EPISODE 8.14 - Written by Shelley
PURE AND SIMPLE LIVING
TEASER
INTERIOR - DONNA'S OFFICE - EAST WING
THURSDAY MORNING
"It's only been a week," Annabeth pointed out as she refilled her coffee cup from the silver serving set on the sideboard in Donna's large office. She smiled inwardly thinking how far they'd come from the strong coffee and flimsy paper cups favored in the West Wing.
"I know," Donna sighed resignedly from her seat behind her desk. "But it feels longer. You know what I mean?"
She had communicated with the First Lady only by memo since their tense meeting in the Residence a week before. Mrs. Santos had been busy with doctor's appointments and meetings with specialists and seemed totally uninterested in what was going on in the East Wing.
"I do." Annabeth crossed the large office and sat in the visitor's chair directly opposite Donna. "But we have to give her time to get back on an even keel. Her son was just diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome."
"A very mild case," Donna added, as had become her habit since the diagnosis had been announced.
"True. But I'm sure it was still a shock," Annabeth admonished.
Donna looked slightly guilty. "I know. I know. I can't even begin to imagine what she must be going through. I'm just...."
"A little bit frustrated with me?" A new voice joined the conversation.
Donna and Annabeth jumped to their feet as the First Lady slipped into Donna's office through the door that connected to hers.
"Good morning, Ma'am," Annabeth said with a smile. "It's good to see you."
"Of course not, Ma'am," Donna apologized. "I didn't mean to imply...I just meant..."
"It's fine, Donna," Helen said, trying for a light and breezy tone but failing badly. "I know I've been a bit out of touch for the last week."
"Perfectly understandable," Donna said. "You've got a lot on your plate."
"True. But that's no excuse." Helen took the chair beside Annabeth's and waved for the other two women to take their seats as well. "I have a responsibility to the initiatives we already have underway."
"And after that?" Donna asked hesitantly.
"After that, it'll take a little finesse but I'm sure we can come up with a plan that allows me the extra time I'll need with Peter while still leaving us time to pursue some of the things we've discussed."
Donna breathed a sigh of relief. At least the First Lady wasn't going to withdraw completely. She could work with this. "I'm glad to hear that, Ma'am."
Helen nodded and turned to her Press Secretary. "I've been getting your daily updates on press and media requests, Annabeth. People must be getting impatient waiting for answers."
"I can handle it, Ma'am," Annabeth assured her.
"I'm sure you can but you shouldn't have to. Let's make some time to sit down and go over things. Once we get an idea where we're going you can coordinate with Matt's staff. I have an appointment this morning but how does right after lunch sound?" Helen offered.
"That's fine," Annabeth nodded. "One o'clock?"
"Perfect. Does that work for you, Donna?" Helen cast a glance at her Chief of Staff.
"One o'clock is fine," Donna nodded as she made a notation on her calendar.
"Well, that's a start then," Helen smiled. "Annabeth, could I possibly have a few minutes alone with Donna?"
"Of course, Ma'am. I have some calls to make anyway. I'll see you this afternoon."
"Thanks, Annabeth," Helen and Donna said in unison as the blond press secretary excused herself and closed the door behind her.
There was an awkward moment of silence before Helen and Donna began speaking at the same time.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am. There really was no excuse for my behavior..."
"I'm sorry, Donna. I know my silence has been frustrating for you...."
Both women smiled.
"You don't owe me an apology, Ma'am." Donna took the lead. "You've had a lot to deal with these last couple of weeks. First Amiir, then getting home and finding out about Peter. Your first priority absolutely should be your family and I'm sorry if I seemed like I was pushing you or I was unsympathetic to what's going on."
"Nonsense, Donna, you've done your best to help me in every way possible since you accepted the job as my Chief of Staff and I appreciate that. I should have let you in and accepted your help instead of closing myself off."
"It's fine," Donna nodded.
"I'm clearly going to have to put a lot more time into keeping my eye on Peter but I don't intend to disappear as First Lady. With the right tools, and a lot of help, I can handle both jobs."
"That's good to hear, Ma'am," Donna smiled sincerely.
"I have to remember that the day Matt decided to run for President we gave up the luxury of dealing with things as strictly private family matters. We can't run away and hide while we work things out."
"We can do our best to shield you..." Donna began.
"I appreciate that." Helen cut her off with a wave of the hand. "But it's time for me to start handling my responsibilities again. I made a commitment to Matt, albeit half-heartedly at first, to be "all in" when it came to his run for President. And that means I have to take my job as First Lady seriously."
