Chapter Nine
Josh hooted as he pulled up outside of Sam's apartment and waited for him to come down.
"Did you get some sleep?" Josh asked as Sam climbed into the car.
"I wasn't tired. I just watched TV and read a while."
Toby had told Josh that Sam had been quiet when he had dropped him off earlier. Josh agreed that Sam's exhilaration at having driven himself to work hadn't lasted long.
"You still want to go out? If you've changed your mind I can phone and cancel," Josh asked before starting the engine.
"No it's fine, let's just go." Sam didn't sound too convincing and he rubbed at his neck as he spoke.
When they arrived CJ and Toby were waiting at the bar, they were both drinking orange juice.
"Hey guys," Toby said, "What are you having?"
"I'll have a Mar-" Josh caught Toby's expression, "I'll have a mineral water thanks." Josh tried to sound pleased with his choice but he had really been looking forward to a Martini.
"Sam?" Toby pulled out his wallet.
"I'll have a Jack Daniels, no ice and a Martini for Josh."
Josh tensed as his friends stared at other. Without breaking the stare, Toby called to the bartender, "A Jack Daniels, no ice and a Martini, please." Sam didn't look triumphant, just tired.
The atmosphere relaxed as they started to eat and Sam let CJ and Josh entertain him with some gossip from the Bullpen that they had found out by mistake, although Josh insisted it was because he was in the gossip loop. Toby didn't try to enforce an alcohol-free dinner again and as a result Sam was careful not to drink too much, although Sam's idea of too much had become a little blurred recently.
The alcohol did little to numb Sam's throbbing head and shoulder and he shifted in his seat trying to find a comfortable position.
"You alright there, Sam?" CJ asked as a loud sigh escaped his lips.
"Don't give him any sympathy," Josh told her.
"Why shouldn't I?"
"Because he's not being a good boy and taking what the doctor ordered." Sam's head whipped up and he found Josh staring at him.
"Why not?" CJ asked.
"Yes, why not, Sam?" Josh added. "Tell us why there's an unopened prescription from the hospital in your bathroom, because I sure as hell can't understand why you keep trying to cope with blinding headaches and neck pain when you've been given something to stop it."
Sam didn't answer but looked at Toby who was lighting a cigar. "In the absence of any explanation from Sam, I would imagine the only reason he's not taking his medication is to either piss off Mrs Bartlet or to make himself suffer. As he's already ensured us that he's not suicidal then he can't be doing it to upset the First Lady so it must be for the other reason." Toby blew a smoke ring towards the ceiling.
"God, Sam, why would you want to be in pain if you don't have to be?" Josh kept his voice low but he was close to losing it.
Sam just shrugged. "It's not too bad. It's not much to have to live with. Maybe I des-" Sam stopped himself but Josh knew what he was going to say.
"Deserve it! You think you deserve to be in pain? What sort of fucked up thinking is that?"
Sam stood. "Can we go home now please?" Toby immediately stood, followed by CJ who was relieved that Sam wasn't going to argue with Josh.
Josh knew this wasn't the place to have the discussion. He stayed silent in the car as well only speaking to tell Sam he would drop him off first.
He pulled up behind Sam's car and waited for him to get out. He heard the door open but looked in his side mirror when he didn't hear it close. Sam was walking towards his car. He stood in front of it for a few seconds and then slammed his fist down on the hood. Josh jumped out of the car. It wasn't until he was up close that he realised every single window had been smashed and the paintwork scratched. Josh heard Toby curse as he walked past him and around the other side of the car. CJ jumped as he kicked the rear door to force the loose glass out of the frame it hung precariously from. The four stood in silence as the remnants of glass fell to the ground.
Sam's sudden outburst made CJ jump again "You had to keep pushing. I told you I didn't want a car. Damn it" Sam kicked at the car and more glass fell to the ground. "He'll think I don't care, that I'm just back to-"
"Hold on," Josh stopped him, "who's he?"
"I meant people, people will think that I-"
"You know who did this don't you?"
"Oh come on," Toby cut in, "this isn't related to the accident it's a random act of vandalism nothing else."
