"Morning Sam." Ginger turned from her note taking, grateful for the small break.

"Have you seen Cathy?"

"She's not coming in today."

"Why not?"

"Because you told her not to."

Sam paused. "I did?"

"Yup."

"Did I happen to mention why?"

"Because she's such a hard worker and to celebrate you giving her a raise."

"I didn't give her a raise."

"You were going to."

"Why do you hate me so much?"

"You're gullible."

"Sam did you get my note on the fire safety speech?" Toby finally interjected.

"Yes. I thought that wasn't for another three weeks though. I'm not gullible." He tagged on glancing at Ginger.

Toby shook his head. "It's been rescheduled."

"Why?"

"Jefferson Middle School dropped out."

"Why?"

"They had a fire."

Sam paused again. "Oh."

Ginger covered her mouth with her fist as she coughed what suspiciously sounded like a choked version of 'gullible'.

Sam ignored her. "So what school is it at now?"

"Lafayette."

Sam frowned. "Isn't that the one where they found the gun in the kids locker last week"?

"Yes."

"Ron can't be too happy about that."

"He's not."

"How did the President convince him to let him go?"

"He's the President."

Sam paused a beat. "I tend to forget that."

"I need it before you go home."

"Okay." Sam nodded. "You know the kid said he was bringing it in for a project in his history cl-"

"Sam."

"Leaving." Sam turned and walked out the door. "I'm not gullible!" he called back to Ginger before heading across the bullpen.

"Poor kid." Toby smirked as Gina smiled and shook her head.

*******

"Coffee!" Josh yelled while signing and scanning over some papers.

"No!" came the reply from the bullpen.

"Coffee!"

"No!"

"Lack of coffee makes for very grouchy boss!"

"Screaming stupid demands makes for very unhappy assistant who happens to be holding the Clean Air Reports for Missouri and Illinois that the boss so lovingly requested." Donna entered the office holding the reports in her hand.

"Ooh, gimme." Josh eagerly held out his hands like a child. Donna rolled her eyes and dropped the files on his desk.

"Tell Leo I've got the reports and to go ahead and make an appointment with Selby. He is so gonna eat it!" he said wickedly. "And get me some coffee."

"Okay, and no."

Josh sighed, dropped his pen and stared at his assistant with frustration. "Donna."

"Josh."

"Donna."

"Hey guys."

The two turned and looked to the door. "Sam!" Josh greeted.

"Josh." Sam gave a quick nod of response. "Good morning Donna."

"Morning Sam." She shifted so she could comfortably sit on the edge of Josh's desk.

"Do either of you know where I could find a pair of pliers?"

"Pliers?" Donna asked.

"Yeah."

The room fell silent for a moment. Josh shifted in his chair and then awkwardly spoke up. "Like...the metal thingies?"

Sam stared at Josh for a beat choosing to let the stupidity of his friend's statement sink in. "Yeah."

"Well- what do you need pliers for?" Josh inquired, ignoring Sam's silent statement.

"The prongs on the plug for my laptop battery charger are bent....a lot."

Josh smiled knowing this was gonna be good. "How did that happen?"

"I ran it over." Sam considered labeling that part as personal, but opted to go ahead and tell him the truth, knowing all to well that a curious Josh tended to be rather vexatious.

"You ran it over?" Josh emphasized.

"Like with your car?" Donna finished.

"Yes."

"How did you run over your laptop?" his friend inquired.

"I didn't"

Josh paused, "You just said you did."

Sam shook his head, "I ran over the plug to the battery charger."

"How did you run over the plug?"

Sam hesitated a moment, not quite sure if he wanted to explain the entire story again. The expecting look on Josh's face though told him he wasn't going to get anywhere until he did. "I was running a little late this morning and carelessly threw my lap top along with the battery charger into the passenger side. Before I closed the door, the cord must have fallen partially out and I backed over it. I didn't notice it until I got here."

"Wait a second." Josh smiled and shifted in his chair so he could lean over his desk. "You were running late?"

"It's really not that big of a deal."

"Sam. When was the last time you were ever running late?" Josh exasperated.

"I really don't remember." He answered in a careless tone. Josh stared at him expectantly. Sam stared back, but finally sighed and sheepishly looked at his feet. "Professor Krebs American History class, sophomore year."

