He awoke to discover that while he had remembered to buy himself bagels
for breakfast, he had no cream cheese for them. He had also forgotten to get
coffee (COFFEE, of all the things to forget!), and in any case he was out of
filters completely. He spent twenty minutes looking for his keys, then another
ten for his wallet. At half past six, he managed to get out the front door.
He fought traffic most of the way in, arriving at almost seven. On the way
in he'd almost gotten into a car accident no thanks to an incredibly rude and
obviously panicked college student. Add to that the fact that his car's gas tank
was dangerously close to empty and he'd managed to catalogue five things he'd
left at home that he was sure he needed, and by seven-thirty in the morning,
Josh was ready to call it a day.

On the way to his office a lot of people said hello, people he didn't even
recognize. Others simply watched him with open curiosity, and it was all Josh
could do to keep going to his office. He was tempted to stop and ask them what
they were looking at, but at the same time he realized that his irritation from
the morning wasn't something he should take out on strangers.

I should've had a little more sympathy for Toby. Now I know how it
feels.

Josh stalked to his office and was greeted by smiles, flowers, and the one
thing he actually wanted--coffee.

"Good morning Josh," Donna said happily, handing him a freshly brewed cup.

He grasped the mug like a drowning man clings to a piece of flotsam, and
immediately retreated to his office, giving everyone in the bullpen a quick
wave. The various secretaries and aides glanced at each other, a little wary.
Donna followed Josh into his office, stepping lightly.

"Josh?" she asked, knocking on the door frame. He looked up from sorting
things on his desk.

"Yeah?" he answered, as casually as he could. It was difficult to keep the
trembling from his voice.

"Are you okay?"

Josh stopped dead and ran a hand through his hair. His frustration level
was tapping out, and he had ten hours to go.

I am never going to make it. "I'm as okay as I can be," he replied,
deciding it was the only diplomatic thing to say.

Donna frowned, sensing something was wrong. "Josh, it's your first day
back. You should take it easy."

"I'll be fine Donna."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm really sure. What do you have for me?"

Donna eyed Josh shrewdly, clearly not as sure as he was of his readiness
for a full day of work, but none-the-less she read from the clipboard in her
hand. "The President is meeting with Senator McCallum about the Albright thing."

Josh paused. "The Albright thing?" he asked faintly.

"Um, back in January--"

"Oh, oh, THAT Albright thing." Josh felt idiotic for forgetting. He took
another long drink from his coffee mug quickly exited his office. "What's next?"
Donna followed behind, frantically reading over the clipboard.

"Sam is meeting with Gown and Feyereisen--oh, sorry, just Gown, Feyereisen
has a flu--"

"Gun control, Sam can handle it."

"--at eleven. CJ needed to talk with you about the sex education thing in
California and then there was something..." Donna's voice trailed off as she
tried to decipher her own writing. Josh slowed his walking and tried to read
over her shoulder.

"Something about a kilt stuck in traffic?" Josh tried. Donna glared at
him. He simply shook his head and continued down the hall. "I'll be right back!"

Albright was a small, dusty, one gas station town in the middle of
nowhere, Texas. The population was considerably smaller than some private
schools, and if not for one racist deputy and one California tourist, no one
would have ever been the wiser of its existence. Save for the IRS.

However, a young Californian who also happened to be black had made a trip
across the broad state and been pulled over for speeding in the hot,
unremarkable place. He'd then gotten into an argument with a deputy that several
townspeople claimed was a bigot and regularly spouted Aryan diatribe at the
local bar, and after a rather serious scuffle, the young man had been shot and
seriously injured. By whatever miracles of synchronicity that govern such
events, a well-respected doctor was in town visiting his cousin, and he'd saved
the boys life. These same miracles saw fit to have a reporter with ambition on
the scene, and he promptly hot-footed it to the closest large city, and put out
his story.

