Chapter One
"I'm not saying she's not a memorable woman, I'm just saying I don't remember dancing with her." Sam placed his feet on the table in front of him. After countless flights on Air Force One, they had all snagged their favourite seats. Sam's was in the middle of a row of four, with two armrests and a table at the perfect height for putting his feet on. "Not that I've actually agreed to your assertion that I did dance with her."
"I was there, I saw you," CJ stated as she reached past Sam and nudged Toby. "Hey, stop pretending you're asleep and help me pick on Sam."
"Leave him alone," Toby ordered CJ, earning a surprised smile of gratitude from Sam. "If you get him all worked up he won't be able to sleep and he'll be knocking on my hotel door at two in the morning with a rewritten draft or inspirational quote. This would be bad for you because I would have to kill Sam and then you'd have to spin a dead deputy."
CJ and Toby slept for the rest of the flight. Sam dozed fitfully, his sleep disturbed by images of CJ spinning his dead body above her head.
Sam started to doze again during the short trip to the hotel. It was late at night and they were all looking forward to going straight to bed. The three day trip was going to be more fun for CJ than for Toby and Sam. She was attending a ball with the President, presenting an award at a media dinner and going shopping with the First Lady. Sam and Toby's trip was filled with meetings and any spare time they did have would be spent trying to come up with some jokes to include in the President's speech he was giving to members of the farming community on his last night of the trip.
As they neared the hotel Toby nudged Sam awake. "We're landing, buckle up." CJ smiled as Sam groped around for the seatbelt before realising he was no longer on the plane.
"Very funny, Toby, and yet a gag for the President's speech eludes you," Sam said.
Once they had been given their bags they collected their keys they went straight to their rooms. They came to CJ's first and she called goodnight as she let herself in. Toby and Sam walked a little further along before Toby checked the number on the key fob and stopped. "We've gone past it," he announced as he turned around and walked back along the corridor.
"Are we sharing?" Sam asked sleepily as he followed Toby.
"We've got adjoining rooms. And…" he checked the fob again, "we're here."
They entered the room and, despite his tiredness, Sam agreed to a quick nightcap. They spent twenty minutes becoming more frustrated with their inability to think of a single joke for the upcoming speech before heading off to bed.
Sam had a quick shower, unpacked a few things and then finally got into bed. He didn't think about elusive jokes or the upcoming three days of meetings, he just pulled the comforter over his head and fell quickly asleep.
Toby rubbed at his eyes and listened to the foreign sounds of the hotel room. He had been dreaming. He had been trying to write down an idea for a speech but every pencil he picked up was broken and every pen had run out of ink. He closed his eyes and turned onto his back trying to rid himself of the frustration that the dream had produced. It was only when he heard the groan that he realised that it was not the dream that had woken him.
"Fuck!"
Toby sat up at the sound of Sam's curse. He switched on the bedside lamp and listened. Another curse came from the adjoining room. Toby assumed Sam was talking in his sleep and shouted at him to go back to sleep.
Sam's reply was a loud moan. Toby could hear him pacing and so he got out of bed and went into Sam's room. He switched on the main light and when his eyes had adjusted to it he was taken aback by the sight that greeted him. Sam was pacing frantically around the room. His eyes were tightly shut, one hand gripping a handful of hair and the other balled into a fist at his side. Toby changed his mind about the sleepwalking as he caught sight of Sam's pale face as he turned a circle in front of him.
"Sam, what's wrong?" He could hear Sam's breathing now, short harsh breaths interspersed with moans.
"Fuck!" Sam cried again as he spun away from Toby and towards the bathroom. He watched bewildered as Sam groped for the handle and kicked the door open. Once inside he simply paced up and down. He paused long enough to pick up his wash bag and empty the contents on the floor.
Toby was fully awake now and alarmed by Sam's behaviour. "Sam! What's wrong? Do you need some medicine? Is there something in here you need to take?"
Sam dropped to his knees and raked through the items on the floor. He didn't have much success as his right hand was still glued to his head. Toby turned on the light and crouched beside him. Sam turned towards him and it was Toby's turn to curse. Sam's face was ashen and his right eye was red and streaming with tears. Sam opened his mouth to speak but the sound became a moan and he doubled over letting his head hit the floor. Toby was horrified when Sam sat up and repeated the motion banging his head on the floor repeatedly.