"We have a certain amount of flexibility when it comes to your schedule." As eager as Donna was to get back down to business she understood that pushing the First Lady into something she wasn't ready for would only have disastrous consequences down the road.
"I'm sure that with a little extra effort and planning I can handle both things," Helen assured her. "It seems the men in my household are actually eager for me to get back to work. Both my husband and my son seem to think I've become a bit smothering and overprotective since the diagnosis and they would like me to, in Peter's words, 'knock it off'. I don't think either of them understand how much things are going to have to change."
Donna wasn't sure what to say. Everything she had read on mild Tourette's, which was what everyone seemed to agree Peter had, said that the child could live a relatively normal life and that very few additional safeguards were needed. "Kids can be very resilient," she said reassuringly.
"That's true. But they also think they're invincible," Helen replied.
"I've been doing quite a bit of research on Tourette's. Just to be prepared." Donna picked up a thick folder from her desk. "We can go over this now if you have time."
"I have a little." Helen looked at the folder with interest. "I've compiled quite a library of my own at this point but there's no such thing as too much information."
Donna indicated the sofa on the other side of the office and the two women made themselves comfortable as Donna began pulling papers from the folder.
"The first thing I learned is that there can't even be an official diagnosis of Tourette's until the symptoms have been present for at least a year. The doctors can make an educated guess, but there's always the chance they're wrong," Donna began.
"Yes, Jeff explained that to us. Even so, he's fairly certain it's Tourette's. And the doctors at
"Moving forward with that diagnosis, in the briefing papers Dr. Perez prepared for the press corps it said he had diagnosed a very mild case, right?"
"Yes. That's what he said."
"That's good news. In many mild cases the experts recommend no medication at all. And the symptoms often fade away completely by the time the time the patient reaches their early teens."
"That's what everyone keeps telling me," Helen nodded. "But I have to keep a vigilant eye on Peter and we have to be very careful because there's always a chance his condition could get worse."
CUT TO:
INTERIOR - MARGARET'S OFFICE
"Morning, Margaret," Josh said as he entered the office hurriedly and stopped in front of his assistant's desk. "I need you to get Watkins on the phone for me and tell Sam I need 20 minutes sometime this morning."
Margaret grabbed a stack of message slips off her desk and held them out to him. "Got it. Lynne Whitesell is in your office. She doesn't have an appointment but she said it was urgent and she'd only need a minute. I figured you'd want to see her."
Josh looked confused. "What does she want?"
"She didn't say. Just that it's urgent and private." Margaret shrugged her shoulders.
"Ok, thanks." Josh took his message slips and headed into his office. "Get me Watkins as soon as you can."
CUT TO:
INTERIOR - JOSH'S OFFICE
CONTINUOUS
"Lynne. Hi. This is a surprise." Josh said as he tossed his backpack and messages on his sofa and turned to face his surprise guest.
"Josh. Hi. I'm sorry. I know you're busy so I'll make it short," Lynne said apologetically.
"What's up?" Josh leaned against the corner of his desk and motioned for Lynne to sit in one of his visitor's chairs.
"I have some news about the exhibit and I wanted you to hear it from me first." Lynne fidgeted nervously and couldn't look him in the eyes.
"Something wrong?" Everything about Lynne's tone was giving him an uneasy feeling.
"Not wrong exactly. It's just that there's been a last minute change."
"The early galleys you sent over looked great. As hard as some of those pictures are to look at I think it's a great idea to show people the violence of the
"I'm glad you liked them. And we really appreciate all the help both you and Donna have given us on this, and of course the generous donation."
"It was our pleasure." Josh smiled trying to ease the tension on the room a little. "We're both looking forward to Saturday."
Lynne toed the carpet nervously. "That's what makes this so hard. I just found out last night that the board has added another photographer to the exhibit."
"Sounds like a good idea. The more photos the more powerful the statement."
"Normally I'd agree, but in this case the photographs hit a little close to home." Lynne dragged her eyes up to meet Josh's.
"Meaning?" he asked nervously.
"The photographer is Colin Ayres, Josh, and the photos are from the CODEL explosion in
CUT TO
INTERIOR - DONNA'S OFFICE
"Have the doctors given you any reason to think Peter's condition will worsen?"
"No. But I'm his mother and it's my job to be on top of things. If anything changes we need know right away."