It'd made front page news in Dallas within two days. Now, all these months
later, the masses were, in various parts of the country, calling for the
deputy's head on a silver platter, calling for him to be exonerated, or asking
for the channel to be changed because this story was old news, and wasn't there
a basketball game on anyways?

Never one to let Toby rest in peace, Robert Mendoza had already made his
ominous threat on what would happen if the case came within a foot of the
Supreme Court. This had, in turn, put Senator Robert McCallum into a rather bad
mood, and if there was anything Josh didn't like to deal with, it was ill-
tempered Senators from Texas. The Senator was apparently insulted that Mendoza
would imply that the Courts of the Lone Star State wouldn't hand down a good and
proper judgement that would see justice served.

McCallum was a large, robust man with a broad Texas drawl and a (normally)
happy way of looking at things. Josh didn't think he'd ever seen him
disappointed about anything, particularly when it came to eating or drinking.
Especially eating.

Josh walked into the Oval Office and was greeted by happy voices and well
wishes on his return to work. It was a relief, because he'd been worried there
would be fighting. Leo had joined the President and the Senator, and they were
all looking through a large picture book of some sort.

"Josh, good to see you back with us," the President said as formally as he
could, under the circumstances.

"It's good to be back, Mr. President," Josh replied, shaking his hand. He
in turn shook hands with Leo, but when he turned to Senator McCallum, the
towering man had other ideas. Normally Josh was quite fond of him, his
Republicanisms aside, and when the senator happily clapped Josh on the left side
of his back, it was all he could do to appear unaffected.

The pain was generalized, burning, and sudden. Josh managed to keep any
extreme expressions from his features, but the look on Leo's face said that he
knew something was up. He came to Josh's rescue immediately, catching the
Senator's attention with a random fact. Josh quickly seized his chance.

"If you two don't mind I've got--a thing, I--have to take care of--" Josh
said breathlessly, gesturing to the other room. Leo and the Senator nodded, but
when Josh departed them and McCallum turned the conversation to other things,
Leo couldn't help but glance nervously after him.

He's okay, he's okay. Just needs a minute, is all.

Josh leaned against the wall and doubled over. It felt like someone had
shoved a red-hot poker into his chest, and given it a good turn. He stood there
for a few minutes, trying to catch his breath, and only when he was certain he
wasn't going to pass out did he straighten up.

Standing there was the First Lady.

Josh attempted for several moments to form a coherent sentence, but when
it became obvious one wasn't forthcoming, Abby half-smiled.

"Josh, you're not looking so good," she said, her voice taking on a
doctor's tones. Josh was surprised and flustered.

"Oh it was nothing, ma'am, Senator McCallum just--"

"Josh." Her voice stopped him dead.

"Y-yes, ma'am?" Josh asked hesitantly, in the manner of a chastised child.

"I'm a doctor, not the President."

"Yes ma'am."

"You can't talk your way out of this one."

"No ma'am." Josh looked at the floor, wearing a sufficiently mollified
expression. Abby softened her tone.

"Are you okay?"

Josh nodded. "Really, it's not too bad, just...sometimes it hurts quite a
bit."

"Like when a man with a hand the size of a small child pats you on the
back?"

Josh looked up and laughed a little. "That would do it, yes ma'am."

Abby nodded. "It's probably an exertion issue. You shouldn't work full
days, just half or partial, until you're back on your feet."

Josh panicked at the suggestion. "Ma'am I've already been gone for ten
days, if I don't--"

"Josh Lyman, consider that if you don't take the time to completely heal,
you'll get yourself killed, and then your work will REALLY pile up." Abby
watched him, her expression set in stone.

Josh grimaced. "Yes ma'am," he muttered. Abby nodded smartly, a smile
lightening her features.

"Good. Now, get back in there before they think something's actually
wrong."

Josh smiled a little. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Your welcome, Josh."

Abby watched the young man vanish through the doors and sighed.
Workaholics, she thought to herself.