"This isn't random." Josh started walking around the car. "Random is a broken wing-mirror, random is a slashed tyre. Someone has stood here and smashed every single pane of glass, which can't have been easy because it's shatter-proof and reinforced."
"Well it's good to hear you are still able to quote the buyer's guide in times of stress. Honda would be impressed."
"This isn't funny Toby, I'm saying-"
"I know what you're saying." Toby turned to Sam. "Do you know who did this?"
"Of course not," Sam replied. He turned and started to walk towards the stoop. Josh passed him on the way up and whispered, "You're lying."
Once inside the apartment, CJ and Josh grabbed some trash-bags, tape and a brush and went back down to start clearing up the mess. Sam called to Toby that he was going to help and when he got no reply he went into the kitchen were Toby was opening up Sam's prescription and reading the leaflet.
"You're an idiot," he said as he handed him two tablets and a glass of water.
Sam lifted the pills to his mouth and then paused, "These are painkillers? I mean you're not trying to rid the human gene-pool of idiots are you?"
"Just take the damn pills, Sam," ordered Toby. He took the glass and told him to go lie down, ignoring his protests that he should go and help with the car. A defiant Sam, an angry Josh and broken glass was a recipe for disaster that Toby decided was best avoided.
He went downstairs and watched as CJ placed the last strip of tape across the window just as the first drops of rain began to fall.
"You see I'm not just a press secretary. The weather waits for me. The rain clouds do my bidding," she declared.
"Hey," Toby called to Josh, "Are you ready to take me and the rain god home?"
Josh nodded and walked over to his car. He started the engine then switched it off, "You know I should go back up and-"
"No you shouldn't. Talk tomorrow."
Sam listened to Josh's car pulling away. He went over to the window and looked out at the street below. There was no doubt in his mind that it was Stephen Walsh who had damaged his car, just as there was no doubt that the day when he would have to face him was drawing ever closer.
"This mistake?" Sam suggested.
"No!" Toby quickly replied.
"This error?"
"Sam! We're trying to admit to that without actually saying the word."
"Okay, this oversight? Blunder? Lapse? Lapse!"
"This lapse has caused an unfortunate- wait a minute, lapse in what?"
"Lapse in not getting caught making mistakes," Sam suggested.
"Shut up and stop spinning you're making my dizzy."
"Political spinning or chair spinning?" Sam asked.
"Chair spinning."
"I think you'll find it's my extensive vocabulary and command of the English language that's making you dizzy, Toby." Sam got up and walked out to the Bullpen. He returned with a cup of coffee and listened as Toby read out the paragraph that was an apology without actually saying the word.
Ginger poked her head around the door, "Sam, there's a call for you but I didn't know if you'd want to take it."
"It's okay we're done. Who is it?"
"Claire Walsh's mother."
"Sam?" Ginger didn't think she had ever heard Toby speak so softly before. Sam shook his head and Toby stood up, "Put it through to my office," he said.
Toby watched Sam pacing up and down as he waited for the call to be put through. Suddenly Sam spun around and walked out of his office. He stood for a moment before turning to the left, changed his mind and then walked off to the right. Toby lost sight of him as a nervous Mrs Walsh began to speak.
Josh gestured for Sam to come in and then shouted for Donna. When she appeared he held up the file he had been reading. "Over three hundred teachers have already bemoaned their lack of looks?"
"Books, Josh, it should say books," Donna explained.
"Well that's good because I don't think implementing legislation against ugly teachers would be a smart move right now." Donna walked behind Josh's desk and grabbed the file from his hand. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to type this up so that I don't have to listen to another thinly veiled criticism of my penmanship."
"Penmanship? What are you, my scribe? You know typewriters and word processors have been invented right?"
Donna hit Josh on the head with the file. "I'm pretty sure scribes aren't supposed to do that," he mused as he watched her retreating form.
With no work to do Josh gave his full attention to Sam. Neither of them had mentioned what was said the night that Sam's car was vandalised. Josh still thought that Sam was hiding something but he also thought he would say something if he seriously thought somebody was out to harm him. Sam was just relieved that Josh hadn't mentioned it again. They had conversed with single words for a few days until the words had become conversation, the conversation had become banter and then they were back to normal. He had a feeling Sam hadn't just come here for a break so he waited.
