Title: The Next Few Hours (2/2)

~
As she walked in, Donna's mind kept focusing on the other people. They were mostly women, but there were some men in the mix. Many of the people had worked on the campaign and they were staying in tight groups now. Some of the newest people were standing agape, probably at being in the Oval Office, Donna guessed. Even in this situation, they were probably surprised at the sheer power one felt the room emanate. Donna had felt it the first time she had been there and, although at times the feeling was lighter, it had never totally gone away.

"Can I have everyone's attention please? Thank you. This will be hard enough to say once - I don't want to have to repeat anything. What I am telling you now, Madeline Hampton will shortly be telling the press. She will be taking over CJ Gregg's duties for a while.

"After my town hall meeting at the Newseum tonight, which many of you know we have been planning for all week, shots were fired at myself, my daughter and my staff. Zoe was uninjured and is upstairs now with her mother. I was also uninjured, as were several staff members. If I don't mention them outright, please, as far as I know they are
okay. Several members of the crowd were injured by debris and in the ensuing commotion, none seriously.

"Josh Lyman and Sam Seaborn, as well as many Secret Service agents, were slightly injured but are on the way back here. Leo McGarry, Charlie Young, my personal assistant, and three Secret Service agents were taken to the hospital and are in surgery now. All three were shot and seriously wounded." A pause, then the President continued. "The prognosis of all three is unknown at this time. CJ Gregg, Toby Ziegler and Nancy Roth, one of my office assistants, were all injured and are at the hospital now. I have spoken to Toby and CJ on the phone, and all three are okay and will back at work tomorrow. If not sooner, knowing them."

Another pause. "The rest of what I am going to tell you is not for public consumption. Everyone in this office knows what that means - if a reporter or someone else calls, asking for confirmation, you
know nothing. We want to prevent rumors and leaks, so everything will be released publicly through the communications department, in other words, Mandy Hampton. I will be making a statement first thing in
the morning, but until then Mandy is our public voice.

"There were several shooters. As I'm sure most of you were aware,
Zoe was dating Charlie Young. There were people who were not happy about that, because of the race issue, and it is believed that at least three of them attempted to prove this point. It is unknown who they were aiming at: myself, Zoe, Charlie, or just for attention.

"Carol O'Malley, CJ Gregg's assistant, Gina Toscano, the head of
Zoe's Secret Service detail, and Robert Ellison, a member of my detail,
were killed by the shooters." When the President paused this time, the room was absolutely quiet. "These people were dedicated to their jobs. Many of you knew Carol, as did I. Some of you were good friends with her. The Secret Service agents knew the perils of their job yet did it to the utmost. All of them will be missed and their deaths will not be forgotten. Believe me, they will not have died in vain.

"Please, if you have work to do, go back to it now. If you do not, please feel free to go home. We can't have everyone suffering from exhaustion - we still have a lot of work in front of us. Also, Abby reminded me to tell everyone we will have counselors here, starting tomorrow, for you to talk to. It's been many years since something like this has happened, and it's okay if you don't know how to react.

"Please, keep everyone who was injured in your thoughts and prayers tonight, as well as Carol, Gina and Robert. Thank you."

Donna watched the President sit down at his desk, then turned and slowly walked out with the rest of the crowd. Everyone stood in the hallway, quietly murmuring to themselves until Mrs. Landingham came out and gently motioned them home or back to work. 

Feeling half-asleep, Donna wandered back to Josh's office, where she found Mandy waiting for her. She must have cleaned her face and reapplied her makeup, Donna noticed, because it no longer looked like she'd been crying. For once, Donna could no longer read Mandy's
mood. "Ron Butterfield's spokesperson should be waiting outside the press room. Ready?"

"Yeah."

"You sure? You look like you could use a few minutes. Do you want
me to get someone from Toby's staff?"

"I'm just tired, Mandy."

"I know," she responded, softly. "Let's go?"

Donna took the notes Mandy was handing her. Are these the press packets?" At Mandy's nod, she continued. "Just let me copy these
and we can go."

~
After the press conference, Donna walked with Mandy back to Josh's office. 

"You did well."

"Thank you, Donna. I didn't even think you were listening."

"I did. Bits and pieces, anyway. It was hard to concentrate."

"I understand."

"You did do well, Madeline." 

Both women jumped at the sound of Josh's voice. Donna turned and grabbed him in a hug. "You're okay!"

"I told you I was, didn't I?" Donna felt him hug her back, even tighter than she was hugging him. "You were really worried, weren't you?" he asked, his soft voice sounding surprised.

"Of course I was worried, Josh. How did you think I'd feel?"

"I honestly didn't know. I know I am glad you stayed here, though."

"Um, Josh?" Mandy interrupted, her voice hesitant.

Donna reluctantly let Josh go. He held onto her for just a touch longer, then let go and turned to Mandy. "You really did do good in there, Mandy."

"Thanks, Josh. At least I didn't talk about a secret plan to fight inflation."

All three smiled and Josh even let out a quiet laugh. "Thanks,
Mandy. Would you come in for a few moments? Donna, we'll be out in a minute."

Donna watched Mandy and her boss disappear in his office, then sat down heavily at her desk. She was exhausted and just wanted to sleep.

~
Kathy stood in front of Sam's desk. "Here's the statement for the President's speech in, oh, three hours." Sam tried to cover a long yawn with the piece of paper.

"Sam, have you slept yet?"

"No, have you?" 

"A little, at my desk. You need to sleep."

"I'm at my best on no sleep, Kathy. How do you think I made it through law school?"

"That's fine, but you're not twenty-five anymore. What am I saying? You're not even in your _twenties_ anymore."