Later, on his way back to the office, Josh was waylaid by Leo, who pulled
him aside into an empty conference room.

"Hey, did you hear?" Leo asked, waving a red-stamped manila folder. Josh
paused, raising his eyebrows.

"No, what?"

"They confessed." Leo flipped through the folder absently, picking up on a
few items. "White supremacist plot to undermine the President's obvious efforts
to empower the black society by giving his daughter to them, etc. etc." Leo
closed the folder and handed it to Josh. "For your perusal."

For the barest moment, Josh considered telling Leo he had no desire to
read the file. The moment passed, though, and he took it, not bothering to open
it right away. "Somehow I imagine the verb 'give' wasn't what they said." Josh
paused, grimacing a little. "Thanks, I'll give it a look," he finished absently.

Leo nodded, watching Josh closely. He took that well. I hope that means
he's doing okay. "Just make sure no one else gets a look."

"Sure, no problem. Thanks."

"Anytime." Leo paused, then he reached over and put his hand on Josh's
shoulder. "You're doing fine," he said softly, as if there was someone else who
might hear.

Josh met Leo's eyes for a moment. The man's earnest gaze went a long way
towards undoing whatever Senator McCallum had done earlier. Josh nodded,
deciding that silence was the better option, then left the room.

"Donna," Josh announced as he wandered back into his office. When his aide
looked up from her typing, she seemed apprehensive. "What?" he asked
immediately.

Donna bit her lip. "Tell me what you were going to tell me first, then
I'll tell you."

"What is it?"

"Josh!"

"Okay, okay. I have unofficial orders from the resident doctor--"

"--Dr. Willis?"

"No, Dr. Bartlet."

"Oh."

"To cut my days a little short, so I'll probably go home after lunch."

"Oh."

Josh stared at Donna. "What?"

"Well, Sam came by to tell you about his meeting with Senator Gown and
told me to tell you about it."

Josh nodded and made for his office, Donna following. "Yeah, and?" Josh
began riffling through the papers on his desk, looking for something.

"What are you looking for?" Donna asked.

Josh waved his hand. "Nothing, just a brief. How did it go?"

Donna shifted her weight from one foot to the other, anxious. "Senator
Gown left the meeting very angry," she explained, trying to choose words that
weren't going to cause Josh to injure himself.

"Angry? Why?" Josh absently shuffled through papers, trying to find the
gun control bill's brief. It had been here just seconds ago--

"Well, Sam said it went very badly," Donna said, deciding to get it over
with.

Josh stopped looking for the brief and slowly raised his eyes to Donna,
who looked like she was ready to bolt for the door.

"Sam said it went badly?"

Donna nodded, and Josh steeled himself.

"How badly?"

"Shouting match."

"Tell me Sam won."

"No, he lost. Big time."

Josh braced himself against his desk. "How big?"

"Senator Gown threatened to make you pay for it."

"He what?"

"Well technically he meant Sam because Sam was the one that--"

Josh interrupted her by waving his hand. "Pay for it, how, exactly?"

"Something about never passing the bill..." Donna said faintly.

Josh groaned and gripped his head. "Where's Sam?" he asked his desk. Donna
began to drift out the door.

"I'll go get him, I think he's in Toby's office."

"Yes, go get him, go...do that."

Sam drifted into Toby's office, glancing over his shoulder.

"Hey Toby," he said, a little too happily. Toby looked up from his
computer, but only for a moment.

"Back so soon?" he asked, his attention focused on the terminal in front
of him. Sam bit his lip.

"Well it uh, no, I wouldn't say it's early, it's almost noon."

Toby stopped typing and gave Sam a narrow look. "How bad?"

"Bad."

"Bad bad?"

"Bad bad," Sam confirmed.

Toby rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing. "Does he know?" he finally
asked.

Before Sam could answer, Donna fluttered into the room.

