The song "It's Your Love" is the property of Tim
McGraw and his record label. No copyright
infringement is intended.
“Good morning, CJ” Jed Bartlet said as he walked into
his Press Secretary’s office.
“Good morning, sir.” CJ said as she stood up.
“No keep your seat. Listen I’ve got something to
tell you.” Barlet walked to the side of her desk, and sat down on
the desk.
“Okay, it’s not good is it.”
“No, Toby was in a car accident this morning. I
don’t know how serious it is yet.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. Listen I know what Leo did. I don’t
approve of it and Leo knows that now. Why don’t you
go to the hospital. Josh will drive you, okay.”
“Yeah.”
“CJ, look for what it’s worth, I think that it’s
great the two of you were able to find each other.
And I’m rooting for you.”
“Thank you sir.”
“CJ” Leo said sticking his head into her office. “I
don’t want to see you here again today is that
understood?”
“Yeah” She said surprised at Leo’s turnaround.
“Good. And I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have forced you
and Toby apart. I was wrong. Whatever happens,
happens and we’ll deal with it okay.”
“Yeah.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It almost took an act of Congress for CJ to be able
to get in and see Toby. Finally, Josh was able to
talk the nurses into letting CJ in, something she
would be eternally grateful for. She walked quietly
into the emergency room cubicle to really talk to Toby
for the first time in weeks.
“Hey.” She said softly.
“How did you get in here.” Toby was in disbelief
that she was really there.
“Josh talked the nurses into letting me in.” She
said as she sat down on the stool and moved it closer
to him.
“That wasn’t what I meant.”
“Oh, well from the little bit I understood the
President has talked Leo down. Leo is fine with us
seeing each other, I think.”
“I have to be hallucinating this. That’s what it is
the painkillers they put me on a while ago are causing
this.”
“Then I’m having the same hallucination.”
“Okay, then maybe it’s real.”
“Yeah. There are some things I need to say to you.
The last six weeks have felt like the longest of my
life. I didn’t really know why they did but they did.
But I admitted to myself why on the way over here. I
love you. I have for months, but I was afraid to
admit it. It took almost losing you permanently for
me to admit to it.”
“I know it’s been the same for me.”
CJ reached and took one of his hands and hers. “What
happened this morning?”
“The other car came through the intersection from out
of nowhere. It hit on the passenger’s side.”
“How are you?”
“They don’t think there are any internal injuries.
But they are keeping me overnight for observation.
The turn signal broke off with the impact and broke my
wrist. They’re planning to set it tonight. I guess
you have to be getting back to work.”
“No, Leo said he didn’t want to see me for the rest
of the day.”
“Good.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Josh” CJ said as she stepped back into the waiting
room.
“Hey, how is he?”
“Well, it doesn’t seem to be serious. But they are
probably going to keep him overnight for observation.
Right now the only thing they’ve found is a broken
wrist.”
“I’ll phone the President and tell him. How are
you?”
“I don’t know.” She sighed before continuing. “I
have never been as scared as I was on the ride over
here. Josh, if the worst had happened I don’t know
what I would have done.”
“I know. Leo backed down, didn’t he?”
“I think so. You know I really don’t remember much
of the conversation after the President told me about
the accident. I think Leo admitted he was wrong. I
hope he did. I told Toby that Leo had.” She said
with a shaky laugh.
“Listen, I’m going back to work. You’re staying
here, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You going to be okay?”
“I think so.”
“Okay.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hey.” CJ called softly as she walked into Toby’s
hospital room two hours later. “I went and got the
stuff you asked me too, I’m going to leave it in here,
okay.”
“Okay, come here.” Toby said holding his hand out to
her. “I talked to Leo, he is on his way here to talk to us.
I think we need to talk about this before he gets here.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, I cannot take this any longer. I’m thinking
that we should tell him that we do not give a damn
about his ultimatum. We are two adults and we should
be able to make our own choices about our lives.”
“I agree. It’s our lives no one else’s. What has
happened today has made me realize how much I love
you.” CJ moved to sit beside Toby on the bed.
“That’s all I care about.”
“I’ve never found it easy to admit my feelings. You
know that. But what I’m trying to say is I love you.”
There was a knock on the door and Leo came into the
room. CJ started to get up from the bed.
“No, CJ, stay where you are. I won’t be here that
long.” Leo said.
“Okay.”
“Listen I owe both of you an apology. I shouldn’t
have meddled in your lives. It’s none of my business.
But I guess since I allowed myself to ruin my own
marriage, I’ve started to think that this job can
destroy any relationship. I didn’t want to deal with
the consequences of your relationship ending. I knew
it would probably tear the staff about. I didn’t want
to ruin any working relationships. So instead I
ruined a personal one. If being together is what
makes both of you happy, then do it. I’m sorry for
standing in your way. That’s all I came to say so
I’ll leave you two alone. Toby, I'm glad that you’re
okay, you scared all of us today.” Leo walked out the
door.
“Well, what do you think?” Toby asked CJ after Leo
left.
“That we should start over.”
“Okay.” Toby said as he touched her face. He then
brought her closer to him and kissed her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CJ sat in a chair staring out the window. She
glanced over at Toby every few minutes to see if he
was still asleep. She couldn’t believe everything
that had happened that day. She pulled her feet up
into the chair, and rested her head on her knees as
she cried. She looked up when she heard Toby softly
call her name.
“Yeah.”
“Come over here.” Toby replied, moving over to give
her room to sit on the bed.
CJ sat down on the bed facing him.
“Okay, why are you crying?” Toby asked as he wiped
the tears from her eyes.
“I guess that I have held it in for so long. I
finally had to let my emotions out.”
