King of the Mountain:
Part 8
Lynn Jepsen
The ride to the hospital was stifling. The tension in the limo could have
smothered us all. Josh was tapping his fingers on the window. There's
more nervous energy oozing off of him than we know what to do with.
Rachel came with us, and she's sitting between Josh and I, playing with
the hem of her skirt and leaning her head against mine. Right now, she
reminds me of a frightened six year old, waiting on my lap, watching for
any sign of Sam waking up. This really isn't a moment I'd like to repeat.
"Should we cancel today's appearances?" CJ sounds anxious, and I'm pretty
sure the death grip she has on Toby's hand cannot be comfortable. Josh
sits bolt upright then, every inch the political strategist. "Let's at
least wait until we know what happened. For all they told us over the
phone he could have scraped his knee." Toby and CJ exchange looks then. I
didn't tell Josh exactly what transpired on that phone call, but when the
nurse asks if they ought to call a priest or a minister for him.... I'm
not optimistic. By nature, I am not optimistic - much less so now.
We were hard pressed to get any of the staffers to volunteer to stay
behind. Most of them have worked for Sam so long... so long that this is
unthinkable. I think Josh left Leigh in charge. The others are following
us to the hospital. If anyone ever needs an example of proper car-pooling
procedure, the staff is providing a fantastic example of it now. They
didn't even talk. The people with rentals went outside with a crowd, and
the local volunteers surrendered their keys. I was impressed.
Rachel sobs a little against my shoulder, and I wrap an arm around her.
I'm not sure what car Meghan ended up in. I know Evan went with Paul to
prep for this afternoon's speeches, but I'm not sure where Meghan is.
Some aunt I am, I can't even.... The next sob is my own, and I feel
Josh's arm against my shoulder as Rachel hugs me tighter. It's more of a
struggle than I ever imagined to pull myself together, and by the time I
manage it, we're pulling up outside the hospital. My feet are barely on
the ground before I'm ambushed by a black ball of fur dragging a police
officer along by the leash.
Josh leans in and whispers something that I don't quite catch, but CJ
steps up then, and I realize there are probably fifty reporters clustered
outside the hospital. No, you can't make me walk through there. Josh....
but it's too late. Josh has one arm and Toby has the other, and if looks
could kill, reporters would be dropping over left and right. When we make
it through the door, I watch the bustle around me for a second too long,
because suddenly Josh is dragging me towards the desk. "Excuse me, but we
need to know about Gov.... Sam Seaborn. He was brought in just a little
while ago and...." "Wait in there, sir. A doctor will be with you in a
moment." The woman turns her attention back to the phone then, and I'm
pretty sure that if CJ hadn't dragged him away, the poor woman would get
a first hand view of Josh getting hostile.
We're pacing, Josh and I, and I've barely made a lap of the room before a
doctor sticks his head in. "Mrs. Seaborn?" Everyone's clamors to their
feet then - it's instinctive. When the boss enters, you stand up. That's
how it works in politics, and right now, the men in white coats are the
boss. He motions for us to have a seat, and CJ turns me around and moves
me to a seat in between Rachel and her. Josh is leaning against the wall,
and I can see him twitching - he'd rather pace.
"It appears that Mr. Seaborn...."
"SAM!"
The entire room seems to shout it at once, and the doctor recoils. I
guess it was just the musketeers, but Josh and Toby are loud enough to
start with. Throw in CJ and me and I suppose we might shake the walls.
Brutus must sense our displeasure, because he lifts his head off the
floor to growl. The doctor insists then that Brutus isn't allowed in the
hospital, but Josh merely explains that now would be a bad time to get
technical. Josh is starting to get hostile, and unsurprisingly, the
doctor holds up his hands in mock surrender.
"Alright, Sam, has been struck by an automobile. Now, we've managed to
stabilize his condition and he's in surgery right now, but...." But.
There's always a but, isn't there? Rachel tightens her grip on my arm,
and once again, I wonder where Meghan's gone. Maybe she went with Evan
and Paul to Manchester. I'm sure she did, didn't she? Oh God. Please have
better news than that. Please? ".... as soon as possible, we'd like to
run some neurological tests. I'm concerned that there might be swelling
on the brain with his head injury...." He sounds like that's no big deal.
Doesn't he understand that's a very big deal? I mean if... if Sam can't
think like Sam.... I feel like I'm going to be sick.
The doctor leaves and I think I felt better when I didn't know anything.
We've had so many near misses.... so many near misses in life... One more
near miss, God, please, just one more. "Josh, what happened?" He
understands the question, and I think he feels better having a purpose,
or someone to beat up on. When he storms out of the room to interrogate
the local police, Rachel stands up too. "Rae, you don't have to." She
give me this wane smile then, and she looks so much like Sam then....
"He'll hurt someone if someone doesn't sit on him." Good girl, you're a
quick study. Still, you don't have to go. Toby's used to sitting on him.
There are some soft laughs then, and Toby grumbles from his seat behind
CJ. "It's okay. It'll give me something to do." When her hands swings the
door open, we can clearly hear Josh shouting from somewhere down the
hallway. He actually might hurt someone. I just don't think Rachel's
heavy enough to sit on him.
*
The buzzing and beeping of medical equipment is disconcerting, but
frighteningly familiar. "Sam?" There's no answer, but I didn't really
expect one. I pull a chair over beside him, careful not to disturb any of
the cords scattered around the room. I reach out to slip my hand in his,
only to recoil. It's well wrapped in bandages, and now I understand what
the nurse meant when she mentioned that they had to cut off his ring.
"Hey." Josh is leaning in the doorway, looking like he's not sure if I
want company. Come on, Josh. It won't be the first time you watch me cry,
and I'm pretty damn sure it won't be the last. "She's a good girl, you
know?" I know. Rachel is just outside, and I can see her every time she
paces past the doorway. Tell her to come in, Josh. She ends up sitting on
Josh's knee, and if I do say so myself, it looks pretty funny. You should
consider yourself lucky, Rae. I didn' t like my first boss that much. I
guess my comment is going to provide our distraction, because Josh takes
the bait. "Okay, Lisa, what was your first job?" It's pretty boring
actually. When I was fifteen, Jamie got me a job waiting tables at
Casey's in Richmond. We worked together all summer, until I went back to
my mom's.
Rachel nods thoughtfully then, and then shakes her head at me. "This
isn't my first job, Aunt Lisa. My first job was baby sitting Patrick and
Laurel." Nope. Doesn't count. Baby sitting siblings isn't a real job in
any country. "What about you, Josh?" Rachel's question yanks him out of
this zone he's starting to drift in, and he gets this strange look then.
"That's not really important." Whoa, I don't think I know the answer to
this question - should I? Josh.... "I was a congressional aide." That was
your first job! "My parents paid for school.... it was no big deal."
Uh-huh. Well, you, Sam, and I ought to start a club for spoiled, rich
kids. Rachel wrinkles her nose then and stands up. "I'd keep that a
secret from the voters. Look, I'm going to make sure Brutus didn't eat
Mr. Ziegler." She looks a little pale, and I guess she's not quite old
enough for this part of politics - the part where you lose everything.
Besides, even Rachel ought to know there's a better chance of Toby eating
Brutus....
"Lisa, do you want me to..." He hitches his thumb towards the door, but I
shake my head. I don't want to be alone right now. I just... I don't want
to be alone right now. He pulls the chair a little closer then, and rests
his arm across my shoulders. Should we call someone? His mother? Sarah? I
just... I can't think straight right now. I can't think about anything
but.... Sam thinks I'm still angry about, about everything. I want to
tell him he's wrong. I want to tell him...
King of the Mountain: Part 9
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