Ghost in the Smoke Part 23

Disclaimer: I don't own these lovely characters, Aaron Sorkin and his friends do.

Sam and Josh are caught in a hotel fire.

Spoilers: Everything up through The Leadership Breakfast (set two days later)

Archive: Anywhere you want, just please e-mail me Partnrpal@aol.com

Ghosts in the Smoke

By Mer

Part 23

Georgetown Hospital-Sam's Room

After Donna left his room Sam began to feel even worse. He had gotten her to admit that Josh hadn't woken up yet and they weren't sure if he ever would. He felt like it was all his fault. All he had to do was to have kept his mouth shut at that meeting and nothing like that ever would've happened. But he didn't keep his mouth shut and Josh was suffering because of it.

A nurse had come in with his breakfast tray and then she explained how badly he had hurt his leg, but Sam didn't care. They could cut it off for all he cared; he just wished that there were some way to make this up to Josh. But how do you make it up to your best friend for nearly getting them killed. Sam shuddered as he thought how mad he had been when Josh blamed him solely for the Mural Room fire. He wished that he could take all of that anger back, as well as making Josh better again.

"Hey Sam, how are you feeling this morning?" Abbey asked when she entered his room.

"Just peachy thanks." Sam replied as he tried to give her the largest fake smile ever.

"What's the matter you didn't like your breakfast?" Abbey asked seeing the untouched breakfast tray on the table.

"I'm not very hungry." Sam stated hoping that she would get the hint and just leave it be.

"Sam you need to eat something and keep your strength up to help fight the infection better." Abbey scolded.

"I'm not very hungry right now. My throat is a little raw." Sam half-lied.

He poured himself a glass of water as to make his point. Then he gingerly drank some to show her that being gagged by the smoke hadn't helped matters. Abbey went along with his little display because she knew there was a chance that his throat really was bothering him. But she also knew that there was a deeper meaning besides his not wanting to eat. She swore to herself that she would make sure he ate something later.

"Okay, I understand. Just try and eat some lunch later okay?" Abbey stated, knowing full well that he wouldn't really touch much of his lunch either.

"I'll try." Sam promised, in a semi-genuine voice.

"Besides your throat how are you feeling today?" Abbey asked as she took a seat beside his bed.

"Well, I feel a little bit like I usually feel when I have the flu." Sam stated.

"Kinda hot, tired, and run-down?" Abbey suggested.

"Yeah. It hurts a little to breath too but they said that's from the smoke I inhaled last night." Sam replied.

"How about your leg? Does it hurt at all?" Abbey asked, knowing the possible implications if he said no.

"Yeah, it's really sore. I'm fine as long as I don't really move it." Sam replied causing Abbey to sigh a huge sigh of relief.

"That's excellent Sam. The pain is a good sign, especially when you have an infection." Abbey assured.

"If you say so." Sam replied with a sigh.

"Do you remember last night at all?" Abbey asked quietly.

"I remember going to the hotel with Josh with certainty. Everything after that gets a little fuzzy. I remember gagging on the smoke and I remember Josh was bleeding and I couldn't seem to get it to stop." Sam replied as he looked down at his hands.

Faint traces of blood remained there and it made him cringe a little. His memory supplied him with a flashback to one of the times he tried to tie a makeshift bandage. The rest of his memory was pretty hazy, but the smoke and the blood stood out. He doubted that if he washed himself constantly for the next twenty years if he would ever forget what that looked and smelled like.

"I mean I know that I tried to stop it but what I was using for a bandage kept soaking through, no matter how hard I tied it." Sam recalled.

"Sam you did the best that you could do." Abbey assured gently.

"Are you saying that there was something I could've done better?" Sam accused.

"No, I didn't mean that." Abbey said after a slight pause.

She studied Sam closely. He wasn't acting as crazy as he was the night before, but she knew that he was eating himself up with guilt. His un-Sam-like outburst was just one of many signs. She knew that more would appear if Josh's condition didn't improve soon. She only hoped that he would wait a few days before demanding to see Josh. She knew that he wasn't totally ready to yet.

