The alarm clock starts to scream, Jed is the first awake, "6:00 a.m." He
shuts the thing off, then turns over to face Abbey. Pulling her into his
arms, he kisses her on the neck, "It's time to wake up." He whispers.
Abbey woke up right away, "I don't want to. I'm just gonna stay here in bed,
and never get up."
"We can't run from this, Abbey. We have to face it . . . It's gonna be fine.
You'll see. The results are going to come back negative."
"And what if they don't? What then?"
"That's not going to happen. See, I have this all planned out."
"What?"
"The rest of our lives. You are going to be just fine, and we are going to
live to be 120 years old, at least. And we are going to be happy. Nothing
bad will ever happen to us."
"But what if it does?" Abbey asked as she took off for the bathroom yet
again.
********************
The ride to the hospital was very quiet. Both Jed and Abbey were consumed by
their thoughts to say much of anything. And when they did speak, it was just
mumblings.
When they did arrive, Jed helped his wife out of the limo. He then put his
arm around her waist, and they walked into the hospital. They still didn't
do much speaking, there was just way too much on their minds. Besides, what
else was left to say?
They approached the doctor that had examined Abbey the day before, and they
murmured hellos. Then Abbey was taken into a room, where she was to change
into a hospital gown. The next step was for the doctor to explain the
procedures for the day. First they were to do an ultrasound, more
specifically, a TVU. Then, if something was noticed in that, they would turn
around and do a biopsy.
"Mrs. Bartlet, do you see this on the screen, right here?" The doctor
pointed to some blob on the computer screen.
"Yeah." Abbey managed to choke out amidst all of her fears.
"I don't like the looks of this. I am definitely going to want to do a
biopsy. Do you have any questions, or concerns? Anything at all?"
"No." Abbey quietly said as she reached out for her husband's hand and
gripped it tightly.
"Okay then. I'm gonna go get all of the equipment ready for the biopsy. The
two of you can just stay in here, I'll come get you when we are ready." The
doctor disappeared from the room.
Once the doctor left the room, Jed climbed up on the examining bed with his
wife and held her sobbing body in his arms. "I'm scared too. But it's all
going to work out for the best, Abigail Bartlet. You just wait and see. I
won't let anything happen to you." He gently kissed her on the back of the
head. "I'm here for you."
********************
A few minutes later, Jed heard the doctor speaking with a nurse just outside,
so he climbed off the bed, but he didn't let go of his wife. Just as he
swore to himself he never would.
"Excuse me, but we are ready for you. If you will just follow me." The
doctor said as he extended his arm, pointing out the open door.
Abbey managed to get off the examining bed, with Jed's help, and they walked
arm in arm down the hallway. "If you'll just climb up on there, and lay flat
on your back, we can begin."
Abbey did as she was told, as Jed sat in a chair against the wall. When it
was all over, the doctor told them that the soonest the results would be in
would be two days, forty-eight hours. He promised that that was the absolute
soonest. If they didn't take that time, then the results would not be
accurate and they'd have to go through it all over again. With that news,
Abbey got out of the hospital gown, and back into her clothes, and they went
back to the White House.
********************