Chapter Ten
It had been dark before but now it was pitch black. The room was silent as well. Noises from outside could only be heard when the door was opened but even then they were muted. There was a fire exit light above the door. He didn't like the dark. The doctor had told him why it had to be so dark and quiet but he didn't like it. It was too easy to slip away unnoticed.
There had been no visitors, not since he had been moved in here. At least, he hadn't heard anyone and he was sure his dad would make his presence known no matter how still and quiet he was supposed to be.
People were there though. A nurse sat in the corner of the room and Doctor Keel had made frequent visits since having Sam moved. He had contacted Dr Nashton, the specialist who had seen Sam on his admission, and together they were frantically trying to find a way to end Sam's convulsions. Dr Nashton had already told Keel that he didn't think Sam would survive another attack. They were deep in conversation, studying x-rays and charts when Toby, CJ and Josh stepped out of the elevator.
The first thing Toby saw was the secret service agent and knew from his changed position where Sam's new room was. He decided to skip Dr Keel and headed straight for Sam's room.
"Mr Ziegler, hold on please." Keel came rushing over and although his head was full of Nashton's theories he still managed to flash a quick glance in CJ's direction before reaching her frazzled friend. "No visitors. Not for a while anyway. Sam's parents have both gone back to their hotels and I suggest you three go home as well. It's vital that we stop the convulsions and one way of doing that is to keep him completely isolated from noise and light which can trigger them."
"I just want to see him," Toby explained. "I won't stay, I won't touch anything. I just want to see him."
Dr Keel looked at him before nodding and then slowly opening the door to Sam's room. Toby stood inside the doorway for a few moments to get used to the darkened room. Although Dr Keel was hoping they had given Sam the right mixture of drugs to control the convulsions he didn't want to take any chances and so Toby was under strict instructions not to raise his voice, touch, or surprise Sam in any way. He made his way slowly over to the bed. His footsteps sounded deafening in the silent room and he unconsciously tip-toed the remainder of distance to Sam. When he got to Sam's bed he stood still, unsure of what to do next. He realised that he had gone to the side that didn't have a chair. He thought about crossing to the other side but having made it so silently to the bed he didn't want to tempt fate by moving again.
Between the drugs and the effects of the cardiac arrests, Sam was incapable of doing little more than opening his eyes but he remained unaware of Toby's presence and didn't stir. Toby stared down at Sam for a few minutes before crouching down beside the bed and placing his hand gently next to Sam's. He didn't touch it for fear that even that slight movement might trigger another attack. "I'm here, Sam, I'm still here. Nobody's letting you go, so you hang on…you just…hang on," he whispered.
He stood up slowly and glanced up to find the illuminated green exit logo above the door to show him the way out. Once outside he took a few moments to become accustomed to the light and then walked over to Josh. Diane and Michael had returned and were having a quiet but heated conversation on the other side of the corridor. CJ was holding a tray of coffee and sandwiches which made Toby realise how hungry he was. She was making no headway towards him though as Dr Keel was talking to her and she showed no sign of moving.
"What's going on with those two?" Toby asked Josh of Sam's parents.
Josh shrugged and went back to studying his feet. "I don't think I want to go in there just yet."
"Then don't," Toby answered easily. "He's not awake anyway and judging by the drugs they've pumped into him, won't be for a while." He looked again at Michael, he had his hands on his hips and Toby smiled as he thought of the similar stance Sam adopted when he was mad.
"No!" Michael stepped away from his ex-wife with his hands in the air. "I'm not going to let you turn this into a circus with you playing the long suffering mother at the centre of it all. This is about Sam, not you. For once just be there for him with no ulterior motives!"
Aware that all eyes were on her, Diane bit back her retort and walked back over to Michael instead. "Don't you stand there telling me about being there for Sam! I was always there, for everything. It was you who showed up when the mood took you!"
"And every time I did it meant more than any of your sycophantic forays into Sam's schools and college. You were there, Diane, but you weren't there for Sam." Michael groaned and wiped at his face. He seemed to sag slightly before addressing Diane quietly, "I'm not sure if Sam would want a priest and I don't think you are either. We should ask his friends or wait until he's more lucid. Please don't go charging ahead with this."
