"Sir, I'm Evelyn White. I've just been examining your wife."

Jed stood and shook her hand. "How is she?"

"Physically, she was a very lucky lady. There is nothing critically wrong with her. She has a concussion from being hit on the forehead with a gun. The wound did require a few stitches and since it was on her face we brought in Dr. Connelly one of our best plastic surgeons to do the sutures. There won't be a scar. Her pinkie finger was broken. There isn't much we can do for a broken finger other than reset it and put a brace on it. She had quite a few superficial bruises and cigarette burns on her breasts."

Cigarette burns? Jed tried to wrap his mind around that. That's what those red welts had been! They had burned her with cigarettes? His sharp intake of breath drew Beth to his side to take his hand.

After giving the President a moment to compose himself, Dr. White continued. "We're treating the burns and right now she is on an IV to replenish fluids. When she was brought in she was severely dehydrated."

"What about the drugs?" Jed asked.

"We've run a toxicology screen but more than likely it was GHB which we found small traces of in Zoey's blood."

"The date rape drug." Jed nodded. It wasn't a question.

"Unfortunately it's very easy to gain access to."

"And what about�" Jed trailed off unable to bring himself to ask of his wife's more intimate damage.

"Dr. Bartlet insists that she was not raped and I didn't see any evidence of forced penetration, no vaginal tearing or bruising. However, at the very least, there was genital contact so I've run some tests to rule out any STD's just in case."

Jed nodded, swallowing convulsively as he tried to shut out the images of another man having sex with his wife. Brutal or not, it was rape.

"She says there was no ejaculation, no exposure to semen but with GHB you just don't know so we also did an HIV test and�Since Dr. Bartlet is still menstruating I wanted to start her on a series of morning after pills. She refused. I understand there are religious ramifications here for her but perhaps you could talk to her about it. I know it's highly unlikely but I don't think she's going to be ready to accept pregnancy as an outcome of this."

"Oh God, not all this again." Jed felt his mother in law squeeze his hand as he stiffened with each statement the doctor made. He could feel Beth shaking with repressed emotion and he wanted to rage at the world. He couldn't believe that he was going through all this again, that ABBEY was going through all this again.

"She said there was no exposure to semen." Jed cleared his throat. He was still confused about that one. He knew the terrorists MO, they would have tried to impregnate Abbey, not use a condom. "I have to trust my wife. You did tests, right?"

"Of course. We swabbed for semen traces."

"If you find that she's wrong, I'll talk to her."

"Most of this is just precautionary." Dr. White sympathetically placed a hand on Beth's shoulder and tried to look reassuringly at the President. She didn't know what to make of him. He was staring vacantly into space, as if he had withdrawn from them all.

"May I see her?" He asked quietly

"What?"

"I'd like to see my wife."

"She's still pretty out of it, but of course you can see her. It might take quite a while for the drugs and the shock to completely wear off"

****

Jed entered Abbey's room . It was a far cry from the drama and blood and urgency of the emergency room. Abbey's eyes were closed and she lay back against the white pillows. She wore a blue hospital gown and there was an IV drip in her arm. The blood had been washed from her face but the bruises still stood out against her pale skin. A large piece of gauze covered the stitched wound on her forehead. She looked so small, so vulnerable�so�broken. He inhaled deeply forcing back the sob that had wanted to burst forth ever since the doctor had mentioned cigarette burns and semen exposure and morning after pills. It brought back so many horrible memories and made what his wife had just been through even more of a reality.

He approached the bed slowly and tentatively sat on the edge, careful not to jostle her. Her injured hand lay over her belly the broken finger braced and bandaged. The raw skin of her wrists had been wrapped in white gauze. He gently lifted her bandaged "good" hand laying it on top of his without wiggling the IV drip that was taped to it. He sat for a long time just watching her chest rise and fall thanking God that she was back with him. No matter what had happened to her she was safe now and she was alive.

"Hey, baby," he tenderly brushed the hair back off her forehead. "Do you have idea of how much you scared me? I bet you don't. I'm so sorry�so sorry for all of this�I love you so much�so damn much."

"Mmmm�no need�to curse�" Abbey's voice was groggy, her eyes only half open.