"Why were you late?" Donna asked over Josh's sniggering.

"Josh got me drunk."

"I did not."

"Why were you late this morning?" she pursued.

"Same reason."

"So that's why you're so crabby this morning huh?" Donna turned and looked at the guilty party.

"I did no-" Josh cut his reply off and went another route. "Okay, but I didn't get you drunk last night. You were a more than willing participant."

"That's true." Sam admitted to the assistant. "It's been a long week."

Donna gave her concerned puppy dog look. "Well do you need any help? Coffee maybe?"

Josh's jaw dropped. "How come Sam gets coffee and I don't?"

"Because Sam actually respects his assistants." Donna turned her head to glare at him.

"Would you get me some coffee if I respected you?"

"No."

"Well there you go."

Donna returned her attention back to her boss' best friend. "Sam?"

"Uh, no thank you on the coffee. I already got some. Pliers?"

"Why don't you just use my re-charger until you get a new one?" Josh offered.

Sam shook his head. "It's not compatible."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know."

"Who told you to use pliers?"

"C.J."

"Has C.J. ever run over her B.C. plug?" Josh humored.

"I doubt it."

Donna sighed in frustration at her boss' insensitivity. "Sam. I'd try the old storage room. I thought I saw a tool box in there a long time ago."

"Where's that?"

"Past the file room, behind the bathrooms."

"Okay. Thanks." Sam quickly exited the office heading for his own.

Josh and Donna watched him go. "Old storage room?" Josh inquired.

Donna stood to face her boss again. "I think that's what it used to be. I don't think anyone uses it anymore though."

"How do you know these things?"

"I'm a woman."

"A very beautiful and highly respected one at that."

"Get your own coffee." She walked out.

Josh let out a high-pitched whine letting his head drop to his desk. "Donna!"

********

"Sam!"

Sam stopped short and backed up a few steps, battery charger in hand. "Yes Leo?"

Leo waved him in without looking up from the papers he was studying. "You get that note from Toby?"

Sam walked obediently up to the desk. "Yes."

"Good. Make it short and sweet cuz God knows he's gonna go off on his own rant and I don't want a 20 minute speech to turn into a day long lecture on the history of the 'stop, drop and roll.' That and I don't want any mothers calling me with crying kids because the President bored them to death."

"You can never be too careful when it comes to fire safety." Sam optimized.

"You would know?"

"Point taken." Sam smirked. "So is this speech my punishment for setting the White House on fire?"

"No. Your two meetings today on the Hill are." Leo finally looked up and frowned. "What's that?"

Sam looked at the object in his hands. "It's a battery charger."

"And?"

"And I ran it over with my car."

"Why is it in my office?"

"Well my original intentions weren't to come into your office, I was headed for the old storage room."

"We have an old storage room?"

"Apparently so."

"We have spare chargers?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Then what's in the old storage room?"

"Hopefully pliers to bend the prongs back with."

"Who told you to do that?"

"C.J."

"Fine." Leo waved the man off, returning his attention back to his papers. "Just don't let Josh convince you to start any more fires."

Sam opened his mouth in surprise, but quickly shut it again in frustration. He turned and exited the office wondering if Leo knew all along that it was Josh's fault as well.

*******

Sam walked down the hallway and passed the bathrooms. Turning the corner, he and found a door there. He turned the knob and reached his hand in, searching for a light switch. He grimaced as a single light bulb dully lit the room. "Definitely old." He muttered to the cold empty room. The walls looked brownish-white, paint peeled off just about everywhere. Shelves lined the walls stacked with an assortment of junk and papers. Boxes were stacked everywhere. Sam maneuvered around a few of them and came to the back of the room.

An old tin cabinet sat in the corner. Trying his luck, he went for that first. The door whaled loudly as it creaked open. Sam peered inside as best he could and smiled as he located an old toolbox sitting on one of the cabinet shelves. He pulled it out and set it on one of the stacked boxes. Opening it, he sorted through the various tools that clanked loudly as he moved them.

"Hey!" Sam said with surprise as he triumphantly pulled a pair of pliers out of the toolbox. "Wonders will never cease." He turned and retrieved the battery charger from where he'd set it down and then set to work on straightening out the prongs on the plug. After a grueling 15 minutes he finally succeeded. He set the pliers down and then scanned the wall. Seeing an outlet along the back wall he pulled himself up and decided to go ahead and test it to make sure it would work.