"I'm going to phone Father Kelly and I'm going to do it now. Sam would want this. I don't need to ask him to know that."
Michael watched Diane walk off and shook his head. He sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets before walking over to Toby and Josh. "She wants Sam to have the last rites. She says it's okay because they're not called the last rites anymore they're called something else and they're not just for people who are dying so I should stop being so dramatic about it." He sat down on the end of the row of chairs and Josh and Toby waited for him to continue. "She doesn't know what Sam would want. I don't think she even cares that much for what Sam would want."
Toby stood up and went over to the window on Sam's door. "What would Sam want?" he asked and when no one answered he turned around to find Josh shrugging.
"I thought Sam wasn't Catholic. I'd always assumed he was for some reason and once I made some comment about how 'his people' call a lie a sin of omission and he told me he wasn't Catholic." Toby turned back to the window and tried to make Sam out in the dark room.
"I'm not Catholic; it's what everybody calls a sin of omission. Bartlet lied to us."
Toby closed his eyes as he remembered how disillusioned Sam had been after being told about Bartlet's MS and the night he had found him going over the transcript, desperately trying to find a statement that he could accept as an apology from the President.
"We could have gotten it done. If he just told us at the beginning, this could have been
a whole different..."
Toby winced as he remembered how his reply to that had been to tell Sam to go home. Everyone had been so busy trying to cope with what had happened that they had all cut themselves off from each other. Sam and CJ had been the biggest victims of that and Toby knew he was lucky that they had somehow found a way through. He turned away from the window and walked back to the seats. "I can't sit here and tell you what Sam would or wouldn't want but I'm pretty sure that he isn't practising."
"Yeah, well, philosophies aside, I don't think this is a good idea. I mean, can you imagine it: you're lying in a hospital bed feeling like crap almighty and you come round to find a priest hovering over you. I think that would be enough to give anyone convulsions!"
Josh and Toby glanced at each other and then back at Michael who stood and placed his hands on his hips. "Well, wouldn't it?"
Michael's face was red and his expression one of such earnestness that Josh couldn't help the bubble of laughter from escaping. The contrast of Michael's stance and Josh's reaction to it made Toby shake his head and rub at his eyes. It was only when Michael heard the gentle sound of both men's laughter that he sat back down and sighed. He waited for them to finish and then added, "Well it would though."
CJ, having finished her conversation with Dr Keel, walked over to the three men. "I've got drinks and I've got food. The drinks are cold and the food has clearly seen better days but this is all you can expect from a highly motivated, independent, career minded woman."
Josh thought of a retort but couldn't summon the energy to voice it and stood and helped himself to a limp sandwich and cold cup of coffee instead. "Tell her about the priest," he told Toby.
"What about the priest?" she asked and Michael took a bite of his sandwich, leant back in his chair and listened to his son's friends.
Agents Singleton and Darkin were only too aware of the responsibility that rested on them. They had both felt proud at first to be selected to go to New York to talk to Joseph Hannity but now that they were in the car and on their way, the full importance of the task ahead was coming home to them.
Agent Singleton looked at the passing cars as they made their way towards New York. "You know, if we come back and we don't have anything to tell Ron about Hannity's motives then-"
"We'll make it up." Darkin finished for him. "Or I'll hide and you can tell him. Both options would suit me."
"Some partner you turned out to be. Anyway, at least we'd get off reasonably lightly."
"How so?"
"Well, we'll only have to explain it Ron, he'll have to explain it to POTUS."
Darkin whistled and nodded and took some comfort from that fact.
Diane Seaborn had wasted no time and had already contacted Father Kelly, an old friend of the family who was now based in DC. He had arranged to come the following morning and Diane was now sitting outside the hospital phoning friends and relatives and updating them on Sam's condition. She didn't see Toby exit the hospital and walk towards her and was just ending her fourth call as he walked up to the bench.
"Can I join you?"
"Certainly." Diane moved her address book and phone and scooted along.
There was a silence that whilst not awkward certainly wasn't pleasant. Toby ended it, "Michael told us that you've arranged for a Priest to-"
Diane turned towards Toby and placed her hand on his arm. "Mr Ziegler, I know that as Sam's boss you feel a certain obligation to make sure that he-"
"Yes I'm Sam's boss, but I'm here because I'm his friend and it's as his friend that I want to talk to you about Father Kelly."