"Ah," he smiled. "There are those pretty eyes."

"Jed," her tongue ran over the cut on her lip. "Those men�they�"

"Ssh�It's all over now, honey. It's all over.

"Stay with me. Please�Don't leave me."

"I'm not going anywhere, babe." Jed wiped the tear that trailed from the corner of Abbey's eye. "You sleep as long as you want. I'm not going anywhere." He leaned over and gently touched his lips to her brow. "You sleep, love. You're safe."

Abbey had only been asleep for about a half-hour when Michael stepped into the room "Mind if I join you?" He asked Jed.

"Of course not. Is Aislinn awake?"

"No, Beth is still with her. I just�I wanted to see my little girl."

Michael stood beside the bed gazing down on his daughter, not touching her, just staring at her. He wasn't looking at the beautiful woman she had become; he was seeing the little girl that she had been. The little girl with the pretty red curls waiting in the window for him to return home from work. He was seeing the crying little girl who had come to him to fix her skinned knees or pull out a loose tooth.

"I can't fix things this time, Jed." His voice was wobbly with emotion.

"What?"

"When she was little I could fix things. A little peroxide and a Band-Aid to fix a cut, a hug and kiss to fix a broken heart. I knew what to do to fix things. I can't fix this. I don't know what to do."

Jed thought of his own daughters, of Zoey sobbing with guilt and Aislinn refusing to speak. "I know how you feel. I want to fix everything too. For all of them."

"We're men. That's what we're supposed to do. That's what we're taught to do. We fix things."

"Women know better. Abbey is always telling me that I can't fix everything. But, I can't help wanting to."

Michael nodded, his eyes falling back on Abbey. It still amazed him at times to think about the strong, self confident, incredible woman that she had become. She had spent more years now lying at Jed Bartlet's side than she had growing up under his roof. She had borne the man six children, become a brilliant doctor and an icon of a First Lady, and yet to him she was still that adorable little girl who worshipped the ground that her daddy walked on.

"I can't help wanting to either."

****

"God, Zoey, it sounds like something out a movie," Elizabeth shuddered. Zoey had just relayed her harrowing escape through the woods to her two older sisters and her niece.

"You must have been terrified." Ellie brushed the hair back off Zoey's forehead.

Tears filled Zoey's eyes. "I really thought they were going to find us and kill us. I didn't think I was going to make it."

"But, you did, sweetie." Elizabeth squeezed her hand. "You made it with Aislinn to safety and you got help to mom."

"I wish they'd let me see them."

"Gramma Beth and Grampa are with Aislinn. She's still out of it from the anesthesia and mom is in and out of it. Dad said he'd come and get us when she wakes up."

"I can't face him."

"Daddy?" Ellie frowned with confusion. "Why can't you face daddy? My God, Zo, you should have seen him while you guys were missing. He was out of his MIND with worry."

"Because of me." Zoey's shoulders shook with emotion. "All because of me."

"What did you have to do with it?" Liz asked.

"I brought Jean Paul into our lives. Daddy didn't want me to bring him home for Christmas but�"

"You batted your eyes and called him "daddy" and he relented." All Jed Bartlet's girls knew how to get around their father.

Zoey gave her sisters a watery smile. "Yeah. I BEGGED him and he finally relented. God, I let him into our HOUSE. I tried to get him to play with Nicky and Ash and all the time he was plotting for a way to kidnap us. How could I ever have thought that I loved him?"

"You trusted Zoey, and that's not always such a bad thing." Liz was very good at being the elder sister. With so many years between she and Zoey she'd always viewed her next to youngest sister as a "baby".

"I don't think I'll ever trust any man ever again."

****

Jed sat in the uncomfortable straight backed hospital chair beside Abbey's bed his legs thrust out in front of him. He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there watching Abbey sleep but the muscles of his back and neck were protesting loudly and his eyes burned with exhaustion. Nurses came and went monitoring her IV, her vitals, marking things down on her chart and telling him to take a break but he refused to leave her side. He'd risked everything to get her back and he'd promised her he wouldn't leave her.

