AT THE PLEASURE OF THE PRESIDENT
Matthew Santos indulged his wife’s fussing when the agent in the room told them that Josh was on his way up. Helen’s back stiffened for a minute before she straightened and relaxed again. He didn’t know what that meant but he intended to find out once Josh was gone.
“You asked for me, sir?” Josh asked.
“Tell me some good news, Josh,” Santos asked his Chief of Staff.
“Sam was transferred from the ICU; he is settled in his room. He is doing okay,” Josh said. “Well, okay, considering the fact that he spent twelve hours in surgery. Ma’am?”
“I didn’t tell him yet, Josh. But I’m ready,” Helen said, making Santos smile. He was afraid that Helen was somehow blaming Josh for the situation but was extremely relieved when he learned that she didn’t. It was obviously their secret plan she was worried about, but of course it wasn’t that secret since he knew all about it. Yeah, it had its perks to be the President of the United States and the Secret Service working for you.
“What did you not tell me?” He asked his wife, barely hiding his smile.
“We are going over to the hospital. We are having dinner together with Ainsley and Sam.”
“Yeah?” Santos asked, stealing a glance at Ron who stepped into the room after Josh. The head of his detail nodded with a half-smile. “That’s terrific; I was just on my way over to the hospital myself.”
“What?” Helen and Josh asked simultaneously.
“Josh, your girlfriend promised me yesterday morning that I can have dinner with her tonight. With her, you, Helen, Sam and Ainsley,” Matthew Santos said. “I invited Annabeth and Arnie too, since it was her wish.”
“And you took upon yourself to fulfill this wish of hers?” Helen asked.
“Yeah, you know as a thank-you sort of thing,” Santos said. “I know she wouldn’t let me express my gratitude otherwise, it’s the least I can do for her.”
“That was my thought exactly,” Helen said, leaning over and pasting a light kiss on his lips.
“Where is Donna, Ron?” Santos asked the Secret Service agent.
“She is in the East Wing, sir.”
“Tell Steve to bring her to the limo,” Santos said and then guided Helen and Josh out of the sitting room.
Helen and Josh were grilling Matt on the way to the hospital; they wanted to know how he got wind of their plan. Donna was just smiling as they threw out wilder and wilder ideas.
“It’s really simple,” Donna said finally, placing her hand on Josh’s knee.
“You told him?” Josh asked her.
“She didn’t tell me anything about your plans,” Matt said.
“So how is it simple?”
“He is the President of the United States, Josh,” Donna said, smiling at him.
“But Donna,” Josh whined but that was the moment when Helen started to shriek.
“What’s wrong, honey?” Matt asked worried, and saw that Ron turned around.
“Nothing,” Helen hurried to reassure him, and he waved at Ron that everything was alright.
“Why did you shriek?” Matt pressed on.
“I just saw something,” Helen said in a whisper.
“What? A spider? A bug?” Matt asked, smiling indulgently.
“No.” Helen shook her head.
“Then what?”
“That,” Helen said, pointing at Donna’s hand on Josh’s knee.
“Helen, it’s not like we didn’t know that they are together,” Matt said, and was given a look he knew all too well. It said ‘Could you be a bigger moron?’ He cast another look at Donna’s hand and then took in the pair’s mischievous smiles and felt a smile appearing on his lips too.
“That’s a nice ring, Josh,” he said then while Helen took hold of Donna’s hand to inspect the ring closer.
“Yes, sir,” Josh said with that obnoxious smirk he knew well.
“So how did he do it?” Helen inquired after a round of congratulations.
“Well, it was really very romantic,” Donna said. “I was in the Bunker, and he was in Vienna.”
“Josh!” Helen shrieked, making Ron turning back to them again. Matt waved him off with a slightly embarrassed smile.
“I was just kidding, ma’am,” Donna said, earning a glare from Helen. “He told me that morning that he wanted to revisit the topic, and I agreed. Then after I came back from the hospital and he came home from the White House we sat down, and he gave me a green card.”
“A green card?” Helen asked confused.
“An NSA card, right?” the President asked.
“Yes, sir,” Josh said. “I told them that I’m going to marry Donna, and Nancy gave me the card, telling me that they knew this moment would come.”
“What’s an NSA card, Matt?” Helen asked.
“A card that tells you what to do in case of a nuclear emergency,” Matt said solemnly. “A card Donna didn’t have until now.”
“Why the hell not?” Helen demanded to know.
“She wasn’t deemed essential,” Josh said, lifting Donna’s hand to his lips and kissing it. Donna smiled softly at him.
