"I Feel Lucky"
By Tara Patterson
Disclaimer: Aaron Sorkin and NBC own The West Wing and its characters. I'm just taking them out to play in my imagination for a while. The character of Kelsey Saufl is mine. The
title is borrowed from a song by Mary Chapin Carpenter and belongs to her.
Sonnet 116 is by William Shakespeare and "My True Love Hath My Heart" is by Sir Philip Sidney.
Note: It has never been said what type of doctor, Abbey Bartlet is. For my purposes, I've made her a cardiothoracic surgeon.
Chapter 1
"Would everyone please take their seats so we can get this briefing started?" C.J. asked as she walked into the Press Room. She waited for the press to settle down and then began the
briefing.
"For those of you who may not have heard. At approximately 4:45 this afternoon, White House Deputy Press Secretary, Kelsey Saufl, was involved in a car accident. The impact was on
the passenger side of Ms. Saufl's car. Her car then flipped and skidded towards the shoulder of the road. She has been rushed to George Washington University Hospital and is currently
being operated on to fix a traumatic dissection of the abdominal aorta. Dr. Abigail Bartlet is the head surgeon."
"C.J., what is the condition of the other driver?" one of the reporters asked.
"The other driver was taken from the scene, unharmed."
"Was he drunk?"
"His blood alcohol has been determined to be .26. That's three times the legal limit, folks."
"Are you releasing his name yet?"
"Not at this time."
"Why is the First Lady performing the surgery?" asked Danny.
"Mrs. Bartlet was visiting the Pediatric Ward at GW when she heard that Ms. Saufl was being brought in. After consulting with the ER physician, Mrs. Bartlet offered to perform the
surgery," explained C.J.
"C.J., do you have any comment on the fact that thirty to forty percent of all patients die on the operating table?" Danny added.
"All I can tell you is that Mrs. Bartlet is a highly skillful surgeon and Ms. Saufl is very lucky to have her as her doctor. I'll have an update for you in a couple of hours."
C.J. walked out of the Press Room and headed towards her office. She collapsed onto the sofa and was soon joined by Josh.
"Any news yet?" she asked.
"No. I'm going to head over in about an hour," replied Josh.
"I'll go over with you."
"Okay."
Josh stood up and started to walk towards the door.
"Josh, she's going to be okay, right?"
"Hey, if I can recover from a gun shot, Kelsey can survive this. Besides, she's got the First Doctor. Everything will be fine."
"Thanks."
"No problem."