*******

"Here you go." Donna dropped a small package on her boss' desk.

"What's that?"

"That's the thing you ordered."

"What thing?"

"For you cell phone." When Donna received no response she sighed and went into explanation mode. "The thing that's supposed to make your calls clearer...lessen the static or something. I don't know."

Josh frowned, "Didn't I order this like a month ago?"

"Yes."

"And it's just now getting here?"

"Yes."

Josh blinked, "Okay." He resigned. "So how does it work?"

Donna shook her head. "I don't know. I think you have to put it in your cell phone."

"Well how do I that?"

"Open it up."

"With what?"

"A screwdriver?"

"Do you have a screwdriver?" he asked childishly sincere.

"No."

"Do you know where I could find one?"

"Probably the same place where Sam's looking for some pliers."

"Do you think you coul-"

"No." Donna quickly answered and walked out. Josh sighed and dropped the package onto his desk as he made his way out of his office, cell phone in hand.

*******

Sam knelt before the outlet and checked the plug to make sure he was putting the big prong into the big hole and so forth. He then pressed the plug into the outlet. Suddenly a bright flash erupted before his eyes and he was thrown backwards into the boxes.

*******

Everything in the West Wing came to a sudden halt as anything and everything electrical suddenly blinked out with a zap.

"What the hell?" Toby muttered as he looked around his now dimly sunlit office.

*******

Josh stopped mid-step as the lights blinked out, a red emergency light now flooding the hallways. "Wha-" A sudden feeling of dread overwhelmed him and he quickly returned to his course as the fire alarms suddenly shrilled in his ears. Turning the corner, Josh found the door, alone in it's own alcove. His breath caught in his throat as he saw smoke beginning to seep through the cracks of the door.

*******

Jed Bartlet's head shot up as the lights suddenly went out and not seconds later agents had filled his room, ushering him out. "What's goin on Ron?"

"Fire sir."

"I can hear that." Jed stated, frustrated as they walked out the door towards the lawn.
"Do we know where the fire is?"

Ron Butterfield pressed two fingers to his ear to better hear what was being said over his earpiece. "They're working on it sir."

"Are they evacuating the whole building?" he asked throwing around one of his classic gestures with his arms and twisting his body to look around him.

"No sir, SP states that they wait until they know exactly where the fire is locat-"

"I know how what SP states Ron... if you'll remember we just went through this a couple weeks ago." He said sarcastically. "Well do we know where Josh and Sam are? If you pin point them, you'll probably find the fire."

Ron allowed himself a glimmer of a smile at that thought. He lifted his mike, "Do we have a location on the fire yet?" He nodded in response and then negatively shook his head towards the President.

"How does one pin point a fire anyways? Follow the smoke?"

"In a matter of speaking sir. The system reads which smoke detectors are picking up traces of smoke and relays that data back to the security house. That is of course only concerning small fires, which is what this seems to be seeing as no one has at present reported anything." He paused and then nodded. "Got it." He said into his mike and then turned to the President. "They think they know where it is. They're sending some agents down there now."

"Agents? Why not fireman?"

"We don't keep fireman on duty here sir. And it's too risky to have that much commotion suddenly on the grounds. So unless they find the fire to be out of control, then we won't be allowing them on the grounds just yet, only paramedics."
The President nodded and turned to look at the building.

*******

Josh smacked at the doorknob to make sure it wasn't going to scorch his hand and then pushed. The door barely budged. He used his hip and side to pound into the door to try and get it to open some more. "Sam?!" he called. He could see a few people running through the hallway. Very few people probably even acknowledged the fact that this small alcove even existed, so he resigned to the fact that no one would probably notice his need of assistance. He gave the door another good shove and was rewarded with enough room to stick his head and left shoulder in. There was already too much smoke for him to see much of anything other than large, scattered boxes that were effectively blocking the door and the flames that were quickly taking claim to them.

"Sam? Buddy?" Josh gave the door one last shove and was able to slip through. He tripped over a few of the boxes and finally saw what looked like a hand underneath some more boxes with paper spilling out of them. Josh trampled forward and shoved the debris out of the way. Finally he was able to reach his friend completely. He choked on the smoke as he kicked an old toolbox out of the way and knelt down by his friend.