"Sam, Josh wants to see you." She turned to go, then paused and added,
"Now," in an ominous tone.

Sam grimaced, and Toby smiled reassuringly.

"He knows," Toby murmured, going back to his speech.

"You think?" Sam asked sharply before following Donna, looking every bit
like a whipped dog.

Josh was talking on the phone with someone when Sam arrived. He glanced at
Sam, frowning slightly, then went back to the conversation.

"No, Congresswoman Wyatt, I don't think--yes, I'd, have to agree with you
on that. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Goodbye." Josh hung up, and ran a
hand through his hair. He then turned and watched Sam for a moment.

"What did you say to him?" he asked finally.

Sam sighed. "I told him that we weren't going to allow such blatant
posturing and bluffing to prevent us from getting this bill passed."

"No, what did you say to him."

Sam shifted uncomfortably. "He egged me on," he said in his defense.

"What...did you say."

Sam mumbled, "That his attitude about it was insulting and asinine and no
amount of bullshit was going to stop us."

Josh closed his eyes and ran both of his hands through his hair. "Wow," he
managed after a moment.

"Yeah. Wow."

"So, this is your secret plan to fight inflation."

Sam almost blushed. He knew it was a gaff, but he'd not thought Josh would
consider it that big a gaff. "Now, that's not really--"

Josh interrupted by asking, "And he said you'd pay for that?"

Sam hesitated. "Well, he--"

"What did HE say?"

"He said..." Sam paused, and Josh gave him a look that was almost a glare,
but not quite. Sam continued doggedly. "He said that we were going to seriously
regret our asinine attitude."

"And?" Josh asked, eyebrows raised. Sam shifted again.

"And that we'd pay for it."

"We?"

"Well, he said me."

"And since I sent you, and he knows this, he meant me."

"Well, really, I'm the one who's going to pay for it, because I get to
tell the President."

"You have no idea how much satisfaction that gives me," Josh muttered,
looking at anything in the room but Sam.

"No, no, I think I do," Sam replied, remembering a few months back.

They stood in silence for a few moments as Josh attempted to regroup
mentally. He finally looked up.

"Okay, Sam, before I, run your head through a wall or anything equally
drastic, how about you go back and do, whatever you were doing with Toby, and
I'll sit here and contemplate how I'm going to convince Senator Gown that you're
some crackhead from off the streets and we have no idea how you managed to sneak
into the White House and parade around for a whole say as Sam Seaborn." Josh's
tone was mild, almost casual, but Sam felt the sting behind the words and
couldn't help but wince a little.

"Okay Josh." He sounded rather beat, and Josh sighed, regretting his
tirade already.

"I'm sorry, Sam. Look, don't take this too hard, I've just got a lot of
crap on my desk after ten days of unplanned vacation and it has me..." Josh
gestured vaguely.

"Annoyed?" Sam ventured.

"Pissed off."

Sam nodded. "It's okay. I'll, be with Toby if you..." he gestured, and
Josh dismissed him with a wave of his hand. Sam left the office slowly, glancing
back once or twice.

Toby looked up from his typing for the second time that day. The
difference was, Sam was entering the office looking like he had just been
dropped off a cliff, instead of like he was being pushed towards one.

"How'd it go?" Toby asked, already back to his typing.

Sam noted irritably that Toby had removed his sling again, but he decided
he wanted to concentrate on his own considerable misery for the moment rather
than someone else's. "He was mad."

"How mad?" Toby continued to type, pausing every now and then to frown or
mutter over something.

"Very mad," Sam sighed, flopping down in the guest chair. Toby frowned,
looking up from his computer.

"Did he yell?" he asked, concerned. Josh didn't yell at other staffers
unless he'd been thoroughly provoked.

Sam rubbed his forehead. "No, he spoke calmly in a manner that indicated I
would be harmed significantly if I didn't leave his office. So, I did."

Toby sat back in his chair, the speech momentarily forgotten. "I'll talk
to him," he said firmly.