Her sleep was not peaceful; it was fitful; plagued by dark nightmares the horrors of which he could only imagine. Every so often her hands twitched, she moaned, and her head thrashed and he knew that she was in the grip of some terrible memory. That was when he would take her hand and talk to her. Hearing his voice seemed to soothe and comfort her and she would drift back off to sleep. He was afraid to doze off. Afraid that if he did he wouldn't be there to bring her out of the darkness.

Abbey couldn't breath. Thick tape covered her mouth and the air in the tiny closet was hot and stale. She tried to breathe through her nose but could not fill her lungs. She was lightheaded, losing consciousness; she was going to die. As darkness started to close over her the door opened. Relief flooded her at the influx of fresh air, but her relief lasted only a minute before horror set it. Hassan Al Khaleel stood before her, his pants around his ankles, his penis in her face. He ripped the tape off her lips and ordered her to perform or he would kill her daughter. She could hear Aislinn screaming and crying. Abbey's face got closer and closer.

"Noooo�don't make me�STOP!"

Jed was out of his seat in an instant, as if a hot poker had prodded him.

"Abbey�" He gently grasped her shoulders. "It's okay, Abbey. You're safe. You're only dreaming."

Abbey swam through the remnants of her nightmare to focus on her husband's face. Her stomach clenched when she thought about telling him what she had almost done how close she had come to betraying him. "Jed," She moaned. " I'm going to throw up."

Jed quickly jumped to his feet and grasped a basin from beside her bed making it back just in time to help her bend over the side of the bed. He held her hair back off her face while she vomited the few sips of water she had taken earlier. There wasn't anything in her belly to throw up so Jed rubbed her back while she continued to be plagued with the dry heaves. He winced every time he felt her stomach muscles clench with the need to expel something that wasn't there.

Breathing heavily with the exertion Abbey finally sat up. "I think I'm okay now."

Jed emptied the basin in the bathroom and wet a facecloth with cold water. He returned to find Abbey laying weakly back against the pillows and placed the cool wet cloth against her face.

"Better?" He asked.

"Mmm�" she murmured. "I'm sorry, Jed."

"Don't be sorry." His words came out on a groan of dismay. " For Gods sake, Abbey, don't be sorry. "

He didn't know what to say to her, how to approach all she had been through. "You had a nightmare?"

"Yeah."

Jed saw her eyes cloud over with the memory of her nightmare and he left it at that. He stroked the hair back gently off her bruised forehead. "You don't have to tell me now if you're not ready. But, when you are ready to talk to me, I'm here."

Abbey nodded, her hand moving up to take his and press it against her cheek rubbing it in a loving gesture. "Jed, what happened to the men who did this to me?"

Jed looked deeply into her haunted eyes, thankful that he could at least put one fear to rest. "They're dead." He said tightly.

"All of them?� Khaleel?"

"Ron blew his cock off before he killed him."

Abbeys mind flashed back to Khaleels taunting face as he broke her finger, his impassive dismissal after he'd broken Aislinn's arm, his condescending disdain as he'd order her to give him a blow job, his evil laughter as he'd parted her thighs and burned her breasts. Her stomach clenched again and she reached blindly for the basin.

"Abbey?" Jed was confused by her reaction. "Does it bother you that he was killed?"

"Bother me?" Abbey gazed up at him her eyes burning with hatred. "I just wish I'd been the one to pull the trigger. I hope that he burns in hell."

Jed thought of the feel of the gun in his hand, the rage that had coursed through his veins. "Me too, babe."

"There was a woman."

"They found her. Zoey told the FBI that she helped in your escape. She's being held in protective custody."

"She has children, Jed. She risked losing them to help save ours. We have to help her."

"The CIA is already on it. If there is a way to get those kids to this country we're going to find it."

"Okay, then." Abbey should have known that her husband would be one step ahead of her.

"Hey, you up for some more company?"

Abbey looked up to see Millie and Jane entering the room.

"Sure. But just a word of warning, I've been puking."

Millie frowned and walked across the room pressing her fingers against Abbey's throat since her wrists were bandaged. "Your pulse is a little fast. But, that's to be expected since you've been vomiting. Any dry heaves?"

"Millie, I have doctors," Abbey stated sarcastically.