"I want to see him." Sam stated, pulling her out of her thoughts of worry.

"Sam, I don't think that is a good idea right now." Abbey hedged aloud, meanwhile swearing in her head.

"I want to see him. No, I need to see him." Sam replied in a voice that broke Abbey's heart.

"Sam he's in a coma right now, one that he might not ever wake up from." Abbey tried to explain.

"Which is why I need to see him." Sam replied.

"I will check with your doctor…" Abbey began, trying to find some way to tell him no.

"Mrs. Bartlet please, please let me see him." Sam said with a voice that bordered on whining.

"I will make you a deal. I promise that I will let you see him this morning, if you promise me that you will eat all of your lunch." Abbey offered.

"It's a deal." Sam replied.

"Sam, I'm serious, if you don't eat all of your lunch…" Abbey's voice trailed.

"Then what are you going to send me to my room?" Sam replied with a slight smile.

"No, then I will ban you from seeing Josh for the next couple of days." Abbey warned.

"It's a deal." Sam replied.

"Okay, I'm going to go see if I can get wheelchair or something to transport you in." Abbey replied as she left the room.

"Oh, by the way, I'm probably not to going to eat my lunch, but there is no way in hell you're going to keep me from seeing Josh." Sam mumbled to the door that was closing behind Abbey.

"That's right Sam, you just tell the First Lady off." Matt's voice filtered in Sam's mind.

"You know what Matt let me tell you something. You can just go back to hell where you belong." Sam mumbled .
Georgetown Hospital-Josh's Room

"You know if you don't wake up soon members of your fan club are going to want to sneak in and catch a peek at you in your hospital gown. And pretty soon they will be here with camera and the pictures will be plastered all over the internet, it'll be a huge P.R. nightmare." C.J. teased.

"C.J. I highly doubt that he cares whether or not…" Leo began but was interrupted by the sound of his pager. "Damn, C.J. I have to get back to the White House. Can you make sure that someone is with him at all times?"

"Yes. Do I need to come with you? I ca go find Donna or someone." C.J. asked.

"I don't need you yet, but there is a situation brewing that I might need you to brief on later." Leo replied as he paused in the doorway.

"Go. Leo, I know how much Josh means to you, but I promise I won't let anything happen to him on my watch." C.J. replied.

"Why do I feel suddenly comforted by that thought?" Leo asked sarcastically.

"Just go before Abbey comes back and throws you out anyway. At least I went home and changed." C.J. replied.

"Alright." Leo said as he begrudgingly left the room.

"Can you believe him? Sheesh Josh, I have never seen him like that." C.J. commented.

C.J. looked at him for some sign that he was going to wake up. But she found none. Instead, she realized that he seemed to be getting paler as her visit went on. That frightened her a little.

"You know Josh, I have a question for you? When are you going to wise up about Donna? She loves you; I mean she really loves you. It's not the fake love that Mandy gave you. I mean I know you really loved Mandy and I'm still shaking my head at that but Donna loves you in the way that everyone dreams about being loved in. When are you gonna wise up, and tell her that you love her too?" C.J. scolded.

Naturally, C.J. didn't get a reaction from him. She just threw up her hands in disgust. She compared Donna's reaction to the shooting and Donna's reaction to the fire. The second time she was a little more pulled together, until she learned that Josh might not wake up. The deeply shattered look she now carried pretty much exposed her feelings.

A knock at the door startled her and she turned to see that Abbey was pushing Sam in a wheelchair. C.J. rose to help her open the door. She gave Sam a smile, which he tried his best to return.

"Guys, can I be left alone for a few minutes?" Sam asked once they had pushed him near the bed.

"I don't know if that's a good idea or not." Abbey replied.

"Come on, really where am going to go?" Sam pointed out.

"Okay, but we will be right outside if you need us." Abbey finally relented as she and C.J. left the room.

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