His beleaguered deputy director was leaning back in the guest chair, his
eyes shut. "No, it's alright," Sam said, waving a hand. "Once he gets it fixed,
things will be fine. He's just having a rough first day back, so I can't blame
him for being less than pleased when I manage to completely screw up on what
should have been a simple discussion of positions."

Toby nodded. "Okay. Got a few free minutes?"

Sam sat up, shaking off the post-chastisement funk. "Sure. What do you
need?"

Toby turned his computer slightly and stood up from his chair. "Give this
a read and tell me what you think. I'm going to go get something to drink."

Sam traded places with Toby, not suspecting anything. Toby fetched his
sling before slipping out of the office, a destination other than the
watercooler or coffee pot in mind.

The manila folder was staring at him. He was sure of it.

For the past ten minutes Josh had been in and out of his office. Each time
he entered or left, the first thing he saw was that damned folder Leo had given
him earlier.

The brilliant red ink screamed CLASSIFIED to the world. With nothing
pressing to do for a little while, Josh finally succumbed and picked up the
folder, flipping it open.

There were three paperclipped sets of paper, each headed by a mug shot of
the perpetrator in question. A rap sheet followed, and behind that, the
statement. The writing for each varied, but by and large it was no worse than
some of Donna's chicken scratch.

Josh reluctantly picked up the first file, for a young man who was
probably no more than 18. He didn't bother with the rap sheet, but skipped
straight to the testimony.

We wanted to make a statement, so we thought this would be the best
place. We got the guns from this guy I know in Jersey and the bullets we had my
older brother buy at an ammo place. The building had a side door that we got
open with a crowbar and we slept in their all day so that no one would see us
going in that night. I was using a .45...

Josh's stomach turned dangerously. He stopped reading and put the folder's
contents back together immediately, lest his bagel breakfast make a
reappearance. Lunch was only an hour or two away, and he wasn't going to allow
these kids to ruin his day in absentia the way they'd ruined the ten previous in
person.

Josh glanced up at the knock on his office door. Toby leaned in.

"Can I come in?" he asked. Josh waved him inside.

"Sure. Wasn't doing anything I wanted to do anyways."

Toby walked in, and Josh was surprised to see the sling was in place.
Dollars to donuts he's not had it on more than five minutes today, damn
him, he thought darkly. "So, what can I do for you?"

Toby stood there, watching Josh for a few moments. "How are you doing?" he
asked lightly. Josh blinked.

"I'm doing...fine, thanks, and how are you?" Josh sat on his desk. "How's
the, uh, arm holding up?"

Toby sidetracked that argument instantly. "Never better. Josh, if today
isn't going smoothly, you should think about going home at--"

"Toby, wait, wait," Josh interrupted. Toby stopped, not terribly pleased
at being overridden, but willing to allow Josh to claim recovering-man's
prerogative. "I'm already planning on going home early."

Toby didn't look impressed. "Oh, so more like seven?"

"Toby."

"Josh, if you're going to go home early, make a serious effort and do it
right. Go home after lunch."

"I will," Josh said a little sharply.

Toby paused. He hadn't expected Josh to give so quickly. "Okay. Anything
else?"

"Anything else? Anything else what?"

"Are you okay?"

Josh sighed and looked down at the floor. "I'm as okay as I can be," he
told his shoes. "It'll take some getting used to, that's all."

Toby nodded. "Yeah, it does. It took me a week."

"I bet you only wore the sling for the first day."

"You'd lose that bet," Toby informed him haughtily. Josh smiled a little
and looked up.

"Two days?"

"Three. It hurt too much."

"Figures," Josh muttered. He watched Toby for a moment. "Thanks," he said
finally.

"For what?" Toby asked as he turned to leave, an unspoken dismissal
passing between them.

"For coming to check on me."

