Title: Heaven and Hell: Horatio (Chapter 13)
Authors: Enigmatic Ellie and Westwinger247
Webpage: http://wing_nuts.tripod.com
Email: e_allen@hotmail.com or WingNutsChief@yahoo.com
Notes: This is the sequel to the award-winning sequel to The Quest. For our faithful (and vocal) fans: We’re writing as fast as we can. Thanks for the interest. Reviews are encouraged—they make us write faster sometimes.
*****************
Leo McGarry’s Office
Friday,
“What’s it called?” Leo asked the speaker
phone as he sifted through the memos on his desk. Margaret, who after two weeks was finally
feeling back to herself again after battling and illness that felled fully one
third of those on staff in the last 10 to 14 days, gave him something about the
storm and now Fitzwallace was on his way to Leo’s
office with the Secretary of the Navy to discuss evacuation measures for
several bases. They had been blindsided
by a storm not too many years ago and were looking to avoid a similar situation
again.
“Horatio,” CJ said, getting her information
from the scrolling bar on the bottom of the TV set in the airport lounge. “It was a tropical storm until a day ago and
it took steroids or something last night and picked up speed and strength as it
moved through the
“Arrows?” Leo
asked. “Is that a meteorology term?”
“No, it’s what I’m seeing on the weather map
CNN is showing right now,” she said.
“They’re red and they’re arrows so they look either bad or important or
maybe both.”
“You should sit in on my meeting with Fitz,” Leo groaned as he looked at the sketchy information
he had on the storm.
“And give my amateur weather girl gig?” CJ
quipped as she massaged her neck with her free hand.
It had been an awful day from the
start. Traveling with Josh was never a
fun experience, in her estimation. They
were sent to
The meeting had gone on longer than planned
which in turn got them stuck in traffic and led to them missing the return
flight. They were now on standby,
watching weather reports carefully, as the storm picked up speed and steamed
toward the east coast. CJ kept her
fingers crossed that air traffic control would not get overly cautious and
start closing airports before they got out.
“It’s not going to keep you in
”
“Is something going on?” CJ asked, looking
at Josh several feet from her talking intently and lowly on his own phone.
“It’s a big country, CJ,” Leo said. “There’s always something going on. We have to get prepped for the economic
summit in
“Yeah,” she sighed. “Well, we have a few options. Right now, there are flights to any place
west…”
“West doesn’t help me,” Leo reminded
her.
“I know, but there’s no weather in the west
apparently,” she said, looking at the board showing the departing and arriving
flights. “We had discussed taking the
“The storm is heading to
“Yeah, but they’re betting it hangs out on
the coast,” she said, quoting the closed captioning on the TV. “It’ll probably hang out on the coast for a
bit since there’s this… blue squiggly line that looks pretty formidable waiting
for it.”
“Do you have any idea what you’re talking
about?”
“No so much, no,”
she answered.
“CJ…”
“Look, if we’re going to grab either of
those flights, we’re going to have to go now,” she said. “We’re either heading to Charlotte or
Raleigh. I’ll call when we land.”
****************
“You can’t be mad at her,” Donna reminded
Josh as he prepared to board the plane.
“I think I really can,” he said, leering at
CJ. “If she didn’t push her meeting with
the mayor back an hour so she could go shoe shopping…”
“She didn’t go shoe shopping,” Donna scolded
him from her desk at the office then looked up to be certain no one was
listening to her snap at him. “I’m sorry. I know you’re angry, but it’s not her
fault. The storm is no one’s fault.”
“Whatever,” he sighed. “Okay, we’re boarding. We’re trying for the
“Why is there no direct flight back here?”
Donna asked.
“There is.”
“And you can’t take one of those because
why?”
“Because they won’t add seats on the wings,”
he replied. “They’re booked. I don’t know.
Maybe we can rent a car and drive back to DC. It’s can’t be more than five or six hours on
the road, right?”
“Don’t do that,” Donna said. “You get so cranky when you have long car
trips and you haven’t slept in the last two nights because you were up with Sam
about the thing.”
“I can drive,” he said petulantly.
“Just make your connection, okay?”
“Yeah,” he said, handing his ticket to the
agent. “Hey, you went to the doctor?”
“It’s not pinkeye,” she sighed disgustedly.
“It looked like pinkeye to me,” Josh said,
shivering at the memory of her face that morning when they awoke.
“Well, the doctor disagrees,” Donna informed
him. “If it was pinkeye, I’d be lucky.”
Donna, who was supposed to go shoe shopping
in
“So it’s something, right?” Josh asked still
queasy at the memory of the pussy mess on her face. “I mean, you’re not going to look like that
always, are you? I mean, it’s pretty
gross.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” Donna said flatly. “He said it’s an infection from the salt
water or something that lives in salt water.
I also may have a tiny scratch on the cornea, but they’re not
worried. I have drops and some
pills. The pills are green and the drops
are pink; they burn which is supposed to happen, they tell me.”
“The pills burn?”
“The drops, Josh,” she said then realized he
was being sarcastic. “I also have an
inner ear which accounts for the dizziness and nausea. All in all, I’m falling apart.”
“So long as you don’t still have that thing
everyone else in the office got,” Josh said.
“CJ heard Carol is still sick now.”
“Carol ate some bad seafood at lunch,” Donna
corrected him. “She and Bonnie went to
eat at this place today and by three they were both really sick. I was helped Bonnie with some things this
morning and she was nearly the color of my pills.”
“Maybe I won’t run to catch that flight
after all,” Josh teased. “You all sound
fairly repulsive right now….”
“Keep it up and I’ll cough on your coffee
mug and save it for you,” Donna promised.
