Note: Like chapter 6, I made medical references in this chapter. They are all based on research and not on my expertise, because I don't have one in the medical field. Also, I would like to thank Jeff, who made me realize that I kinda screwed up with the ranks of the SAR team from chapter 6.... Please don't hold it against me...Thanks! <G>

And again, thank you so very much for your continuous support regarding this story. It really means a lot.

Disclaimer: See previous chapters

Acknowledgments: I would like to thank my magnificent and ever so dedicated Beta Reader, Robyn. You're a lifesaver and you're the best. Thank you so very much! Hugs and Kisses.

The helicopter ride was spent mostly in silence and reflection. Josh had convinced Donna to come with them, since Toby and CJ also thought it was a good idea, realizing that Donna's presence might be needed if worst comes to worst. They were all trying to clear their minds of scenarios that could occur once they arrived in Brooklyn. The images of an injured and suffering Sam haunted them all, but at the same time, the words of the President resonated with them.

'He's alive.'

Unfortunately, it did very little to appease their worries. If Sam's condition was as serious as the Lieutenant let on, there was a chance that they might still lose him and for the 5 helicopter passengers, that was unacceptable.

"What time is it?" CJ whispered to Toby, unwillingly breaking the settled silence. Toby didn't acknowledge her. He simply sat there, looking directly ahead, his face expressionless.

"Toby?" CJ asked again, trying to rouse him from his daze.

"Uhhhh, sorry. What?" he asked her, a little taken by surprise.

"What time is it? I don't have my watch." Toby slowly glanced at his.

"2:20," he responded. They had been in the air for about 40 minutes now, but it seemed like an eternity to CJ. She kept on glancing at the tired faces around her and wonder if they were thinking the same things she was. She needed to know, she wanted to know, for the thoughts in her head were all too dreadful for her to cope with alone. She wanted so dearly for them to stop grabbing at her every time she managed to relax and think of something else. They were literally haunting her every moment. She came to the realization of just how much Sam meant to her. He wasn't just some person she worked with day in, day out. He was much more, as were all the members of the Senior Staff. After working so closely with these people for the last 2 years, spending most of their waking hours together, they had all become an extension of one another. It was an unavoidable conclusion that they would become so close to each other and that was a fact that CJ truly cherished. She considered and loved the group of men she worked with like brothers. Their bickering, teasing and friendship reflected that very well. But there had always been something special about Sam, and she knew that the others felt the same. Maybe it was the fact that he was the youngest of the group, that he projected an aura of innocence wherever he went, perhaps it was his boyish looks, or his caring and soft-spoken nature, she wasn't sure. All she knew was that he had this certain 'je ne sais quoi' about him that just made you like him and want to be around him. He was like their kid brother. A feeling of utter helplessness tugged at CJ heart. She tried sending all the good thoughts she could in his direction, but it didn't seem like enough.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked Toby, needing to break the monotony that was invading her thoughts.

"What do you mean?" he replied, obviously aware of what she was referring to, but unwilling to be up front about it.

"You know what I mean, Toby." She wanted to express her feelings, she had to get them out in the open. She knew that Toby probably wanted to as well, but being the person he was, it went against his nature. He was probably still shocked by his outburst earlier in the evening, having not expected his feeling to break through and speak for themselves. "I'm thinking about him too. I can't stop thinking about him?" Toby turned his head and looked at her, a surprised look on his face. He hadn't expected her to suddenly open up like that. He was going to respond sarcastically, but nothing came to mind. It shocked him that he couldn't come up with a cutting reply. He wanted to avoid this conversation by any means necessary and his self-defense mechanism was on the fritz. And it wasn't because of the situation, he knew that. He rarely let his emotions overcome that gruff and hard aspect of himself, but he realized that he was overwhelmed with the same feelings that CJ was expressing. He knew what he had been feeling all night, but had not yet accepted and confronted it. He slowly took her hand in his.

"Since when do you read minds?" he said, trying to get a grin out of her. She relinquished a small and brief one.

"I just have this feeling...." She began.

"CJ," Toby interrupted, shaking his head. "No. Don't. Give Sam some credit. He made it this far. We all see him as this naive, innocent and nerdy kid who needs looking after, but he's so much more then that." CJ met Toby's gaze, realizing that he was finally opening up again, but this time he was in control of his emotions.

"Think about it, CJ. How many people can stand to put up with me when I'm at my *best* and then come back for more?" Toby smiled slightly despite himself. "I know I'm not the easiest person to work with, but he never complains. He just takes it, chews on it a little and spits it out with no aftertaste whatsoever, and then comes back for seconds. He's determined, persistent and stubborn and because of that, he's going to get through this and come out on the other side even stronger. And we need him for re-election and he knows that," he added with a grin. "He's never let us down yet and I don't think he will now." At this point, Josh, Donna and Mallory also became captivated by what Toby was saying. He quickly became aware that all eyes were on him and he suddenly looked very uncomfortable. CJ knew there was more to what Toby was feeling, but she wasn't going to push her luck. Nonetheless, he had opened up to her and the others, without realizing they were all listening, and that was more then any of them expected, but again, it only touched the surface. But what he said renewed their hope and confidence that Sam was going to be okay.

