Dear, Mr. President
by: Rhiannon
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my poor broken down computer, Stevie, & the idea...
Jed Bartlet paced the interior of his bedroom. He waited on his wife to walk
through the doors and tell him what the hell was going on. He had waited all
afternoon and well into the evening. He was nearing the end of his patience.
He couldn't get Stevie's face out of his head. Never, as long as he lived,
would he ever forget the fear ... no, the outright terror on that girl's
face.
After Stevie's declaration, Jed had called his wife in her office. Abbey had
arrived, bag in hand, within moments. He watched as she triple-gloved her
hands and began to treat the hysterical young girl.
When the wound was bandaged, Abbey sat beside Stevie and spoke to her
quietly. Jed couldn't hear what she was saying, but he saw Stevie grow calmer
and quieter. Finally, Abbey rose from her place on the floor. Stevie rose
with her and, arms tightly wound around Abbey, walked out of the reception
area of the Oval Office.
Jed shook his head, forcing himself to sit in a chair. He was going to make
himself crazy if he didn't get his mind off what was happening down the hall.
He looked up when the door to his bedroom opened and a weary Abigail walked
in.
She looked over at him with tired eyes. When he didn't say anything, she
walked into the bathroom and began shedding her clothing. Jed walked to the
door in silence.
Slowly, Abbey put her pajamas on and walked back into the bedroom. She
climbed into their bed and stared at the ceiling, "She's been HIV positive
since her birth. Her father had AIDS. She doesn't know about her mother...
That's why her mother left her with the nuns... The woman didn't want an HIV
positive baby..."
Jed watched as she snuggled farther into the sheets, shivering from something
other than cold. He walked over to her and lay down beside her. He reached
over and rubbed her forehead. He knew she needed to talk.
"She's been taking medication all her life. It seems to be a good combination
of drugs. Her HIV hasn't become AIDS ... she's been very careful all her life
to keep her HIV status to herself ... that's why she got so upset when she
realized she was bleeding... Jed... It took me a very long time to get her
open up. She's petrified, she really is." Abbey sighed. "And she has a
concussion... It's not a bad one, but she's going to have a headache for a
while. I want her to stay in the residence tomorrow... She lost a fair amount
of blood and, coupled with the trauma she went through telling you and the
entire reception area about her illness, she's going to need some rest."
"What's she doing now?"
"I gave her something ... she's asleep." Abbey replied, softly.
"Okay," he said, stroking her hair.
"It's not fair, Jed."
"I know, Abigail."
Abbey shook her head slowly. A thought began to form in her brain, "What are
we going to do?"
Jed looked down at her, "I don't know." He looked up and took a deep breath,
"We're going to go to bed and get some sleep... In the morning, I'm going to
speak with my staff. I'm going to let Stevie rest and then we're going to
have a long talk ... just me and her."
"Jed..."
Jed looked is wife in the eye, "I know Abbey... I know what you're thinking."
"And?"
"And, we'll see," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "We'll see."