lou didn't say anymore and Leo wasn't sure if he had convinced her or not but she allowed him to walk away this time and after a few seconds he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding when he heard Lou walking back to the conference room. He understood Josh's reasons for keeping the cancer quiet but he wasn't wild about lying to people.

He was relieved to see the suite they were using as a break room was empty and headed straight for the coffee pot. He hesitated for a second but reached for the pot of decaf with a groan; deciding it wasn't worth the trouble he'd get someone caught him with the regular.

He was just shifting through a pile of newspapers when he heard the door open.

"I'm on a break." He announced without turning around. "For another 26 minutes, I'm not the Vice President Candidate…"

"Leo Thomas McGarry…" He froze for a second when he heard a familiar voice; one that didn't belong to a campaign staffer. "You've always been a terrible influence on my son…And this is your punishment."

He grinned widely as he turned around to see Marie Lyman stood in the doorway.

"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes." He set his mug of coffee down and greeted her with a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Checking up on my boy."

"Got sick of waiting for him to remember that you live down here?" Leo translated.

"Actually, he called me this morning…Asked me to meet him for dinner." Marie replied. "I thought I'd surprise him and come see if I can lend a hand."

"You wanna be Vice President?"

Marie snorted. "Do you think I'm crazy?"

"Well, you are Josh Lyman's mother…" he started to say but the door opened again.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" Helen Santos apologized when she saw them. "Am I interrupting?"

"Not at all." Leo waved her into the room. "Mrs. Santos I'd like you to meet Marie Lyman."

"Lyman?" Helen questioned, throwing Leo a curious glance as she shook the older woman's hand.

"Josh's Mom." He explained.

"Oh, well it's nice to meet you, Mrs Lyman…"

"Oh please, call me Marie…" Marie told her. "And I'd like to apologize for my son."

"Apologize?" Helen repeated, noticing Leo smirking.

"For dragging you into this…" Marie waved her hand around. "He gets these ideas in his head and that's it…"

Helen couldn't help but laugh a little. She may have only just met her but she had a feeling she was going to like Marie Lyman.

"I actually came in here looking for Donna." Helen said to Leo. "We were meant to be going over my schedule…Have you seen her at all?"

He shook his head. "I've been locked in a room with Lou, Annabeth and Otto…I've only just managed to escape."

"Well, Marie would you like to join me for a cup of tea while I wait for her?" Helen offered.

He older woman smiled. "That would be lovely… Leo, is there any chance of my son making an appearance any time soon?"

"He's in with the congressman but I can go and get him…" Leo offered but Marie stopped him as Helen walked over to the table to prepare the tea.

"No, I'm sure he's got a lot to do." She replied. "Besides, I don't want anything to get in the way of dinner tonight."

"Marie, even if he tried to cancel on you, I wouldn't let him." Leo assured her, patting her hand gently.

"You're not his boss anymore, Leo." She reminded him teasingly.

"Fine, I'll call and get the President to order him to have dinner with you."

"You know, it doesn't take a Presidential order for most sons to have dinner with their mother…." She replied dryly but Leo knew she wasn't serious when she squeezed his hand that was on top of hers.

Leo smiled and squeezed her hand back before guiding her towards a table, pulling a chair out for both her and Helen as the younger woman placed a pot of tea and two cups on the table. He stepped away to pick up his own mug coffee, leaving the women to talk.

He felt a little guilty for being surprised that Josh has contacted his mother. A part of him expected Josh to avoid seeing her during this trip so he could push her away like he did with everyone else but when Leo really thought about it, he should have had more faith in him. Marie and Josh had always been close; they had to be after everything they had been through. Josh was all she had left and Leo should have known he would do the right thing by her.

"Marie?!"

He turned around to see Donna crossing the room and hugging the other woman.

"Oh, it's so good to see you." Donna claimed and felt herself start to well up a little.

"You too, dear…" Marie pulled back. "I'm sorry Joshua has dragged you into all this again…"

"Wha…what do you mean?" Donna's eyes widened, wondering if Josh had told her about the cancer.

"Another Presidential campaign…" Marie explained, studying her closer. "Are you okay, dear?"

She forced a smile and shook her head, a little, trying to get a hold of her emotions. "Yes, I'm fine…Just tired, I guess…And surprised…I didn't realize you were coming."

"Joshua asked me to meet him for dinner tonight but I thought I'd come a little early." She explained. "See if I can spend some more time with him."

Donna closed her eyes briefly and took a shaky breath, glancing at Leo before smiling at Marie again. "Good luck dragging him out of here..."

Marie paused for a moment, not missing the look Donna and Leo shared. "Is everything okay?"

"Of course…Just remember this is your son during a presidential campaign we're talking about…You'd be lucky if he remembers what dinner is." Leo joke but Marie knew he was covering something up.

"Yes, well it seems like such a long time since I've seen him that I'd settle for just a hello." Marie decided to let it go for now.

Leo reached over and squeezed her hand again. "We'll make sure you get some time with him…I promise."

They all took a seat back at the table and Marie noticed that it was Helen and her doing most of the talking, while Leo and Donna sat back and listened; only adding comments every now and then. Marie could feel panic start to rise inside about what could possibly be wrong but no matter how much she wanted to demand to know the truth, she kept her cool and talked to Helen about her favourite subject; her son. Although, she knew Josh probably wouldn't be very happy about the embarrassing stories she was telling.

It was another 30minutes when Matt Santos entered the room, followed by Josh and Marie almost gasped aloud when she saw him. He had lost weight, looked tired and pale…She remembered how Noah had looked during the last few weeks of his life…She remembered how Josh had looked after Rosslyn…She remembered how he looked during his cancer treatment…. And the panic she had felt earlier turned into outright fear because her son looked terribly sick.

TBC

The next couple of chapters will feature Josh's Mom! I really enjoyed writing her in this! These are quite short chapters but they do start to get longer. I promise.

Please review and let me know what you think! Thank you!