“I’ll see you later tonight?”
“You and all your diseases?” he remarked
flatly. “Can’t wait.”
*****************
TO: Donnatella.Moss@whitehouse.gov
FROM: Joshua.Lyman@whitehouse.gov
TIME:
SUBJECT: Four Things
We’re in
1. Clear the calendar for tomorrow. We're not
getting out of here tonight--no matter what CJ tries.
2. Find anything you can on Tegar Mining, Inc. and Randall Kyle.
Might be nothing, but I'm hearing things.
3.
Forward my notes on a draft of Sam's acid rain legislation to Porcelli in the congressional office; he'll have to deal
with what I had done. I won't be back in time to go over it.
4. Get Ed and Larry to start on the energy thing. I spoke with Ed and loaned you to them for tomorrow.
-J
TO: Donnatella.Moss@whitehouse.gov
FROM: Joshua.Lyman@whitehouse.gov
TIME:
SUBJECT: Four Things—Part 2
*****************
Chief of Staff’s
Office
Saturday
Donna knocked tentatively on the door casing to get Leo’s attention. He looked up from his reading and took off his glasses.
“Donna?” he asked. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
“I was just…
Have you heard from Josh or CJ lately?” she asked. She had been tracking the storm on the
internet via the national hurricane center in
“Yeah, a couple hours ago,” Leo said. “They’re fine. It’s windy. It’s rainy. Nothing to worry about.”
“Good,” Donna sighed nervously. “It’s just that… I replied to the messages he sent me. The one yesterday and the one today but he never opened either of them. It just thought it was strange.”
“Maybe they didn’t get through,” Leo said
calmly. The storm had jumped to category
5 strength in the overnight hours and had slammed into the
“Right,” she nodded and prepared to convey her concerns to the Chief of Staff when the door to the Oval Office opened and the President entered.
“Leo, I… Oh, Donna, hello,” he said graciously.
“Good morning, sir,” she said politely. “I was just… I’ll be going.”
“He’s fine, Donna,” Bartlet said, guessing correctly the source of her concerned expression. “I just spoke with him an hour ago.”
“You did?” Donna asked. “How? Whenever I dial his…”
“I was
on the phone with the District Director of FEMA,” Bartlet
explained. “Josh and CJ were there. They’re with Steven Kyle,
he’s one of the heads of emergency management for
“Thank you,” Donna said greatly relieved.
“It’s all right,” Bartlet said assuredly. “We’re all concerned, but there’s no need to worry. He told me he has a plan if things get rough.”
“A plan?” Leo asked. Josh and plan was a combination of words that often gave him heartburn.
“Yes,” Bartlet said, enjoying his chief’s discomfort. “He told me himself. Run from the water and hide from the wind. CJ agrees. They’ll be crawling under heavy furniture in some fortress on high ground before dark. Steve Kyle himself promised me that.”
“Thank you, Mr. President,” Donna said, sighing her relief as she left the room and prepared to check her messages. There was one from her doctor that she dreaded returning. The itchy redness in her eyes was greatly reduced but the scratchiness of her throat worried her. She was convinced she would be making a trip for another round of antibiotics before dinner.
*****************
Sunday morning
The ground
trembled. The people in the room all looked at one another as if to
verify they all felt the same vibration. They were mostly from the east
coast and few had ever felt an earthquake. The only one who certainly had
exchanged a brief glance with her colleague, telling him that this was
something else entirely. A sound then rose
suddenly--deeper than the high pitched shriek of the wind and as persistent as
the hammering of the rain on the roof and walls. The looks on the faces of
the local experts gave both visitors from
"Tell me we're close to some train tracks," Josh offered skittishly.
Before anyone could respond, the static emanating from the various two way radios held by those in the room was broken by squealing tones and the inaudible messages of those in the other ends. Another man, drenched and dripping threw open the door to the main room and shouted two words that provided all the answers.
"The dam!"
He disappeared as swiftly as he had appeared. The others swiftly followed the sodden man out the door, heading for their vehicles.
"Dam?" CJ repeated as Steven Kyle grasped her firmly by the arm to propel her toward the door, dragging Josh as well. "What the hell are we doing anywhere near a dam?"
"Leaving," Kyle said tersely, forcing them into the pounding rain.
They, like the others, fled to their vehicle. The wind lashed at their faces as the sky spit sheets of water at them. The ground sucked at their feet and then the tires as the jeep labored to start and then pull itself from the magnetic parking spot. Over the engine, the growling and rumbling not coming from the sky grew in intensity.
"Tornado?" CJ wondered as they tore down the winding trace road. The vehicles in front of them, with barely a 30 second head start, were invisible in the harsh storm.
"No," Kyle answered, fighting with the wheel to keep the vehicle on what appeared to be the road, though the ruts made it anyone's guess if they were on track or in a ditch. "It's water. We're about a mile from the dam. It's an earthen dam--never had problems."
"You've never had 18 inches of rain in half as many hours," CJ reminded him.
"Are we down stream from it?" Josh asked urgently.
"Not really," Kyle informed him with some relief. "The valley is just that, a valley. It's pretty flat so we're basically level with things. It's a wide valley so the water won't have as much velocity as it could. But we've gotta go somewhere."
"I vote not here," Josh offered, raising his hand slightly.
"This is one vote I hope you don't lose, Mr. Lyman," Kyle replied.
"Please, we're about to die," CJ said. "Call him Josh."