Toby reached forward and pulled him up. "What the hell are you doing? Stop it!"
"Make it stop…please, please make it stop."
Toby didn't need to ask what Sam wanted him to stop as it was clear that Sam's head was the cause of his pain and for him to try to cure it by beating it on the floor, Toby realised it must be a pain worse than he could imagine. He tried to pull Sam up but he was intent on sitting doubled over. He now held onto his head with both hands and was rocking in time with his moans which were increasing in volume. Toby stood up and walked towards the phone. He picked up and was about to dial when a knocking on the door stopped him. "It's Doctor Briant. Do you need me?"
Toby hurried over and opened the door. He recognised the man as the staff doctor who had travelled with them. He said 'bathroom' by way of greeting and the doctor pushed past him and hurried towards the sounds of Sam's moans. CJ appeared wearing a hotel dressing gown, still in the process of tying the belt as she came rushing through the door. "What's going on? I could hear the noise down the corridor."
"It's Sam, he's…I don't know. The staff doctor must have heard as well, he's with Sam now."
CJ studied Toby's pale face and placed a hand on his arm as she walked past him and towards the bathroom. The doctor was trying, unsuccessfully, to prise Sam's hands away from his face.
"What's his name?" he asked CJ who came and stood behind him and managed to answer even though her throat had dried at the scene before her.
"Sam! Do you know what's wrong? Has this happened before?"
Sam shook his head and continued to rock himself, his head hitting the floor but cushioned now by the towel that the doctor had folded and put down. He tried to pull Sam up so he could look at his eyes but Sam wouldn't let him. Toby remained outside but moved to the doorjamb when he heard Sam's moans lessen slightly. A few seconds later the moans and curses were replaced with the sound of Sam's harsh breathing. Sam stopped rocking and let his head rest on the towel, his hands over his head but no longer clenched.
"Has the pain gone?" the doctor asked and Sam mumbled a reply into the towel.
He pulled Sam upwards and helped him lean against the bath. "Are you in any pain?"
Sam shook his head. He seemed as shocked at the pain's sudden departure as he had been at its intensity. The doctor shined a light into Sam's eyes and then handed him a tissue so that he could wipe away the water that had been streaming from his right eye. Sam blew his nose which was also running. Toby crouched down at his side and took the tissue from him and threw in into the toilet.
Doctor Briant turned to CJ. "Can you arrange for a car or a taxi? I'd like Sam to go to the ER." She nodded and left. The doctor told Sam to relax, making sure he took a few slow breaths, before gesturing to Toby to follow him out of the room.
"Does Sam suffer from migraines?"
Toby shook his head. "He gets headaches but they're never debilitating. I've never seen him like that. I've never seen anyone like that!"
"I don't know what's wrong but I think he's had some sort of severe migraine attack. I'm going to phone ahead to the hospital. They'll probably do a scan to make sure there's no sign of anything else. When we get back to Washington it's vital that Sam sees his doctor straight away. Make sure you get the name of the doctor that sees Sam at the hospital. He seems okay now, but if the pain returns or he seems confused call me."
Toby tried to register everything that had been said to him. He held out his hand and thanked Doctor Briant before returning quickly to the bathroom. Sam hadn't moved an inch but Toby was pleased to find that his breathing had slowed and he had a little more colour than he'd had before. Toby crouched down beside him. "We need to get dressed. CJ's going to sort out a car to take us to the ER. Can you stand?"
Sam nodded and raised his elbow so that Toby could help pull him up. Toby led him out of the bathroom and sat him on the bed. Sam watched as Toby opened his suitcase.
"You've got some jeans and a sweater in here, will they do?" Sam nodded and so Toby pulled out the garments and handed them to him. He rummaged a little more. "I can't see any underclothes."
Sam was still completely dazed by the pain that had woken him and then attempted to rip his head apart. "I think erm…I think I put them in a drawer."
Toby walked to the chest of drawers and pulled out a pair of boxers and some socks. He put them on top of the other clothes and placed the pile next to Sam.
"Put these on and then we'll go, okay?"
"Okay," Sam replied quietly.
"Okay," Toby repeated more confidently and walked into his room to get changed.
