Ghosts in the Smoke Part 29

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 29

Georgetown Hospital-Sam’s Room

“Sammy boy that stupid doctor is gone, you can come back out and play now.” Matt said.

“Would you please just leave me alone? I’m already in enough trouble.” Sam said as he tugged on his restraint to prove his point.

“Ahh but Sam that stupid doctor is part of the problem.” Matt replied.

“Oh really and why do you say that?” Sam asked.

“Because she’s just evil, pure evil.” Matt laughed.

“I really don’t need this. What can I do to make you go away? Huh?” Sam asked, nearly begging Matt to leave him alone.

“You gotta learn to grieve first.” Matt replied.

“What?” Sam asked incredulously.

“You have to learn to grieve. You were mad at me when I died that you never let yourself believe that I was dead. Your anger consumed the space that your grief should’ve taken over. And now you don’t know how to let go of Josh.” Matt replied.

“They swore to me that Josh isn’t dead.” Sam defended.

“He’s not, well at least not yet.” Matt stated.

“You know damn well that I have every reason to hate you.” Sam tried again.

“Yes, but how can you hate me but not her? It takes two to tango Sam. We both made a child together. I might have been your best friend but she was your girlfriend. I think that makes her equally guilty.” Matt stated.

“You tricked her.” Sam protested.

“Sam, she came on to me. It was all her but I took the brunt of your anger because I cared about you that much. I cared enough to let you hate me and not her. Friends like that aren’t easy to come by.” Matt said slowly.

“Yeah well I can hate you all I want. I don’t need you, I have Josh.” Sam protested.

“Who could end up just like me. Don’t you see Sam, you gotta make peace with this before you stay nuts forever.” Matt stated gently.

“Why hasn’t my psychiatrist told me this?” Sam demanded.

“Because she’s evil Sam. I’m dead and I can see it, so it’s gotta be pretty obvious.” Matt suggested.

“How the hell am I supposed to make peace with this? Can you help out on that to?” Sam asked.

“Sorry, but that is something you are going to have to do on your own.” Matt replied.

White House Press Room

“I’m sure by now that you have all heard that Senator Herman of Wisconsin has been taken into police custody to be questioned about the mysterious fire that happened last night at the D.C. Hilton. A fire which injured two White House Staff members, one critically...” C.J. began her voice cracking a little.

“C.J. is it true that Senator Herman has been under investigation by the CIA for quite some time now?” Katie called out.

“You know I didn’t want to read a speech that I spent the last hour working on.” C.J. said as she threw the papers in the air.

“Well is it true?” Katie pestered.

“Yes, it is true. Senator Herman has been under investigation for several months because of his numerous dealings overseas, with the Russian’s specifically.” C.J. answered.

“C.J. is it true that there was no charity event planned for last night?” Danny asked and C.J. groaned.

“Yes, Danny, as it turns out there was no charity event planned. And in fact, the reason that there were very few injuries last night was because most of the hotel was undergoing a massive renovation and only two floors were open. But because it was mid-week there weren’t that many guests staying in the hotel.” C.J. replied.

“C.J. is it true that Sam Seaborn was the main target?” Steve asked.

“No, it appears that both Josh and Sam were targets. Both were supposed to have been killed.” C.J. replied as she turned to choke back tears.

“C.J. is it clear yet why Russian terrorists got involved with the senator?” A reporter named Jesse asked.

“No, all we do know was that he reportedly received large sums of money from them, which caused him to be placed under surveillance.” C.J. answered slowly.

“C.J. is it true that the White House knowingly sent them there even while they knew that the senator was under observation?” Danny asked.

“We sent them there yes, but we had no idea that he was under surveillance. I’m sorry but the CIA doesn’t give us a list of every single person that they have their eyes on.” C.J. replied.

“But wasn’t it information that you could have easily obtained?” Danny asked.

“For someone with the proper clearance yes. Normally a person would be vetted before staff members are allowed to attend an event they hold, or vice versa., but this wasn’t done this time.” C.J. replied.

“Is there a reason why Josh and Sam were sent?” A reporter named Rachel asked.

“Because it was supposed to be a bachelor auction, and in case you haven’t noticed they both happen to be bachelors. Hell Josh even claims to have his own fan club.” C.J. replied which sent chuckles through the press room.

“C.J., Senator Herman claims that he gave Josh and Sam a way out. Is that true?” Steve asked.

“Josh is in critical condition right now and Sam is in no condition to talk about what happened last night, so I don’t know. I will have to check with him later to see how much of the evening he remembers.” C.J. replied as vaguely as possible without revealing Sam’s delicate condition.

“C.J. you’ve finally stated that Josh is in critical condition. Will Senator Herman be facing a harsher sentence if Josh dies?” Katie asked.

“I am not in charge of dishing out punishments, in fact as far as I know Senator Herman is only being questioned right now and has yet to be charged with any crime.” C.J. stated.

“Would you want a harsh sentence if you could?” Katie tried again.

“I would want him to burn in hell personally but that’s just me.” C.J. snapped.

“There will be no further questions at this time.” Toby said as he interrupted and pulled C.J. away from the podium.

“Toby let go of me.” C.J. protested as he dragged her to the safety of his office.

“You know what the headline tomorrow is going to be right?” Toby asked.

“No, Toby enlighten me.” C.J. snapped.

“Press Secretary tells Senator to rot in hell.” Toby said as he used his hands to illustrate his point.

“I said burn...” C.J. protested.

“Why did you dump the speech so easily? Are you really that mad at me too?” Toby asked.

“Toby they ambushed me in there.” C.J. defended.

“C.J. they ambush you nearly everyday with something, it’s their jobs to.” Toby replied quietly.

“You know maybe I'm just a little shaken up by the whole incident still. You got banned from the hospital Toby. You didn’t see Sam this morning.” C.J. replied.

“Why what is wrong with Sam?” Toby asked trying to soothe her.

“He has completely gone off of the deep end. They wanted to put him on the psyche ward.” C.J. stated quietly.

“He was acting a little crazy last night, but I thought that was from the infection.” Toby asked.

“Apparently not. He just lost it when he went to visit Josh.” C.J. replied.

“What happened? What’s the latest on Josh’s condition anyway? He’s out of surgery right?” Toby asked.

“Josh appears to be in a coma or something. There is a slight swelling of his brain, which they didn’t notice at first. I think Leo said it was from the shock and infection he is battling. Sam went to visit him and when Josh didn’t wake up he started to punch and shake him. It was a side of Sam that I had never seen before.” C.J. replied.

“I’ll go and talk to Sam once Leo lets me out of the doghouse.” Toby assured her.

“Toby it’s not that simple, Sam really has something wrong with him.” C.J. replied.

“Don’t worry about it, I will help him. I promised to do that much.” Toby tried to reassure her.

“I hope you can.” C.J. whispered.

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