Ghosts In the Smoke Part 5

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 5

D.C. Hilton

"Joanie, where is Sam?" Josh asked suddenly, sounding totally panicked.

"Sam's here too." Sam replied.

"Where is he? He was right in front of me..." Josh said as he tried to sit up.

"Josh calm down I'm right here." Sam said as he tried to keep Josh from moving.

Josh looked up at Sam skeptically. Sam could see that Josh was trying to make his eyes focus. Then Josh got this odd look on his face. He also stopped struggling to get up.

"Joanie was never here was she?" Josh asked in a funny voice.

"I think she is always here watching over you." Sam assured him.

"I'm sorry." Josh replied very quietly.

"It's okay, really." Sam assured him.

"My head hurts and my arm hurts and..." Josh's voice trailed off.

"And what Josh?" Sam asked.

Before Josh could answer more of the floor above them fell down. Sam tried to protect Josh from the debris. But it really wasn't necessary because the chunks weren't that big. A piece of the wall was knocked out allowing them to have an air hole.

Sam sucked in the fresh air. He then glanced over at Josh and realized that Josh's eyes were closed. Panic rose within him as he was afraid that Josh had given up once he realized Joanie wasn't really there talking to him.

"Josh." Sam said as he shook his friend.

"Need sleeeeep." Josh said, his words slurring slightly.

"Okay just for a little while then I'm going to get you back up." Sam replied.

Josh didn't reply and Sam knew that things were getting bad. He checked Josh's arm and realized it was still bleeding. He found something else and replaced Josh's bandage. Sam was glad that the air hole had opened up because he thought that they were going to suffocate.

Sam shifted his position and was greeted by a sharp pain. He cursed his stupid broken leg, and the stupid fire. Speaking of the stupid fire, Sam looked up and realized that it was getting closer to them. He had to figure out how to get them both out of there. He didn't want to die in the hotel.

C.J.'s Office

"C.J. reporters are starting to ask questions." Carol said as she came into C.J.'s office.

"Reporters always ask questions its their job." C.J. snapped.

"I didn't mean." Carol stammered.

"I know tell them that there will be a press briefing in a few minutes." C.J. replied.

"Okay." Carol said as she left the room.

"C.J. is there any word?" Donna asked as she burst in to the office.

"Leo got a hold of one of their cell phones. They are trapped in a stairwell between floors. The phone went dead before we could really learn anymore." C.J. replied.

"Are they okay?" Donna asked, her voice trembling a little.

"I don't know." C.J. replied, purposely omitting what Sam had said about Josh.

"I knew that Josh would manage to mess up my date." Donna muttered as she sunk down in a chair.

"Yeah, he's good at that isn't he?" C.J. replied.

"Where is everybody else?" Donna asked slowly.

"They are all running around here somewhere. So Toby got a hold of you huh?" C.J. replied.

"Actually, I saw it on the news. I never would've noticed it if my date hadn't pointed it out." Donna responded fiddling with her bracelet.

"I think this means that we can't let them go anywhere alone together." C.J. said trying to lighten the mood.

The Oval Office

"Is there any word yet?" Jed asked as Toby came back into the room.

"No, I can't get a hold of Donna." Toby apologized.

"I think someone said she's in C.J.'s office." Leo replied.

"Oh. Her press briefing is in a few minutes, so I'm going to go over her statement with her." Toby stated.

"Jed, would you please stop pacing around the room like a madman?" Leo scolded after Toby left the room.

"Sorry." Jed replied as he stopped pacing at once.

"I'm just as worried as you are." Leo stated gently.

"I know. Leo, do you think they are okay?" Jed asked softly.

"Yeah, I'm sure they are." Leo lied, and Jed nodded.

"You know that fire the other night?" Jed asked.

"Yes, I seem to remember it very well." Leo replied.

"Well, you have to admit it was kind of funny. I didn't know they actually knew how to build a real fire, let alone in a fireplace that has been welded shut for a hundred years." Jed replied.

"Donna, said they wanted her to gather some leaves." Leo added.

"Oh brother. They didn't cause this fire did they?" Jed asked seriously.

"No, apparently the fire started on the seventh floor. They think faulty wiring or something. But the building wasn't really up to code which has caused it to spread so quickly." Leo answered softly.

"Why did they have to go anyway?" Jed asked.

"Because they angered Senator Herman." Leo defended.

"Oh. Is he by any chance caught in the blaze?" Jed asked as his eyes lit up.

"He made it out. Apparently, he had gone downstairs for something, before the fire started to spread." Leo replied.

"Is anyone else trapped?" Jed asked.

"Not as far as I know. They won't know until later." Leo replied slowly.

"My staff came through a shooting intact for the most part, but I don't know how to..." Jed said but his sentence trailed.

"They will make it out. They will." Leo assured him.

D.C. Hilton -fifth floor

"There is a lot of ruble here in the stairwell. We have to begin pulling it out slowly." Kenny instructed.

"Do you think they're still alive?" Another firefighter named Jason asked.

"I guess there is only one way to find out." Kenny replied.

They began to slowly remove some of the ruble. After they had moved a couple of pieces the whole load shifted and they were forced to abandon their efforts. It appeared as if that floor was going to collapse too.

D.C. Hilton

Sam watched as the pile of ruble he had been leaning against began to give way. He moved slightly so that he wouldn't go with it. The movement did not go unnoticed by his leg. The pain had really begun to intensify.

Sam looked at his watch and realized that the whole ordeal had only taken a half hour. He then looked over at Josh. Josh didn't look very good. Despite him being right in front of the air hole Josh's breathing was pretty shallow.

"Josh, come on buddy you gotta wake up." Sam said as shook him slightly.

Josh slowly opened his eyes and Sam breathed a sigh of relief. Josh had that lost look about him again. But that didn't matter to Sam because at least he was awake.

"Have a nice nap?" Sam asked.

"No." Josh replied in a hoarse whisper.

"I'm sorry but I can't really let you sleep." Sam apologized.

"I didn't mean to..." Josh's faint voice replied.

Sam wasn't exactly sure what Josh hadn't meant to do. But he put a calming hand on his friend. Sam checked the bandage and realized that the wound had finally stopped bleeding. But Josh was still shivering, so Sam placed his own jacket over him as well.

"Are we going to die Sam?" Josh asked quietly.

"Maybe." Sam replied, realizing for the first time that maybe they were supposed to die there.

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