Lisa's TWW Fan Fic Archive Home
Post Ep | Romance | General | Drama
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Addition ~ 15
He stormed back to his office, but found Sam sitting on his couch.
"What are you doing in here?"
Sam stood up, "I'm here to talk some sense into you," he said rather sternly.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Toby asked, walking into his office.
"I think you know."
"Sam, this thing with CJ and me...It's none of your business!"
"CJ is my friend, and if something is going on with one of my friends, then it's my business."
He sighed, "Just...please...I need...I don't want to talk about it! Get the hell out!"
"I'm not leaving here until you come to your senses and realize that you're not the center of the universe!" Sam closed the door. "CJ loves you. You love her. We've all known that for a long time now. What I don't get is why she can't love her daughter as well."
"What? I never said she couldn't love Maddie."
"Toby, I heard you two. The whole West Wing heard you two just now. In a nutshell, you basically told her that it is either you or Maddie."
Toby looked at Sam. "I never said that!"
"And now you're acting like a little kid. Toby, why can't you see that CJ needs to take care of her daughter right now? What is wrong with her taking care of Maddie?"
"First of all, I'm not a little kid. Second, she is smothering her! Have you not seen the way she has been treating her?"
"I've seen the way she has been treating Maddie. She has been treating her like a two year old who is shy, who is afraid that her mother will leave her, and most importantly, she's treating her like her daughter. Because you know what Toby? She *is* her daughter!"
"That two year old is being smothered and you know it." He walked out of his office and put some papers on Ginger's desk. He then walked back into his office. "I thought you'd be gone by now."
"I'm not leaving until you admit that you are jealous of Madeline." Sam said matter-of-factly.
"Jealous? Where did you get a crazy idea like that?"
"Oh for goodness sakes, Toby!" Sam yelled. "You hate the fact that CJ has someone else to care about right now. You hate that she's not focusing on you in her spare time. Admit it."
"Get away from me." Toby walked out of his office.
Sam just stood there for a moment. What was this guy's problem?
"That wraps up today's briefing," CJ said to the press. She walked out of the Briefing Room and into her office where she saw Toby. "What do you want?" She asked, walking past him.
"I want to talk to you."
"About what? About how I'm smothering my child? About how Maddie should be taking care of herself now that she is all of two years old?!"
"No, I--"
"CJ," Carol said. "Sorry to interrupt. You have a call on line two."
"Thanks Carol." She picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hi CJ, I'm sorry to call you at work," Mrs. Harris said.
"No, that's okay. What's going on?" CJ sat down.
"Well, Maddie's fever went back up."
CJ put her hand on her head and rubbed her temples. "How high," she asked, trying her best to stay calm.
"103.6." She said in a calm voice.
"What?!" CJ stood up. "Oh G-d, is she okay? I mean, what else is going on?"
"Well since the fever was so high, I took her straight to the Emergency Room. That's where they noticed the rash on her legs..."
"Oh my G-d," CJ said in almost a whisper. "I'm on my way." She hung up the phone and looked at Toby.
"Let me guess. She had a nose bleed."
"Shut up you pompous jackass." She gathered her things together. "If you must know, her fever shot way up again."
"CJ, fevers go down."
"What is wrong with you?! Why can't you see that my daughter is sick? She needs me Toby!" She walked out of her office and knocked on Leo's door.
"Yeah," he said.
"Leo, I'm sorry, but I..."
"CJ? What's wrong?" He took off his glasses.
"It's Maddie. She was sick over the weekend and then she got better, but I just received a phone call from my neighbor who watches her and the fever went back up...higher than before. She took her to the hospital. Leo, I need to..."
"Go." He said. "Go be with her. I'll get Simon to do the rest of the briefings today."
She nodded, "Thank you."
"CJ?"
"Yeah?"
"Tell her to feel better, will ya?"
She smiled a little. "Of course."
"Oh, and are you okay to drive?"
"I'll be fine, Leo. Thank you."
She walked down the hall, Toby still following her. "CJ, it's a fever! Just give her the medicine and it'll go down."
She turned around to face him. "No Toby, it's not 'just a fever.' It's my daughter! My daughter is sick and I need to be there for her! Try and have some compassion for once in your life!"
"CJ?" Josh said, coming up to her. "What happened? Why are you leaving?"
"Maddie's sick again." She said, trying to remain composed.
"What happened?"
"Her fever shot back up."
"Well, give her my best, okay? I'd talk longer, but I have to be up on the Hill in a few minutes."
"I will, and thank you." She began walking again. "I don't get it. Josh cares, even Leo cares! Why the hell don't you?"
"It's not that! She will never learn how to take care of herself if you--"
"Toby! She is two years old and in the hospital! How is she supposed to take care of herself?!" She tried to keep the tears back, but they came anyway.
Sam saw what was going on and walked over to them. "What happened? CJ, what's wrong?"
"Maddie got a little sick again and she's overreacting," Toby said.
"She is not a little sick!" She turned to Sam. "Her fever is over 103 and she has some sort of rash on her legs."
"Sounds like Scarlet Fever."
CJ's eyes opened wide. "Oh my G-d. That does not sound good."
"It's basically strep throat with a high fever and for some reason a rash appears. My niece had it."
"But she's only two!"
"CJ, Sam's niece is fine, and Maddie will be fine." Toby said.
"You know what Toby," Sam said.
"What?"
"I really think you need to go in your office and think about how stupid you sound right now." He snapped. "Do you want me to drive you to the hospital?" He asked CJ.
"No, I'll be okay driving, but thank you."
"Call when you know what's wrong, but I'm sure that it's Scarlet Fever, which I know sounds horrible, but it's curable. It's just painful."
She nodded, "Thank you Sam. And thank you for trying to talk to him."
"How did you..."
"I can sense these things. I'll call later."
"Okay." He watched her leave and then walked into Toby's office and slammed the door. "Are you happy now?"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me," Sam said. "How can you be so unfeeling? I mean, listen to yourself!"
HOSPTIAL
CJ jumped out of her car and ran into the ER. She found a nurse. "Excuse me, have you seen a Mrs. Ellen Harris by any chance?"
"Yes ma'am, right over here." The nurse led her to a room where Mrs. Harris, Maddie, and a doctor were.
"Thank you." CJ walked in. "My baby," she said as she ran to Maddie who stopped crying when she saw CJ. CJ pulled her into a hug. "See, mommy's here." She looked up at the doctor. "What does she have?"
"She's got a mild case of Scarlet Fever," he said.
CJ nodded. She tried to stay calm, for Maddie. "Thank you, Mrs. Harris."
"It was not a problem, CJ. Call me when you get home with her."
"I will." CJ sat next to Maddie and held her as she started to fall asleep. "So she'll be okay? Can I take her home today?"
"Yes, and I'm putting her on a strong antibiotic. She should be as good as new in a week." The doctor smiled and handed CJ a prescription.
"Thank you."
"Anytime." He walked out of the room.
CJ continued to sit with Maddie as she continued to fall asleep.
TBC.......