"A little taste of your own medicine Dr. B." Jed grinned.

"Well, what's the verdict? Am I gonna live?"

Millie looked down at her best friend, the woman she thought she might never see again. Tears clogged her throat. "I think you just might." She leaned over and kissed Abbey's forehead.

"Millicent Griffith don't you dare cry," Abbey warned her. "I've done enough of that and I'm sure as hell dehydrated enough."

Millie grinned and shook her head before moving to reach for Abbey's chart.

"You never change." Jane smiled down on her sister and leaned down to kiss her cheek.

"Jed." Beth poked her head into the room. "Aislinn just woke up and I think she wants you."

"She asked for me?" A flash of hope lit Jed's eyes at the notion that his daughter was speaking again.

"Not exactly."

"Go to her, Jed." Abbey urged him. "Bring my baby to me."

****

Jed quickly opened the door to Aislinn's room; memories of her terrified fight with the doctors still fresh in his mind. But, this time she wasn't fighting. She lay back against the pillows looking incredibly tiny in such a big hospital bed. The bright pink cast that now encased her arm lay heavy on her belly. Even with the guard rails raised to protect her it somehow didn't seem right for such a fragile little girl to be in such a big bed. She needed to be back in her crib at home. Back with her brother. Michael was sitting by her side but when she saw her daddy her eyes lit up and she silently reached her good arm out to him squeezing her fingers closed and open as if to draw him nearer to her.

"Hey, sunshine. I heard you were awake." He had been informed outside her room that further examination had yielded no other injuries and Jed's relief was apparent as he nuzzled into his little girl's baby soft neck. Rubbing his sandpapery jaw against her cheeks had always been good for a giggle. This time was no exception, other than the fact that Aislinn's smile was a silent one, her body shaking quietly with her laughter.

"Still, not ready to talk pumpkin?" He smoothed the wispy blond hair back off her face. Aislinn shook her head negatively and viewed him with solemn hazel eyes, no explanation given.

"Well, then I guess I'll just have to wait until you're ready. But, I sure do miss your pretty voice.

Aislinn shook her head, more vehemently this time tears pooling in her eyes.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, sweetheart. Daddy didn't mean to push you. It's okay if you don't want to talk."

Aislinn sank back visibly relieved causing Jed to flash Michael a puzzled look. He wished to God that he knew what was going on inside her little head.

Relieved at not being forced to speak, Aislinn pointed to her cast with a proud little smile.

"You want me to look at your cast?" He asked.

Aislinn shook her head and pointed at it again. It was then that it clicked in Jed's mind.

"They gave you a pink cast because pink is your favorite color?"

Aislinn smiled, pleased that he had been able to figure that out.

"It's a really pretty cast. May I be the first to sign it."

Aislinn's brow furrowed. She wasn't sure what her father was talking about. Jed bummed a black marker from one of the nurses and sat to sign his name on his daughter's cast. Michael smiled when he noted that his son in law hadn't signed as Josiah Bartlet President of the United States, but simply "Daddy". Michael signed the cast next and then Jed sat back down beside her.

"I have a surprise for you, Ash. Guess whose here?"

Aislinn shook her head. She didn't know.

"Mommy came here while you were sleeping and now she really wants to see you."

Aislinn's eyes first lit up as they had when she saw her father and then she shrank back against the pillows making little whimpering animal noises.

"What is it, Ash? Don't you want to see mommy?"

Aislinn looked her father in the eye and shook her head no; her eyes wild with fear as she made a slapping motion with her hand.

"Oh, honey, no. The bad men aren't with her. The bad men are gone. They're gone for good and they can never harm you or mommy or Zoey again. Do you understand?"

It took her a few moments but Aislinn finally nodded and allowed herself to be pulled back into her father's embrace, but her eyes were still wary.

"Now, your mommy was pretty anxious to see you, are you ready to go see her?

Aislinn smiled sweetly, Abbey's dimple flashing in her right cheek and she nodded.

"Okay, then. Let's pick up Zoey and go visit your mom."

****

"Abbey" Jed poked his head in her door, Aislinn on his hip. "I have a couple of young ladies here who would like to see you."

TBC...