In the long-running drama, The West Wing, President Bartlett is wounded in an assassination attempt. Wounded also is Deputy Chief of Staff, Josh Lyman. When Josh recovers from a harrowing battle for his life, he attempts to return to normalcy. He covers his trauma for awhile, but one night there is no escaping it. While listening to YoYo Ma play Solo Cello #1 in G Major at The White House, in the music he hears the gunshots. Try as he might, he cannot silence them. He makes it home without incident, but as he pours himself a drink in his apartment, he hears the music again. He hears the guns. He remembers the bullets. As all of his senses come to bear, he smashes his glass down on the table and injures his hand.
After being forced into counseling, he must face the death that faced him squarely, rather than attempting to silence it again and again. With much help, he eventually returns to the work he loves. His boss, Leo McGarry, himself a recovering alcoholic who had faced death in war and also at the hands of his addiction, meets him on his way out of work his first night back. This is what Leo tells Josh:
This guy's walking down a street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep, he can't get out. A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up, "Hey you, can you help me out?" The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along, and the guy shouts up "Father, I'm down in this hole, can you help me out?" The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. "Hey Joe, it's me, can you help me out?" And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, "Are you stupid? Now we're both down here." The friend says, "Yeah, but I've been down here before, and I know the way out"...Long as I got a job, you got a job, you understand?
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