"Sam?" Josh rolled his friend onto his back and watched for signs of life. He leaned down and listened for breathing. Finding none he pressed his fingers to his friends neck. It was then that he noticed Sam's face was deathly pale and his lips had turned a cold shade of gray. "Oh God." He breathed. "Sam?" He lightly patted his friend's cheek.

Josh's head jerked up as one of the shelves along the wall shifted from the fire
licking at it's base. It crashed forward at an odd angle effectively blocking the doorway. He coughed hard on the smoke filling his lungs. He looked at the flames around them and then up. He squinted through smoke induced tears at the tiny cobweb covered device hanging from the ceiling. "Oh come on!" Josh choked out. He kicked a box that was doused in flames away. He then climbed to his feet and grabbed one of the hammers from the toolbox. Reaching up and standing on his tiptoes, Josh smacked the hammer at the Sprinkler, trying to trigger it. Frustrated and defeated, Josh fell to his knees and leaned down again to his friend. He listened for signs of breathing again and noticed the lips had only turned grayer with a tint of blue creeping in. "Damn it!"

Josh tilted his friend's head back and then breathed what little oxygen he could gather from the room into his friend. He did it again and then paused to check for a pulse. Finding none, he pressed down hard five times on his best friend's chest before going back to helping him breath. "Come on Sam!" He pressed on the chest. "Don't do this to me." He leaned down and gave him three breaths. Josh hacked loudly as he tried to draw in another breath. He glanced at the flames raging around him and then moved around his friend. He slipped his hands beneath Sam's shoulder and dragged him as far away from the searing hot flames as he could. He then went back to trying to help his friend breath. "Sam, please don't leave me here buddy!" Josh turned his head at the muffled sounds coming from outside the door. "Help!!" He coughed hysterically. "HEY! HELP!"

The distant voices turned to pounding on the door. It budged open slightly but stopped at the shelf blocking it's opening. Josh cursed. Everything was spinning out of control. His best friend who'd he'd been lightly joking with only minutes ago, was now lying beneath him by all technicalities dead. Josh viscously wiped at the burning tears freefalling down his blackened cheeks and leaned down to breath into his friend again, a wave of dizziness overtaking him.

Next thing he knew someone was pulling him back. The hands pulled him to his feet, but he couldn't get himself to stay on them. Finally whoever was handling him simply flung him over his shoulder and hurried out. Josh weakly called out for his best friend, but could only vaguely see some more men easily lifting the unconscious man up. As soon as they got out the door Josh could hear the sound of water suddenly being spit out.

"Stupid sprinklers." He muttered before everything blacked out.

*******

"Hey!" Donna rushed into Toby's office where he and Ginger sat, still taking notes.

"You guys know there's a fire in the building right?"

"Yeah." Toby responded with an exceptional lack of emotion that Donna felt should have been evident. She then looked to Ginger who raised her eyebrows and shrugged.

She decided to take another route. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but Hell has fire right?"

Ginger frowned curiously, "Yeah."

"Okay see that right there is enough to convince me that fire is bad...shouldn't we be leaving?"

"Donna?"

"Yeah?"

"You were here when Josh and Sam set the White House on fire right?"

"Yes."

"Did we leave then?"

"No."

Ginger turned back around to continue her notes as Toby began to concentrate on what he'd been talking about earlier.

"But that was just a whole lotta smoke. There was never any real fire." She said in a last ditch effort for some support.

"Procedure's the same." Toby said uninterested.

Donna stood a moment more in the doorway pondering that thought. She then turned towards the bullpen. "Oh my God!" she cried out. Across the bullpen an agent hurried by carrying a body over his shoulder. Toby and Ginger both jumped from their seats at Donna's cry and quickly took in the scene.

Toby then darted across the bullpen towards the exiting agent. Donna was quick on his heels. They followed him outside where some paramedics quickly sat Josh down and shoved an oxygen mask on his face.

Toby ran up, relieved to see Josh was conscious now and sitting up on his own breathing hard into the mask. He waited until one of the paramedics moved away and then kneeled down next to the smoke-covered man. He laid a hand on his shoulder and waited for Josh to catch his breath.

"Sa-" he gasped and then choked on some coughs. "Sam's-" another coughing fit took a hold of him. Toby held firm to his shoulder to try and help ease what sounded somewhat painful.

