God of War: Part 18
Lynn Jepsen
Josh's voice scared the hell out of me. When we got upstairs last night,
Lisa fell asleep halfway to the pillow. I presume her nightmares came
later, once the bone deep exhaustion we're all suffering from had found
some relief. My nightmares came before I closed my eyes. All I could do
was lay there, hearing Josh's rasp over and over again, letting my
imagination play out possible scenarios. None of those scenarios
contributed to my eventual sleep. Instead, the stress and exhaustion over
took me.
I work up a few minutes ago with a scene that I know once happened, but I
couldn't place, playing itself out in my mind. Josh and I, we're sitting
with President Bartlet, and he asks our opinion. Then he leaves. As the
door closes behind him, Josh stares at a plate of eggs and looks at me.
"The United States doesn't negotiate, Sam. I don't even want to hear it."
I said something then, something about abstract principle being different
from real lives. I woke up then, sweating, tangled in the sheets, and
reaching desperately for Lisa. She wasn't there.
That brought me out of bed and across the hall. Elle was curled up around
her donkey, and I moved to sit next to her bed. "Daddy?" Shhh. Go back to
sleep. She does, but first she climbs out of bed and into my lap. I'm a
human pillow now. Wonderful. She sticks her thumb in her mouth, and rests
her donkey on my knee as she curls up again. I think I'm getting too old
for this, or maybe she's getting too old for this, but I'll take what I
can get.
I brush her hair out of her face, and lean back in the rocking chair. I
wonder if Toby ever feels like Joe's growing up without his permission.
That's certainly how I feel. It seems like yesterday that Elle was this
little tiny thing with a wisp of blond hair and emerald colored eyes that
took up half her face. Now she's, she's taller, and bouncier, and she's
got a good head on her shoulders. Granted, political savvy's hard to
judge at six, but I'm almost sure she's going to be better at this than I
am. Her ability to devour any information Josh throws her way speaks
volumes about that.
Well, Donnatella, what am I supposed to do here? Your Uncle Josh has
saved my ass more times than I can count, and now I'm in this awful
position. The United States does not negotiate with terrorists. We don't
negotiate, and the thought of giving them what they want is almost as
sickening as the thought of what's happened to Josh, of what's going to
happen to Josh.
Elle stirs a bit, and raises her head to look at me. "Daddy, will you
tell me a story?" Sure, Pigtails. Do you have a particular story in mind?
"Tell me one about you and Mommy and Uncle Josh." Okay. Elle readjusts
herself. I swear she takes notes during these stories because odd bits of
trivia pop out at the oddest times. She picks that up from me.
*
CJ meets me downstairs at seven-thirty. She and Lisa have already been to
the hospital to see Lily, and I hear she's doing just fine. The
comparison and contrast exercise we've all been undertaking remains
unspoken. Okay, let me start off by saying until either Josh or Lily are
back in commission, you've got their jobs. And yours. CJ's face looks
somewhere this side of incredulous. Oh, don't sweat it. I'm fairly
certain Toby and Lisa will be in there with you.
Now, let's get down to business. There is a policy brief in the Counsel's
office. We wrote it on the first of November, and that's where we're
moving back to. Let's chalk the last five months up to PMS or something.
"Sir?" You know what I mean! "Whatever you say, Spanky. Should Ramon be
running around the Hill scaring everyone back into the fold?" Yeah. Get
the policy brief circulating, get Legislative Affairs busy with those
legislative packages we talked about. As soon as this is over, I want a
crime package to send to the Hill. The right one this time. Then the
labor act. Put the technical fixes in front of a committee next week. She
nods, and veers off towards her office. Did she really just call me
Spanky? This is going to be such a bad day.
Georgia, Alice, and Lisa are waiting in the Oval when I arrive. You know,
I'm starting to understand Toby's remarks about the Amazons. I am
surround by some very scary, very intimidating women. Forget the
military, let's sic them on the enemy.
I nod in their general direction, and Alice begins reviewing the
assurances she received from foreign officials during her rounds
yesterday. She also delivers the condolence messages that came in to her
office after the shooting. I'm touched. Actually, not so much, but it's
nice to know my Vice-President has been loyal and hard working while I
went through my... hell, I don't know what planet I've been living on.
It's Georgia's turn next, and I sit down. This is going to be the tough
part. "Mr. President, US bombers destroyed the headquarters of
Palestinian Intelligence at nine PM local time. Causalities are still at
the guestimate phase, but we're looking at about a thousand people." They
have a thousand people in intell? Could, I, uh, have a minute here?
Georgia nods, and she and Alice leave. Lisa glances back and forth
between my desk and the door before I stand up and fold her into me. I'm
sending a declaration of war to the Hill in an hour. Would you talk to
Carol and Toby about a statement? She nods, and releases me. Um, would
you stay here for a minute or two first though?
God of War: Part 19
HOME | TITLE |
AUTHOR | CATEGORY