The vehicle abruptly stopped, as though slamming into a curbing. It bounced to the side and slid for several feet before turning over slowly and ending up on its side. Water and mud began to leak into the cabin. The three, startled and bruised, clambered out of the overturned jeep into the teeth of the storm. The scant light spilling from the sideways headlights revealed that the road was now imitating a widening streambed. Kyle peered at the underside of their transport and proclaimed it a loss.
"The axel is snapped," he said as he grabbed an orange rucksack out of the jeep and started to trudge forward, motioning the others to follow.
"Where are we going?" Josh yelled as they abandoned the wreck. "Shouldn't we stick close to the road?"
"See that stream?" Kyle shouted, leaning in to speak to them. The rain showered down upon them, making it difficult to see. "It doesn't belong here."
"And that's bad?" Josh inquired.
"It could be from the dam or it
could be spillage from the
"I thought you said we were in a valley and everything was fairly level," CJ shouted.
"Fairly, not entirely," Kyle replied. "We’ve got to go."
"Where?" she shouted again. "You just said we're in a fairly level valley and the rivers are moving on us!"
"Argue with me later," Kyle insisted as he trudged forward. "Let's go. Stick close."
"Do you even know where we are?" CJ asked. "You said this isn't your territory."
"I saw the map," Kyle replied moving forward with great effort as the ground grew soggier.
"Then where are we?" Josh asked.
"We're heading east," Kyle assured.
"I thought the road was east," CJ remarked. She, too, had looked at the map in the contact station. Though admittedly not a cartographer, she understood the basics of directions.
"It is," Kyle said rushing forward with his travelers keeping ups as best as they could under the conditions. "If we head this way, we’ll be parallel with the road."
"No, we're not," CJ stopped and shouted. "This is south. The road was over to the east. We went off it on the north and then crossed it to start walking. We're walking to the west on the south side of the road."
"Do you want to die?" Kyle said stopping and putting his face very close to hers as the sheets of rain sprayed off his lips. "Stand here and fight with me, and we all die. It's that simple, Miss Cregg!"
"Please, you're about to kill her," Josh stepped between them. "Call her CJ."
"I know direction," Kyle insisted. "This is what I do. Now move!"
"We're heading west," CJ said again, but started walking.
"I don't care," Josh said to silence her. "Let's just work on not being here."
The trio trudged onward, but movement was slow. The strong gusts of wind hampered forward progress as much as the ankle and at times calf-deep mud. They stopped abruptly as they reached a large outcropping of rocks. Kyle placed his hands on the stone and hung his head.
"No," Kyle growled as he met Josh and CJ's expectant eyes.
"Generally speaking, that's not a good sign things are going well, is it?" Josh asked.
Rather than answer, Kyle dove into his bag and hauled out a several loops of rope. He thrust the cords at Josh and CJ.
"Get it around you," he said frantically as he pulled toggle clips from inside the bag and began attaching them to his own belt and to another rope before feeding that line through the cords handed to his companions. "Tie it to your belt or something. Get it snug around your waist. Quickly!"
"Are we climbing something?" Josh asked as he began making a knot around the toggle clip. His fingers were slow and clumsy with the cold and fright. A sinking feeling began in his stomach as he saw Kyle lash the rope to the trunk of a large tree near their position.
"No," Kyle answered.
“What’s going on?” Josh asked frantically.
"We're west," CJ said, sounding disappointed and satisfied at the same time.
The ground beneath them suddenly heaved sideways. The slab of mud at their feet seemed to be propelled by a force coming from both above and below ground. After a blindly flash of pain up his left arm, Josh went down on his knees instantly and could hear no more sound.
He felt that he was upside down and turning over in the blackness. His eyes stung and there was a heavy weight on his chest. His mind told him many things all at once: He was moving, swiftly; he there was no air to breath; he was blind and he was about to die. As that final thought raced through his mind, he screamed. Rather, he tried to scream. He opened his mouth and caught a lung-full of silt filled water. The searing pain in his chest quickly identified itself. He had gone underwater and lost his breath; he was suffocating. He tried to expel the water but could not. There was no air to replace it. His chest ached and his body writhed in the watery grave. His mind became fuzzy. He knew this feeling from somewhere. He was drowning.
He choked and coughed and gasped and gagged; his energy and will to fight the force surrounding him faded as the rushing-water carried him away.
*****************
The White House
"Leo, it's Governor Kyle," Margaret said stone-faced.
She was supposed to leave the office
early tonight, but there was something in Leo's tone earlier that prompted her
to stay even when he told her she could leave. The storm had subsided
during the afternoon after it had stalled for an unexpected period over
"Yeah," Leo said, stabbing at the blinking line on his phone. "Randall?.... I ‘m guessing you’ll need to be sending the revised estimates; there’s a lot of precedent for it—Hurricane Andrew for example. I just want you to know that we’re expecting revisions and we have FEMA and the SBA holding off on closing out their last… I’m sorry? What? When? Sunday? Three days ago? Why am I just… My God, Randall. I’m so sorry. I… Are they certain? I mean, how reliable is… Have you… identified anyone? No, no. I understand.... Right. I… I understand.... I'll inform the President.... And Randall, tell Emily she has our prayers... Thank you."
Leo replaced the phone in the cradle. He looked at his clean desk and let his eyes rest upon the last printed report he received from the National Weather Service. The forecast, with its by-comparison with reality, dismally low predictions stared back at him as if to say, "Well, what are ya gonna do? It's the weather not science."
“Leo, do you need me to…,” Margaret trailed off as he shook his head. She wasn’t sure what he had heard on the phone, but his expression was ghastly enough that she knew to leave the office swiftly without question so that he could think in silence.
The technology we have, he thought uselessly. We can put a guy on the moon 30 years ago. Thirty years from now we might send a guy to Mars. We can put the heart of one guy into another one and he lives, but we didn't get this right.
