Chapter Two

When the doctor finally walked into the waiting room its three occupants shot to their feet. "Mr Seaborn is stable now and you'll be able to see him soon." He announced as he walked over to them. "His condition was rapidly deteriorated in the ER. We were having difficulties stabalising him until we discovered a stab wound to his chest. Some of the blows he received broke several ribs which caused his lung to collapse but the wound compounded this and a large amount of air built up which caused the sudden deterioration. We've inserted a number of tubes and will continue to monitor his lungs closely. Surgery isn't required at this point. He's got three broken ribs, a concussion, stab wound to his lower arm and a sprained wrist not to mention the numerous bruises and cuts. Mr Seaborn-"

"Call him Sam," Toby interrupted.

"Sam came to briefly in the ER but he's been unconscious ever since. We'll be sending him up for some scans in the next half-hour."

"What are you looking for?" CJ asked.

"Let's just wait and see what the scans show. There have obviously been some blows or a blow to the head and we need to do tests in these circumstances." He stood and looked at his patient's friends. "A nurse will come and get you when it's okay to see Sam. Don't be alarmed by the tubes and mask. I won't lie to you, it was touch and go in the ER but he's stable now and doing well."

The doctor left them as he had found them, sitting in silence and apart from each other. "I should get back to the office," CJ said but she showed no inclination to move.

"You should," Toby agreed but he gave her a look that let her know he knew she didn't want to. "I'll phone as soon as there's any news. Let me know who has it and what they're-"

"No need," Josh interrupted as he turned up the volume on the TV. A reporter was standing outside the hospital, already speculating about the motives for, and nature of, the attack. They watched as footage of Sam at a recent event was shown and then images of the chaos after Rosslyn. It was only when the wreckage of Mrs Landingham's car was shown that Josh reached for the remote and turned the TV off. "They obviously haven't got any details if they're doing the curse of the Bartlet Administration as a story. Find a back way out if you can, the front's swarming with press." CJ nodded absently and grabbed for her coat before heading out of the room and down the maze of corridors which led to the elevator.

It was another hour before Sam was moved to a room and Toby and Josh were told they could see him. They took the stairs to the next floor. Josh was trying not to think of the way he had spoken to Sam before he had left the restaurant earlier. Toby was just trying not to think of Sam, or the blood, or the sight of it running from Sam's mouth. Toby went to the desk and asked for Sam's room but was told to wait. He explained that he'd spent the last few hours waiting and would quite like to see Sam now as he'd just walked up two flights of stairs after being told by a Doctor Manning that he could see him. The nurse smiled sympathetically and told him to wait.

Thirty minutes later, Toby was sitting as close to the nurses' desk as possible, throwing them an occasional glare. It hadn't worked but one of the younger nurses looked relieved as she came over to him and told him that it was okay for him to visit now. A doctor had been by an hour ago and told them that the tests had shown no sign of serious head injury, but Toby wouldn't be satisfied until he spoke to Sam himself. He looked over to where Josh had been sitting but couldn't see him. He followed the nurse to Sam's room and left worrying about Josh for later.

The room was in semi-darkness. Toby stopped at the end of the bed and looked at Sam before going any further. He thought Sam looked worse now than he had lying on the street. His wrist was in a cast and on his other arm the stab wound was covered with dressing. A dressing was also placed on the wound on his chest. Apart from the tubes inserted in Sam's chest to treat his collapsed lung, it was the sight of his face which most shocked Toby. One of Sam's eyes was swollen almost closed and the other surrounded by a swirl of purple and black. His lower lip was cut in two places and both cheeks were swollen and bruised. There seemed to be no part of his face which wasn't covered by either a wound or bruise.

Toby softly cleared his throat and moved nearer to the bed. "Sam." There was no answer and so he moved nearer still and reached out. His hand stilled above Sam; there didn't seem to be a space he could touch that wouldn't cause him pain. Glancing behind he saw a chair against the wall and went to fetch it. He sat in silence for a few moments before calling Sam's name again. This time Sam stirred and moved his arm slightly before turning his head away from the voice. Toby reached out and placed his hand on Sam's carefully avoiding the cuts on his knuckles. He gained some satisfaction at the thought that Sam must have fought back before he was overcome. He rubbed the back of Sam's hand with his thumb and waited.

It took a few moments but then Sam's eyes opened. He looked up at the ceiling and then closed them. Toby called his name and this time Sam tried to focus on more than the ceiling. He moved his head towards the voice but even that small movement caused pain to flash over him. His eyes closed again and Toby increased the pressure on his hand. "I'm here, Sam, try again."

Feet, hands, kicking and beating, that's all Sam could remember. Toby was startled when Sam's eyes suddenly opened wide in panic and he started to breathe in short harsh breaths. Toby stood up and called to him to calm down. A doctor appeared closely followed by a nurse and they too attempted to calm the panicked man. It was Toby's voice that finally broke through to Sam. He turned his head towards him and allowed it to bring him away from the violence.