"So anyway," Sam began, "Claire Walsh's mother phoned."
Josh sat up. "What did she want?"
"I don't know, Toby took the call. So I was thinking about hiding somewhere."
Josh looked out through the open doorway and listened to the sound of Donna's fingers furiously tapping at the keyboard. "Yeah, hiding could be a good call," he agreed.
"Mess?"
"Okay but don't have a panic attack this time because that's pretty conspicuous." Shielded by Sam, Josh called to Donna, "Me and Sam are just going to check out the stationary cupboard to make sure we haven't run out of sealing wax."
Donna ignored him and carried on typing. A few moments later she answered the phone and told Toby that Sam had been here but he had gone off somewhere with Josh. Considering Sam and Josh were effectively playing hooky somewhere in the White House she thought Toby sounded very calm about her lack of knowledge of his presence. In fact, she thought he sounded relieved.
Eventually Sam and Josh realised they had to go and face Donna and Toby. Josh loitered in Sam's office for a while on the pretence of summoning his courage but really he wanted to be around when Toby told Sam what Mrs Walsh had said. It turned out to be a different phone call that Sam had to deal with first. Ginger appeared and passing him a slip of paper explained that he was to phone an Officer Brooks at the 14th Precinct. Josh sat down as Sam dialled the number.
"I'm Sam Seaborn returning a call from Officer Brooks." Sam and Josh exchanged glances both of them mystified as to why the police would want to speak to him. "Hello…yes…I see…a gang- are you sure…it's just I thought- it doesn't matter…yes well that's good news, thank you for keeping me informed." Sam replaced the receiver.
"Well?"
"They've caught the people who trashed my car. It was a couple of gangs having some sort of window breaking competition."
"Well that's good," Josh noticed Sam's frown. "Isn't it?"
"Yeah, I've got to go see Toby now." Sam walked towards the door but found his way blocked by Josh.
"Wait a minute, you really did think you knew who it was," Josh said.
"I told you I didn't. Can I get by please?"
"But what I don't understand is why you're disappointed that it wasn't who you thought." Josh had both his hands on either side of the doorframe. Sam stood close to him but made no attempt to push past him, "Unless-"
"Josh!"
"Unless you wanted it to be who you thought it was. Jesus, Sam, why don't you just hang a sign around your neck, 'Please feel free to trash my car, break into my house and generally treat me like shit because I deserve it'." Josh's voice had risen until he was shouting.
The next thing Sam knew, Josh was being pushed back into his office by an extremely angry Toby who slammed the door shut behind him and began a mock introduction, "Maybe you haven't met," he pointed at Sam, "Sam Seaborn recently traumatised, struggling to deal with the experience." He then pointed to Josh and shouted, "Nutcase," pointing to Sam again he continued, "Sam Seaborn who needs our patience and understanding," his hand flew towards Josh, "Nutcase," Josh held his hands up as Toby began another description of Sam.
"Okay, okay I've got the message." He looked directly at Sam. "I'm sorry, but I am so sick of watching you moping around waiting for the hand of justice to reach down and take a swipe at you."
Sam fell heavily into his chair. "Firstly- I don't mope. Secondly- you know what, if you don't like watching then look away because I am doing the best I can and I really don't need to be worrying about how you're coping as well. And thirdly- if Toby doesn't tell me soon what Mrs Walsh wanted I think we might discover that the puking phase isn't over yet."
"She wants to talk to you, and I think you should, but I told her you might want to wait a while. She doesn't blame you and she wants you to know that. I think she will get some sort of closure from talking to you about it. She was emotional, that's why I think you should wait a while before contacting her. She just wants to talk to you, Sam, that's all."
Sam stood up and walked towards the window. "There's something else. Tell me,"
Toby paused before answering, "She's worried about her son. He's not coping very well. She wanted to know if he'd tried to contact you." Sam didn't answer. "Has he?"
"No, he hasn't tried to contact me." Sam thought about the times he had seen Stephen outside his home. He was certain he had seen him at least five times but then again he was certain it was Stephen who had smashed his windows.