"Michael doesn't waste any time getting people on his side. He also doesn't know Sam as well as I do and you just have to trust me that I know what Sam would want."
Toby looked at Diane for a few moments before replying. It unnerved her slightly but she didn't let it show. "With respect, Mrs Seaborn, in this case, I don't think you do. And even if you do I think the decision should be Sam's."
Her eyes widened and she smiled. "I can see Michael has managed to charm you like he does everyone else. I would have thought someone of your aptitude would have seen through him but obviously not." She placed her phone and book in her bag and then turned back to Toby. "The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick isn't just for people who are dying it's for those who are ill." She stood and looked down at Toby. "You'll just have to trust me when I tell you that I know my son and it's what he'd want."
"You've asked him?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Have you asked Sam what he wants?"
Diane glanced up to see Josh standing by the hospital entrance. He was drinking from a bottle of water and not looking in their direction but she suddenly felt out of her depth. It was a feeling she seldom experienced. "Of course I haven't asked him. You seem to be missing my point which is that I don't need to ask him."
Toby didn't answer. He looked up at Diane but the sun was in his eyes and she couldn't tell if he was smiling or squinting at her. He nodded, stood and walked away without saying another word. Diane let him catch up to Josh and watched them enter the hospital together before following.
The area outside the ICU was quieter when Toby and Josh returned, so quiet that Josh jumped when Toby suddenly said, "Hah!"
"What?" Josh asked.
"Nothing."
"No, hang on, you said hah."
"It's nothing. Listen, I'm going to speak to the nurses, find out if I can talk to Sam."
Josh nodded and returned to the chairs outside Sam's room. He looked around and tried to work out what had caused Toby's exclamation but all he could see was CJ and Dr Keel standing at the other end of the corridor.
The West Wing in the evening was one of Charlie's favourite times. He savoured the relative quietness of the Oval Office and usually managed to find some time to devote to his studies. This evening was not one of those times.
"Charlie!"
Charlie sighed and closed his book as he went to answer the President's fifth summons of the evening.
Bartlet put down the papers he was holding as he saw Charlie enter the room. "I'm doing something tomorrow, remind me, long skirts come into it somewhere."
"You're watching Hawaiian Hula and Butoh dancing at the Washington Centre and then giving a speech in celebration of National Dance Week."
Bartlet looked at Charlie over his glasses. "Yeah, see that's an area I don't have much expertise in. I must have missed that week in college." He walked over to a trolley and poured two cups of tea. "We're in support of it I take it?"
"National Dance Week? Yes, I think we're pretty much behind that one."
"Just want to make sure, it's no good me taking a stand against Butoh if we're actually fully for it." He picked up the two cups and gestured to the sofa. "Is CJ here? She could brief me on the finer nuisances of the Hula."
"She's at the hospital."
Bartlet nodded. "Has Toby written the speech yet, maybe we could go over that?"
"He's at the hospital."
"What's Josh up to? I was meant to meet with him this morning and then the thing with Anderson came up."
"He's at-"
"…the hospital. Are any of my staff here?"
Charlie shook his head. Bartlet studied his cup for a moment, turning it slowly in his hands. "Ron sent two agents to New York to interview Joseph Hannity. It's a hell of a thing trying to understand why someone would do something like that." He took a sip of coffee and then placed the cup down. "Tell me about that book you're reading."
They were still there two hours later, their only interruption the hourly calls from the hospital.
"Where is Sam's bag?" Josh's sudden question made CJ, who had been falling asleep, sit upright.
"What bag?" Toby asked.
Josh stood and despite tripping over CJ's shoes, paced around the small day room. "Donna packed a bag for him but then he got moved and I can't remember where it went after that. I should go look for it, it's got some stuff in it that he wouldn't want to lose. I'll go look for it."
"Josh, sit down." Toby's head had already gone back to rest on the arm of the sofa and he closed his eyes, confident that Josh would sit down and continue to wait for Dr Keel who had promised to see them as soon as he finished examining Sam.
CJ stretched and then patted the seat beside her. Josh walked over to her and she took his hand. It was only a few moments later that Dr Keel entered the room and for once, he was smiling.