"I'd be happy to help with that," Donna offered. "It might be easier for me check in with him occasionally without him realizing what I'm doing. Then he might not feel so smothered."
"Would you?" Helen asked hopefully. "That'd be great. The more eyes the better."
"It'd be my pleasure," Donna said. "Except I was kind of thinking that maybe if I keep an eye on him too that might allow you to relax a little."
"I'm not relaxing on this anytime soon. I missed the signs the first time around and that will NOT happen again, I assure you."
"Whatever you think is best, Ma'am." Donna thought the First Lady really needed to lighten up on herself a little but she knew that would probably take time. She was feeling very guilty right now, believing she had missed the signs of her son's condition.
"Peter had another appointment with the doctors this morning and now we're headed over to his school for a meeting with the faculty, students and administrators. The doctors are going to explain Tourette's to the kids and answer any questions they might have. We're hoping if we're upfront with them from the very beginning it might make things easier for Peter."
"That's an excellent idea. Being open from the start is always the best way to go," Donna agreed.
As if the mention of his name summoned him, Peter appeared in the doorway between the two offices kicking a soccer ball.
"Dad sent me to see if you're ready to go, Mom," he said.
"Peter, where are you manners?" Helen smiled affectionately.
"Oh. Sorry," Peter mumbled as he entered the office and crossed to the sofa. "Hi, Donna."
CUT TO
INTERIOR - JOSH'S OFFICE
Josh felt as though the air had literally been sucked from his lungs. He grasped at the edge of his desk for support.
"What?"
"I was on the phone all night trying to convince the board that some of these images might be too raw. It's not only Donna it's Fitzwallace and Korb and DeSantos. I think it might be too much for a lot of the people attending who knew them personally. But the board is adamant that all the photos stay in. It's the first time Ayres has been willing to show them publicly and the gallery wants the exclusive."
"Shit," Josh tried to stop his mind from whirling as he moved behind his desk and lowered himself to his leather chair.
"I did all I could. The board just won't budge. And in fairness, they're amazing pictures. It's a great get for the gallery."
"I understand, Lynne." Josh tried hard to focus. "It's not your fault. I appreciate the heads up."
"I can arrange for you to see the pictures ahead of time, even privately, if you want," Lynne offered.
"No," Josh choked back the bile in his throat. "That's not necessary."
"Do you want me to tell Donna?" Lynne asked.
"No, thanks. I'll take care of it." Josh took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heartbeat.
"I'm really sorry about this, Josh. After all the help you've given us with fundraising and getting this exhibit up an running..."
"It's ok. Really. It's not your fault," Josh said genuinely.
"I'll understand completely if you and Donna change your mind about attending."
"We won't be there," Josh shook his head vigorously. " The pictures themselves would be bad enough but this thing is gonna get a lot of press coverage and they'll put Donna under a microscope waiting for a reaction."
Margaret knocked softly then opened the door. "I have Watkins on the line but he only has a few minutes. He has a plane to catch."
"Thanks, Margaret," Josh said.
"I'm really sorry." Lynne said as she stood to leave.
"Don't be. It's not your fault." Josh waved off her apology. "I'll talk to you soon," he said as Margaret led Lynne out of the office.
CUT TO
INTERIOR - DONNA'S OFFICE
"Hi, Peter," Donna replied. "How are you doing?"
"Good," he smiled. "Except for Mom has gone all crazy since we found out I have Tourette's and she doesn't think I should play winter soccer and I really want to and tryouts are next week."
"We'll talk about this later." Helen arched her eyebrow. "And I thought I told you I didn't want you playing with that for a while." She indicated the soccer ball he was currently bouncing off his left foot.
"Mo-om. The tryouts are next week."
"We'll talk about this later Peter."
"Can you talk to her please, Donna?" Peter implored. "The doctors said it was ok but Mom is afraid something's going to happen but it isn't and..."
"I said we'd talk about it later, Peter," Helen said sharply.
"Ok," the boy grumbled.
"Everything I've read says there's no reason why he can't," Donna offered.
"Yes, but the people who wrote that aren't the ones who have to stay up night's worried about something going wrong," Helen said as she took the file of information from Donna's hand and got up to follow Peter out of the office. "I'll see you at one."
Just as Helen disappeared through the door connecting their offices Donna's assistant appeared. "Margaret called. Mr. Lyman would like to see you right away. He said it's important."
SMASH CUT TO TITLES