Chapter Two

"We have to go home now!" Josh announced as he appeared at the door. "The President has just met with a spokesman from the National Parks committee and he's walking the corridors brimming with facts and trivia that I have no interest in at…" Josh's voice trailed off as he realised Toby was ignoring him and staring at Sam.

"Where are your tablets?" Toby asked Sam who got up from the sofa, staggered past Josh and into his office.

Josh and Toby followed and watched as Sam emptied the contents of his briefcase onto his desk.

"They're not in there, Sam, you didn't take that with you. Look in your desk," Toby suggested.

Sam tried to pull at the drawers but was incapable of thinking past the pain that was getting worse by the second. Toby pushed him into a chair and rummaged through the drawers. Josh looked around the room trying to see if he could find them. He walked over to the collection of pills on Sam's desk and started to read the labels. "What are they called?" he asked but neither Toby nor Sam could remember.

Sam stood up and started to pace around the office, it was the same frantic pacing that Toby had witnessed in the hotel room and it was just as unsettling to watch.

"Coat," Sam mumbled, "pocket, coat."

Toby remembered Sam putting the prescription in his coat at the hospital. "Josh, Sam's coat, it's in my office."

Josh rushed next door and patted the pockets before finding what he was looking for. He ripped the paper bag and threw it on the floor. Sam stopped pacing and walked over to Josh who was fumbling with the container.

"Damn, it's got a Josh-proof lid," he muttered as he tried again to unscrew it, his shaking hands doing little to help.

"For God's sake, Josh, get it open," Toby shouted. Josh was about to shout back that he was trying to when he felt the bottle snatched from his hand. Toby and Josh looked on in surprise as Sam raised the bottle and bought it smashing down onto his desk. Pills and pieces of plastic flew in all directions. Sam grabbed two that were rolling along the desk and quickly swallowed them dry. He pushed past Josh and went next door to Toby's office shutting the door behind him.

"What do we do?" Josh asked.

"Nothing, I don't know. He's taken the pills so it will probably wear off in a few minutes. He obviously doesn't want us around." Toby walked over to the connecting window and watched as Sam paced up and down. He bumped into the table and Toby's desk but carried on unperturbed. Toby turned away and leant against the wall. Josh sat down in the guest chair.

"How long was the other one?"

"Twenty or thirty minutes. I don't know how long he'd been in pain in his hotel room so it's difficult to say. He'll be alright in a minute."

"Well, yeah, until the internal bleeding starts from the shard of plastic," Josh pointed out.

Toby rolled his eyes in response. They sat and waited in silence. For a while all they could hear were Sam's footsteps as he moved around but then they could hear him moan and curse and from the sound of it, the pills weren't working as quickly as Toby had hoped. It was only when a steady rhythm of thuds came from the room next door that Toby leapt away from the wall and out of Sam's office. Josh followed him and was shocked to find Sam standing against the far wall slowly banging his head against it. Toby pulled him away and spun him towards him. He held Sam firmly by his shoulders but Sam simply replaced the wall with his own fist.

"Jesus," Josh muttered.

Sam struggled out of Toby's grip and walked towards the corner of the room. He fell onto his knees and, like he had in the hotel, started to rock up and down, his head hitting the floor with a sickening thud.

Toby hoped that like last time this meant that the attack would soon be over. He moved next to Sam and tried to make him see that too. "It will stop soon, Sam. Just hold on a little longer."

"Fuck you, Toby!" Sam hissed out between rapid breaths. Toby folded his jacket and placed it on the floor to cushion Sam's head.

Gradually the rocking motion slowed and the sound of Sam's head hitting the floor became less frequent. The only sound in the room was of Sam's breathing which eventually slowed too. Sam remained crouched over, both hands cradling his head. Toby reached up to his desk and grabbed a handful of tissues. He pulled Sam upright and handed them to him. Sam's right eye was streaming, the eyelid drooping slightly. Josh hadn't moved since Sam had sunk to the floor and even though the attack was over, he remained by the door. He wanted to take Sam to the ER but Toby was taking charge. He was slightly resentful of Toby's understanding of the situation but mainly greatly relieved that someone else was in control.

Finally, Sam took a deep breath and sighed. Toby noticed that he was less dazed than he had seemed after the first attack. He was pleased that both he and Sam had dealt with this one slightly better and then shuddered at the thought that this was something Sam was going to have to get used to dealing with.

Sam wiped at his streaming eye again. "I don't know if those pills worked but if that's what it's like when they're doing their stuff then I need to triple the dose."

Toby helped him get to his feet and guided him to the sofa. "You need to go back to the ER."

"I'll take you," Josh blurted out. "I mean, it's on my way, it's no problem."

Sam just shrugged and Josh took it as a sign of his exhaustion rather than indifference to the idea of who would take him.

Two hours later they entered Sam's apartment. A doctor had seen him and given him some stronger pills for the migraines that he told Sam he now suffered from.

