Chapter 2
Sorry it took so long (he, he sheepish grin) oh well I hope you enjoy.
As usual, Sam woke bright and early the following morning. He had had a great time last night with his new sisters and they all promised sometime or another to come visit. And he also was planning another trip to come visit.
Sam rolled around the house unplugging and moving electrical appliances to shut the house down until Carol and Art returned. He was finishing up when the doorbell rang. It was early and Ashleigh wasn't scheduled to pick him up for a few more hours to go to the airport.
He rolled over to the door and pulled it open. He was stunned again at who was on the stoop. It was like Josh, Mallory and Toby showing up unexpectedly again. This time it was his father, Norman Seaborn, who graced the doorstep. Sam was speechless and just stared until his father cleared his throat and shuffled around uncomfortably. Sam backed up and waved him in.
Norman gazed around the house, which used to be his too. He took a seat in his old recliner and looked at Sam.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" Sam asked starting the conversation, though he had no idea where it was going to go.
"Hello Sam. I heard you were leaving today and was wondering if you needed a ride to the airport."
'Um...no. Ashleigh is driving me, thanks."
Norman narrowed his eyes in confusion at the mention of Ashleigh.
"She's one of Art's daughters." Sam said clearing that up. "How are things with you?"
"Good, I guess. I'm working on a big case, go into court tomorrow but we are hoping for a settlement." Norman said making conversation.
Sam nodded. "How are you and..." After all this time he still didn't know the name of his father's mistress.
"We're fine." Sam guessed he still wasn't going to find out her name.
"Are you two married?"
Norman looked surprised. "No and if we were going to you know I would invite you."
Sam nodded this was very awkward.
"How's Jay?"
"Good, good. So you don't need a ride?"
"No...but I don't need to leave for a few more hours."
Norman nodded. "So what's going on with you?"
Sam knew this time had to come, they-he- had to get over the past. He sighed and began to bring his father up to speed on everything that had happened over the past year and a half. When the time came he called Ashleigh and told her not to come pick him up, his father was taking him to the airport.
"Are you sure Sam?" She asked, she knew all about his father and what he had done to Carol. She immediately disliked the man and knew Sam and Norman hadn't patched things up.
"Yeah Ash, we needed to talk and we did. Thanks anyway and I'll call you when I get to D.C."
"No matter how late." She reiterated from an earlier conversation.
"No matter how late, I will call you."
"Okay little bro. Talk to you later and have a good flight. Say hi to Mallory."
"Will do, sis." Sam smiled as he hung up the phone; he was surprised at how quickly he had been accepted into the Taylor family. He glanced at his father and could see that he thought the same thing.
Norman tried to help Sam into the car but he made it harder in the end for Sam to maneuver into the small convertible. At the airport gate he awkwardly shook Sam's hand and handed him his carry-on. He turned to leave.
"Hey dad..." Norman turned back. "Thank you." Sam said and rolled away.
Norman watched Sam until he disappeared into the flight tunnel. Then he turned and made his way back to his car.
Sam settled comfortably on the plane in first class. He was one of the first people on since he was in first class and handicapped. He checked his watch and knew that he should be having a 'daily' right about now. Yesterday's had come late, thankfully after the wedding and during the reception. Today it was over an hour late. He shrugged and knew it would probably happen on the plane. He asked for some extra pillows and made himself comfortable for the long flight back.
Sam woke as they were descending in D.C. He was surprised he slept the entire flight. He glanced at his seatmate and saw the seat empty, no wonder he slept so soundly. No one was there to bug him. He stretched and wondered if he had his back pains while he slept. He knew he must have because otherwise he was hours overdue.
The plane landed on time and Sam waited for everyone else to get off before asking the flight attendant to bring him his wheelchair. He allowed her to push him off the plane to the terminal.
Leo was there waving to get Sam's attention. Sam thanked the attendant and rolled over to Leo. "What are you doing here? I thought Mallory was picking me up?" Sam asked thunderstruck that Leo was out of the office on a Monday evening.
"I am." Mallory said from behind Sam.
Sam craned his neck and grimaced at the back pain.
"You okay?" She immediately asked.
"Yeah just strained a little too far."
"Mallory thought we should have dinner since you flaked out on us earlier. If you're not too tired." Leo commented.
Sam smiled and nodded.
"Dad, why don't you take Sam to the car and I'll go get his luggage?" Mal suggested.
"You sure? You could take Sam and I'll get the luggage, you two have a lot to catch up on."
"Nah, we talked in Cali, you two go. I'll be right down." Mal said leaning down and kissing Sam on the cheek.
Leo sighed and motioned to Sam asking if he wanted to be pushed. Sam was tired so he let Leo push him to the elevators.
They arrived to find the lift full, so they waited for the next one to arrive.
'Now or never' Sam thought. Taking a deep breath, he plunged in.
"Leo, I need to talk to you about something."
Leo came around so he was in front of Sam.
"What is it? Is the 15th too soon for you to come back? We can give you more time off."
"No, it's not that. I wanted to talk about Mallory."
"Oh, okay." Leo said having a feeling of the direction this conversation was going to go.
Sam took another deep breath and continued. "While I was home..." he trailed off as the elevator opened. Leo pushed him in and pushed the number where they wanted to go and then turned back to Sam.
"While I was home I talked to my mom-" He stopped as he felt pain flash through his back. He glanced at his watch; it was way past time for him to be having a daily. He was going to continue when another rack of pain happened. He gasped. This felt different then the 'dailies.'
"Sam, you okay? What were you saying?" Leo asked confused. Leo took a step back as Sam raised his eyes to meet his. He could see the pain reflected in the blue orbs. "Sam, what's wrong? Is it your back? What's going on?"
Sam only shook his head and tightened one hand around a wheel of the chair and the other on his lower back.