Sam mumbled something but Toby and Josh couldn't make out what he'd said. He was still facing the window and Josh had to ask him twice to repeat it.
"I said, I'm really tired. I'm going to head home."
Josh shot a puzzled glance at Toby who shrugged in response. He had hoped that Sam would be relieved to hear that Claire's mother held no ill-will towards him but, like Josh had after the call to the police, Toby thought Sam just seemed disappointed.
Toby hadn't appreciated Sam's cheery greeting, quoting whatever bizarre thought or quirky fact he had been musing on that particular morning, until it was gone. Recently Sam's arrival consisted of keeping his head down and avoiding everyone, grabbing a coffee and then going into the office shutting the door behind him. Toby sighed as he picked up some notes he had written and knocked on Sam's door.
"You look like crap," he stated bluntly. Sam didn't respond. After the call from Claire's mother he had become more withdrawn. He made less of an effort to hide his drinking and on a couple of occasions had turned up late looking like he hadn't even been home. He had phoned in sick numerous times, enough times for Leo to become suspicious. Toby knew it was only a matter of time before he pulled him to one side and told him to get Sam straightened out. All of this Toby could deal with, but for the past few days Sam had begun to fail in his work and Toby couldn't deal with that.
Toby held up his notes and waved them in front of Sam. "Here I did some notes for your meeting with Linch."
"Why? I don't need that I've done my own prep. Why did you do that?"
Toby leaned over the desk. "Because as I stated before, you look like crap and I don't think while you were ordering your sixth scotch, or whatever the hell it is you drown in, you where spending too much time preparing for your meeting with Congressman Linch."
Sam stood up and recovered quickly from a momentary loss of balance and then stormed over to his briefcase in which he rummaged until he had found what he was looking for.
"This," he waved it in front of Toby mimicking how Toby had waved his notes at him, "this is my preparation, do you think I'd just walk into a meeting with Larch and not be prepared?"
"Linch," Toby corrected.
A few weeks ago Sam would have replied, 'Linch the Congressman not Larch Chairman of Amalgamated Pharmacies?' He would have strung Toby along and Toby would have ignored it, both of them knowing full well that Sam was more than prepared for both meetings. But this wasn't a few weeks ago and Sam wasn't prepared. He didn't even have a clue what he was meant to be discussing with the congressman. He picked up his coffee and files and walked past Toby who grabbed his arm.
"Linch," he reiterated.
"Yeah, Linch, I know." He shrugged Toby off and made his way to the Mural room where he found the congressman waiting for him.
"Let's just wait and see what Ginger says," Toby said to CJ and Josh. He had sent Ginger a few times to check up on Sam's meeting. They didn't have to wait long; she knocked once and then entered Toby's office shutting the door behind her.
"They're both standing up and Linch just said…well shouted really, 'Is there anything about central funding that you do know?'."
"And Sam replied?" Toby asked impatiently.
"Sam said, 'There's very little I know about central funding Congressman- that's probably why they asked me to meet with you in the first place'."
"Toby," Josh cautioned.
"I know," Toby sighed. "Ginger, go in and tell Sam I can't find the Wayne Grayson file." He noticed Josh and CJ's puzzled expressions. "It's our code for get out and don't say another word," he explained.
"You have a code?" Josh asked. "Do you have codes for other things?"
"Just a few, some we've never used yet."
"Yeah, like what?" Josh was genuinely intrigued.
"Well there's 'what's that incessant babbling',"
"What's that code for?" Josh sat forward.
"Tell Josh to shut up."
Josh opened his mouth as if to reply and then thought better of it. The three waited in silence for Ginger and hopefully Sam to return. Josh turned to CJ, "Do you and Carol have codes?"
Before she could answer Ginger burst into the office. "Linch just stormed out of the room and is headed for Leo's office."
"Oh shit," Josh muttered. "Where's Sam?"
"He stormed out after him."
"I hope they've got their galoshes, sounds like there's a lot of storming going on," CJ quipped as she followed Toby.
"Get your galoshes. That's going to be my code. It could be for meeting emergencies or any general water incident," Josh said as he rushed after them.