"Leo?"
"Mr. President," Leo said surprised out of his trance to see him standing in his office. He stood to address the Commander-in-Chief. "I thought you had left for the night, sir."
"I did," Bartlet
replied. "Couldn’t sleep. I turned on
CNN. They're quoting some heavy numbers in
“Yeah,” Leo said
still stunned by his recent call. “The
northwestern part of the state is still seeing rain and the rivers are still
rising. The brunt of the storm is over is nothing more
than some thunderstorms in
“Horatio certain made his mark,” Bartlet said. “He stormed in like a soldier, not a scholar. But for a fluke if timing and he could have been named Fortinbras.”
“Yeah,” Leo said distantly, looking the now-quite phone.
“Leo?” Bartlet asked. “It normally takes more than a passing Hamlet reference to make you get the glazed eye look.”
"Governor Kyle called," Leo
said stiltedly, conveying the business news first and looking for the proper
words to deliver the other news. "The amended declaration will be
here in an hour. The damage is looking like something close to what
Hurricane Andrew in
“The cellular
towers didn’t stand a chance,” Bartlet said. “I saw some footage; the power and phone
lines in
“Some,” Leo said. “There was an earthen dam. It burst.”
“That’s confirmed?” Bartlet asked.
“Yeah,” Leo said and took a deep breath. “They put up helicopters late this afternoon for the first time… It laid waste to that valley and there are 37 confirmed dead from it so far. They are expecting the number to rise. Sir…”
"FEMA is high gear? If they’re not, you find a way to get a hold
of Josh,” Bartlet said sternly. “I mean it, Leo. I don’t care if you need to send a carrier
pigeon. You have him roll heads if they
can’t get things together, and when they decide to ignore him, that’s when you
sic CJ on them. Take out the big guns,
Leo. I don’t want another fiasco like we
saw in
“Yes, but there’s a problem, sir,” Leo said.
“Carrier pigeon’s on strike?” Bartlet quipped. “Where are our people? Did they call in yet or are they apart of the great blackout still?"
“Mr. President, Randall Kyle called to tell me….,” Leo said then paused. “It appears… I… I don’t know how to…
Leo?”
“We’ve lost them,” he said still stunned
“Lost who?”
“CJ and Josh,” Leo said speaking the awful words as he noted a sour and bitter taste in his mouth as he did so. “Randall said the last report he had they were with his son, Steve; he's one of the deputies with North Carolina Emergency Management. They were moving around and they were..."
"No."
"The dam that
burst?” Leo continued. “It sent a
couple million gallons of water and mud tearing through
“When did this happen?”
“It was on Sunday,” Leo said.
“That was three days ago!” Bartlet seethed. “Why am I just hearing this now? What are they doing to…”
“The state as been in the teeth of this storm, Mr. President,” Leo said hotly. “They’re just crawling out of their shelters. Randall called us as soon as he felt he had credible reports and I’m not sure screaming at me over the delay helps matters.”
“What do these allegedly credible reports say?” Bartlet asked in a stern yet lower tone.
“Someone at a contact station up stream got a call on a radio the Kyle kid not long before the dam burst,” Leo explained. “He was at this location and tried to report in something about roads. I didn’t quite get that part. They’re still piecing together what happened from what they are finding at the debris site; communication is more of a wish than a reality right now. ”
“They have bodies?”
“Some,” Leo said. “No one identified positively yet though. They did find the car, Kyle’s jeep, I guess. It was imbedded in a mud slick with half a dozen other cars belonging to people who were likely with them when… They’re not certain they’ll retrieve all the bodies, Mr. President. There were mudslides and the water was moving fast and far, but the officials on the scene said all the cars had keys in the ignition in the on position.”
“People were driving them when this happened,” Bartlet concluded.
“Yeah.”
Bartlet stared back at his Chief of Staff, whose face was a dull, ashen gray. The President let the words and their implications sink in.
"It’s not something they’re going to confirm yet, but we should consider this the call," Leo continued.
"They were with his son, the governor’s son?"
"Yeah, his oldest,” Leo said. “Randall called to let us know.”
"My god,” Bartlet said softly as he took a seat on Leo’s couch. “This really happened?”
Leo nodded solemnly. For one who gave the appearance of being strictly intellectual and at times emotionally unapproachable, Leo knew how close this man was to the senior staff. The thought of two of them mauled by this beast of a storm was going to weigh heavily on the President.
"Who has this?" Bartlet asked after a moment of contemplation.
"No one yet, sir," Leo said. "The governor doesn't want the story out yet. His wife doesn't know; he's trying to reach her but the phone lines are... He only got a call out because the airport was able to patch a line through using something left over from the Korea War, if you can believe that."
"Yeah," Bartlet nodded. "With the Governor's son missing, that's not going to stay a secret long, 1950s technology not withstanding."
"We may have more information by daybreak," Leo said. "I see no reason to wake their families for this. There's nothing they can do."
"So long as they don't hear it first from the TV," Bartlet ordered. “We tell them—in person if we can.”
“Donna is the only one here,” Leo informed the President.
“I want someone with each of them,” Bartlet said. “You wake people up, Leo. You get our friends to find their friends, and they are at the door when we give them the news; CJ’s father will need someone there to make sure he understands. As for Josh’s mother….”
"I'll take care of it," Leo said.
“When should I make the calls?” Bartlet asked.
“In the morning…. I’ll let you know,” Leo said. “But… I… I feel an obligation to call Anna Lyman myself, sir.”
“It’s not your fault, Leo,” Bartlet assured him.
