King of the Mountain:
Part 25


Lynn Jepsen


The press corps fills the hotel room where CJ parked them a few hours
ago, and the table up front is covered with microphones. The only problem
is the table's empty. Josh and Toby were supposed to meet us in here.
They're probably just caught up in the celebration. Either that, of
they're helping Lisa organize a baby shower. It took me most of last
night to weasel that information out of her, and when I did, I could
hardly believe it. I mean, CJ and Toby..... CJ pinched my arm and
steered me in the direction of a seat and a microphone. Do I really have
to do this?

There are a lot of familiar faces in the audience, and I recognize the
journalists that have followed the campaign from the beginning, and I
wonder if these people will get to come to the White House press room in
January if we win. The noise level rises in proportion to the distance
between myself and the front of the room, and by the time I'm anywhere
near the front table, the roar is deafening. Then the door opens again,
and I can see Diana slip in and try to edge around the herd of reporters.
Did Toby and Josh make her leave the party so they wouldn't have to?
Someone going to have some explaining to do.

She doesn't move up front though. Instead, she motions for CJ and they
conference while I deliver my statement. This is good. This is nice.
Winning has this effect of stripping away the probing questions, and
making everyone nicer - at least for tonight. I don't get a chance to
enjoy it though, because CJ interrupts me right after the statement and
nearly drags me off-stage. What the.....

Diana falls into step beside me, and as soon as we're out of ear shot she
grabs me by the arm and pulls me into an alcove. I'm getting up close and
personal with a potted plant when she tells me Josh was taken to the
hospital with chest pains and high blood pressure. Suddenly, I'm sitting
on the potted plant, and holding my head in my hands. "Governor?" i...
I'm fine, just.... where is everyone? "Dr. Bartlet and Mrs. Seaborn went
with him in the ambulance. Everyone else is....." She nods in the
direction of the suite, and I drag myself to my feet. Right, well, let's
get out of here, and go to the hospital. We don't have anything better to
do, do we.

The waiting room looks eerily familiar, and the only difference between
now, and those hours after Rosslyn is that now, there's no danger of
Donna rushing in, frightened and confused. When the door opens,
everyone's attention focuses briefly, until we realize it's not a doctor
entering, but instead, Lisa. She glances around the room then, and starts
to dress down the entire staff, starting with, "Is everyone blind, or do
you expect Josh constantly on the verge of a breakdown!" Rachel looks
mildly frightened then, but no one else flinches. This is Lisa blowing
off steam. We've all survived it before, and we will again.

*

"Josh, I'm going to wait until you're well, then I'm going to ring your
neck." He grins guiltily at Lisa, then looks hopefully in my direction.
Hey, I'm not going to save you. This is payback for the dressing down you
gave me in New Hampshire, well, for the dressing down I got in the
hospital. Besides, Lisa's on a roll and I'm not about to interrupt her.
"You're going to give yourself a heart attack! Can't you stop for a
minute and see how ridiculous this is? Of course not. It would be silly
to think that a middle-aged man who's had major blood vessels patched
back together might want to watch his diet and blood pressure!" Taking
her by the arm, I steer her to a chair, and I can see her eyes ticking
back and forth as she counts to ten.

Josh shoots me a thankful look, but he makes one small mistake. He talks.

"Did the press conference go off alright?" I have to sit down and hold my
head in my hands. I could see Lisa's explosion coming before she even
opened her mouth. Josh, Josh, Josh, do you really not see these things
coming? I mean, asking about work....

An hour later, Lisa and I are parked in the cafeteria drinking stale
coffee, and mumbling horrible plots about how to keep Josh from killing
himself. "Governor, the Speaker is on the phone." Geez! I didn't even
hear Margaret walk up! Good thing we're in a hospital, because I think
she just gave me a heart attack of my own. Lisa waves me off - this will
be his concession speech, and I wouldn't miss this one opportunity to
gloat for the world.

King of the Mountain: Part 26

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