"Thank you for reminding me of that fact," he replied drolly. "I almost forgot." Then his voice turned serious. "Any word on Leo or Charlie, yet?"

"They're still the same."

"How's Josh?"

"Last I heard, he was on the phone with one of the ambassadors. He's speaking with the Cabinet members in a little while - he and Mandy
are going to prep them for the morning news shows."

"He's got to be about ready to fall over."

"Donna thinks so. But making him get some sleep is about as easy for her as getting you to do so is for me."

"And I was just going to lay down, too. Now I'm not."

"Sam?quot;

"How's the President?"

"Upstairs in the residence. He's supposed to be sleeping."

"I sure hope he is."

"Sam?quot; Kathy repeated.

"You know, that has to be your most annoying tone of voice. Wake me in twenty minutes, okay?" At her look, he continued. "I mean, forty minutes, okay? I need to help Josh prepare for the Cabinet."

"Forty minutes," she confirmed, then backed out of the office, closing the door behind her.

Outside Sam's office, Kathy looked around. The bullpen, normally a busy place but for the last several hours purely chaotic, was now mostly quiet. A few of the staff members had gone home; those that had remained had their heads down on their desks, asleep. Bonnie had stolen into Toby's office, Kathy knew, to use his couch. Kathy had promised to wake her at six - Toby and CJ were expected in by six thirty. 

Kathy set the papers Sam had given her on her desk, then went to the rest room. Margaret was there, sitting on the floor and crying.

"Margaret, what's wrong? Is it Leo?" Kathy hunched down next to her.

The other woman nodded, then blew her nose. His wife called. He's out of surgery but in serious condition."

"Is he ?Is he going to make it?" Kathy asked in a hushed tone.

"They think so," Margaret whispered. 

Kathy moved closer and hugged Margaret. After a while, the other woman was quiet and Kathy thought she had fallen asleep. 

"He's been like a father to me."

"What?"

"Leo's like a father to me. He's always been so good and I just want to tell him that."

"He knows, Margaret."

"I hope so." 

Both were quiet, then Kathy spoke. "I think Josh is going to the hospital after the speech. I bet you could go with him."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. Someone will cover for you. You need to see Leo and let us know how he's doing. I'll talk to Donna."

"Thanks, Kathy." Both women hugged, then stood and looked in the mirror. "I must say, I've had better days."

"Join the club, girl. I'll see you later, alright?"

"Okay. And Kathy, thanks again."

~
Bonnie handed Toby a copy of Sam's speech that the President was scheduled to give in fifteen minutes. After a cursory glance, he handed it back.

"Is it okay?"

"It's fine, Bonnie. Tell Sam it's good."

"Did you even read it?" At his look, she continued. "Okay. Anything else?"

"How's Josh?"

"Tired, but still functioning. I think the fact that he's going to the hospital after the speech has made him feel better."

"Yeah. I'm glad he's going."

"Margaret's going with him, so Ginger's going to help out over there. Mrs. Landingham is short-handed anyway, since Nancy's not back yet."

"Thanks, Bonnie."

"Sure. I'm glad you're back, Toby."

"Me too." He smiled. "Now, I have something I want to say, so let
me say it and don't get all weird, okay?" Bonnie was mystified. She nodded and he continued. "You're a good assistant, Bonnie. I know I don't give you and the rest of the staff here enough credit, sometimes, but I appreciate everything you do and I don't know what I'd do without you. That's all."

"Oh, Toby, thank you." Bonnie felt the tears gathering in her eyes and rushed over to hug her boss.

"This is what I meant by getting weird," he responded gruffly, but hugged her back. As they broke apart, she saw him quickly wipe at
his eyes. "Now don't go spreading this around."

"I won't," Bonnie smiled. "Sometimes you surprise me, Toby Ziegler."

"Yeah, well, life is like that. Now, leave. I have get back to the President."

"Right. Good luck."

"Thanks. We're going to need it."

~
The West Wing staff, what was left of it, stood in the back of the Oval Office and watched the President speak. Many of the assistants that had been there all night were also in the room, some of them seeing a Presidential speech from this perspective for the very first time. 

Donna stood next to Josh, occasionally glancing at his uninjured but exhausted face. She had convinced him to try to sleep on the way to the hospital to visit Leo. He had worked straight through the night and she was pretty sure he would drop from sheer exhaustion if he didn't sleep soon.

She turned her focus back to the President, who was announcing the conditions of Leo and Charlie to the nation. Both were out of
surgery and the prognoses were good on both. Although he didn't say anything about it, Donna knew Zoe was at the hospital with Charlie and had given her father the information firsthand. One of the Secret
Service agents had died, but the other two were expected to live. The President started to speak of how the agents had known of that potentiality but had taken on these duties and ultimately given their lives for their duty.

"The grieving process here in this office and in this country has already begun and it will be some time before it is truly over. We should never forget what happened last night, because to do so will also be to forget the reasons that it happened. As a nation, we must heal together and also heal the wounds that led to this incident.

"Please, today, as you go about your routine, keep not only the injured and killed in your thoughts and prayers, but also the nation. We will solve these problems, or their sacrifices will have been in vain.

"Thank you, and good day."

End

Author's note: I wrote this story because I noticed many of the
other stories which have been posted haven't focused on the people
essential to the running of the West Wing: Donna, Bonnie, Margaret, Kathy and the other assistants. The story jumped in places, I know, but I subscribe to the Aaron Sorkin school of writing - I leave some blanks for the audience to fill in. :) Should I continue it as a series? Thanks for reading!

Home        What's New        Author Listings        Title Listings