“Yeah, it is,” Leo said. “I didn’t make it rain, but I sent him out; I promised her I… he….. I hired him. I never fired him—despite a litany of reasons to do so. Not that it matters now. She’s not going to care about that. She’s only going to hear….”
“She’s a strong woman,” Bartlet said. “I’ll let you make the call, but I will deliver my own condolences.”
“Yes, sir,” Leo said tightly.
“I don’t suppose there’s any chance?”
“No, sir,” Leo said shaking his head. “Not really. They combed the area today and didn’t find any survivors. Randall wouldn’t have called with this kind of news if he thought there was a reasonable chance.”
"But they’re smart,” Bartlet argued as though it mattered. “Randall’s son is an emergency rescue specialist, right? He knows how to deal with this kind of thing. And our people… They could surprise us.”
"Not to be the voice of gloom, but
smart doesn’t count in a contest like this,” Leo said dejectedly. “Face it, Josh couldn't find his way home
from
"CJ can run a mile backwards in high
heels while taking questions from the Press and Josh is from
"If there were rabid reporters on her heels or if this was just your average Friday night shooting at the White House, I'd have all the faith in the world in CJ," Leo said. "As for Josh's residential background.... I don't place as much faith in the hardiness of New Englanders as you do, sir."
"I'll let that last blasphemy go
because you're obviously overcome with anxiety," Bartlet
remarked. "It might be
"No sir," Leo disagreed.
"It is like he never has. I'm not talking about a heavy rain storm
that floods the basement and wind that snaps a limb off the old maple
tree. This was a category 5 hurricane that devastated half of
"That crazy remark was for me, wasn't it?" the President asked.
"Yeah," Leo nodded confidently.
"Run from the water and hide from the wind," Bartlet shrugged. "Those are his word, Leo. Sounded like they had solid plan to me. The Kyle boy was an expert on this stuff. I’ve heard more tragedies like this in the last few years than I ever feared possible and each time I walk away with the same feeling: This stuff isn’t supposed to happen. Our people are supposed to be survivors, Leo."
"I don’t think nature cared about that," Leo shook his head.
*****************
Presidential Residence
Bartlet sat in near the windows and stared into the starless night. The clouds were heavy but quiet. A box of photos sat on the end table near his elbow. In the box were a scattering of photos taken during the first campaign. He was most interested in the life-in-action photos—those ones in which the staff was neither posed nor aware the photo was being taken. CJ and Josh were in so many. Much of his senior staff was. Bartlet noticed the one thing most absent was his own presence. He also recalled that when most of the pictures were taken he was still struggling to keep the identities of Josh, Toby and Sam straight in his head and he shamelessly thought of CJ as “that tall girl.” They both had such command when in a room that it was hard to believe he could have ignored them so easily.
Another thing that struck him was the way CJ carried herself. In not one picture, not even those when she was on the phone or reading, did he chin seem to be down. It was as though she possessed only the ability to strike a regal and confident pose. It was something he knew about her after a time, but it had been present even back before she had a name to him.
And Josh. Bartlet never recalled him smiling as much as he did in those pictures. It was not a full-blown toothy grin, but it was a genuine air of contentment and pleasure in what he was doing. For someone with such a troubled life and one who knew more about the kinds of pain for which there is no clear cure or description, Josh had found happiness. He found it in a professional career at which he excelled and more recently in a personal connection with a woman who without a doubt worshipped the quicksand he walked on perhaps even more than he himself did. There was a sagaciousness in his sharp and frustrated wit Bartlet simply adored the way only a father can adore such a thing.
“Jed?” Abbey called to him as she tiptoed into the darkened room. “I woke up and you hadn’t come to bed yet. What is it? What’s wrong?”
The President didn’t hold back his emotion any longer. It was well and fine to keep the straight face with Leo, but this was his equal and the woman who knew more about him than he knew about himself. That level of comfort in her being and his trust in her, as much as his love for her, allowed the tears to spill over his lids and the feelings to emerge.
“They’re gone,” he said painfully. “We lost CJ and Josh. They’re both gone.”
“What?” she exclaimed and pressed her hands instantly to her lips. “No. What happened?”
“We got word from
“My god,” Abbey cried softly. “Both of them? They’re sure?”
“Leo spoke with Randall,” Bartlet said, composing himself. “They don’t have bodies, but the whole team was wiped out. It looks like no one made it. There were mudslides and there was massive flooding. It shredded that valley and everything in it. They likely drown or were buried in the mudslides. We may never know.”
“Have you called their families?” Abbey asked.
“We’re going to wait until morning,” Bartlet replied. “Might as well let them have their sleep. There’s nothing they can do now.”
“What if they…”
“We’re calling first thing in the morning,” he said quickly. “They won’t hear it on the news. We’ll see to that. Leo’s calling Toby in; he’s going to give the news to CJ’s family. Leo will call Josh’s mother. He feels guilty, but I’m the one who promised her she would never receive news like this from us again.”
“Jed,” Abbey said soothingly. “It’s not your fault. No one could have foreseen this. Josh’s mother won’t blame you.”
“I don’t care if she does,” Bartlet said, thinking back to the conversation he had with her after the election was finalized. “She’s entitled after everything she’s been through.”
“That poor woman,” Abbey sighed. “To bury both of her children…. I can’t imagine anything worse.”
“I pray you never have to,” he said stroking her hair and saying yet another prayer of thanks for the healthy and safety of his family. “We’ll tell the staff in a few hours and break the news to the press ourselves after we talk with the families. I’m going to be making some remarks in the afternoon; I’d like you to… I need you to be there with me.”