Toby shook his head, exasperated, and left. Josh felt himself smiling for
the first time in a while at Toby's exit. The smile faded, though, and Josh
finally stood up from his desk, stretching a little.

For a moment he simply stood in the silence of his office, incredibly
tired and a little confused at his own feelings over returning to work. When
he'd come in that morning, nothing had been different, but it all felt
different. His papers had been organized, no doubt by Donna, but aside from
that, everything was as he'd left it that night. Three rather daunting law books
lay open on the floor in front of the bookcase, various pages of notes lying on
top of them. Several post-its clung to his lampshade, and his chair had been
slightly askew, half-turned so he could look outside.

It's only been ten days, he told himself again.

There was a knock on the door behind him. Josh turned and opened the door
a crack.

Donna peered in at him, looking anxious. "Are you okay?" she asked
carefully. Josh looked out into the bullpen, assuring himself that no one was
watching, and waved Donna into the room.

She came in and shut the door, then turned and looked at him. Josh
slouched against the door for a moment, watching Donna, before he started
speaking.

"I've been out of the office for ten days, and I feel like I've never
worked here before," he admitted finally. "Everyone's...everyone's looking at
me, and 'Josh, how are you feeling?' and..." Josh stopped and ran his hands
through his hair, his frustration spiking dangerously. "I don't know, maybe this
just takes getting used to, again."

Donna put a hand on Josh's shoulder and squeezed gently. "It'll come back
to you. Just like riding a bicycle."

Something occurred to Josh and he straightened up suddenly. "Did you get
me that opposition paper on Gown?"

Donna nodded. "On your desk, along with fifty other things."

"And what about Joey's brief?"

"On your desk too."

"Am I having lunch with Michaelson?"

"Tomorrow at one."

"Good, good." Josh subsided, but he didn't slouch against the door again.

"See?" Donna said, moving past him to leave the office. Josh looked at her
oddly.

"See what?" he asked.

"Just like riding a bicycle." She vanished into the bullpen, and Josh
smiled reluctantly.

"Yeah. A bicycle," he murmured, wandering around to the back of his desk.

He sat down in his chair heavily and stared at the pile of work.
It didn't feel like ten days. It felt more like ten years. Ten years ago,
he'd walked across a parking lot, and found himself in an ambulance shortly
thereafter. Ten years ago, an Airforce captain had been shot down over Iraq, and
they'd managed to get him back. Ten years ago, Toby's brother's life had been in
the balance, and then ten minutes later it had been his own. Ten years ago he'd
emerged from surgery, and everything had been completely different.
Josh wasn't sure how long he sat in his office, staring at paperwork,
thinking, but the light slanting in through the blinds was at a different angle
when Donna came in and knocked on the doorjamb.

"Josh?" she asked. He looked up.

"Yeah?"

"Joey's here for lunch."

Josh sat up suddenly. "Right, right. Go ahead and send her in." He hastily
rearranged stacks of paper so he'd know what to work on, then wondered at the
absurdity of doing so. He didn't have any intention of working after lunch.
Joey appeared in the doorway and leaned against it, watching him. Josh
glanced up at her.

"Oh, hi, just, don't mind me..." He slipped one last stack to the side of
the desk and hefted his suitjacket from the back of his desk. Joey smiled and
gestured to his desk.

"Tidying?" she signed. Josh looked back at the hopeless accumulation of
work that ten days absence had produced.

Ten days.

He nodded at her, looking at the desk. "Yeah. You know, an awful lot can
happen in ten days."

Joey smiled, and took Josh's arm. "I'm hungry," she said pointedly.

"Right, lunch." Josh turned away from his office, and allowed the chaos to
wait until tomorrow.


-Fin-


Author's Closing Comments: Well, that's it for this one, folks, and I hope anyone who stayed with it this far isn't too disappointed, or doesn't hate me. :> There might be more in the future if I can ever convince myself to finish something. Fill my inbox with questions, comments, criticisms! Tallyho!