"Pain" he whispered. "Worse then usual." He couldn't figure out what was going on. He gasped again as pain rippled from his back to the rest of his body. Now his head hurt. He grasped that with his other hand, letting go of the wheel.
Leo bent down and placed his hand over Sam's hand on his head.
"Tell me what's going on, Sam? What's happening? What do you want me to do?"
"Mallory" Sam whispered.
Leo whipped out his cell phone, but there was no service in the small car.
"Okay Sam, take my hand." Leo said pulling Sam's hand away from his face.
Sam gripped Leo's hand, like he had with the First Lady's when he had his attack at the White House.
"Hurts" he gasped "not like normal."
Leo didn't know what normal was, he was just glad he hadn't given Sam his right hand to squeeze. Sam had quite a grip.
"Just breathe, in and out. Do you need to move?" He asked as Sam tried to shift. Sam shook his head no as he clutched Leo's hand a little harder.
Leo winced inwardly and glanced down. Down under Sam's chair was a box. Leo reached down and grabbed it. He glanced at Sam, but Sam wasn't paying attention. With his one hand he opened the box and stared down at the beautiful ring. He quickly clapped the box shut and shoved it in his pocket. He glanced at the elevator numbers and realized they had stopped. They were in-between the 1st and 2nd floor.
"Oh god." Leo muttered. Sam glanced at him before another snake of pain made itself present. Leo reached over and opened the side panel to the phone. ~~~~~~~~~~ Mallory stood by the car waiting for Sam and Leo to come off the elevator. They were taking forever. She checked her phone and realized it had been twenty minutes since they had parted, it shouldn't be taking them this long.
She tried calling her father's cell but just got his voice mail, she tried Sam's and could hear it ringing from inside the car. He had left it in his carry-on.
Mallory made her way closer to the elevators and could see that one was on the 3rd floor and the other was not lit up. She went back to the car to wait. ~~~~~~~~~~~
Leo pushed the red button on the phone to get someone-anyone- he didn't care. He knew Sam needed to get off the elevator.
After an interminable amount of time a woman's voice came across the line introducing the airport and how could she be of service.
"Get us off this damn thing!" was the first thing out of Leo's mouth.
"Pardon?" Came the sickly sweet voice.
"Elevator 3 is stuck between the 1st and 2nd floor and my friend needs medical attention!" Leo practically bellowed.
"Yes sir, help is on the way. Did your friend hurt himself in the elevator?"
"No, it's a previous medical condition and it needs to be attended to now."
"Sir, I am calling medical services now. Is there anyone else we can contact?"
"My daughter, Mallory O'Brian is in the parking garage. She should know what's going on."
"I will page her now." There were a few moments of silence at the other end of the line; Leo took this time to check back with Sam.
Sam couldn't bear it much longer, pains was emanating from his to every part of his body. He wanted to scream but held it at bay. He glanced at Leo who was watching him then felt the final pain before he passed out.
Leo jumped when he felt the pressure stop on his hand. Sam was looking at him one minute and the next was slumped forward in his chair. Leo pushed Sam back up so he wouldn't tumble out of his chair, which he was close to doing. Leo grabbed Sam by the shoulders and started shaking him.
"Please Sam, wake up! Don't do this to me! I don't know what to do, Sam! Wake up!" Leo turned and grabbed the phone again. "I need medical attention now!! He just passed out!"
"Sir the medical team is here, can you hear anything?" Listening over his beating heart Leo heard banging on the doors and muffled voices. He started banging and yelling back.
"They're here! They're here." Leo shouted into the phone.
"Good, sir. Now stand away from the doors as they try to open them. Your daughter is outside and waiting."
"Thank you." Leo said before he hung up and moved himself and Sam away from the doors. ~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey, look at that." Donna said as her and Josh passed one of the many TV's in the bullpen. The TV was on a local channel and the news was showing a live broadcast from the airport.
"What's going on?" Josh asked.
Donna shrugged. "That reminds me. What time is Sam getting in?"
Josh stopped to think. "Around four." He glanced at his watch and saw it was just past four. "At.Shit! There!"
Josh ran up to the TV and turned to volume up as high as it could go.
".two men appear to be trapped in the elevator. One claims to be injured as you can see all the medical personnel behind me. The elevator stopped after a wire in the shaft snapped-leaving only one other wire to support the lift." the news man droned.
Josh ran into CJ's office turning her TV as he went.
"Hey!" She exclaimed.
"I just got this feeling." Josh explained. The two watched the report in silence. After ten minutes they could see the doors being opened. They had been shut for a total of twenty-nine minutes. And to Josh's dismay he saw Leo's head poke out and start yelling.
"It's Sam. The man who was injured, it's Sam! Not again!" Josh groaned. CJ lay on arm on his shoulders. Josh turned into her, he didn't know if he could do it again. Seeing Sam in the hospital again was too much.
Josh shrugged off CJ arm and rushed out of the office to his car, calling Leo at the same time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mallory ran to the elevator in question after hearing her name being paged and checking in with an attendant. She waited breathlessly outside the door waiting for the repairmen to get the lift open. It seemed to be taking forever.
Finally, things Mallory could only think to call them -separators- were brought out and inserted in the doors. They were cranked with another tool and the elevator doors slowly separated. The car was in between two floors so Mallory had a clear view of her father bending over an unconscious Sam.
"Sam!" She screamed and tried to get closer but was restrained by a security guard.
"Please, that's my father and boyfriend!" She panted, straining against the man.
"Just a moment, ma'am, let us get them out."
Mallory nodded and stopped pushing. She watched as a few EMT's climbed into the lift. Sam was laid out on a backboard and slid out of the car.
Mallory ran to the stretcher and grabbed his hand.