*****************
Toby’s Office
Wednesday,
“How do I do it?” Sam asked Toby as they sat in Toby’s office. “How do you tell someone… this?”
“It helps if you can use the words,” Toby said, solemnly, not meaning to be harsh. “You have to say the words, Sam. I can do this if you…”
“No,” he said quickly. “I should do this. Please, let me. I don’t want to, but I feel like I should. I mean…”
“But you can’t even say the words yet,” Toby said gently. “Sam, you have to say…”
“How do I tell her he’s never coming home when I can barely believe it myself?” Sam said, his throat growing tight and a burning sensation beginning in the back of his eyes. “How do you tell a person that someone who always makes it back from stuff like this, who always somehow manages to survive, didn’t? Toby, he can’t be.”
Toby exhaled quickly, trying to gain his composure. He was going to make a phone call similar to Sam’s awful errand. At least Sam had the luxury of knowing his assignment. Toby knew CJ’s stepmother to pick her out in a crowd but beyond that… But he couldn’t fault Sam for his emotion. There was no way not to feel this pain, this shock deeply. There was a surreal quality to this whole tragic event that defied logic or explanation. It was a storm. A lot of people died, but none of them should have been people either he or Sam knew much less cared about.
“Does the President know?” Sam asked suddenly, seemingly in control.
“Yeah,” Toby nodded quickly.
The ghastly look on the President’s face as he and Leo met with Toby that morning was another in a long line of expressions he wished devoutly to forget yet knew he never would. The pain was deep for both men. The President’s sorrow was nearer to the surface—caring outwardly about the people around him came easily for the man. Leo was a different story. His affection was something he kept close and unspoken for both staffers. And while Toby knew the Chief of Staff would miss both of those lost in equal measures, he suspected the pain of losing Josh would be acute in a more personal way. Not that CJ wasn’t as important, but his relationship with Josh had always had other levels; though the man would deny it, Toby always suspected Leo considered himself a quasi- (if at times gruff and unwilling) father figure to Josh.
“But what if they’re wrong?” Sam said for the tenth time that morning. “They didn’t cover the whole area. They might be there and just weren’t…. They could be safe and just waiting or they could be….”
“As of
“But they haven’t been found,” Sam argued helplessly, knowing his rational wasn’t going to change the news but unable to accept what he had been told.
“They didn’t find all the bodies, but all the cars are in the same place, and everyone who was in them is dead,” Toby said difficultly. “They found some of the victims but not all, yet. They might never find them all., Sam I know, believe me, I know how hard that is to accept. The same things running through your head have been running through my head for nearly an hour longer. I keep imagining how she must have… or what he…. It’s atrocious and it hurts me, Sam. I have a stabbing pain in my throat and just about every part of me is still trembling. I know what you’re thinking and hoping, and for your own good and for Donna’s you have to--”
“But we don’t know if Josh and CJ were in one of those cars,” Sam insisted. “I’m just saying that—“
“Sam!” Toby snapped. “The Governor called. He’s been told his son’s car was there with the others that ended up in that… gully or whatever. There are members of Steve Kyle’s team in other vehicles, and they are dead. We know he was with his team, and we know that CJ and Josh were with him, too. He died. They died. Everyone who was there died. They are identifying bodies they found, but they know some were swept away; they had to be. This whole thing won’t be official for a few days, but we’ve been told. Okay? Technically, they are missing and only presumed lost, but we’ve been told. They’re not coming home. Josh and CJ are dead. They’re gone.”
Sam tipped his head forward and placed his
head in his hands, pushing his glasses off his face as tears moistened his
cheeks. This didn’t happen, he told himself. I’m not
sitting in Toby’s office; I’m certainly not crying, and CJ and Josh are not
dead. Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to wake up and realize it was all a
dream—that and never eat day-old General Tso’s
Chicken out of the refrigerator beside Carol’s desk before going home to
sleep. I am going to open his eyes and
see the clock in the nightstand telling me it was
Sam took a deep breath, forced his eyes open and picked up his head.
He met Toby’s face, as ashen and grim as it had been just moments ago.
“Make your choice, Sam,” he said somberly. “I’ll tell her if you can’t.”
****************
Leo sat in his office and stared at the piece of paper. There in Margaret’s handwriting was Anna Lyman’s telephone number. He sighed heavily and ran a hand over his face. Leo never thought he’d have to make this call. But someone had to tell her that Josh wasn’t coming home.
Leo put his glasses on and picked up the phone. He stabbed the numbers and the phone began to ring. After three rings it was answered.
“Hello?” Anna said brightly at this early hour.
Leo paused. “Anna, uh… It’s Leo… McGarry.”
“Oh, hello,” she replied shortly.
“Yeah,” he sighed. “I’m very sorry to call you like this.”
“What is it?” Anna asked quickly.
Leo looked towards the ceiling, trying to find something there to help him. “Look, David Masters – you remember him? He was a partner with Noah at his firm. He’s…he’s coming to your house. He should be there any minute. I have some news and we didn’t want you to be alone only he called and he’s stuck in traffic. He’ll be there shortly.”
“No,” Anna said softly, her worst fears seeping from the recesses of her mind. “Why are you…?”
“Anna, I’m so very
sorry,” Leo said, his voice cracking slightly. “Josh was in
“God, no,” Anna choked. “Is he hurt? How badly? Where is he?”
“Anna, stay on the phone with me,” he requested. “Okay? Please, just listen to me. Can you do that? Do you promise me you won’t hang up or put down the phone?”
“Leo tell me!”
“I’m so sorry,” he apologized. “Anna. I am… I can’t even… I’m sorry. There was nothing anyone could do. He drowned, Anna. He’s gone. Josh is dead.”
