presidential affair

waiting room

It was almost slow motion, the presidential limo in front of me was flipping. I could see the man I loved inside. The SUV I was in came to a screeching halt and the two men in the front seat ran to the limo before it seemed to stop. They told me to stay but before I realized it I was opening the door. James was in the SUV behind me. He was just as quick to get out of his SUV and stand beside me. I was shocked, I stopped breathing. I was starting to have a panic attack. I saw them pull the president out. James brought me to his SUV, I think he was trying to take me away from seeing Jack, we didn't know what he would be looking like. He sat me down and held my hands close to his heart. He was trying to get my eye to focus on him, instead of Jack. But I was still continuing to look out the window towards him.
"Emma!" it was the first time I actually heard him. "Look at me! Eyes on me Emma! Breathe, in, out. Feel my heart. It's going to be okay. He will be fine."
I took a breath. Slowly nodding my head and trying to continue to breathe. Tears filled my eyes. I just kept trying to breathe. They took him in what was my SUV since you know the limo crashed. I'm assuming they are taking him to the nearest hospital. We had on agent get in the driver's seat and we followed the others. I didn't even have time to put my seatbelt on, at this point I didn't care. We were rushing to the hospital. Once we made it James and I were running into the hospital behind the stretcher of the president. We were being followed by the secret service from both his protection and James.
"I... The media already knows about this. I need to give a statement. They are going to be circling like vultures."
"You are in no way shape or form able to give a press release right now, let me." James was pleating. By this time we had been lead away from where the general public is, even though we weren't injured we still needed to be looked at.
"James, I am the press secretary! You are the vice president! You need to go somewhere safe. They are probably going to take to back to the white house, but I definitely know that they won't let you out in front of the public just in case... just in case he doesn't-"
"Emma. No, don't say that. Don't even think that, He's a fighter. He will be fine. He will pull through."
"James, I love you. I do and I really hope he does pull through but I need to be prepared as the press secretary and as a person."
At that time we saw Hanna running down the hall to where we assumed they took him. Since we were ushered away, we hadn't seen him yet.
"I need someone to go get me a change of clothes and some make-up. and a damn hairbrush. I need to update the people and I can't go out there like this"
"Okay you go get ready, I'll talk to the doctors and get something ready," James said. He knew, I mean he had his own eyes, plus what I had told him, and I'm assuming Jack had told him at least something. I needed to find an agent, one I knew I could trust.
"Carl, I need you to go to my house grab me 3 different suits, one blue, one grey, and one white. I need two pairs of heels, one black, and one white. Grab my small bag under the cabinet, it should have make-up, a hairbrush, a toothbrush, and some other random things. I need them here asap. I need the floor shut down. nobody else comes in without my permission. I will deal with everything else here. i just need that from you."
"Yes ma'am."
"Thank you, Carl," he left and I started to get to work. Once the floor shut down I called the press to let them know a briefing would be happening in 30 minutes. Then I went to James for a report.
"He suffered a minor concussion, a few lacs, and bruises. He did end up with a broken collarbone and fractured femur. They took him into surgery to put a pin in his leg and they should be done in about 2 hours. Here is your press statement. Hanna is in the waiting room right now. I went to go talk to her."
"Okay. I shut down the floor and told them that no one enters without my permission. The only people I want up here are you, me, hanna, and Andrew, Let's keep doctors and nurses to as small of staff as possible, get all of the NDAs. Carl is back so I have to go the press will be waiting for me outside in 15 minutes. Thank you. Go sit with hanna."
I got my stuff from Carl and made my way to the bathroom. Once I closed the door I took a very deep breath. I took off whatever remains of make-up were left on my face. I applied a new full face of makeup, brushed my hair, and changed into the blue suit. I strapped on my white heels. I packed off my stuff and took it back to Carl.
"I might need this again so just stick it somewhere," I said and he nodded in response.  I walked downstairs and the flashes from the cameras started instantly. I walked up to the podium and took a breathe. I look at the piece of paper that sat in front of me. Then press corp grew quite. I took another breath and looked at them. Doing my best to act tough and not break down in front of them.
"Good evening. Tonight I am speaking to you from James Madison hospital. Earlier this evening around 8 PM eastern standard times. The president was involved in a roll-over accident. him, myself, and vice-president steele were on our way home from camp David. Luckily the first lady and the children were at the white house. The driver of the limo was announced dead on arrival. Myself and vice-president Steele were brought here uninjured. The president was rushed into surgery to fix a fractured femur. He should be out in the next hour. Along with a fractured femur, he suffered a minor concussion, a few small lacs and bruises, and a broken collarbone. The road to recover will be long but we will all be standing by his side. All further updates will be coming from either myself or the chief of surgery Dr. Barrett. God bless you and God bless the United States."
I walked away from the podium trying to not cry. I made it inside and to the stairwell. I sat down and let it all out. I had let the tears escape that I had been holding back since we arrived at the hospital. I heard the door open and footsteps approach me. It was James. He sat down beside me. I laid my head down on his shoulder.
"That was very good. You did great."
"You wanna know what the last thing I said to him was," I said wiping my tears but that didn't stop them from flowing. My tears were accompanied by a sniffle.
"What's that?"
"I said 'I don't want to see you again' now he could be dying and I wouldn't know. Hanna wouldn't tell me either. She hates me."
"That's not possible. She could never hate you," he said trying to stop me from crying.
"She knows james. She knows what you know. At least a little bit."
"I... how do you know."
"We used to be friends. She would come to me with questions or problems. She trusted me. And then she stopped. She won't even look at me. and most of the time she sends other people to meet with me."

"Oh... I'm sorry em. Why don't you go sit in the far waiting room? I will go to her and find out what's happening and let you know."
"I need to know for an update. I need to know when he is out of surgery, how it went, everything. Please, James. And please find me a way to see him when he's out."
"Yes to everything from the press. And I will try my hardest to get you to him." He kissed my forehead and got up.
"Thank you," I saw him walk up the stair and to the floor where he was. I wipe my tears and started up the stairs. Carl handed me my makeup bag. I had gone to the waiting room where nobody else was. I sat down and let out a few more tears.