"Sam, Sam! Can you hear me? Come on honey, wake up!" She pleaded. She was pushed aside by another EMT.
"Mallory!" Leo shouted as he got up to her.
"Dad!" She cried and hugged him. "What happened?"
"Sir?" An attendant asked to get Leo's attention.
Leo turned to the man; he was holding Sam's chair. Leo gingerly took it from him, nodding thanks to the man who disappeared back into the crowd.
Leo placed a hand on Mallory's back to guide her through the crowd. They almost made it to the doors to the parking lot when shouting was heard followed by a loud crash. Leo cringed; the elevator just lost its battle and was now laying in pieces at the bottom of the shaft. 'If we had been in there for ten more minutes' Leo shuddered to think. Mallory, unable to hold it in any longer began to sob. Leo hugged for a long moment then continued to guide her to the car.
Leo told Mallory the story as they drove to GW, where Sam was being taken.
"They were getting worse." She said softly when he finished.
"He'll be fine." Leo assured even though he never even knew Sam had these 'dailies'. "You better call Josh and Ellen."
Mallory pulled out her cell just as it started to ring.
"Where is he?" Josh asked as soon as Mal connected the call.
"GW"
"K, I'll see you there." Josh said and hung up, leaving Mallory staring at the phone in shock.
"He already knew." She told Leo sounding surprised.
"He has connections" Leo badly joked.
Mallory smiled weakly and dialed Ellen's number. The phone rang and rang. "She must be in class" Mal muttered. "I really don't want to tell her in her voice mail."
When Ellen's voice mail did pick up Mallory just left a message for her to call her or Josh as soon as possible.
~~~~~~~~~~
Josh left the House before anyone could even speculate what was happening. He reached the hospital a few moments after Mallory and Leo, who were in the waiting room staring open-mouthed at the TV, which was showing the coverage from where they had been rescued. Josh automatically walked up to Mallory who stood and wordlessly fell into his arms.
"Any word?" He asked quietly.
Mallory shook her head no and sat back down.
"What happened?" He asked next. Leo sighed he knew that question was coming.
Leo told the story to Josh all the while playing with something in his pocket.
"Sam was tired, we got into the elevator and he doubled over grabbing his back saying it was worse pain then the 'dailies." Josh winced at that, the 'dailies' drained Sam as it as.
"Then he passed out, meanwhile the elevator stopped and they had to manually open the doors to get us out and that's it."
Josh sighed and leaned back closing his eyes. Everyone was silent until Josh's cell began to ring. Thinking it was Donna, CJ or Toby he answered with a simple 'yeah.'
"Give the phone to Sam, now!" Came a female voice.
"Excuse me?" Asked a thoroughly confused Josh.
"Josh, cut the crap and give the phone to Sam. He better have a good reason for not calling me!"
"Who is this?" Josh demanded getting angry. Leo and Mallory were giving him confused looks as well.
"It's Ashleigh! Sam said he would call when he got off the plane over 2 hours ago! He better have a good excuse, he's not even answering his cell!"
"Oh, Ashleigh" he said softly and groaned.
Mallory's face fell and Leo still looked confused.
"Sam's new half sister." Mallory explained without him asking.
"Oh" was all Leo could get out as he dropped his gaze from Josh.
"Josh?" Ashleigh asked getting annoyed as well.
"Ash? Sam.Sam's in the hospital. That's where Mal and I are now. That's why he didn't call you or answer his phone."
Ashleigh gasped and choked back a sob. "What's wrong? Is he okay?"
"We don't know, were still waiting."
"Okay, okay," she repeated. "I gotta call the others-"
"-Ashleigh-" Josh interrupted her rambling.
"Yes"
"Don't call Carol or Art yet. Let's wait and see what's going on before we worry them."
"Yeah, okay, good idea. You'll keep me posted?"
"Of course, if you need to contact any of us, just call my cell. I'll leave it on."
Thank you, Josh."
"No problem, bye."
"Bye." She whispered.
As soon as Josh hung up his phone rang again. This time it was Toby, CJ, Donna and Charlie demanding to know where they were. All four were in CJ's car driving through rush hour traffic without knowing which hospital to go to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The group sat together drinking old coffee and eating stale donuts that the hospital provided. They were all exhausted but stayed to hear any news they could. Leo had called the president more times then they could count to make sure he didn't come down the hospital like the other times.
After five hours Dr. Weston entered the quiet waiting room. The seven quickly stood. Weston raised his hands to stop the questions before they started.
"Sam is resting comfortably. Like last time the pressure was building up and it became too much. We operated and because of all the scar tissue from the previous surgeries, the last operation was not successful. We improvised and hopefully this will hold and Sam can continue therapy and start walking soon. We are very optimistic. There will be a lot more checkups to make sure it will work." Weston stopped talking when Josh's cell went off. He gave a disapproving look and Josh took the call sheepishly.
"Josh, its Ellen. Mallory told me to call you when I got out of class."
"Oh, Ellen." Josh glanced at the group while running a hand through his curls.
The group sighed and sat back down to listen to Josh explain everything to Ellen. Dr. Weston started talking to Mallory about Sam's recovery. He knew Mallory well enough to have a personal conversation with her.
"Ellen, Sam is in the hospital. When Leo and Mal picked him up from the airport he collapsed. We're all here. The doctor just came in, he's fine but he had to have another operation."
Ellen gasped. "I just got out of class I had two back to back. I got Mal's message but I didn't think anything of it. He's really okay? Where at? When?"
"El, I want you to take a cab to GW. I don't want you driving okay? You're still on campus, right? Don't drive take a cab. We'll all be waiting for you."
Ellen agreed and the two disconnected.
"She was panicking a little." Josh explained.