By the time Toby was dressed, CJ had returned to tell him that a car was waiting for them. She had also changed out of her nightclothes.
"You don't need to come," Toby said as he picked up his wallet, cell phone and room key and placed them on the bed. "We'll probably be waiting around for hours. There's no point us all getting no sleep." Toby tied his shoelace and looked up at CJ. "You're not going to sleep until we get back anyway, are you."
She shook her head. "Might as well be drinking bad coffee with you," she said and then looked towards Sam's room. "How is he?"
"He seems okay just a bit dazed more than anything." Toby walked towards the adjoining door which he had purposely kept open. "Ready, Sam?"
The door opened wider and Sam appeared. He was wearing the clothes Toby had given him and was carrying a class of water which he placed on the table.
"Finish that first," Toby said and sat back down on the bed.
"It's okay, let's just go. I'm pretty sure they'll have water at the hospital."
CJ opened the door and waited for Sam and Toby to join her. "Have you got everything?" she asked no one in particular. As Sam went to walk past her she put her hand on his arm. "You better take your coat."
A flicker of a smile crossed Sam's face and he looked at CJ incredulously.
"Wow," she said as she ran her hand over her forehead. "Toby, Sam, I'd like you to meet my mother."
"I'm freaked out enough as it is without you going all maternal on me," Sam said as he carried on through the doorway. CJ switched off the light and shut the door behind them.
It was starting to get light by the time they returned to the hotel. Sam had seen two doctors and after having a MRI which was clear, was given a prescription for some pain killers, told to see his own doctor as soon as he got back, and discharged. Toby and CJ had sat and waited for the four hours that it took and Sam had alternately apologised and thanked them all the way back to the hotel.
"What do they think it is?" Toby asked. Still finding it hard to believe that the man he had watched writhing and moaning in pain a few hours earlier was now walking next to him in seemingly perfect health.
"The first doctor sort of lost interest when the MRI showed that I didn't have a tumour. The second doctor-"
"What was his name?" Toby suddenly remembered Doctor Briant's request.
"Oh, er, Doctor Powell. He said that I should see my doctor when I get back."
"But what do they think it was?" Toby asked in exasperation. They had reached the hotel and Toby held the door for Sam and CJ.
"They weren't sure. They both said it was probably a migraine."
CJ pressed the button on the elevator. "But you don't get migraines and that was some migraine."
"Well I think it was just a combination of stress, tiredness, late night whiskey and…I don't know it was just a one-off. Anyway, I feel fine now so…" Sam shrugged his shoulders.
The elevator pinged and the doors opened. "But did they say if they thought it would happen again? I mean surely you need to have some tests done, they can't just say they think it was a migraine and leave it at that," Toby said as the elevator started its journey to their floor.
"If I have another- whatever it was- then I have to go back to my doctor. This is all conjecture because I'm not going to have another one," Sam declared.
"You're not?" Toby said, glancing at CJ.
"No!" Sam replied adamantly. "But, listen, thanks for coming to the ER and getting me dressed."
"You dressed Sam?" CJ asked a wicked grin beginning to appear.
"I most certainly did not! I grabbed some clothes from his suitcase-"
"And my underwear," Sam added helpfully.
"And then I left the room, and you can write that down CJ, 'The Communications Director handed his Deputy some garments and then left the room."
Sam had been fine the next day. He had woken early used the hotel's gym, showered and breakfasted before Toby was even up. He was doodling under the heading 'Jokes- Funny Ones!' when Toby knocked on the dividing door.
"How're you feeling?" he asked, assessing Sam's appearance.
"I feel okay, I guess. My head doesn't hurt. I'm a bit tired, like I'm hung over, that sort of feeling but I'm been to the gym and I've had breakfast and I'm feeling, okay."
Toby nodded. Sam looked tired and he didn't have as much colour as usual but apart from that Toby had to agree that he seemed fine.
"We're meeting Bert Simpson in an hour, you up to it?"
"I am but if he's got yellow skin and a mom called Marge, I think we should-"
"Save the funnies for the speech," Toby said and looked pointedly at Sam's collection of doodles.