CJ repeated the President's words in her mind: "He's a fighter and so are all of you. Don't let your emotions cloud what's important here: he's alive. He didn't give up on himself, so don't you give up on him." The President had called them fighters. Now, she couldn't let the President of the United States look like a liar. She looked over at Josh, Donna and Mallory and realized that Toby's words had hit home for all of them.

CJ sighed heavily, breathing in and out slowly, calming her tense muscles. Still holding Toby's hand, she sat back in her chair and focused on sending good and happy thoughts Sam's way.

****

45 minutes later, the 5 friends were relieved when they finally landed on the hospital helipad. They were given a special clearance to land, obviously aware of who they were and who sent them. Josh was walking ahead of everyone, his pace getting quicker and quicker as they approached the Trauma Ward. He approached the main counter and looked around for assistance. A young woman suddenly entered the small office and noticed the man standing at her desk, an impatient and worried expression on his face.

"May I help you, sir?" she asked as she approached him.

"Sam Seaborn. We're here for Sam Seaborn. He was brought here by a Coast Guard helicopter," Josh said, his voice filled with apprehension.

"You must be members of the President's staff." Josh simply nodded. She made her way out of the small office and beside them. "We've been expecting you. A private waiting room as been prepared for you. If you'll follow me." She turned around, prepared to guide them down the hall.

"Before we go anywhere, I want to know how Sam is," Josh snapped, planting his feet on the floor, obviously refusing to move until his question was answered. She faced the angry and worried man, fully aware of all the emotions that were running through him. By the look in his eyes, it was apparent that this man was very close to the patient.

"Sir, Mr. Seaborn is in good hands. If you'll come with me, I'll bring you to the waiting room and have the doctor meet you there. She'll fill you in and answer all your questions." She was obviously use to dealing with people reacting like Josh, as she spoke in a calm and reassuring manner, attempting to appease the man. Donna gripped Josh's arm, trying to persuade him to follow the woman's instructions. They all followed her down a hall into a small room. In it, there was a long sofa and chairs on one side and a television mounted on the wall on the other.

"If you want to make yourselves comfortable, I'll go get Doctor Thomas. By the way, my name is Kelly and if you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask me. I'll be at the desk." She gave them a slight nod and left the room, closing the door behind them. Josh sighed heavily.

"Now how long are they going to make us wait here?" he asked, throwing his hands in the air. As if on cue, the door opened and a middle-aged, dark-haired woman entered.

"I'm Doctor Helena Thomas, Chief of Trauma," she said as she approached the small group. Toby stepped forward and took her outstretched hand. "We were advised that the President would be sending members of his staff, we just didn't expect you here so soon."

"The President has his way of making things happen fairly quickly. I'm Toby Zeigler, Communications Director. This is Joshua Lyman, Deputy Chief of Staff; CJ Cregg, Press Secretary; Donna Moss, Mr. Lyman's assistant, and Mallory O'Brien." They all exchanged nods.

"How's Sam? Can we see him?" asked Josh frantically, getting straight to the point.

"Why don't we all sit down," suggested the Doctor with a smile, indicating the sofa and chairs in the corner. The small group didn't take that as being a good sign, but complied nonetheless. As soon as they were all seated, 5 piercing and impatient sets of eyes glared at the doctor. "Mr. Seaborn's condition is somewhat serious, but he's presently stable and that's a very good sign. But I'm not going to lie to you, he suffered some serious injuries."

"Where is he now?" asked Toby.

"He's presently in surgery. They brought him in about 10 minutes ago."

"Surgery? Why does he need surgery?" asked Josh, panic engulfing his voice, his mind picturing the worst case scenario.

"He suffered an angular fracture of his left forearm. From what we could tell, his arm was impacted with a great amount of force by a heavy object."

"What do you mean by 'angular'?"

"When whatever hit him collided with his arm, the bone splintered and snapped. The bones were actually lying at an angle to each other. With these kind of fractures, there is typically nerve damages and the chances of infections are high, so we got him into an operating room as soon as we could." They all winced upon hearing her explanation.

"He has a hairline skull fracture that we are monitoring very carefully as well as a long, deep gash on his temple that required stitches. We did a CT scan and there doesn't appear to be any brain damage or a buildup of pressure. Nonetheless, head injuries can be very tricky, so we're not taking any chances. He also has a condition called hyphema. How ever he hit his head, his eye impacted as well, and that trauma caused blood to accumulate around the pupil area of the eye. Right now, the area around his eye is extremely, swollen which isn't helping either."

"How serious is this condition?" asked CJ, somewhat afraid of hearing the answer.

"Very serious. It can cause loss of vision or blindness. In his case, he's already showing signs of acute glaucoma. What that means is that pressure is building up around his eye and reducing the blood supply to the nerves of the retina and the optic nerve, which is causing it to deteriorate slowly. So, what we have to do is get the pressure to come down, and we're giving him medication that should do just that."

"What if the medication doesn't work?"