Sam threw his coat on a chair and walked immediately into the kitchen to set about emptying the coffee machine.

"It's a bit late for coffee, Sam. You should go to bed."

"I'm going to have a cup," Sam answered. "I don't want to fall asleep."

"Why? You must feel like crap." Josh walked closer to Sam but not as close as he wanted to, sensing that Sam did not want his space invaded.

"It'll happen again. If I sleep, I'll wake up, and it will happen again." Sam looked at Josh and smiled uneasily. "I know that sounds pathetic but I don't think I can face pain like that again."

Josh knew it was hard for Sam to admit to his fear. He also knew that Sam looked ready to drop and if he humoured him and stayed up for a while with him that he would fall asleep within an hour. "Let's stay up then. It's Friday, I don't have to go in tomorrow. We can watch a bit of-"

"Hold on, I said I didn't want to sleep. I didn't say anything about having a slumber party."

"Yeah, but you're warming to the idea. We could invite Toby, although I don't think my mom likes me hanging around with him."

Josh relaxed a little as he saw a small smile on Sam's face. "I'm going to drink some coffee and sit and watch TV. If you want to sit with me, fine, but I'm more than happy by myself."

They settled down in the living room. Sam sipped at his coffee while Josh flicked through the channels. Josh was surprised to discover he had been wrong about Sam falling asleep in an hour; it only took ten minutes.

Josh left Sam where he was and covered him with a blanket. He felt guilty taking the guest bed when Sam was on the sofa so he went back to the cupboard and fetched a blanket for himself and lay down on the sofa opposite Sam. As he tried to get to sleep memories of another time he had slept on Sam's sofa kept him awake.

"Get out! Get out of this bed!" Sam pulled the covers off Josh and pushed him towards the edge of the bed.

"Sam! Calm down," Josh said holding his hands up in a gesture of appeasement. "All I said was that I was having a little trouble digesting it, not that I didn't enjoy eating it or that I didn't appreciate the effort that went into making it."

Sam jumped out of bed and put his hands on his hips. The stance was less impressive in boxers and t-shirt than when he was wearing an Armani suit but impressive nonetheless. "You come over here," Sam said as he walked slowly towards Josh, "sit at my table and eat my food that took me two hours to prepare, watch my television, use my shower-"

"Oh come on, Sam, I think we both enjoyed that," Josh said but was silenced by Sam's glare.

"You use my razors, lie in my bed and then, then, you wake me up in the middle of the night to tell me that you've got indigestion because of my cooking!" Sam walked right up to Josh until their faces were almost touching. "Well now you're going to get to sleep on my sofa!" A pillow landed on Josh's chest with a thump.

"Okay, just…before I go…" Josh looked at him sadly and placed his hand on Sam's face. "You got any Pepto-Bismol?" The pillow landed on Josh's chest again, this time the action was repeated until he was being pushed out of the room and down the stairs. By the time they got to the sofa, the pillow had been discarded along with Sam's t-shirt and any thoughts of indigestion.

Josh rubbed his hand over his eyes and forced the images away. He looked over at Sam who was still sound asleep. Josh walked over to him and, crouching by the sofa, pulled the blanket up over Sam's neck. "I fucked up. I'm sorry," he whispered.

The next morning the two men walked into the West Wing together, Sam rubbing at his neck and Josh at his shoulder. "Next time, remind me to take the guest bed," Josh moaned as he swung his arm in a wide circle.

"God, I hope there isn't next time," Sam mumbled. Josh assumed he was talking about sleeping on the sofa but when he looked at him he realised he was referring to the reason for it.

"Hey," Josh stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, "You go to your doctor, you get the strongest pain pills he has and then it'll be over. With the right pills, migraines can be as easy to treat as a-"

"These aren't migraines, Josh."

Josh stared at Sam. He was stopped from replying by Toby's arrival. "How do you feel?" he asked as he walked up to them.

"I feel absolutely fine, it's like it never happened."

"Sam says they're not migraines," Josh announced and continued, undeterred by Sam's objection, "That's what you were saying before Toby arrived."

Sam started to walk towards the Communications Bullpen. "I'm not saying that I know what they are, I just know they're not migraines. If you suffer from migraines you keep getting them, don't you? And whatever I've got it's obviously just a temporary thing."

Josh glanced at Toby before replying. "Yeah, I'm sure it's just something that your doctor can prescribe something for and that will be that."

"Well, there you go then," Sam said as he hurried on past Josh and Toby and towards his office. He shut the door behind him and collapsed into his chair. He knew he needed to make an appointment to see his doctor but before he did he wanted to try to get things straight in his mind. He'd had two attacks that was all. There must be something he was drinking or eating that had caused them. Sam started to compile a list but even before he had started, he knew that he'd had nothing over the past couple of days that was any different to normal. He screwed the paper into a ball and threw it at the bin. He stared at the paper ball on the floor for a moment before reaching for his phone and dialling his doctor.