“So you decided to do that will I was asleep?”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to worry you.”
“You held this in for how long?”
“I think that you know the answer to that question
without me having to tell you.” She sighed before
continuing. “I’m so glad that this entire ordeal is
over. I don’t know if I could have taken much more.”
“I couldn’t have taken much more.” Toby said
quietly, still touching her face and searching her
eyes.
She smiled before replying. “What do you mean by
that?”
“I thought of resigning.”
“What!”
“Yeah, I thought of resigning. It was last night in
fact. I even wrote a draft of a letter of
resignation.”
“Would you have gone through with it?” She asked
softly.
“I don’t know.”
They sat in silence for a moment before either spoke.
“What are we doing to do now?” Toby asked.
“I don’t know. What do you want to do?”
“Do you think it is possible that we could start over
from where we left off?”
“Do you mean the way things were in Florida, or the
way things were the night...”
“Which ever you would be the most comfortable with.
It’s been six, very long, weeks since we’ve been
together.”
“Yeah, it has. The longest, most painful six weeks
of my life.”
“I’m sorry, I know I caused some of the pain.”
“What do you mean by that?” CJ asked.
“I hurt you by barely speaking to you. The few times
we did speak, I could see the pain in your eyes. I
thought it would be easier on you if we didn’t speak.”
“You were wrong.” CJ said as tears began to form in
her eyes.
“You’re going to cry again, aren’t you?” Toby said,
as he wiped the tears from her eyes again.
“Probably.” She laughed slightly.
Toby moved his injured arm away from him. He then
put his other arm around CJ’s shoulder’s, and pulled
her against him. He rested his chin on the top of her
head. “I love you, CJ Cregg. I know I’ve already
told you that, but it’s true. I’ve wanted to tell you
that for so long, now I can.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever tire of hearing you say
that.” CJ whispered.
“I’m very glad of that, because you’re going to hear
it a lot.” Toby laughed.
“I love you.” She whispered back.
“Love you. Close your eyes and get some sleep. This
day has been almost as hard on you as it has been on
me.”
“I should move back to the chair then. The nurses
won’t appreciate a visitor being in the same bed as
patient.”
“No, you’re not going anywhere.”
“Sorry.” CJ said as she got up. When she was
standing beside the bed, she leaned over and kissed
him. “Good night Toby.”
“You could have stayed here.” Toby pouted.
“Maybe tomorrow night.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“CJ, may I talk to you for a moment?” Leo asked the
next day as he came into her office.
“Yeah, come in.”
“How’s Toby?”
“He’s at his apartment now. He said he would
probably come in here later today.”
“Why?”
“He thinks that he is able to.”
“Listen, I wanted to apologize to you again. This
wasn’t the first time I did this to you. And I’m
really sorry for meddling in your life.”
“You know if you hadn’t meddled the first time, Toby
and I wouldn’t be together now. So, I’m willing to
forgive you for that. Since, things have turned out
fine in the end. I’m willing to forgive you, for this
time also.”
“I hope that you and Toby will be happy.”
“Thanks.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hey.” Toby said as he walked into CJ’s office that
evening.
“Hey, yourself. How are you?”
“I’m fine.”
“How did you get here.”
“I used the driving service. So, you wouldn’t be
ready to leave this place would you?”
“Why do you need a ride?”
“Yeah.”
“So why did you come in today?”
“To see what changes Ginger made in my schedule for
the next few days, and to pick up some paper.”
“What has Ginger done.”
“She’s threatening to schedule some rest time into my
day.”
“Wonder where she got that idea from?” CJ asked with
a smile.
“You... I’ll get you back for this I promise.”
“I have no doubt you will.” CJ laughed. “I’m ready
to go if you are.”
“Okay, then let’s go.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CJ took Toby back to his apartment. She then went
back to her own apartment to feed her cat, and pick up
a few things she would need. She changed into casual
clothes. In less to an hour she was back at Toby’s
apartment. When he opened the door, she noticed that
most of the lights were out.
“What did you forget to pay your electric bill?” She
joked.
“No.” He laughed. “Why don’t you follow me.”
“Okay.”
They walked from the living room into the dining
room. In the dining room, CJ found a candlelit table
for sat for two.
“So did you learn to do this by watching cooking
shows?”
“Very funny, CJ.”
“I thought it was.” She said and then she kissed
him. “Thank you.”
“I thought this would be a nice second first date.
Of course, since we aren’t going out you probably
won’t consider it a date. But I wanted to be alone
with you tonight.”
“That sounds like a good idea to me.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You know I asked for one last dance to say goodbye.
I think I would like a dance to say hello.”
“Really, you think you can do it with your arm?”
“I’ll find a way.”
“Okay.”
Toby stood up and held his hand out to CJ. She
placed her hand in his and stood up. He carefully
put his arms around her and they began to dance.
Dancin’ in the dark
Middle of the night
Takin’ your heart
And holdin’ it tight
Emotional touch
Touchin’ my skin
And askin’ you to do
What you’ve been doin’ all over again.
“I guess, I was wrong.” CJ whispered. “You can
managed to dance.”
“Yes, it appears I can.”
It’s your love
It just does somethin’ to me
Sends a shock right through me
I can’t get enough
And if you wonder about the spell I’m under
It’s your love
“I love you.” Toby whispered to her as they were
dancing.
“I love you too.” CJ whispered back, then she kissed
him.
“I haven’t wanted to ask this, but are you staying
tonight?”
“Yes.” She replied.
Toby stopped dancing and looked CJ in the eyes for a
long minute. He searched her eyes, and what he saw
there told him she was certain of her decision. He
smiled at her. She smiled back, and they began to
kiss each other passionately.
The end.