Unwelcomed Changes Part 13

Unwelcomed Changes

By Mer

Part 13

Leo's Office (earlier that day)

"Here is the report that you wanted from Joey. Casey has highlighted all the positive things. His bill has enough support to pass if you read it over." Donna said as she came in and gave Leo a stack of papers.

"Thank you Donna." Leo mumbled as he was on the phone. "Donna wait, come back here for a minute."

"Yes Leo?" Donna asked once Leo had hung up the phone.

Leo took a deep breath. He studied Donna for a moment before responding to her. She seemed a little liver than she had when Josh was in a coma, but she still didn't seem like her normal self. In fact, she was withholding information from him. Her posture told him that, as well as the phone call he had just made.


"Donna what do you know about Josh having some tests run on him today?" Leo asked slowly.

"Yes." Donna replied nervously staring down at the floor.

"Donna, what aren't you telling me?" Leo asked quietly.

"Yesterday did you notice anything different about him?" Donna asked slowly, not knowing if Leo already knew about Josh's blindness.

"No, I didn't really get to spend that much time with him. Why what's wrong?" Leo asked in a concerned voice.

"Leo he's blind." Donna admitted softly.

"He's blind?" Leo asked though it was more of a rhetorical question.

"He was going to get some tests run on him today to see if it was permanent." Donna answered.

"I didn't notice yesterday that he was blind. Does that make me an awful person?" Leo asked.

"No, Leo it doesn't make you an awful person. I know that he was trying to hide it, because I didn't even notice at first." Donna replied.

"How is he holding up?" Leo asked.

"Well when I got there he was having a discussion with Sam. And I don't know what Sam said to him but Josh made a comment about wishing he could have died. After Sam left he seemed to be a little subdued and withdrawn. He told me that he doesn't remember the fire and something Sam said must have made him feel guilty." Donna stated slowly.

"Donna, Sam isn't himself right now and you have to tell Josh not to really trust what he says." Leo replied.

"You want me to tell Josh that he can't trust his best friend? Leo right now he needs supporters. He's not going to like me telling him that he shouldn't listen to Sam." Donna countered.

"You're right." Leo sighed. "I just want Josh to know that he does have people on his side. And Sam's going to get a visit from someone who can help him, hopefully tonight."

"Hopefully he will accept the help. And Josh knows that we are there to help, I think he's just a little afraid of asking for our help. You know the macho guy thing." Donna replied.

"Let's just hope that he doesn't break any more windows because of the macho guy thing." Leo mumbled softly to himself.

"Do you need anything else?" Donna asked.

"Yeah how did the visit with Joey go?" Leo asked, knowing that Donna had never really cared for Joey all that much.

"It went okay. I don't think that she likes Casey very much. But as I said earlier, her numbers seem to prove that the bill will indeed pass if you allow it to get sent up to the hill." Donna replied.

"It's another one of Josh's bills isn't it?" Leo asked gently.

"Yeah, though Sam was helping him on this one as well. They had completed most of the groundwork before it was given to Casey." Donna replied somewhat bitterly.

"Donna…" Leo began softly.

"I'm okay really. Josh is awake now and I'm sure that he is going to be just fine. I've gotten used to working with Casey." Donna assured him.

"That's good. Let me know when you find out anything else on Josh." Leo replied.

"Of course I will." Donna said as she flashed him a quick smile before leaving.

Rosslyn Long-Term Care- (Sam's Room-Later that night)

Sam was really sore form his Physical Therapy session. The bitch Clarissa said that he had a lot of work left a head of him. He wasn't sure how much more pain that he could stomach though. He suddenly had a new appreciation of what Josh had to go through last summer.

Sam wondered if he should stop by and pay Josh another visit, but he decided against it. His leg hurt too much and he didn't want to maneuver it into a wheelchair. There was always the phone, but Josh's reactions were a lot better when you could actually see his face.

The door swung open and Sam was hoping that maybe it was his dinner, but he was dismayed to find it wasn't his dinner it was Stanley. It was the same guy who had diagnosed Josh's PTSD. Sam wondered what in the hell he wanted with him. Josh's room was just down the hall.

"If you're looking for Josh he's in room 322." Sam stated as he pointed the direction of Josh's room.

"I actually came here to talk to you Sam." Stanley replied.

"Why would you want to talk to me?" Sam asked.

"Well, you have been through a terrible ordeal and I wanted to see how you are doing." Stanley replied.

"I'm fine. My leg is a little messed up but that's all. Josh is really the one you need to see." Sam explained.

"I'm going to go and see him a little bit later. How about you and I just talk for a little while." Stanley asked.

"Okay I guess." Sam replied in a defeated voice.

"Sam can you tell me why you went to the hotel that night?" Stanley asked.

"Because I angered Senator Herman and I was forced to go to the Charity Auction to make up for it." Sam replied.

"Who forced you to go?" Stanley asked.

"Leo, because we needed the senator's help on a bill and it looked like not only were we going to lose his support but we were going to lose some of his friend's support too." Sam replied.

"Did anyone go with you?" Stanley asked.

"Isn't that a dumb question?" Sam retorted.

"Just answer the question Sam." Stanley replied.

"Yes, Josh went with me because at first Leo thought he was the one who made the senator mad." Sam replied bitterly.

"Did something happen between you before you went into the hotel?" Stanley asked.

"We got into a small fight." Sam answered.

"About what?" Stanley asked.

"It was something really stupid and petty." Sam answered.

"Is Josh the only one who went with you?" Stanley asked.

"Yeah everyone else was busy." Sam replied.

"Can you tell me what happened that night?" Stanley asked.

"We were in the senator's suite when all of the sudden the smoke alarms went off. We headed towards the stairs and once we were on the stairs they collapsed." Sam replied coldly.

"Then what happened Sam?" Stanley urged gently.

"We both were hit with debris and the entrances were both blocked. Josh was bleeding really badly and he started talking all crazy." Sam recalled with a hint of resentment in his voice.

"All crazy how?" Stanley asked.

"He seemed different, and then he started talking to me as if I was his sister who died in a fire when he was little." Sam replied.

"What did you do?" Stanley asked.

"I pretended to be his sister because I didn't think he was going to make it otherwise." Sam replied.

"That was a very noble thing you did." Stanley replied.

"I don't think it was so noble now." Sam retorted rudely.

"Why not Sam?" Stanley asked.

"I was so busy giving him attention that I almost lost my leg." Sam replied bitterly.

"I see. Do you have any idea why Josh thought you were his sister?" Stanley asked.

"Yeah he hit his head on something. It's too bad that his neck didn't snap. I mean he's got some serious problems that he still needs to deal with. If he hadn’t have stopped on the stairwell we might have made it down before it collapsed." Sam replied coldly.

"He stopped on the stairwell?" Stanley asked as he raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah I think he was having a flashback from the sirens." Sam replied wickedly.

"Okay Sam, thank you for all of your help." Stanley said as he got up.

"Yeah like I said, you really need to see Josh." Sam replied.

"I will." Stanley promised as he walked out of the room.

Stanley paused in the hallway and he looked over his notes. Sam had turned mean at some point in the conversation and he looked for the trigger. It had been when Sam had to talk about Josh. Stanley could also tell that Sam had been lying about part of what he said happened. He could only guess that Sam was trying to guilt Josh about something. And that Sam was suffering from a personality disorder caused by the incident. He was pretty sure it wasn't PTSD; it was something a lot worse.

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