Kathy Harris-Lehman was not chosen for the pool coverage.  With her husband on it she was automatically barred.  The chance meeting nearly three years before in the hospital had started a relationship that blossomed and resulted in marriage and a child.  She had lost just over twenty pounds, quit smoking, cut alcohol to about two glasses of wine a month and got her diabetes and cholesterol under control.  Her weight went up about twenty eight pounds during the pregnancy but she was now more than two pounds below her pre-pregnancy weight and more than twenty five below the weight at the physical.  Kathy still wrote.  She still went to places she thought stories were breaking, hung out watching and she sold stories.  Jason was an active photographer and continued his work which was why he was tagged for the pool coverage.  She and Jason both wrote less since their marriage but the pieces they wrote were better and brought better financial returns than either had seen before and both had been recognized as serious reporters with good futures.  The last year their combined income soared to nearly a half million dollars.  Of course they had some travel expenses but when they totaled them they had only spent a little over sixty thousand and gotten some really great tax-exempt vacations.  Jason found her an invaluable partner.  She was often able to provide a twist to a story that made a good story a great one or put a story to the pictures that sold both.  He tended to be too bland.  She tended to be too sensational.  The tempering when they worked together was profitable.  Had the relationship only been professional both would have had to say it was valuable.  Usually with big events they would go together and split up to get different views.  She had begun to carry a still camera and a small video camera in her bag.  He was teaching her the photo trade and she had over two dozen pictures published and one video sequence sold in the last four months.  They only brought in six thousand dollars but it was a good start.  Today she must cool her heels while her husband took the spotlight.  She cared little about this except that she was not able to participate.  To relieve her frustration she went to the hospital.  She couldn’t get into the press conference but she could look around.  There could even be a non-related story break while she was there.  Maybe she could find something about this story everyone else missed.  After all, that was her forte, finding something everyone else missed.  She spent nearly an hour in the hospital and worked her way to one of the halls near the president’s family when one of the guards asked her purpose for being there.  She tried to give him a story about being lost.  The guard shook his head.  Ms. I bet you’re a reporter trying to slip in here.  That bag looks like cameras to me.  I’m going to escort you out of the building unless you have a story I can believe and something that shows you have real business here.  He put his hand on her arm and pointed her toward the door.  She turned reluctantly and he applied more pressure.  As she turned to go she hit a spot of water on the floor.  She started to fall, he tried to break her fall but he too was on the wet spot.  He lost his balance and when he landed on her legs he heard they both heard two loud snaps.