“No,” Anna sobbed. “Not my baby.”
“I know,” Leo said. “The governor called after he… His own son was with them.”
“My god,” Anna gasped. “Donna?”
“No, she was
here in
“Tell me what happened,” Anna demanded. “Tell me everything, Leo.”
“We don’t know much right now,” Leo explained. “They were…”
“You keep saying they,” Anna insisted. “Who is they?”
“CJ Cregg was with him,” Leo said somberly. “CJ, Josh and the governor’s son were together when a dam burst upstream from them. That was on Sunday apparently.”
“Sunday?”
“The storm prevented anyone from…,” Leo sighed. “Apparently the National Guard found the site on Monday afternoon and they were just able to identify who was in the vicinity late yesterday.”
“He drowned?”
“We think so,” Leo said, dreading the next information he had to impart.
“You think?” she asked.
“Anna…Oh, god, I don’t know how to say this,” Leo took a deep breath. “They weren’t recovered. The… bodies.”
“I don’t understand,” she gasped. “Then how do you know that he’s…”
“We know,” he said solemnly. “There is enough evidence at the site to show that their car had… People were in the car and the car got swept away with the flood. It was millions of gallons of water and… With the rains and the flooding and the rest of the storm… There was a lot of havoc there and… It’s a disaster area.”
“My god,” Anna whispered. “I’ve… I’ve got to… I have to call Donna. She shouldn’t be alone.”
“She’s not alone,” Leo reiterated. “Sam is with her. We’re going to take care of her.”
“I have to go to… Where was he? Where did you say?”
“Anna, you can’t
go to
“My son is there!”
“He’s not there,” Leo said. “He’s just… He’s gone, Anna. He’s gone.”
“I want to see him,” she wept. “I want to see my baby.”
“I know you do,” Leo said difficultly feeling the hot stinging prickle of tears in the corners of his eyes and he fought to hold his composure. “But I think Donna might need you here. I’m having my secretary book you a flight. I will get you here as soon as humanly possible.”
“I can do it myself,” Anna said defiantly.
“I know,” he agreed. “But let me do at least this much for you.”
She sniffled her assent. “I don’t mean to be harsh,” she said after a moment of silence. “Despite what I may think, my Joshua… he… he cared for you. He respected you a great deal. You meant so much to him.”
“Please don’t…”
“He would have
done anything you asked him to do,” she said.
“Did you ask him to go to
“No, but it is my fault that he was there,” Leo admitted. “I can’t…. I don’t have the words to tell you how sorry I am. Parents aren’t supposed to out live their children.”
“I’ve done it twice,” she said distantly. “That’s two times too many.”
“I know it is,” he agreed. “I know it’s not nearly the same, but we lost two of them, too. Everyone here, they’re all in a daze. I’m not sure how we come back from something like this. No one can believe this happened. Josh was… He wasn’t always the most popular person in this town but he was admired and adored by a lot more people than I think he realized.”
“Two?” Anna asked.
“Yeah,” Leo sighed heavily, repeating that part of the conversation again. “CJ Cregg was with Josh.”
“Oh no…” she gasped. “Leo…”
“I think it would be best if you avoided the TV and radio for a few days,” he suggested. “The story broke about 20 minutes ago. We’ve arranged with your mayor to have someone outside your house and Donna’s for the time being to keep any reporters away. This is one of those stories that is going to play for a few days. You should know that the official…declaration…won’t come for another 48 hours or so, but the families are notified when the folks on site have determined that… It’s won’t be official for a while, is all I’m saying.”
“Yes,” Anna said quietly.
“He was…” Leo remarked. “Josh was amazing. I don’t think I said that to him, but I believed it.”
“My boy always was,” Anna paused and then took a shaky breath, “nothing short of a miracle.”
“Yes, he was,” he concurred. “As far as the politics go, he was exceptional. He was well-respected. He never seemed to care that much what others thought of him and that’s what made him so good at his job. Some guys go into politics for the power, but Josh…He loved it and it showed in how he did his work. You could write a dozen books on what he accomplished in just his time in the White House.”
“I detested his job,” she sighed. “I was so afraid that he would…”
Leo remained silent as Anna sobbed. “He would never have left. This was what he was meant to do, Anna. You know that. This is what he wanted and he was happy doing it. He was probably happier here than anywhere at any other time of his life.”
“No,” Anna corrected. “He was happier, Leo. He was happier the day he married Donna.”
“She is a part of this.”
“A part of her was, yes,” she replied. “But she’s so much more than an assistant to him. He… I had never heard him so… so content as when he was around her.”
“I know,” Leo nodded. “He loved her. It wasn’t hard to see that. She certainly challenged him. His faith and trust in her is… was boundless. I’m certain he’d be glad that she was spared…”
“Promise me you’ll take care of her,” Anna requested. “For Joshua.”
“We will,” he promised. “We will look after her and see that she gets whatever it is she needs. You can count on that. The President is quite concerned about her—he’s very fond of Donna himself. He plans on calling you shortly and I’m certain he will extend that same promise; Donna is part of this family as well.”
“Thank you.”
“Josh meant a lot to us,” Leo confessed. “To the President, the staff… to me.”
“You meant the world to him,” Anna replied.
“Yeah,” he replied as tightness in his throat occurred.
“Someone is here,” she said after a shaky breath. “I think David is at the door. I should go.”
“Margaret will call you as soon as she has flights arranged,” Leo said. “Please accept my deepest sympathy and if there is anything any of us can do, the phone only needs to ring once, do you understand?”
“Yes,” Anna said.