"Fine!" Leo snapped after Sam had told him about his appointment. "Does anyone else need some time off? CJ, you had a cold last week, do you wanna go have a check-up?"

Sam looked at the folder in his hands. He couldn't remember the last time he was off work for any reason but that didn't seem to make any difference to Leo. Toby chastised himself for not speaking to Leo sooner about what had happened on their trip.

"They're not just headaches, Leo," Josh said.

"Oh, they're a special kind of headache?" Leo snapped back. He sighed deeply and for the first time looked at his staff. He couldn't see Sam's face but glancing at Josh, Toby and CJ, he could see that they knew something he didn't and with that came the realisation that he couldn't remember the last time Sam had complained of feeling ill, couldn't even remember Sam being ill. He sighed again and sat down. "Sam, get back by two if you can." He shook his head, "Special kind of headache. You're a special kind of headache," he said pointing at Josh.

By the time Sam returned from seeing his doctor, Toby had written and then rewritten the first paragraph of the speech they were working on. He looked up as Sam walked into his office and when it became clear that Sam wasn't going to come to him, he went to Sam. "Well?"

"No, Toby, not well at all, apparently," Sam said as he hung up his coat. "He took blood and blood pressure readings and stuck long, thin things into my mouth and told me to say 'Ah' and then concluded that I am stressed!"

"What, these are stress headaches?"

"Oh he didn't have much to say about the headaches but decided that I'm on a short path to destruction if I don't stop drinking coffee, start eating regular meals and take time away from work when I feel stressed!" Sam rolled his eyes. "I did point out to him that he just about described the physical state of every White House staffer but he-"

"Sam! Is he going to refer you or send you back to the hospital or what?"

"Honestly, I don't know. He didn't seem to think they were that significant. He said they were a symptom of my high stress levels." Sam sat down and started to browse through his mail.

Toby walked over to the door and closed it. "I'm not a doctor but I would think that a headache so bad that it makes you bash your head on the wall must be pretty significant."

Sam nodded in reply and started to open one of the letters. His actions were halted when Toby leant over the desk and pulled it from Sam's hand. "You did tell the doctor about the wall banging and the cursing and the pacing, didn't you?"

"Yes, of course I did. Look, he said that sometimes tension headaches can be worse than migraines and he prescribed some painkillers." Sam looked up at Toby but he didn't seem satisfied. "He said I was to go back if I keep getting them or the pills don't work." Sam held the stare that Toby was levelling at him. "Can I have my letter back now, please?"

Toby handed it over silently and left Sam's office. He didn't know what was wrong with Sam but he knew for sure the attacks he had witnessed were nothing to do with stress. He sat down and looked at what he had written earlier but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't focus on it. He pushed the pad to the side and opened his laptop. He glanced up to check his door was closed before typing 'tension headaches' in the search bar.

Josh made a point of not going to see Sam after he got back from the doctors. He knew that in his own way Sam had been grateful that Josh had stayed last night but he also knew when to back off. A part of him was also resisting going to see Sam in the hope that Sam would come to him. He didn't. And so Josh finished the report he was reading and made his way to Sam's office.

When he arrived, Sam was sitting at his desk engrossed in a legal book. "Hey, how did it go?" Josh asked. Sam held his hand up, scribbled something down and closed the book with a thud.

"Hi, well apparently I'm the most stressed man in DC." Sam gestured to the empty chair and Josh sat down.

"What, so he said they're migraines or something?"

Sam shrugged. "You know what, I'm not really sure what he said they were. He seemed more interested in trying to get me to try yoga." Sam had been carrying on with work while talking and Josh realised he hadn't actually looked at him yet.

"Sam." Josh leant forward and placed his hand on Sam's stopping his frantic flicking through the pages of a book. "Sam!"

Sam sighed and reluctantly looked up at him. "I know." He pushed the book away and slumped back in his seat. "They're not tension or stress headaches and they're not migraines."

"You need to go back to your doctor."

"I know," Sam said.

"You have to go back to your doctor." Toby announced as he appeared in the doorway.

"What are you- Reiteration Man?" Sam asked.

Toby ignored him and walked into the room shutting the door behind him. "I've been looking online and I can't find anything about tension headaches that describes what your headaches were like." Toby perched on the bookcase and folded his arms. "You need to find out what these things are."

"I know," Sam repeated.

"You can't just sit around waiting for the next one or hoping that there is no next one."

"I know!" He stood up and rubbed at his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'll make another appointment. I'm just… I suppose I just really want to believe that he's right."

Toby nodded and the conversation was ended by Ginger telling them that Leo needed to see them. Toby and Sam walked along the corridor ahead of Josh and as he followed them he tried not to wonder if Sam would have told him what the doctor had said if he hadn't gone and asked.