Jamie headed back downstairs at Number Ten with a lighter heart. He'd talked to Sue and managed to get a few minutes with the PM, who approved the Press Association communication and also excused Jamie from cabinet so he could follow up on media control.
As the PA got the statement out about Malcolm, the media would pick it up or not, but it would force them into official channels at Number Ten for further updates. It would hopefully take the piss out of the balls-up with the media sighting of the ambulance, should that get out in spite of Jamie's efforts.
On his way out of the PM's office he ran into Dan Miller and got a few minutes with him over the Angela Heaney piece. Jamie hadn't worked much with Miller. Now that he knew Malcolm was positioning him for International Affairs, he paid close attention to how the junior minister was handling himself in this difficult situation.
Miller had awoken to press outside his downtown flat, and that's how he had learned about the write up. Given that rude awakening, he did not comment and called Malcolm, who was probably already on his way to A&E at the time.
Jamie coached him on what to say upon his next encounter with any press. While he did not share that Malcolm was out, Jamie encouraged Dan to contact him in Malcolm's place for the duration of the crisis. Jamie set a reminder on his Blackberry to check in with Dan in the evening to get an update, and also to continue to monitor the news feeds in case the story got legs.
Relieved of the burden of attending cabinet, Jamie released the approved message to the PA and headed out on foot for St. Thomas's.
The Intensive Care Unit was about what Nicola expected: tasteful, yet stark, cold and sterile. A small seating area in the second floor lobby was positioned behind an unmanned reception desk. The ICU itself was only a few steps behind a patient monitoring station that sported an impressive array of technology. Glen popped around the corner and was soon back.
"I found him. This way."
Nicola had a feeling they weren't supposed to go into the ICU without at least providing some identification, but she followed Glen all the same. The dramatic experiences of the morning had caused Nicola to revisit her whole perspective on Malcolm over the past week. She was convinced now that even right after her Pathfinders launch catastrophe, his intent was to help her get through the crisis and to coach Ollie, who was clearly not up to snuff. Seeing Malcolm so vulnerable in the ambulance awakened her nurturing instincts, and she wanted to make sure he was okay, and try to repair their relationship, if it needed repairing, after all of this was over.
Malcolm was in a room with two beds, but the second one wasn't occupied. He lay there, pale and unconscious, as a nurse sutured the gash on his forehead. Several wires peeked out of the neckline of his hospital gown. He still wore an oxygen mask. Someone had cleaned up the blood, and Nicola could see the beginnings of a very impressive bruise that spread from his hairline midway down his temple, and curved across his cheekbone under his eye.
Nicola heard a gasp and saw Terri turn away, averting her eyes. The nurse noticed their presence and made eye contact with Glen. "Hi there, may I help you?"
Glen cleared his throat. "Yes. We're co-workers of Mr. Tucker. We were there when he collapsed, and we came by to see how he is doing."
Apparently done with the suturing job, the nurse stripped off her gloves, pushed the tray that held the dressings and suture kit debris against the wall and joined them in the hallway.
"I'm sorry, but right now visitors are restricted to just family. I understand his wife is on the way. If you'd like, you can wait out here in the lobby." She led them back out to the lobby to the reception desk, which was now staffed by a male attendant. "This is Stewart. Stewart, these are colleagues of Mr. Tucker. We're waiting on Mrs. Tucker."
Stewart directed them to the lobby, where they plunked down. They were the only people in the lobby, so Terri and Nicola worked on her lines while Glen observed and gave feedback. Nicola challenged herself to say Dovydas, instead of using his last name, and found it was getting easier. She was still worried about fucking things up even further during the apology, but vowed to do her best in Malcolm's honor. She now believed that he believed in her, and that helped.
They were interrupted when the elevator doors opened and Sam bustled out, her heels clacking loudly on the ceramic tile. She did not stop at reception, but headed intently toward the ward.
Nicola got up and chased after her. "Sam, I'm afraid it's family only for now – " but Sam continued on into the room, where the nurse was attending to Malcolm's IV lines. Nicola watched as Sam put her hand on Malcolm's chest and brushed his cheek lightly. Her whole countenance spoke of deep concern.
Nicola felt a presence behind her and realised Glen had joined her. "Come back to the lobby, Nicola, they need their privacy."
"So, are they an item?" she spluttered. "Does everybody know about this but me?"
Glen led her back to the lobby. "Nicola, they're married. Sam is Malcolm's wife."
"The hell you say! Malcolm's not married?"
"You may have noticed that he wears a ring."
"Yes, but I thought it was just a cover up for a deeply closeted gay lifestyle. Who the hell would marry the likes of Malcolm Tucker?" Now Nicola recalled that the nurse had said his wife was on the way.
"Apparently, Sam." Terri offered. So Coverly knew, too. Nicola felt like an idiot.
"And this is condoned at Number Ten? Malcolm married his PA?"
"Well, they were married before Sam was his PA. They've been married for a long time, Nicola." Terri sounded exasperated that this was all news to Nicola.
"I think they got married when Malcolm was still in the press corps. She was already in the administrative pool at Number Ten when he was Communications Director for the opposition. That's when I first worked with him, and I know they were married before then." Leave it to Glen to know the full back-story.
"Does Ollie know this, too?"
"I imagine so. I thought everybody knew." Terri cast her eyes to the side, her non-verbals accenting the passive-aggressive dig at Nicola.
Malcolm Tucker, you are such a mystery man, Nicola thought. Everything she thought she knew about him was basically over-turned in one morning. Unbelievable.