"Josh calm down. It's okay."

Josh fervently shook his head no. "Sam." He weakly pointed to the building still gasping for breath.

Toby and Donna both turned their gazes towards the direction of Josh's finger. Toby's breath caught in his throat as he saw another agent running out of the building, a completely limp body slung over his shoulder as well.

"Need some help here!" The agent called to the paramedics. "No breathing. No pulse."

Donna felt her stomach churn at the agent's declaration. She knelt by Josh as she watched the agent carefully, with the paramedics help, lay Sam on the ground. She put her hand on Josh's shoulder helping to steady him.

Toby jogged over towards his deputy in a half daze. He watched as the paramedics did a quick assessment and then proceeded to shout out orders and pull things from their bags. He stopped not more than five feet from his deputy's limp body lying on the grass. He could see the cold, pale pallor of Sam's face and the wet hair that stuck to his forehead. He could also see the blueness in the lips... but no movement. "Oh God." He whispered.

*******

Jed Bartlet jogged as best he could across the lawn surrounded by his agents all advising him to stay put. He simply shoved past them and found his way to a small gathering of people. He recognized Toby and immediately took up position next to him to find out what was going on.

"Toby wh-" he suddenly took in the scene before him and found himself unable to complete his sentence. "Sam." He finished to himself.

"Mr. President!" Leo rushed up to the duo to inquire what the hell was happening when his attention was pulled to the sounds of shouting before him. He turned his head to the ground only a few feet away and watched as two paramedics ripped open the shirt of the unconscious man lying on the grass. "Oh my God." The air in his lungs suddenly stuck in his chest and he watched as one of the paramedics laid two devices upon Sam's chest. He closed his eyes and looked down as the telltale sounds of the defibrillator zapped in a quick pulse of electricity. "Sir." He said quietly.
"Leo." The President responded already knowing what his friend wanted.

"Mr. President."

"No." he turned to look at his friend. "Lucifer couldn't pull me away right now." he said, his voice set firmly.

Leo nodded in complete understanding and then looked back towards the limp body.

*******

Josh struggled to get his limbs to obey his commands. He grasped onto Donna's shoulder and slowly stood breathing deeply. Donna steadied him. She knew he should stay still, but she too wanted to be with there with the others... to watch their friend and hopefully send waves of encouragement to him. Enough that he'd wake up and be okay. She helped Josh slowly walk over towards the others. He leaned heavily on her shoulder still breathing into the mask.

"Clear!"

Josh flinched. The electric zap following, pounded in his ears. He stopped only a few feet away from his best friend.

"Clear!"

Josh felt his eyes heat up again as he watched his friend's upper body jerk slightly from the ground. He unconsciously held his breath, waiting.

*******

"Come on. Come on." Toby barely whispered. "Open your eyes... open your eyes Sam."

"Clear!"

Toby stared un-flinching. He didn't dare take his eyes off his deputy in fear of missing some kind of movement, any kind of sign that he was still there.

"Clear!"

The pulse thundered in Toby's ears; a deep sound of such finality, announcing the fate that was stealing his deputy from his grasp. Suddenly a gasp could be heard reaching through the silence. It was followed by a wheezing and choked intake of air and then nothing. Everyone stood a little stiffer and intensified their stares a little more as they waited.

"I've got a pulse!" the paramedic announced to his partner.

Toby let his eyes shut and bowed his head to allow himself a moment to get his emotions back in place.

Leo continued to stare at the scene, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as Jed Bartlet watched the paramedics nodding his head ever so slightly in approval. "That's my boy." He whispered with pride. Leo allowed the smile to take over as he silently agreed with his friend.

*******

Josh finally allowed himself to take in a deep breath as he watched an oxygen mask slide over Sam's face. He coughed harshly as his lungs protested. Donna wiped the wet streaks from her cheeks and then returned her attention to keeping her boss upright. Two more paramedics joined in her efforts and escorted Josh towards an awaiting ambulance.

"Donna."

She turned at the hoarse voice calling her name from the ambulance and looked at her boss. "Yeah?"

Josh tossed an object out of the ambulance and she easily caught it. She turned it over in her hands and then looked up at him again in question.

He shook his head, "Couldn't find a screwdriver... do you mind?"