Leo nodded. "You did good."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
48 hours later
Mallory entered Sam's room after school; she met Ellen in the hall who was on the way to a class. Sam wasn't in a talkative mood, she informed Mal as she rushed out.
"Hey Honey." Mallory said brightly as she entered.
Sam nodded but continued staring out the window.
It had been two days; Sam had woken up the previous day, confused at where he was but still able to apologize to Leo for skipping dinner again. He accepted the surgery as another day and was told he would be released in another 3 to 4 days. The last part depressed him the most.
Mallory took a seat next to Sam's bed. Taking his hand she stared into his eyes.
"What class was Ellen off too?"
Sam sighed and looked away. "Philosophy 315"
Mallory choked back a laugh. "Who suggested that class?" She teased. She knew Sam's love of philosophy and now that the president did they had many debates about it.
That brought a smile out of Sam and he met her eyes again.
"There's something I've been meaning to ask you." Mallory started.
Sam narrowed his eyes confused.
"Why wasn't your brother at your mom's wedding? Josh mentioned him when you were first in the hospital and said you weren't talking. And you have like one picture of him at your house. I thought he would definitely be at the wedding but no one even mentioned him."
Sam looked away again, searching for a way to start the long story.
"What did Josh say?" He wanted to know.
"Just that you two were not on speaking terms like with your father and that he was your brother."
"Really he said that?"
"Yes, Josh said he was your brother and Donna said sister-in-law-" Sam snorted. "-Toby said he was still your boss and wanted to know if he had to do all the work and the doctor filled in that the president would be your father."
"What did you say?" Sam asked tightening his grip on her hand.
Mal blushed and looked down. "I said I was your fiancee. And Dad jumped in and said he was your future father-in-law."
Sam teared up and looked away and Mallory decided it was a good time to use the bathroom.
When she returned Sam was sitting up in bed waiting for her. He had moved over so she could join him, which she happily did.
He took a deep breath and started with the story of his brother.
"Jay is 4 years older then me. We were opposites in some aspects but in others we could have been twins. He was a genius and I was always trying to beat his test scores that he set the years before and that ticked him off more then anything when I actually did. He was great at basketball, hockey and golf, while I excelled in swim and did okay in golf and tennis. He was very popular in some groups at school but overall not liked very well. I was voted most likely to succeed, which pissed him 'cause he didn't get anything and everyone knew he was off to study in Venice. It was petty really, but it was how we were. Anyway when Jay came back from Venice. He went to Berkley to receive his masters in law and psychology. Dad was proud, both his boys followed in his footsteps. I was at Princeton the time Jay came back. I left home on bad terms. Dad wanted me to stay in California so he could help me out; I could get an internship at his firm but mostly he could keep an eye on me. He knew politics interested me and he could not figure out why. No one in our family was politically minded. My mom was the one who got me the application for Princeton and supported all my decisions. She grew up on the East Coast and was thrilled that I wanted to live there. So I left and Jay came back. He took the internship at Dad's firm; he took all the help offered by dad. He even dated girls that Dad picked out. " Sam stopped to take a breath and a drink of water.
"So Jay became your Dad's favorite?" Mallory asked still confused by what this had to do with him not attending the wedding.
Sam shook his head no. "Jay was always Dad's favorite." He surmised.
Mallory nodded still confused.
"Then Jay did something that practically got him kicked out of the family. I was almost sure I would never his name spoken again but for some reason Dad forgave him. I never figured out why until a year ago."
"What did he do?"
"He took sabbatical from Berkley and from the law firm where he was just about to promoted -to write a book. He just took off and went back to Venice. Dad was beyond pissed. His son just up and left all his responsibilities behind and made him look like a jackass at his own law firm. This was also the time when I quit Gage Whitney to work on the president's campaign. Dad wasn't happy with either of us. Jay has been in Venice ever since. We talked every once in a while a holiday or birthday here and there. When mom called me a year ago to tell me about Dad's." Sam couldn't bring himself to say the word, even after all this time.
Mallory squeezed his shoulder comfortingly.
"So Mom called me and I was a tad disturbed," Sam joked and Mallory smiled weakly. "I called Jay soon after that to see if he knew about the affair. He not only knew about it but he had known ever since he first returned from Venice the first time. He even double dated with dad and her." Sam's voice was hard and intense as he continued. " When I found that out I went ballistic. I now knew why Dad forgave him for leaving and why the two always took business trips together. I did something really stupid. I called mom and told her. She was shocked and angrier then I had ever heard her. She called Jay the same day I told her and they haven't spoken since. If you noticed at her house there are no pictures of Dad or Jay." Sam finished and looked at Mal for her reaction.
"Wow, I can't imagine your mom holding that kind of a grudge against anyone especially her son. He really hurt her. It makes sense now. Have you spoken to Jay?" She wanted to know.
"Um.He's been back to the states once or twice to see Dad. I saw him once when his plane had a layover in D.C. It wasn't a long visit. That was it and that was over 6 months ago. His book came out and he sent me a copy, but I haven't read it, though I heard it got a lot of good reviews."
"What's it called?" Mallory asked.
Sam smirked. "Lies and Affairs in the O.C. by Jay Brown."
Mallory gasped. "He wrote that! I read it a few months back. Oh my god, it all makes sense. He wrote it after your parents."
"Right. He didn't use the Seaborn name anywhere but to us we all knew. Even Josh caught on. Mom was even more pissed and sent back her copy. Dad liked the book but couldn't brag to anyone that his son wrote it 'cause they might catch on that it was about his life. I heard it was a New York Times best seller and he's even writing another."
"He can't be!"
"Yep, so does that tell you why?" Sam asked to see if he covered the question that had been first asked.
"Hell yes, kudos to your mom for not strangling him with her bare hands. Good thing she has you." Mal snuggled into his side and the two slid lower into the bed and made themselves comfortable for a nap.