“And now?”
“As my wife she is entitled to have her own place in the Bunker.”
“But she was in the Bunker yesterday,” Helen said confused.
“Well, that was me. I asked Ron who else was in the building, when he said Donna and Ainsley I told him to get them to the Bunker.”
“There was no one else in the White House?” Helen asked astonished.
“There were others, those were escorted out of the building by the Secret Service,” Matt said.
“Oh, I see.”
“Except Ronna, sir,” Josh said.
“Yeah, I know, she already fessed up,” Matt said. “She also said that you threatened her.”
“With what?” Donna asked, casting a wary look at Josh.
“I told her I was gonna fire her if she wouldn’t leave the building,” Josh said.
“She has to learn to be impervious,” Donna said, eliciting a laugh from Helen, a frown from Matt and an exasperated sigh from Josh.
“I’m missing something here, right?” Matt asked.
“It’s a long story, sir,” Donna told him.
“It’s not that long,” Helen said. “Back in the days, Josh fired her occasionally and she said she was impervious.”
“Occasionally?” Matt asked Josh.
“Well, she was impervious so I had the chance to fire her every once in a while, sir,” Josh said with a smirk.
“Why?”
“It usually happened on Mondays, sir. Or before a crucial vote. When he reached a peak of his usual Josh-ness,” Donna explained. “It was never a serious thing. He couldn’t have found a single file without me.”
“That’s right,” Josh said, looking at Donna lovingly. “Not that I told her that, not even occasionally.”
“Tell me again why you fell in love with him,” Helen said with a wink at Donna.
“He is Josh,” Donna explained simply, making Helen smile. Josh lifted her hand to his mouth once again and that’s when they arrived at the hospital.
They met Annabeth and the Secretary of State in front of Sam’s room. Sam was granted two Secret Service agents during his stay in the hospital so when they arrived they just knocked on his door.
“Yes?” came a tentative voice. Ainsley’s.
“It’s just us, Ainsley,” the President said, letting Helen, Donna and Annabeth walk in while he held the door.
“Mr. President,” Ainsley clambered to her feet from a chair next to Sam’s bed. Donna noticed that she took off her shoes and now was desperately trying to get hold of them without making a seeming effort.
“Is he awake?” the President asked, not noticing Ainsley’s embarrassment.
“How could I sleep when there is so much noise?” Sam asked weakly, sporting the beginning of a smile.
“Sam,” Donna hurried to his bedside, leaned down and kissed him on the cheeks. Helen quickly followed suit, making Sam blush.
“They said one visitor at a time,” he said, looking at Josh questioningly.
“What? Did you think they would say no the President of the United States?” Matt asked with a grin.
“No, sir,” Sam said. “How are you, sir?” he asked then.
“I’m okay, Sam. How are you?” Matt asked back jovially.
“Well, okay, I guess. It hurts, but not excruciatingly. Josh says that comes later when they cease to give me the wonder drugs,” Sam said with a grin on his own.
“Yeah,” Matt said, his face somber.
“And hospital food sucks,” Sam said and then hastily added, “Sir.”
“That’s terrific!” The President boomed and looked at Annabeth who gave him a nod. “Yeah, we brought you food.”
“Sir, you shouldn’t have,” Sam protested.
“Nonsense,” Matt said. “Besides, it’s Donna’s fault. Before I embarked on my little adventure she told me not to say goodbye because I’d jinx it. She told me we all would dine together tonight. You see, I just can’t go and let them say she is a liar,” Matt said, looking over to Donna who hid her head in Josh’s chest. “And we have also something to celebrate.”
“What, sir?” Sam asked.
“Josh finally wised up,” Matt said, earning a grin from everyone but Josh.
“Donna, he is picking on me,” he stage-whispered to his fiancé.
“And what am I supposed to do about it, Josh?” Donna asked him with an arched eyebrow.
“You really should practice the supportive wife role,” Josh said, making everybody laugh.
“I’m not your wife yet, Josh. Besides, I can’t do anything about it.”
“Why the hell not?” Josh asked taken aback.
“It’s really simple, Josh,” Donna said with a grin.
“Yeah-yeah, I know, he is the President of the United States,” Josh said in an exasperated tone. “For which I’m forever grateful. No offense, sir,” he added then, looking at Arnie Vinick.
“None taken, Josh,” Arnie Vinick said with a wink. “And next time we go to Vienna we will buy that chocolate powder for Donna.”
THE END