Changes Ch 9
“CJ.”
She looked up from her computer when she heard Toby
call her name. “Yeah.”
“Are you ready to go?”
“It’s time?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I guess we should get this over with.”
“Everything is going to be alright.” Toby whispered
as her helped her with her jacket.
“I hope so.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the receptionist had shown Toby into the
doctor’s office, he had assumed that the examination
was almost over. He had not been happy when he was
not allowed in the exam room with CJ. It had been over
ten minutes since he was shown into the office, and he
was beginning to get worried. He looked up when the
door opened, and saw CJ come in.
“You okay?” He asked.
“Yeah, he just examined me. He said he’ll be in to
talk to both of us shortly.”
“I see.”
The door opened again, and the doctor came in.
“Hello, please allow me to introduce myself, Mr.
Ziegler. Dr. Michael Phillips.”
“Toby Ziegler.”
“Okay, I’m going to get straight to the point. From
your medical records, Claudia, I believe that this
condition is gestational. You should be fine once the
baby is born. I would like to monitor you for a few
days to assess the severity of your condition. I’m
afraid the most effective way I can do that is to
hospitalize you.”
“There’s no other way?” CJ asked.
“I’m afraid not. I’m going to call GWU and have a
room set up for you. Why don’t you go home and get
some things together and check in at six. I’ll see
you when I do my rounds tonight.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I’ll help you pack.” Toby said as CJ walked into
the bedroom.
“No, I think I can manage to do that by myself.” She
said with a small smile. “Why don’t you call Leo and
discuss what we are going to do with this situation.”
“Are you certain you don’t need help?”
“Yes, call Leo.”
CJ sat down on the bed and tried to think of
everything she would need to take with her. She
didn’t know how many days she would be in the hospital
so she thought she should pack at least two pairs of
pajamas. She also knew she would need her slippers
and robe. She went into the bathroom and picked up
the things she would need from in there. She looked
for the overnight bag and realized it was on the top
shelf of the closet. Well, Toby would have to get
that for her.
Toby was still talking to Leo when she walked into
the living room. When she came in he handed the phone
to her. “Leo wants to talk to you.”
“Okay.” She took the phone from him. “Yeah Leo.”
“How are you?” Leo asked.
“I’m okay I think.”
“Okay, listen you know you’re in all of our thoughts
and prayers.”
“Thanks.”
“You know we’ll probably have to tell the press.”
“Yeah. I think it would be okay just to have
whomever is doing the late briefing inform them. Has
Toby told you everything?”
“Yeah. So have Josh tell them?”
“Yeah I guess so.”
“Do you want the hospital disclosed?”
“Do we have a choice?”
“I doubt it. But I thought I’d ask.”
“Okay.”
“Listen, CJ don’t worry about anything okay. Tell
Toby the same, we’ll handle everything here.”
“Thanks Leo.”
“You’re welcome.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You’re planning on staying with me?” CJ asked
incredulously.
“Yes.”
“You would be more comfortable at home.”
“No, I wouldn’t. At least if I am here I won’t be as
worried about you. I’ve slept on the couch in my
office...”
“Which is much more comfortable than that chair.”
“That doesn’t matter. If I’m here I’ll know you are
okay.”
“Fine, but when you complain about not sleeping well,
don’t blame me.”
“I won’t.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CJ had never been able to sleep in hospitals. She
glanced at the watch she had placed on the night
stand, and saw that it was three o’clock. Five hours
of sleep was definitely better than what she usually
averaged in a hospital. She knew that she probably
would not be going back to sleep that night. She
looked around in the semi-darkness of the room, and
saw that Toby was still asleep. Apparently he found
it much easier to sleep in a hospital than she did. Of
course, he didn’t have an IV line in his arm that made
it uncomfortable for him to move. He also wasn’t
hooked up to every monitor in creation. She smiled to
herself when she felt the baby stir a little bit. It
made her feel better to feel the baby move. Although
the doctors kept telling her that the baby was fine,
she wasn’t certain if she believed them. She felt
that the doctors were just trying to placate her.
Maybe it was for the best that they were. At least it
was helping to keep her calm. CJ was so deep in
thought that she didn’t notice Toby wake up, and walk
over to the bed.
“How long have you been awake?” He asked her
quietly.
“For a little while. I can’t sleep in hospitals.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“I’m sure there are still quite a few things you
don’t know about me.”
“You think?”
“Yeah.”
CJ reached her right hand out to Toby. He took her
hand before speaking again. “Do you want to talk
about it?”
“About what?”
“What’s bothering you.”
“Do you think they are telling us the truth about the
baby?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because I’m afraid that they are just trying to
placate me.”
“CJ if there were anything wrong with the baby they
would have told us.”
“The rational side of me knows that, but I’m afraid
I’m not thinking very rationally right now.”
“You could let me do the thinking.”
“Not a chance.”
“I didn’t think so.” He laughed.
“You should go back to sleep.” She said.
“Why?”
“I’m assuming that you are going to work tomorrow.
You need to sleep.”
“What would make you think I’m going to work?”
“Because you’ll drive you and I both crazy if you
stay here all day tomorrow.”
“I will?”
“Yes.”
“If I’m here I’ll know how you are.”
“If you are at work you can call to see how I am.”
“That’s not enough.”
“It’s not?”
“No.”
“If you go to work, you’ll get your mind off of
this.”
“No, I won’t.”
“Yes, you will. Just go to work for awhile. I’ll
probably be asleep tomorrow anyway.”
“You’re not going to give up on this, are you?”
“No.”
Toby sighed before replying. “All right I’ll go to
work. But when I get chewed out by the President,
Leo, Josh, and Sam for being in the West Wing and not
with you, I’m going to blame you.”
to be continued...