As usual, Sam woke bright and early the following morning. He had had a great time last night with his new sisters and they all promised sometime or another to come visit. And he also was planning another trip to come visit.
Sam rolled around the house unplugging and moving electrical appliances to shut the house down until Carol and Art returned. He was finishing up when the doorbell rang. It was early and Ashleigh wasn't scheduled to pick him up for a few more hours to go to the airport.
He rolled over to the door and pulled it open. He was stunned again at who was on the stoop. It was like Josh, Mallory and Toby showing up unexpectedly again. This time it was his father, Norman Seaborn, who graced the doorstep. Sam was speechless and just stared until his father cleared his throat and shuffled around uncomfortably. Sam backed up and waved him in.
Norman gazed around the house, which used to be his too. He took a seat in his old recliner and looked at Sam.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" Sam asked starting the conversation, though he had no idea where it was going to go.
"Hello Sam. I heard you were leaving today and was wondering if you needed a ride to the airport."
'Um...no. Ashleigh is driving me, thanks."
Norman narrowed his eyes in confusion at the mention of Ashleigh.
"She's one of Art's daughters." Sam said clearing that up. "How are things with you?"
"Good, I guess. I'm working on a big case, go into court tomorrow but we are hoping for a settlement." Norman said making conversation.
Sam nodded. "How are you and..." After all this time he still didn't know the name of his father's mistress.
"We're fine." Sam guessed he still wasn't going to find out her name.
"Are you two married?"
Norman looked surprised. "No and if we were going to you know I would invite you."
Sam nodded this was very awkward.
"How's Jay?"
"Good, good. So you don't need a ride?"
"No...but I don't need to leave for a few more hours."
Norman nodded. "So what's going on with you?"
Sam knew this time had to come, they-he- had to get over the past. He sighed and began to bring his father up to speed on everything that had happened over the past year and a half. When the time came he called Ashleigh and told her not to come pick him up, his father was taking him to the airport.
"Are you sure Sam?" She asked, she knew all about his father and what he had done to Carol. She immediately disliked the man and knew Sam and Norman hadn't patched things up.
"Yeah Ash, we needed to talk and we did. Thanks anyway and I'll call you when I get to D.C."
"No matter how late." She reiterated from an earlier conversation.
"No matter how late, I will call you."
"Okay little bro. Talk to you later and have a good flight. Say hi to Mallory."
"Will do, sis." Sam smiled as he hung up the phone; he was surprised at how quickly he had been accepted into the Taylor family. He glanced at his father and could see that he thought the same thing.
Norman tried to help Sam into the car but he made it harder in the end for Sam to maneuver into the small convertible. At the airport gate he awkwardly shook Sam's hand and handed him his carry-on. He turned to leave.
"Hey dad..." Norman turned back. "Thank you." Sam said and rolled away.
Norman watched Sam until he disappeared into the flight tunnel. Then he turned and made his way back to his car.
Sam settled comfortably on the plane in first class. He was one of the first people on since he was in first class and handicapped. He checked his watch and knew that he should be having a 'daily' right about now. Yesterday's had come late, thankfully after the wedding and during the reception. Today it was over an hour late. He shrugged and knew it would probably happen on the plane. He asked for some extra pillows and made himself comfortable for the long flight back.
Sam woke as they were descending in D.C. He was surprised he slept the entire flight. He glanced at his seatmate and saw the seat empty, no wonder he slept so soundly. No one was there to bug him. He stretched and wondered if he had his back pains while he slept. He knew he must have because otherwise he was hours overdue.
The plane landed on time and Sam waited for everyone else to get off before asking the flight attendant to bring him his wheelchair. He allowed her to push him off the plane to the terminal.
Leo was there waving to get Sam's attention. Sam thanked the attendant and rolled over to Leo. "What are you doing here? I thought Mallory was picking me up?" Sam asked thunderstruck that Leo was out of the office on a Monday evening.
"I am." Mallory said from behind Sam.
Sam craned his neck and grimaced at the back pain.
"You okay?" She immediately asked.
"Yeah just strained a little too far."
"Mallory thought we should have dinner since you flaked out on us earlier. If you're not too tired." Leo commented.
Sam smiled and nodded.
"Dad, why don't you take Sam to the car and I'll go get his luggage?" Mal suggested.
"You sure? You could take Sam and I'll get the luggage, you two have a lot to catch up on."
"Nah, we talked in Cali, you two go. I'll be right down." Mal said leaning down and kissing Sam on the cheek.
Leo sighed and motioned to Sam asking if he wanted to be pushed. Sam was tired so he let Leo push him to the elevators.
They arrived to find the lift full, so they waited for the next one to arrive.
'Now or never' Sam thought. Taking a deep breath, he plunged in.
"Leo, I need to talk to you about something."
Leo came around so he was in front of Sam.
"What is it? Is the 15th too soon for you to come back? We can give you more time off."
"No, it's not that. I wanted to talk about Mallory."
"Oh, okay." Leo said having a feeling of the direction this conversation was going to go.
Sam took another deep breath and continued. "While I was home..." he trailed off as the elevator opened. Leo pushed him in and pushed the number where they wanted to go and then turned back to Sam.
"While I was home I talked to my mom-" He stopped as he felt pain flash through his back. He glanced at his watch; it was way past time for him to be having a daily. He was going to continue when another rack of pain happened. He gasped. This felt different then the 'dailies.'
"Sam, you okay? What were you saying?" Leo asked confused. Leo took a step back as Sam raised his eyes to meet his. He could see the pain reflected in the blue orbs. "Sam, what's wrong? Is it your back? What's going on?"
Sam only shook his head and tightened one hand around a wheel of the chair and the other on his lower back.