She smiled through some tears and breathed a laugh. "No Josh. I don't mind. Would you like some coffee with that?"

This time Donna could see Josh give her a little smile in return beneath the oxygen mask. Then the doors to the ambulance shut and the vehicle drove off.

*******

Loud couldn't exactly describe the pounding beep in his head. Excruciatingly ear-splitting was more like it. It never wavered either. A continuous simple beep that seemed to magnify a hundred-fold into a thunderous explosion. And the fuzzy wooziness that seemed to inhabit his head at the moment was ever so slowly beginning to dissipate. He flexed his fingers slightly, trying to rid himself of the odd feeling that he wasn't in control. Succeeding, slowly of course, he decided it was time to try and figure out where he was... and why they were torturing him with that incessant beeping.

Josh sat perfectly still, his stare unwavering and unblinking upon his best friends sleeping face, looking for the slightest stir or sign of waking. A tiny movement immediately caught his attention to his right. His eyes flicked over to the area and he was rewarded with another small movement of his friend's fingers. He lifted his head from his arm that rested quite uncomfortably along the bed rail and gently took the hand nearest him into his own, turning his attention back to his friends face. He watched with anticipation as his best friend's eyes flinched and then slowly opened. Josh's chest was suddenly filled with a giddy hope. He beamed as he eagerly watched the glassy eyes slowly focus in the dimly lit room.

"Sam?" he gently urged. The eyes blinked hard once and then floated around the room. Josh waited patiently and squeezed his friend's hand. "Sam? You with me buddy?" his voice was soft and compassionate. He smiled warmly as the blue eyes slowly found him. Josh could barely see his name roll off his friend's lips in question. He nodded. "Yeah. It's me. How ya feeling?"

Sam swallowed and blinked hard again, looking around the room. "Crap." His voice was quiet and hoarse.

Josh smiled. "Well you have every right to feel like crap." He paused a moment letting the past 24 hours run through his mind again. "You remember what happened?" his voice still quiet as he recalled a time when he was the one in the hospital bed; the smallest sound seemed magnified to unbearable decibels.

Josh could see Sam working through the past few days in his head. Sam then gave a slight shake of his head to signify he didn't. Josh nodded and looked down at the hand resting in his. The doctor had mentioned there'd be an awfully good chance he wouldn't remember due to the extreme shock. In turn Josh was eternally grateful his friend hadn't suffered any brain damage or other terminal effects.

"The outlet."

Josh looked up again not quite sure if he'd heard Sam's faint words. "What?"

"I..." he took a deep breath and licked his lips. "...plugged it into the outlet."

Josh let a smile tug at the corner of his mouth and he nodded. "Yeah. For the battery charger."

Sam nodded in return, staring at the wall past Josh's shoulder. "That's it." He blinked. "I plugged it in... and then nothing." He looked to Josh who nodded.

"They're saying the wires in the outlet were faulty to begin with. That and the plumbing from the bathroom had leaked around them."

Sam's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "So..."

"So you're a miracle. You're lucky to be alive."

"Yeah."

"Josh?" a quiet female voice carefully called.

Josh turned and Sam tilted his head slightly, not quite able to lift it just yet.

"Hey Donna." Josh smiled. "Look who's awake."

Donna quietly walked up to the bed opposite of Josh and smiled broadly at the tired blue eyes that turned to greet her. "Hey Sam. How're ya feeling?"

"Splendid." He answered and did his best to put on a convincing smile.

Donna let a small noise escape her lips; the kind of noise one makes when a sick little puppy is placed in their arms.

"Dear God." Josh muttered as he rolled his eyes.

"Josh!" Donna reprimanded raising her voice a little. She didn't miss the flinch in Sam's face though when she did. She immediately felt bad. "Oh- Sam I'm sorry."

"He put on a strained smile and nodded slightly. "It's okay. Don't worry about it."

She mothered her hand out to push back a stray lock of hair that had fallen upon his forehead. "But I do worry. And I have every right to." She defended. "I mean you were technically dead for while there. I honestly thought-"

"What?" Sam still hadn't a clue as to what had happened after he stuck the plug into the outlet... other than getting the shock of his life. But dead? His eyes darted from Donna to Josh. "What do you mean?"

"Sam you died." Donna answered her, voice slightly panicky.

