A full minute after CJ hung up, Josh finally closed his phone and dropped it into his backpack. Leaning back in his chair, he looked around the lobby. The small coffee kiosk was doing a brisk business, as was the gift shop. He considered buying a magazine, but knew he was too exhausted to concentrate on anything for very long. He looked at his watch. It would be another hour before David and Kate Seaborn would land at Dulles.

"…sorry, sir. I don't have anyone registered by that name," an older woman at the reception desk said, her voice implying she had said this more than once.

"That can't be!" the man protested. "They told me they were bringing him here. That you were the closest hospital!"

Shaking her head, she typed on her keyboard and hit 'enter' rather viciously. "Sir, not only is your friend not a current patient, I can't find him in our system at all. He's never been here."

The man, who was easily in his late sixties, stared at her as he tried to work out the problem. Josh thought he looked exhausted. Dressed in wrinkled khakis and a polo shirt that might have been red at one time but had now faded to pink, he leaned heavily against the reception desk. His grey hair was tousled and uncombed, and he had not shaved in recent memory.

"I am sorry, sir," the woman said, her tone softening. "I wish I had an answer for you."

He scrubbed a hand through his hair. "Yeah, me too."

He turned away, shaking his head. Moving closer to where Josh was sitting, he pulled out a cell phone but merely stared at it.

"Dad?" a younger man called as he came through the automatic doors, carrying an overnight bag. He was a younger copy of his father down to the worn clothing, but his tousled hair was light brown. "What's going on? What did you find out?"

His father shook his head, shoving the phone back into his pocket. "He's not here."

"What? No! They told us —"

"Yeah, I know, but she checked twice, and he's not here."

"Okay, who do we call? Someone must know where they took Sam, right?"

Josh blinked and sat up straighter. Sam? What were the chances? The older man glanced over at him and froze as he pulled out his phone again.

"You're Josh Lyman, aren't you? Sam Seaborn's friend."

"Yes, sir. And you're…" He rose to his feet.

"Andy Maxwell. This is my son, Rich."

Josh shook hands with them both. "It was your boat —"

"Sam's here, right?" Rich asked. "How is he?"

Josh saw the lady at the reception desk watching them and gave her a smile before turning his back to her. "He's got a concussion, and they're keeping him overnight for observation, but he should be okay."

Andy and Rich both let out sighs of relief.

"When he wasn't on the list…" Andy shook his head, and Josh thought he still looked shaken.

"I apologize for that. We asked the hospital not to give out any information. There are only so many hospitals that the Coast Guard would've taken him to, and we didn't want the press camped out in the lobby."

"No, no, I thoroughly understand, but I'll tell you a thousand terrible things went through my head."

"I can imagine. I spent the afternoon thinking those same things."

"We all did," Rich said quietly.

"Look, they're in the process of moving Sam to a room right now, but can we sit down and talk for a couple of minutes?" Josh gestured toward the chairs.

Andy nodded as he dropped tiredly into a chair. "I'm sure you want to know what happened."

"Believe me, I'm not the only one."

"Yeah, I'll bet Jed Bartlet has more than a passing interest." Andy thought for a moment, obviously arranging his thoughts. "I imagine you've been sailing with Sam."

Josh shook his head. "No, not really." Father and son looked at him with identical looks of surprise. "We've talked about it, but we've never actually done it."

"Okay, then let me begin by telling you that Sam is one of the most accomplished sailors I've ever met. We've been trying to get him out on the boat for most of the summer, haven't we?" he asked his son.

"Dad and I had hoped that now with him in Washington and all, we'd see him more often." Rich shrugged. "I guess we both kind of overlooked how much of his time would get eaten up by helping run the country."

"Anyway, he finally managed to find the time this weekend," Andy continued. "The first thing you should know about Sam is that he not only knows exactly what he should be doing, but what everybody else should be doing as well."

"Which I learned the first time I met him," Rich told him. "We were crewing for a mutual friend of ours. I was young and stupid and not taking it very seriously. Sam finally got fed up with me and my attitude and threw me into the water. Then he dove in and dragged me out by my collar. Boy, did he give me an earful!"

"Sounds like him," Josh muttered, picturing Sam, soaking wet and furious.

"I tried to defend myself, but he had me dead to rights — and we both knew it. I spent the rest of the day trying to impress him."