"Pain" he whispered. "Worse then usual." He couldn't figure out what was going on. He gasped again as pain rippled from his back to the rest of his body. Now his head hurt. He grasped that with his other hand, letting go of the wheel.
Leo bent down and placed his hand over Sam's hand on his head.
"Tell me what's going on, Sam? What's happening? What do you want me to do?"
"Mallory" Sam whispered.
Leo whipped out his cell phone, but there was no service in the small car.
"Okay Sam, take my hand." Leo said pulling Sam's hand away from his face.
Sam gripped Leo's hand, like he had with the First Lady's when he had his attack at the White House.
"Hurts" he gasped "not like normal."
Leo didn't know what normal was, he was just glad he hadn't given Sam his right hand to squeeze. Sam had quite a grip.
"Just breathe, in and out. Do you need to move?" He asked as Sam tried to shift. Sam shook his head no as he clutched Leo's hand a little harder.
Leo winced inwardly and glanced down. Down under Sam's chair was a box. Leo reached down and grabbed it. He glanced at Sam, but Sam wasn't paying attention. With his one hand he opened the box and stared down at the beautiful ring. He quickly clapped the box shut and shoved it in his pocket. He glanced at the elevator numbers and realized they had stopped. They were in-between the 1st and 2nd floor.
"Oh god." Leo muttered. Sam glanced at him before another snake of pain made itself present. Leo reached over and opened the side panel to the phone. ~~~~~~~~~~ Mallory stood by the car waiting for Sam and Leo to come off the elevator. They were taking forever. She checked her phone and realized it had been twenty minutes since they had parted, it shouldn't be taking them this long.
She tried calling her father's cell but just got his voice mail, she tried Sam's and could hear it ringing from inside the car. He had left it in his carry-on.
Mallory made her way closer to the elevators and could see that one was on the 3rd floor and the other was not lit up. She went back to the car to wait. ~~~~~~~~~~~
Leo pushed the red button on the phone to get someone-anyone- he didn't care. He knew Sam needed to get off the elevator.
After an interminable amount of time a woman's voice came across the line introducing the airport and how could she be of service.
"Get us off this damn thing!" was the first thing out of Leo's mouth.
"Pardon?" Came the sickly sweet voice.
"Elevator 3 is stuck between the 1st and 2nd floor and my friend needs medical attention!" Leo practically bellowed.
"Yes sir, help is on the way. Did your friend hurt himself in the elevator?"
"No, it's a previous medical condition and it needs to be attended to now."
"Sir, I am calling medical services now. Is there anyone else we can contact?"
"My daughter, Mallory O'Brian is in the parking garage. She should know what's going on."
"I will page her now." There were a few moments of silence at the other end of the line; Leo took this time to check back with Sam.
Sam couldn't bear it much longer, pains was emanating from his to every part of his body. He wanted to scream but held it at bay. He glanced at Leo who was watching him then felt the final pain before he passed out.
Leo jumped when he felt the pressure stop on his hand. Sam was looking at him one minute and the next was slumped forward in his chair. Leo pushed Sam back up so he wouldn't tumble out of his chair, which he was close to doing. Leo grabbed Sam by the shoulders and started shaking him.
"Please Sam, wake up! Don't do this to me! I don't know what to do, Sam! Wake up!" Leo turned and grabbed the phone again. "I need medical attention now!! He just passed out!"
"Sir the medical team is here, can you hear anything?" Listening over his beating heart Leo heard banging on the doors and muffled voices. He started banging and yelling back.
"They're here! They're here." Leo shouted into the phone.
"Good, sir. Now stand away from the doors as they try to open them. Your daughter is outside and waiting."
"Thank you." Leo said before he hung up and moved himself and Sam away from the doors. ~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey, look at that." Donna said as her and Josh passed one of the many TV's in the bullpen. The TV was on a local channel and the news was showing a live broadcast from the airport.
"What's going on?" Josh asked.
Donna shrugged. "That reminds me. What time is Sam getting in?"
Josh stopped to think. "Around four." He glanced at his watch and saw it was just past four. "At.Shit! There!"
Josh ran up to the TV and turned to volume up as high as it could go.
".two men appear to be trapped in the elevator. One claims to be injured as you can see all the medical personnel behind me. The elevator stopped after a wire in the shaft snapped-leaving only one other wire to support the lift." the news man droned.
Josh ran into CJ's office turning her TV as he went.
"Hey!" She exclaimed.
"I just got this feeling." Josh explained. The two watched the report in silence. After ten minutes they could see the doors being opened. They had been shut for a total of twenty-nine minutes. And to Josh's dismay he saw Leo's head poke out and start yelling.
"It's Sam. The man who was injured, it's Sam! Not again!" Josh groaned. CJ lay on arm on his shoulders. Josh turned into her, he didn't know if he could do it again. Seeing Sam in the hospital again was too much.
Josh shrugged off CJ arm and rushed out of the office to his car, calling Leo at the same time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mallory ran to the elevator in question after hearing her name being paged and checking in with an attendant. She waited breathlessly outside the door waiting for the repairmen to get the lift open. It seemed to be taking forever.
Finally, things Mallory could only think to call them -separators- were brought out and inserted in the doors. They were cranked with another tool and the elevator doors slowly separated. The car was in between two floors so Mallory had a clear view of her father bending over an unconscious Sam.
"Sam!" She screamed and tried to get closer but was restrained by a security guard.
"Please, that's my father and boyfriend!" She panted, straining against the man.
"Just a moment, ma'am, let us get them out."
Mallory nodded and stopped pushing. She watched as a few EMT's climbed into the lift. Sam was laid out on a backboard and slid out of the car.
Mallory ran to the stretcher and grabbed his hand.
"Sam, Sam! Can you hear me? Come on honey, wake up!" She pleaded. She was pushed aside by another EMT.