Leo hung up the phone and sighed. He turned to his computer to type up an email when he noticed the time. The call had taken less than 10 minutes yet he felt it must surely be the end of the day.
*****************
Lyman House
Wednesday
"Donna, I know it must hurt, but you’re going to get through this," Sam assured her. “I’m here for you. For whatever you need.”
He hadn't expected this reaction. Donna was always a real trooper at the office. When things went wrong, she was always the one assistant you could expect to nod, say Okay, what do you need me to do? She was a lot like Josh in that respect. Whatever she was feeling inside stayed there--usually. This sudden burst of emotion was understandable, but it still startled Sam. For some reason, he had convinced himself that Donna would react better than he had in Leo’s office less than an hour earlier.
"I don’t believe this," she sniffled, trying to pull herself together. "When it rains it pours, right?"
Sam said nothing. The awful pun surrounding her words was not lost on him. Instead, he shook his head and gently grasped her hand offering her the only support he could.
"I wish I could tell you that we still had some hope," Sam said again. "God, if you knew how much I wanted to be able to look you in the eye and tell you truthfully that there was a chance he was probably with 50 other people waiting for the phone lines to start working again so they can call to say they're fine…. But I can’t do that. I want it to be true, but I don’t get to make that happen. Things like this shouldn’t happen but…"
"That's not how it works," Donna said shakily. "I just can't take this…. Not now. Oh god--excuse me."
Donna stood suddenly and bolted down the hall to the first floor bathroom. Sam waited for her to return--grimacing as he heard the retching noise she made. He shook his head and felt the familiar pang of guilt he experienced anytime he was offered a sign of how much Donna cared for Josh. She was currently so worried she was in the bathroom being sick over the chance that he might be safe and sound. Sam was reminded again that he had always underestimated the depth of her feelings.
She returned moments later, looking pale and shaken. She apologized through her sniffling.
"Donna, what can I do to help you?" Sam asked. “Tell me and it’s done. If it’s within my power, I’ll do it. Please. Something. I feel like I need to do something."
"The only thing I want you can’t give me," she said tearfully.
“At least let me get you some water,” Sam said standing and eager for action. “Or juice. Or coffee. Yeah, let me get you some coffee.”
“Oh, no,” she said feeling her gorge rise again at the mere thought of coffee. “Nothing, please. I just need to catch my breath. I’m… I'm just not feeling well."
"So I noticed," Sam said. "I understand.”
"No, you don’t," she sobbed softly.
"Okay, maybe I don’t,” he relented, his shoulders drooping in defeat. “You don’t look well. Well, maybe you should see a doctor."
"I saw my doctor last week," she sniffled and profusely wiped the steady stream of tears from her eyes which thankfully were no longer itchy and red.
"And?"
"I'm pregnant," she said softly, burying her face in her hands as she started sobbing heavily again.
"What?" Sam asked as a reluctant by pleased grin spread across his haggard face. It faded slowly as he began to understand the depth of the loss and dread she must be feeling. "Well, that’s… That’s wonderful. Congratulations!"
"Don’t say that," she said somberly as she shook her head.
"Don’t say that?" Sam repeated. "What kind of response is that? This is good news. I'll tell you what it is. It's a sign. You’re going to be all right; you’ve got a lot of people around to help you and… And you didn’t lose Josh completely. Did he know?"
"No,” Donna snapped.
"Oh," Sam replied suspiciously. "Why not?"
"Sam, it's not...," she said sharply, wishing she'd kept her secret. "It's complicated. Look, you can't tell anyone. No one, do you understand? This is.... I don't want anyone to know and I should have never said anything to you."
"Okay," he said soothingly. "But it's good news, Donna. At a time like this, good news can be amazing medicine."
"Just don't say anything," Donna said. "It's complicated, Sam. You have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone. I mean it!"
"Okay," he remarked with concern. "Just know that I’m here for you—for whatever you need. Donna, I loved Josh like a brother, and family takes care of family. I’m going to see to it that you and this baby are taken care of. I promise you that.”
"Sam, we are not talking about this," Donna said trying to end the conversation. "I shouldn't have said anything to you."
"Okay," Sam said embracing her as she cried softly again. "It's all right You have my word--I don't know anything about... you know, the thing I don't know anything about."
"Thank you," she said, blinking back the rest of her tears and taking a deep breath.
"But we’re having a baby, huh?" Sam said joyfully, hoping to lift her spirits. "Another Lyman. Sounds like a movie title. Actually, now that I think of it, I don’t know if the world's ready for a Josh/Donna hybrid. I think you need Congressional approval for something of this magnitude."
Donna said nothing prayed for a way to end the discussion before he tore her heart and soul up further.
"House Resolution 2504, the Bill to allow the creation of a Lymanette," Sam continued, noting that despite the wan smile on her face, the dark cast in her eyes did not brighten.
"Lymanette?” she repeated.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “You’re right. It sounds like some kind of candy you buy at the movies. Or some type of Jewish chorus line."
She buried her face in her hands and allowed herself an instant of dry laughter to wring the rest of the stress from her mind. Tears streamed from her eyes again.
“You’re a good friend, Sam," she said as she hugged him.
“I know,” he agreed. “I’m kind of cute, too.”
"Will you stay here?" Donna asked as she took a deep breath. “I have to call Anna… Oh god, how do I tell her?”
“Donna, I told you,” Sam reminded her as he put his arm around her shoulders. “Leo was calling her. He didn’t want you to have to tell her that kind of news.”
“But I should be the one….”
“You have other news to tell her,” Sam said and received a stern and cold glare. “When you’re ready.”
Up next, Chapter 14: Eulogies And The Lazarus Factor