Josh turned back to Andy. "So today..."

"Today we were just going to take it easy and have some fun. The rest of the guys showed up at the house for breakfast, and we finally got to the marina around nine." Andy huffed a sigh. "At that point, it looked like the sun would burn through the clouds."

"And once you got out on the boat?" Josh pressed.

Rich leaned forward, his hands clasped between his knees. "All of us had one helluva good time. Not everybody had a ton of experience, but we just clicked as a crew." His eyes met Josh's. "Sam was helping the guys who needed it, but he was having a great time, Josh, he really was."

"So what happened?"

Andy took a deep breath. "The wind picked up, and the weather turned. In ten, fifteen minutes at most, we were running downwind into a gale. We decided the smartest thing to do was head in, and in the mean time, Sam rigged up the preventer line."

"The, ah, what?"

"Basically, it prevents the boom from swinging."

Josh nodded. "Got it."

"He had just starting coming aft to help me at the helm when the boat jibed. The boom swung pretty violently and broke the preventer line. He didn't have a chance to get out of the way. It knocked him right over the lifelines."

"He wasn't, you know, tied to anything?"

"No," Rich said, shaking his head, "he was reaching for the tether when it happened. God, it was horrible to watch."

"Josh, you have to believe that I turned that boat as fast as I could!" Andy pleaded. "Rich radioed the Coast Guard right away. The wind, the rain, the waves — we knew it wasn't going to be easy to find him."

Rob gripped the arms of his chair. "The only thing we had going for us, though, was that it was Sam. "

Andy nodded. "If anybody'd know what to do, it'd be Sam. Even half-conscious, I'd put good money on that boy. And damn, if I wasn't right!"

Josh thought of Sam tripping on the carpet in the Oval, walking into doorways, and hitting the corner of his desk. He had not shared the same confidence in his best friend that these two men had. He shook his head. Maybe it was time to take Sam up on his offer of a day on the water.

"Mr. Lyman?"

Josh looked up. A woman dressed in a printed top with white pants and shoes smiled at him. Even without the ID hanging around her neck, there was something so competent about her that it shouted Nurse! He was on his feet in an instant.

"I'm Josh Lyman."

"Hi, I'm Diane, one of the nurses from South Six. Dr. Polk asked me to come down and tell you that Sam's been moved upstairs." She glanced at Andy and Rich, and lowered her voice. "Room 612."

"I'll be right up... if that's okay."

She smiled at him and tucked a strand of chin-length blond hair behind one ear. "That's fine. You don't have to rush though. He's asleep, has been since they brought him up."

"I'll be right up," Josh repeated.

She nodded and started for the elevators. Josh turned to Andy and Rich who were already on their feet.

"We'll be going," Andy told him. "Doesn't sound like Sam needs company tonight."

"I'll tell him you both were here," Josh said, shaking his hand.

Rich handed him the overnight bag and a set of keys. "I left his car in the B lot, second row. This is his bag. We stopped by the house and picked up his things. Thought he might want them."

Josh took the bag and shook hands with him as well. "Thanks, I'm sure he will."

"Would you tell him I'll give him a call this week? Maybe set up another date to go sailing."

It was all Josh could do not to flinch. Good sailor or not, he was not about to let Sam out of his sight for a while, and he was certain he was not alone in that resolve.

"It was good to meet you. Sam has mentioned you both."

Turning, he hurried after Diane to the bank of elevators. She had already pressed the call button, and the door opened as he approached. Stepping back to let people off, he followed her into the empty car and watched as she pressed '6'.

"What time do visiting hours end?" he asked.

"Nine."

"Nine, really?" Josh looked at his watch. There was no way the Seaborns would arrive in time to see their son tonight.

Diane put her hand on his arm. "It's all right. No matter when Sam's mom and dad get here, they'll let them in. After the day they've had —" Her eyes welled with tears, and she wiped them away.

Josh panicked, as he always did around emotional women. "Hey..."

"I'm sorry. I have kids, and I know how I'd feel if one of them disappeared like that." She looked closer at him. "You must've had a terrible day, too."

He sighed, leaning back against the wall of the car. "It was not the best day ever, no."

"Well, from the doctor said, this time tomorrow Sam will be home, and all this will be a fading nightmare."

"God, I hope so."