"Mallory!" Leo shouted as he got up to her.
"Dad!" She cried and hugged him. "What happened?"
"Sir?" An attendant asked to get Leo's attention.
Leo turned to the man; he was holding Sam's chair. Leo gingerly took it from him, nodding thanks to the man who disappeared back into the crowd.
Leo placed a hand on Mallory's back to guide her through the crowd. They almost made it to the doors to the parking lot when shouting was heard followed by a loud crash. Leo cringed; the elevator just lost its battle and was now laying in pieces at the bottom of the shaft. 'If we had been in there for ten more minutes' Leo shuddered to think. Mallory, unable to hold it in any longer began to sob. Leo hugged for a long moment then continued to guide her to the car.
Leo told Mallory the story as they drove to GW, where Sam was being taken.
"They were getting worse." She said softly when he finished.
"He'll be fine." Leo assured even though he never even knew Sam had these 'dailies'. "You better call Josh and Ellen."
Mallory pulled out her cell just as it started to ring.
"Where is he?" Josh asked as soon as Mal connected the call.
"GW"
"K, I'll see you there." Josh said and hung up, leaving Mallory staring at the phone in shock.
"He already knew." She told Leo sounding surprised.
"He has connections" Leo badly joked.
Mallory smiled weakly and dialed Ellen's number. The phone rang and rang. "She must be in class" Mal muttered. "I really don't want to tell her in her voice mail."
When Ellen's voice mail did pick up Mallory just left a message for her to call her or Josh as soon as possible.
~~~~~~~~~~
Josh left the House before anyone could even speculate what was happening. He reached the hospital a few moments after Mallory and Leo, who were in the waiting room staring open-mouthed at the TV, which was showing the coverage from where they had been rescued. Josh automatically walked up to Mallory who stood and wordlessly fell into his arms.
"Any word?" He asked quietly.
Mallory shook her head no and sat back down.
"What happened?" He asked next. Leo sighed he knew that question was coming.
Leo told the story to Josh all the while playing with something in his pocket.
"Sam was tired, we got into the elevator and he doubled over grabbing his back saying it was worse pain then the 'dailies." Josh winced at that, the 'dailies' drained Sam as it as.
"Then he passed out, meanwhile the elevator stopped and they had to manually open the doors to get us out and that's it."
Josh sighed and leaned back closing his eyes. Everyone was silent until Josh's cell began to ring. Thinking it was Donna, CJ or Toby he answered with a simple 'yeah.'
"Give the phone to Sam, now!" Came a female voice.
"Excuse me?" Asked a thoroughly confused Josh.
"Josh, cut the crap and give the phone to Sam. He better have a good reason for not calling me!"
"Who is this?" Josh demanded getting angry. Leo and Mallory were giving him confused looks as well.
"It's Ashleigh! Sam said he would call when he got off the plane over 2 hours ago! He better have a good excuse, he's not even answering his cell!"
"Oh, Ashleigh" he said softly and groaned.
Mallory's face fell and Leo still looked confused.
"Sam's new half sister." Mallory explained without him asking.
"Oh" was all Leo could get out as he dropped his gaze from Josh.
"Josh?" Ashleigh asked getting annoyed as well.
"Ash? Sam.Sam's in the hospital. That's where Mal and I are now. That's why he didn't call you or answer his phone."
Ashleigh gasped and choked back a sob. "What's wrong? Is he okay?"
"We don't know, were still waiting."
"Okay, okay," she repeated. "I gotta call the others-"
"-Ashleigh-" Josh interrupted her rambling.
"Yes"
"Don't call Carol or Art yet. Let's wait and see what's going on before we worry them."
"Yeah, okay, good idea. You'll keep me posted?"
"Of course, if you need to contact any of us, just call my cell. I'll leave it on."
Thank you, Josh."
"No problem, bye."
"Bye." She whispered.
As soon as Josh hung up his phone rang again. This time it was Toby, CJ, Donna and Charlie demanding to know where they were. All four were in CJ's car driving through rush hour traffic without knowing which hospital to go to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The group sat together drinking old coffee and eating stale donuts that the hospital provided. They were all exhausted but stayed to hear any news they could. Leo had called the president more times then they could count to make sure he didn't come down the hospital like the other times.
After five hours Dr. Weston entered the quiet waiting room. The seven quickly stood. Weston raised his hands to stop the questions before they started.
"Sam is resting comfortably. Like last time the pressure was building up and it became too much. We operated and because of all the scar tissue from the previous surgeries, the last operation was not successful. We improvised and hopefully this will hold and Sam can continue therapy and start walking soon. We are very optimistic. There will be a lot more checkups to make sure it will work." Weston stopped talking when Josh's cell went off. He gave a disapproving look and Josh took the call sheepishly.
"Josh, its Ellen. Mallory told me to call you when I got out of class."
"Oh, Ellen." Josh glanced at the group while running a hand through his curls.
The group sighed and sat back down to listen to Josh explain everything to Ellen. Dr. Weston started talking to Mallory about Sam's recovery. He knew Mallory well enough to have a personal conversation with her.
"Ellen, Sam is in the hospital. When Leo and Mal picked him up from the airport he collapsed. We're all here. The doctor just came in, he's fine but he had to have another operation."
Ellen gasped. "I just got out of class I had two back to back. I got Mal's message but I didn't think anything of it. He's really okay? Where at? When?"
"El, I want you to take a cab to GW. I don't want you driving okay? You're still on campus, right? Don't drive take a cab. We'll all be waiting for you."
Ellen agreed and the two disconnected.
"She was panicking a little." Josh explained.
Leo nodded. "You did good."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
48 hours later
Mallory entered Sam's room after school; she met Ellen in the hall who was on the way to a class. Sam wasn't in a talkative mood, she informed Mal as she rushed out.
