The communications bullpen was relatively quiet as most of the staffers were off or hadn't reported in yet. The faithful few who had shown up were busy catching up on work that had been overlooked of neglected over the past week.

Bonnie looked up to see a haggard Sam entering. He headed straight for his office, greeting her with his customary smile and a casual wave. Bonnie returned the greeting. "Coffee?" she asked lightly.

"Yes please," Sam replied softly. He retreated to the confines of his office.

As Bonnie went to fill up a mug with the freshly-brewed coffee, she frowned. Sam didn't look right to her. She knew it had been an extremely long and difficult week for him. First, he had been saddled with the pardon recommendations for the President. Then he'd learned of his father's infidelity. That had rocked him to the core. Bonnie knew Sam had been spending the nights in Toby's office rather than going home. He had blamed it on his workload. Since he had been avoiding speaking to his father, it was probably easier to escape by staying in the West Wing all night rather than going home.

The final straw came last night. Donna had told her that Sam was working on a pardon recommendation for her friend's grandfather. After his meeting with Nancy McNally, he had gone into office in total seclusion. Ginger had called Toby at the WTO conference to tell him that something was really wrong with Sam. And later, even though Bonnie didn't know what exactly Sam had found out, when he crossed the bullpen with Donna on his heels, he looked absolutely furious. Bonnie saw Donna hugging Sam and overheard them making plans to go out drinking with Toby and Josh. She was worried about her friend, and she had sincerely hoped that an evening out with the guys would do him good.

Unfortunately, Sam didn't look any better than he did the day before. In fact, Bonnie thought, he looked worse. Physically, he looked fine. But he seemed to have lost his spark, his energy. Even work, which usually Sam was usually very passionate about, did nothing to lift him out of his funk.

Bonnie shook herself from her thoughts and headed for Sam's office. She passed by Donna, who gleefully announced that Josh wouldn't be in before eleven. Bonnie chuckled to herself. Ginger had received a call from Toby saying he was working from home. Ginger had relayed the fact that Toby practically had a fit when he found out that Leo wanted to meet with him at noon to discuss the WTO fiasco.

When she got to his office, Bonnie saw Sam hunched over his laptop. "Sam?" she called out. When he didn't respond, she said louder, "Sam?"

He looked up, but his eyes were unfocused. Then he reached up with his right hand, opening and closing it rapidly, as if he were trying to capture a stray thought floating through the air. He did it a second then a third time, his gaze focused on the imaginary object he was trying to catch. Each time he reached out, he stood up slowly from his desk. Bonnie watched in amusement, then horror, as Sam's eyes rolled in the back of his head and his entire body launched into a series of massive convulsions.

"SAM!" Bonnie screamed, dropping the mug to the floor. The hot coffee splashed against her pant legs, but she hardly felt it. She crossed the office in two large steps. As Sam collapsed on the floor, she shoved his chair across the room. With more strength than she knew she had, she managed to shove the desk part way from Sam's body.

Ginger heard Bonnie's cry and ran into the office, followed closely by Donna. "Bonnie, what's wrong?" She gasped as she saw Sam writhing on the floor.

"Guys, move this desk," Bonnie ordered as she knelt on the floor next to him and removed his glasses. He had been seizing for more than thirty seconds, his arms and legs contracting in uncontrolled spasms. Sam wasn't a very large man, but as Bonnie tried to turn him on his side, she found his solid build was more than she could handle.

"Ginger, help me turn him on his side," Bonnie said. Ginger was frozen in shock. Donna moved around the other woman and knelt next to Bonnie. Together, they managed to roll Sam on his side. Bonnie placed a hand behind Sam's head to try and keep him from banging his head against the wall. Then, she cursed as the force of his head slammed her hand into the wall, semi-crushing it.

"Should we be doing something?" Donna asked nervously.

Nursing her sore hand, Bonnie shook her head. "There's nothing we can do but wait. Ginger, close the blinds and the door." By the time the redheaded woman had completed her tasks, Sam's seizures began subsiding. His body was less rigid and his flailing limbs were slowly coming to rest. Bonnie began slowly stroking Sam's face and whispering, "Sam? Sam, can you hear me? It's Bonnie. Sam, you're okay. It's Bonnie. Can you hear me?"

At first, Sam didn't respond. Then as his body went completely limp, he let out a low, guttural moan, emanating from deep inside. Bonnie kept talking to him in soft tones. "Hey Sam. Can you hear me?"

"Wh…wha…," Sam managed to respond.

"It's okay, Sam. You had a seizure. You're okay," Bonnie replied.

"Sh-should I call an ambulance or something?" an anxious Ginger asked.

"No," Bonnie answered. "He'll be fine. At least I think so."

"So what do we do now?" Donna asked. "We can't leave him here."

Bonnie looked up at her friend. "Ginger, who's in the bullpen?"

She peeked through the blinds. "No one that I can see. Larry and Ed must have went down to the mess. There's no one else here yet."

"Good. Donna, help me get him up. We'll let him sleep it off in Toby's office." Together, the two women rolled Sam on his back and managed to get him to his feet. Sam's body was almost completely limp, so most of his entire weight rested on their shoulders. Supporting him, they managed to help him stagger into Toby's office and laid him on the couch. Ginger closed the blinds and the three of them left Toby's darkened office, closing the door behind them.

Ginger had shaken off her initial anxiety and was all business now. "Will someone tell me what the hell's going on? Why didn't we call an ambulance or at least a doctor? What's wrong with him?"

Bonnie shushed her. "Let's straighten up his office." She followed the other two women into the office, quickly closing the door behind her. The three of them set about pushing the furniture back in place and picking up the files and other assorted items that had been knocked off the desk.

When they finished, Ginger said, "Spill it, Bonnie. What's up with Sam?"

Bonnie ignored her for the moment and turned to Donna. "How many drinks did Sam have last night?"

Donna thought for a moment. "Two, maybe three beers. And a couple of Scotch rocks." She looked at Bonnie, confusion written all over her face. "Did that have anything to do with Sam's seizure?"

Bonnie shook her head. "Maybe. I couldn't say for sure."

Ginger waved a hand in front of their faces. "Hello? Clueless person in the room. Care to share?"

Bonnie looked from Ginger to Donna and back again. "You can't tell anybody what I'm about to tell you. Understand? Nobody outside this room is to know about this. I mean NOBODY." The other women nodded their agreement. Sighing softly, she said, "Sam has epilepsy."