Ghosts in the Smoke Part 36

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 36

White House-Presidential Residence

"Mr. President, sir, how long have you been sitting there?" Donna asked as she woke up from a drug forced nap.

"A little while." Jed replied, not telling her that he had been there for almost an hour.

"I'm sorry sir. If I…" Donna began.

"Donna, don't worry about it. I wanted to come and see you. I know how hard you are taking this." Jed replied.

"Is everything okay with Josh? Has something happened?" Donna asked almost in a panic.

"Calm down, there has been no change in his condition. His mom is visiting with him now I believe." Jed answered.

"His mother?" Donna asked in a shocked voice.

"Why is something wrong?" Jed asked.

"No, they just aren't very close." Donna replied.

"Donna, I'm sorry that this happened to Josh. Believe me if I could un-send them to the fire I would." Jed replied.

"I know it's not your fault, sir." Donna replied.

"Donna, I just wanted you to know that everyone is here for you, so if you ever need a shoulder to cry on feel free." Jed replied.

"Thank you sir. But I'm actually feeling much better." Donna replied as she tried to get up.

"I think you had better stay in here. Abbey would probably kick my ass if I let you leave." Jed joked.

"Aren't the secret service here to protect you from incidents like that?' Donna asked.

"Nothing can protect me from my wife when she's mad." Jed replied with a smile.

"Is there anything that I can do? I feel like I need to do something." Donna asked quietly.

"Yes there is something you can do, only if you want to of course." Jed stated softly.

"What's that?" Donna asked.

"You can pray with me." Jed replied.

Leo's Office

"Are the police any closer to finding out why they targeted Josh and Sam?" C.J. asked as she followed Leo into his office.

"No, but I think they think I am involved in some way." Leo replied disgustedly.

"Why do they think that?" C.J. asked in a shocked voice.

"Because I am the one who sent them to the hotel." Leo replied as he pounded his fist on the desk.

"Leo, how could they even think that you would want to hurt Josh or Sam?" C.J. asked.

"I don't know. I guess they are just trying to do their jobs." Leo replied in a sarcastic tone.

"You want a drink don't you?" C.J. asked.

"C.J. I think that I could have about five and it wouldn't even begin to numb the pain that I'm feeling." Leo replied.

"I'm sorry." C.J. replied.

"Oh Sam's condition has gotten worse. I guess he having another seizure and this one is worse than the last one. We think his doctor may be harming rather than helping." Leo stated in a flat voice.

"What the hell?" C.J. asked.

"We think that because they weren't killed in the fire that someone is trying to kill them in the hospital." Leo replied.

"What am I supposed to say to the press about this?" C.J. asked.

"Nothing. Keep a lid on this right now. Especially since we don't have any absolute proof." Leo replied.

"For the record I think that this sucks." C.J. replied.

"I second that." Leo answered.

Georgetown Hospital-Outside of Sam's Room

"What's wrong with him?" Toby asked a doctor once he finally exited Sam's room.

The doctor paused for a moment. Toby and Abbey looked at each other. They had been forced to stand out in the hallway for nearly a half an hour now. Abbey was thinking the worst and she knew that Toby was too.

"We got him to start breathing again and we got his seizure stopped. However, he is now, currently unresponsive to stimuli, we think that he might have slipped into a coma." The doctor replied.

"What! How could this happen?" Toby exclaimed.

"A severe seizure like Sam had can cause all sorts of different things to happen to a body." The doctor began.

"Is there anything that you can do for him right now?" Abbey asked gently.

"We have placed him on anti-seizure medication, but really the only thing that we can do now is wait." The doctor replied.

"What about his brain functions? I mean has the seizure done any major damage to his brain?" Abbey asked.

"It's too early to tell if he has received any brain damage or not. Though his brain waves are normal for someone who is in a coma. You can see him now if you want. It sometimes helps if you talk to a comatose patient." The doctor answered.

"But…" Toby protested.

"Thank you doctor." Abbey replied as the doctor left.

"How can they both be in a coma?" Toby demanded.

"I don't know, Toby." Abbey said as she let out a frustrated sigh.

They both were about to go into Sam's room when they could hear someone walking down the hallway. Toby wanted it to be Dr. Bleuer so he could give her a piece of his mind. Abbey was thinking the same thing, though she wanted to avoid a public confrontation if possible. But alias it wasn't her.

"Mrs. Bartlet?" A male voice called as the person rounded the corner.

"Yes." Abbey answered as she realized that it was the Chief of Staff Lucas Hummer.

"I was going to remove Dr. Bleuer because you asked but I came across a problem when I checked my records. I'm afraid that we don't have a Dr. Bleuer listed on staff. I knew that had to be wrong and so I talked to the head of the psych department and she said that we didn't have one either." Mr. Hummer replied.

"What?" Toby asked.

"I don't know how this happened but there isn't even a record of her ever working at any of the hospitals in the area." Mr. Hummer replied.

"But I went and saw her at her office. We've both seen her working on Sam." Abbey protested.

"Could you show me where that was? I have already called the police and they are on the way." Mr. Hummer replied.

"Of course I can." Abbey replied.

"How does someone just sneak in and start to play doctor?" Toby asked aloud.

"I don't know. I wish I had caught this under different circumstances." Mr. Hummer apologized.

"Mr. Hummer, we believe that Dr. Bleuer did something to Sam to make his condition worse." Abbey stated as they walked to the elevator.

"Oh no." Mr. Hummer replied with a sigh.

"Sam is now in a coma…wait a minute Josh is in a coma too and they said that there is no medical reason for his. Do you think that she got to him too?" Toby asked.

"Well he was delirious when they brought him in so maybe…" Abbey's voice trailed off.

"I can't even begin to imagine what the two of you are thinking right now." Mr. Hummer replied.

They reached the floor where Dr. Bleuer's office was. Abbey went lead them there but Dr. Bleuer wasn't in the office. In fact there was hardly a trace that she even existed.

"How can this be?" Abbey asked.

"Looks like she knew her days were numbered." Toby theorized angrily.

"The police will be here shortly. Maybe they can help us shed some light on this." Mr. Hummer suggested helpfully.

"Or maybe they should talk to Senator Herman again." Toby replied with an angry mutter.

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