"Hey Honey." Mallory said brightly as she entered.
Sam nodded but continued staring out the window.
It had been two days; Sam had woken up the previous day, confused at where he was but still able to apologize to Leo for skipping dinner again. He accepted the surgery as another day and was told he would be released in another 3 to 4 days. The last part depressed him the most.
Mallory took a seat next to Sam's bed. Taking his hand she stared into his eyes.
"What class was Ellen off too?"
Sam sighed and looked away. "Philosophy 315"
Mallory choked back a laugh. "Who suggested that class?" She teased. She knew Sam's love of philosophy and now that the president did they had many debates about it.
That brought a smile out of Sam and he met her eyes again.
"There's something I've been meaning to ask you." Mallory started.
Sam narrowed his eyes confused.
"Why wasn't your brother at your mom's wedding? Josh mentioned him when you were first in the hospital and said you weren't talking. And you have like one picture of him at your house. I thought he would definitely be at the wedding but no one even mentioned him."
Sam looked away again, searching for a way to start the long story.
"What did Josh say?" He wanted to know.
"Just that you two were not on speaking terms like with your father and that he was your brother."
"Really he said that?"
"Yes, Josh said he was your brother and Donna said sister-in-law-" Sam snorted. "-Toby said he was still your boss and wanted to know if he had to do all the work and the doctor filled in that the president would be your father."
"What did you say?" Sam asked tightening his grip on her hand.
Mal blushed and looked down. "I said I was your fiancee. And Dad jumped in and said he was your future father-in-law."
Sam teared up and looked away and Mallory decided it was a good time to use the bathroom.
When she returned Sam was sitting up in bed waiting for her. He had moved over so she could join him, which she happily did.
He took a deep breath and started with the story of his brother.
"Jay is 4 years older then me. We were opposites in some aspects but in others we could have been twins. He was a genius and I was always trying to beat his test scores that he set the years before and that ticked him off more then anything when I actually did. He was great at basketball, hockey and golf, while I excelled in swim and did okay in golf and tennis. He was very popular in some groups at school but overall not liked very well. I was voted most likely to succeed, which pissed him 'cause he didn't get anything and everyone knew he was off to study in Venice. It was petty really, but it was how we were. Anyway when Jay came back from Venice. He went to Berkley to receive his masters in law and psychology. Dad was proud, both his boys followed in his footsteps. I was at Princeton the time Jay came back. I left home on bad terms. Dad wanted me to stay in California so he could help me out; I could get an internship at his firm but mostly he could keep an eye on me. He knew politics interested me and he could not figure out why. No one in our family was politically minded. My mom was the one who got me the application for Princeton and supported all my decisions. She grew up on the East Coast and was thrilled that I wanted to live there. So I left and Jay came back. He took the internship at Dad's firm; he took all the help offered by dad. He even dated girls that Dad picked out. " Sam stopped to take a breath and a drink of water.
"So Jay became your Dad's favorite?" Mallory asked still confused by what this had to do with him not attending the wedding.
Sam shook his head no. "Jay was always Dad's favorite." He surmised.
Mallory nodded still confused.
"Then Jay did something that practically got him kicked out of the family. I was almost sure I would never his name spoken again but for some reason Dad forgave him. I never figured out why until a year ago."
"What did he do?"
"He took sabbatical from Berkley and from the law firm where he was just about to promoted -to write a book. He just took off and went back to Venice. Dad was beyond pissed. His son just up and left all his responsibilities behind and made him look like a jackass at his own law firm. This was also the time when I quit Gage Whitney to work on the president's campaign. Dad wasn't happy with either of us. Jay has been in Venice ever since. We talked every once in a while a holiday or birthday here and there. When mom called me a year ago to tell me about Dad's." Sam couldn't bring himself to say the word, even after all this time.
Mallory squeezed his shoulder comfortingly.
"So Mom called me and I was a tad disturbed," Sam joked and Mallory smiled weakly. "I called Jay soon after that to see if he knew about the affair. He not only knew about it but he had known ever since he first returned from Venice the first time. He even double dated with dad and her." Sam's voice was hard and intense as he continued. " When I found that out I went ballistic. I now knew why Dad forgave him for leaving and why the two always took business trips together. I did something really stupid. I called mom and told her. She was shocked and angrier then I had ever heard her. She called Jay the same day I told her and they haven't spoken since. If you noticed at her house there are no pictures of Dad or Jay." Sam finished and looked at Mal for her reaction.
"Wow, I can't imagine your mom holding that kind of a grudge against anyone especially her son. He really hurt her. It makes sense now. Have you spoken to Jay?" She wanted to know.
"Um.He's been back to the states once or twice to see Dad. I saw him once when his plane had a layover in D.C. It wasn't a long visit. That was it and that was over 6 months ago. His book came out and he sent me a copy, but I haven't read it, though I heard it got a lot of good reviews."
"What's it called?" Mallory asked.
Sam smirked. "Lies and Affairs in the O.C. by Jay Brown."
Mallory gasped. "He wrote that! I read it a few months back. Oh my god, it all makes sense. He wrote it after your parents."
"Right. He didn't use the Seaborn name anywhere but to us we all knew. Even Josh caught on. Mom was even more pissed and sent back her copy. Dad liked the book but couldn't brag to anyone that his son wrote it 'cause they might catch on that it was about his life. I heard it was a New York Times best seller and he's even writing another."
"He can't be!"
"Yep, so does that tell you why?" Sam asked to see if he covered the question that had been first asked.
"Hell yes, kudos to your mom for not strangling him with her bare hands. Good thing she has you." Mal snuggled into his side and the two slid lower into the bed and made themselves comfortable for a nap.