"Donna." Josh warned. He could feel Sam's anxiety level suddenly rocket. He massaged the hand in his and spoke softly again. "Sam. Do you really wanna know what happened?" he asked sincerely.

Sam's exhausted yet worried eyes turned to him. "I don't know, do I?"

Josh tilted his head in thought. "Well when you get back to work and wonder why everyone is staring at you or whispering around you it might be helpful to know. Especially around gossip hour."

"Hey. Gossip hour happens to be detrimental to the survival of the assistants." Donna defended.

Sam let out a deep sigh and let his exhausted eyes close. After a moment he opened them again and nodded. Josh gave a gentle smile and squeezed his best friend's hand again before he started from the top.

*******

Sam reached over and grabbed the phone from its cradle. His head had cleared up tremendously after he'd gone back to sleep for a few more hours. His sense of hearing didn't bother him half as much as it had before and he could successfully move all his limbs albeit slowly and not without intense aching from his protesting muscles. He carefully sat up and put the phone to his ear.

"Sam Seaborn."

"Sam," an annoyed voice answered. "You're in a hospital for God's sake, not your office."

He smiled. "Hey Leo."

"Hey kid. How's it goin?"

"Good."

"That's good hear. You had us real worried there for a while."

"So I hear."

"They say when they're gonna release you?"

"Hopefully tomorrow sometime. They wanna run a few more tests."

"That's good."

"Would you mind telling Cathy to fax the Property Restrictions Reports on my desk to Jack and then reschedule my appointments when she's through being pissed at me?"

"Already taken care of. And Toby met with your two from yesterday on the hill today."

Sam shifted in the bed, "So does that mean I'm not being punished for setting the Mural Room on fire anymore?"

"No you're not being punished for setting the Mural Room on fire anymore."

Sam smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah. However you will be joining the President when he goes to Lafayette Middle School to support Fire Safety Week."

Sam's smile quickly faded into a frown. "Why?"

"It's your punishment for setting the old storage room on fire." Sam groaned. Leo then softened his voice. "And for scaring the hell out us." After a moments pause Leo cleared his voice. "C.J. says she's sorry for suggesting you use pliers to fix your charger."
Sam frowned, "The pliers had nothing to do with what happened."

"Yeah, Ginger agrees. She says it's your gullible nature that got you into this."

Sam came close to rolling his eyes and held back a cynical retort. "I don't see how that has any relevance to me getting electrocuted."

"Hey I'm just the messenger." He paused. An awkward silence filled the gap.

"Was there a specific reason you called?" Sam prodded. Genuinely curious and not wanting to sound rude he added. "I mean did you need something?"

"Yeah actually, three reasons. Number one: My daughter wanted me to make sure you weren't flirting with any of the nurses. Two: I thought you should know that the President is getting your name put into the White House History books as the only man in history to have successfully set the White House on fire...twice."

Sam smiled and laughed. He waited a moment more as silence once again took over. "And three?"

Leo paused again. "I just wanted to let you know that you're one hell of a fighter kid... We're all real proud of ya."

Sam swallowed hard. He'd never heard anyone say they were proud of him before. His father had once said that to him... but he'd kinda written that off as a lie seeing as everything else in the man's life was. "I set the White House on fire Leo." He said attempting to lighten the atmosphere before he lost control over these new emotions.

He could almost hear Leo grin. "Yeah you did."

Sam heard a muffled voice come through the phone followed by Leo's again. "Uh Sam I gotta go."

"Okay." He nodded briskly.

"Hurry up and get better. I've got a lot of people here who are dying for you to get back so Toby has someone to yell at."

Sam grinned. "I'll get right on that."

"Oh and Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Toby says next time you want to make a statement about Fire Safety, just send him a memo."

Sam smiled, "Yes sir." And with that he set the phone back in its cradle and let his head fall back against the pillow. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt exhausted again. His thoughts strayed back to what Leo had said. Maybe there was a spark of light in this whole situation. He didn't know what it was, how it happened or even what he was supposed to do with it, but something in his life had finally been restored. A vacancy that had been destroyed in his heart was being refilled. It wasn't what it used to be... but it wasn't bad either. In fact, he let a small smile peep through, he could get used to it real fast. He sighed deeply and closed his eyes allowing himself whatever time off he had left to get acquainted with this 'something new'.