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********* "Will You Remember Me?" - part 2 Disclaimers: see part 1 *********
"Dr. Chandler, what happened?" Toby walked quickly toward CJ’s doctor as soon as he walked out CJ’s room. "Mrs. Ziegler woke up thirty minutes ago." "But?" Toby didn’t want to get his hope up too high; he could sense the hesitation in Dr. Chandler’s voice. "Well, Mrs. Ziegler has what we call Amnesia." "What do you mean by she has Amnesia?
Shouldn’t that be something that happens to people who suffer head
traumas?" "I think it’s caused by her allergy to anesthesia. But don’t worry, Mr. Ziegler, I am pretty optimistic
about her condition. There is no
sign to indicate that Mrs. Ziegler’s memory loss is permanent.
She should be able to regain her memory completely pretty soon." "You mean she doesn’t remember anything?
Not even her name?" ‘Not even me and
the babies?’ Toby struggled
to make sense of what the doctor just told him. "She remembers her name.
Mrs. Ziegler has only suffered a partial memory loss.
She still has most of her memories; the only part that she cannot
remember is her life of the past two years or so.
In fact there is something I want to ask you.
Does the date March 12, 1999 mean anything to you?
Did anything significant happen to Mrs. Ziegler on that day?" "Why?" "That’s where Mrs. Ziegler’s memory stops.
She seems to think that’s today’s date." "March 12…" "Oh my God! That’s
when she had that car accident. She
was hit by a drunk driver leaving the White House one night after work, and she
was hospitalized for 2 days because of a mild concussion. Yes, I am pretty sure it was March 12 two years ago, 5 days
before her birthday." "Well, that might explain the date." "Can I see her now?"
Toby was eager to see CJ. "I want to introduce you to Dr. Ryans, who is a
specialist in amnesia. I hope you
can have a talk with her before you go see Mrs. Ziegler" ********* Toby slowly walked into CJ’s hospital room. "Hey, Toby!" "How are you feeling?"
He sat down on the seat next to her bed and wrapped her right hand
tightly in his. "I am fine." "Liar. Have
you been crying?" He noticed her
red, puffy eyes. "I am scared. I
couldn’t remember anything. I
tried to remember, but my head hurt every time I tried." She looked down at their interlaced hands.
She could feel tears starting to gather in her eyes again. "That’s okay." He
handed her a tissue. "What
can’t you remember? I’ll tell
you." "That’s cheating."
She looked up at him and gave him a smile. "Who cares? Nobody
is keeping the score." "Okay." "Okay. So
what do you want to know?" "Well, for starters, am I still President Bartlet’s
Press Secretary?" "Of course. You’re
the best out there. You don’t
believe that we’ll let you go that easily, do you?
You are stuck with us." So for the next two hours Toby tried to fill her in on
things happened in the past two years as best as he could. He told her the big victory they had on the gun control bill.
He told her about Josh’s failed romance with Joey Lucas.
He also told her about Danny Concannon’s transfer to State Department.
He tried his best to tell her everything that happened in the past two
years, except their marriage and children. ********* "Toby! What
are you doing here?" Sam
exclaimed when saw Toby in the Oval Office. "Everybody, please take a seat. Toby has something to say," the President ordered. Toby looked around the room, looking at the eager faces of
his co-workers who had been really supportive to him the past month.
"CJ woke up this afternoon." The staffs in the Oval office started to jump up and down,
hug each other when they finally heard the news that they’ve been waiting for
for the past four weeks. Except the
President and Leo, and of course Toby because they knew what was coming next. "However," Toby waited until he got everyone’s
attention, "she has Amnesia. She
can’t remember anything that happened in the last two years." The Oval office that was filled with cheers and laughter a
minute ago was now in dead silence. People
who were so excited to hear that CJ was finally awake were now staring at Toby
in disbelief. "How could that happened?"
Josh was the first one to regain his composure. "Her doctors think that’s caused by the coma.
The good news is they believe it’s only temporary; with some help, she
should regain her full memory." "How was she holding up?" Mrs. Bartlet questioned. "She was confused and scared." "What can we do to help?"
Leo asked. "I talked to the specialist recommended by CJ’s doctor
this afternoon. Since CJ only
remembers things that happened before her car accident two years ago, that means
she doesn’t remember dating me, marrying me or having twin daughters.
Dr. Ryans, the specialist, suggest that although it’s best for CJ if
she’s exposed to things that she is familiar with, it will be better if we
don’t tell CJ that she and I are married and have twin daughters." "Wait! I
thought you said it’s best for Amnesia patients to be exposed to familiar
environments to help them regain their memories."
The President asked what’s on everybody’s mind. "Jed, let Toby finish what he has to say," the First
Lady patted the President’s hand lightly, trying to calm him down. "Because CJ cannot recall anything in the past two years,
that means she still thinks that she and I are only friends.
Judging from the unstable mental state that CJ’s in now, her doctor
thinks if we go ahead and tell CJ the truth, she may go into shock and lock
herself up, mentally I mean." Toby’s voice grew lower and lower as he spoke.
Even he could not believe what he was saying. "WHAT! That’s
insane", Sam yelled. "Toby, are you sure this Dr. Ryans is a real
psychologist, not a patient escaping from a psychiatric ward pretending to be a
doctor?" Josh wanted to know. "Josh!" "It has its possibility, Mrs. Bartlet.
You cannot trust anybody these days." "Abbey, is that true?" the President asked. "I seem to remember reading something similar in the
magazine. Dr. Ryan is a renowned
expert in the field. If she says
so, then we should trust her. What
do you think, Toby?" "I CAN’T believe this.
Three White House senior staffers, the Chief of Staff, the First Lady and
the President of United States all get together to plot the biggest lie against
an innocent mother. Oh, and let’s
do not forget that among us are her daughters’ godparents and her dear
husband…well, of course since most of us are either lifetime politicians or
lawyers, we are used to lying to innocent citizens." Too worried about his best friend and too angry at what he
just heart to sit quietly, Josh started to pace back and forth in the Oval
office like a caged animal. "Toby!
You are her husband. Say
something, would you?" "I’ll do whatever is best for CJ." ‘Even if that hurts
as hell,’ he added silently. "How are we going to explain to her about the amnesia and
the C-Section?" Someone asked. "I told CJ that she was hit by a car while crossing the street. She had internal bleeding at abdominal area, so the doctors had to give her emergency surgery to stop the bleeding. Also she suffered a concussion, and that’s why she lost her memories. One other thing: she can’t live at our home anymore. She’ll have to move back to her old apartment. Will that be okay with you, Donna? You are the person who lives at the apartment now." "Don’t worry about me, Toby. Besides, I can keep CJ company." "Thank you, Donna. I really appreciate the help. Also, we’ll have to tell the press corps about this, so they don’t say anything that they shouldn’t say." "I’ll take care of it at the 2 o’clock briefing this afternoon," said Sam, who took on the job of briefing the press since CJ started her maternity leave two months ago. "When can CJ go home?" "They were going to release her tomorrow, but I asked the doctor to keep her for two more days. That way I’ll have time to move CJ’s stuff back to her old apartment." To be continued …
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