The meeting went well and Toby concluded that the trip had been more than worthwhile. He blew the cigar smoke from his mouth in long lazy puffs and watched it climb to the ceiling. The chandeliers hanging above him had long since been replaced with discreet modern lighting but still they hung sending beams of reflected light dancing around the room. The President was about to finish the speech and Toby was more than pleased with the way the jokes had been received. Neither Sam nor Toby could take the credit as they had all come from Ainsley who Sam had phoned in desperation and was rewarded with an endless stream of funny yet inoffensive farming jokes.
The sound of the applause didn't wake Sam. He had fallen asleep during dessert and although Toby knew he would want to hear how the speech was received he didn't have the heart to wake him. He was partly obscured by a pillar so Toby doubted anyone would notice anyway. An hour after the speech had finished CJ came over and told Toby it was time to go. Their bags were already on Air Force One and the cars were lined up outside waiting to take them to it. CJ crouched beside Sam and placed her hand on his shoulder, she called his name a couple of times before his eyes sprung open and he sat upright. CJ had to explain to a confused Sam that the speech had been and gone and that they were going. Sam slept in the car to the airport and all the way back to Washington.
"It's so nice to go travelling, but it's oh so nice to come home," CJ sang as they walked along the corridor towards their offices.
"Promise me you'll never leave me alone again," Josh said as they entered the Bullpen. "It was suddenly me and all these assistants. The ratio of me to assistants was like 1:8. They nearly toppled me."
"You stood firm, though?" CJ asked.
"Yeah, but it was touch and go at times." Josh put his hands in his pockets and watched Toby dump his bags in his office. "It went well?"
"It did. Hindman and Stoughton are on board and the DFT are going to look at increased funding for the areas we suggested." Toby answered Josh but kept an eye on Sam who was talking to CJ next door. Josh looked at them too and raised his eyes as CJ grabbed hold of Sam's arm and kissed him on the cheek.
"Everything else okay?" Josh asked.
"Yeah," Toby replied but he gestured Josh into his office confirming to him that everything was not okay.
Toby briefly explained what had happened while Josh stood staring at Sam through the window. "He's going to see a doctor tomorrow and I imagine they'll run some more tests. Sam's pretty sure that it's a stress thing, a bad migraine or something."
Josh turned away from the sight of Sam flicking through his mail and messages. "But you don't?"
Toby ran a finger along his forehead. "I don't know. It looked pretty bad to me but I've never had a migraine so maybe that's what they're like."
Josh nodded; a slow measured movement that was totally out of synch with his rapidly beating heart. He was about to go next door and talk to Sam when Margaret appeared. "Leo says welcome back and you can't go home."
Toby sighed. He had planned to check his messages, check in with Josh and then go. Something had obviously happened and whatever it was it was going to keep him here much longer than he had anticipated.
Toby looked across at Sam and wished he was still awake. He would know the word that Toby was looking for. He tapped his pen on his forehead as if it would force the word out like a woodpecker forces grubs from a bark. Admitting defeat, he put the cap back on the pen and clipped it back onto the pad.
It had been an hour since Leo had called them into to his office to explain that in the time it had taken them to fly home, Senator Hindman had reversed his position from the one he had continuously stated throughout his meetings with Sam and Toby. The news had meant a round of phone calls and then a rewrite of three paragraphs of a speech that the President was due to give tomorrow.
Sam was asleep on the sofa. One hand loosely held his glasses and the other rested on his laptop's keyboard. Toby carefully pulled it off Sam, his fingers making a scrawl of letters across the screen as the keyboard was dragged beneath them. Toby saved the document and then reached over and took Sam's glasses away as well. He toyed with the idea of pushing Sam's feet off the table to wake him up but then remembered how tired he had looked earlier and reluctantly changed his mind.
He walked out of the office and wandered around the Bullpen for a few moments. He would have to wake Sam up soon anyway as it was getting late. He decided to get a cup of coffee, have one more try at the paragraph that was tormenting him and then wake Sam up and go home.
He had been staring at the empty computer screen for a while when Sam shifted slightly and then started to wake.
"It's about time," Toby mumbled.
Sam's hand reached for his head before he even opened his eyes. He moaned, cursed and then his eyes opened wide.
"Is it happening again?" Toby asked. He watched Sam sit upright both hands clutching at his head, and knew that it was.