"Sam, I'm Doctor Harris. You're in hospital. Can you remember why you're here?"

Toby listened as the doctor asked Sam a series of questions and then gave the nurse beside him a set of instructions. Sam was able to tell him where he was, what day it was and who the President was but when asked what had happened he shook his head and said that he couldn't remember. Harris explained the worst of Sam's injuries to him but before he could finish, Sam's eyes had closed. He added some comments to the notes at the end of the bed and then walked over to Toby. "There are two policemen outside. Obviously they want to talk to Sam, but I think they want to ask you some questions as well."

Toby nodded and squeezed Sam's hand before standing and following the doctor from the room. Outside, one of the officers was sipping from a cup of coffee but finished it and threw the cup in the bin on seeing Toby.

"Mr Ziegler, the doctor's told us that we won't be able to speak to Mr Seaborn for a while so we'd appreciate it if you could tell us as much as you can about what happened."

Toby nodded towards the seats they had vacated and they followed him over to them. "I didn't see any of it and I didn't see who attacked him. I came out of the restaurant because I thought he'd been gone a long time. I phoned his cell phone and heard it in the alleyway behind me."

The older of the two officers nodded and turned a page of his notebook. "His phone was still with him, as was his watch, wallet and car keys." Toby nodded unsure of where the question was leading. "Was Mr Seaborn working on anything at the moment that might have caused someone to have a, I don't know, vendetta of some kind against him."

"Sam works for the President of the United States, he's always going to be working on something that might cause someone to have a vendetta against him."

The officer smiled. "That's a good point, Mr Ziegler. So there's nothing that you can think of, no one's been a nuisance or threatened Mr Seaborn recently?"

"Apart from me, no. Sam's often in the public eye but in the past few weeks he's been working on the State of the Union prep with me which pretty much keeps us chained to our desks." Toby stood and looked back at Sam's room. "I should get back there." He handed the officer his card and thanked them. He looked around for Josh before returning to Sam's room. There was no sign of him.

An hour later, Sam woke again. "Just lay still, Sam. Try to relax." Toby placed his hand over Sam's and patted it.

"Cold," Sam mumbled and Toby said he knew he was. He couldn't see how a blanket could be placed over Sam at the moment without disturbing the tubes, drips and machines he was hooked up to. Toby rose saying he'd get a nurse just as the same doctor who had spoken to Toby earlier entered the room. "I thought you might wake up soon, Sam. Can you tell me how you're feeling?"

"Cold," Sam repeated a slight impatience to his voice.

"Okay, the nurses will do something about that. How's your pain, on a scale of one to ten where are you?"

Sam frowned as if confused by the question. He closed his eyes but when he opened them he looked straight at the doctor. "Ten bad?"

Toby shook his head and smiled.

"Yes, Sam, ten is bad one is no pain."

"Ten."

"Okay." He grabbed the chart and added some notes before clipping it back onto the end bed and returning to Sam's side. This time he bent down. "Sam, there are two police officers outside who'd like to ask you a few questions. Are you up to it?"

Sam glanced at Toby before looking back at the doctor and nodding slowly. The doctor squeezed Sam's arm and stood up. "Let's deal with your pain first then I'll send them in." Sam nodded again, it sounded like a good idea to him.

Toby returned to his chair and watched as a nurse added a blanket to the bed and laid a gown over Sam carefully avoiding the tubes.

They weren't the same officers that Toby had met earlier. They were both young, about the same age as Sam, Toby thought as he watched them approach the bed. "Mr Seaborn, I'm Officer Brooks and this is Officer Stevens." Brooks looked at Toby as he introduced himself then focused on Sam.

Officer Stevens stepped forward and pulled out his notebook. "Can you remember how many men attacked you, sir?"

Sam tried to sit up slightly but the effort was futile and merely resulted in a grimace and look of sympathy from the two officers. "Two, I think."

"Okay and did you get a look at them or hear their voices?"

"Too dark, quick…happened quickly. One spoke…no accents."

"Don't worry, sir, you're doing well. They didn't take your watch, wallet or anything else is that right?" Sam nodded. "Did they speak to you? Did they say anything at all to you?"

Sam closed his eyes and shook his head. "Don't remember."

Stevens nodded and turned a page on his book. "Did one of the men leave before the other one?" The question was met with silence. Sam glanced at Toby then closed his eyes. "Mr Seaborn? Sir, can you remember if the attackers left together or if one stayed longer? A witness working in a paper booth across from the alley says that he saw one man running out of it."

Sam didn't open his eyes but shook his head. "Can't remember."

"Okay, just one more question, sir, then we'll leave you alone. Have you had any threats made against you recently or any idea why someone might want to attack you?"

"No." Sam looked up at Stevens, "Don't know why...did it...don't know."

Toby didn't know how or why but he knew Sam was lying. He watched the officers leave the room and then moved his chair closer to the bed. Sam's gaze remained on the door.

"What aren't you saying?" Toby asked but he knew there would be no answer and he slumped back into his chair as Sam closed his eyes and turned his face away from him.