"We would have to go in surgically to remove the pressure. We have an ophthalmologist on call who'll be examining him again once he's out of surgery and hopefully by then some of the swelling will have gone down, as well as the pressure. Unfortunately, that isn't our main concern right now." The 5 concerned friends braced themselves.

"He's developed pneumonia. He has 4 broken ribs on his left side, which is making it very painful and impossible for him to breath normally, so his breathing is very shallow and that is limiting the movement of the air in his lungs. That is what set it off. And the fact that he was out in the cold and completely soaked for hours only added to the problem. It was unavoidable."

"He's going to be okay though?"

"Like I said, his condition is serious. We're feeding him with a full range of antibiotics to help with the pneumonia and as long as there are no complications with his head injury, he should be fine. But I must warn you, he is going to have a lengthily recuperation. His ribs could take up to 6 weeks to heal, he'll require physical therapy for his arm, and his eye..... well, we'll have to see how that will progress. After the surgery, we'll be transferring him to the ICU unit so that we can monitor him constantly for the next 48 hours. Once we have him installed, you'll be able to see him."

"How long?"

"It all depends on the amount of damage the fracture caused, but I'll come and get you right away," she promised with a soft smile.

"Do you have any indication as to what happened out there? How could he have gotten all these injuries?" asked Toby, finally asking the questions that had been bothering him for some time now. The doctor shook her head.

"We honestly can't tell. All we can estimate is that his injuries are about 5 to 10 hours old. Hopefully, he'll be able to answer that question himself once he's awake." When she was told that members of the White House Senior Staff were on their way, she had expected to meet with a group of people who had come to act as watch guards and simply asses the situation, being the eyes and the ears of the President, but she not expected them to also be the heart as well, nor to be so genuinely expressive of their feelings. 'They're obviously more than just co-workers and care a great deal for Mr. Seaborn. He's very lucky to have such a group of devoted friends', she thought to herself, glad that her patient had people he could lean on, because after what he had gone through, he was going to need it. She stood from her chair and examined the group again. Her heart went out to these people, who looked so haggard and lost. She had been briefed on the situation and could only imagine what these people have been going through during the last few hours, the uncertainty, wondering if their friend was alive or not. And now, here they were, relieved that their worst fear was not realized, but made to wait again. It was a vicious circle.

"Do you have any questions?" she asked them, breaking the few moments of silence. They were still absorbing the news and preparing themselves to play another few hours of the waiting game with hope that this round would be a little easier on their nerves.

"I'm going to call The President and Leo," Toby said, addressing his co-workers. He then turned to the doctor. "The President will probably want to speak with you about Sam. He prefers to get information directly from the source and I think in this case, he will not only demand it, but also appreciate it." She almost laughed as a sudden buildup of nervousness arose from her stomach as Toby so nonchalantly told her she was going to speak with the President of the United States of America, but her professionalism kicked in instantly and she managed not to show her sudden onset of the jitters.

"Of course. If you want, you can make the call in my office. It's just down the hall," Doctor Thomas suggested.

"Okay. Thank you." Toby rose from his chair and as he made his way to the door, he walked by Josh, who was now staring at the floor alone with his thoughts, and put his hand on his shoulder, lightly squeezing it in reassurance. He glanced at Donna by his side.

"Keep an eye on him," he mouthed. She replied with a nod and slight smile. He then exited the door, following the doctor down the hall.

CJ stood up and made her way beside Mallory. The young woman hadn't said a word since they arrived and CJ could only imagine the thoughts that were going through her mind. She was aware of the progression of her relationship with Sam and couldn't be happier for the both of them. She, and the rest of the Senior Staff, were so relieved the day that Leo gave Sam permission to date his only daughter. They were all tired of seeing him mope around the office, his feelings in turmoil. They had all felt for him, but now, they were also very jealous of him for being the only member of the Senior Staff in a somewhat stable and loving relationship.

"Hey, Mal," she said, sitting down and putting her arm around her shoulders. Mallory turned her head and stared at the Press Secretary. "How are you holding up?" The young woman sighed heavily. She simply nodded.

"I love him, CJ."

"And he loves you, very much. And he's going to pull through this because of that. Because he knows that you'll be waiting for him." CJ gave her a supportive grin.

"I'm so lucky to have him," Mallory whispered, her emotions coming to the surface.

"He says the same thing about you," assured CJ. Mallory let her head fall on CJ's shoulder, her fatigue and the events of the evening having caught up with her. She closed her eyes and quietly relaxed her body and mind. She trusted and believed in the love she shared with Sam. Therefore, she was positive he was going to be okay.

****

3 hours later

The private waiting room was immersed in silence. Everyone had found a place to finally rest their exhausted bodies. Josh and Donna were leaning on each other on the sofa. Josh had finally fallen into a peaceful sleep to everyone's relief. CJ and Mallory were sleeping on either end of the other sofa. Toby, not being to find sleep, jumping at every sound, simply stared at his friends. He was surprised by how taut his muscles were, and at his inability to relax. He concluded that his mind would give his body the order to rest once he saw for himself that Sam was going to be okay.

After his conversation with the President, he became aware of the presence of journalists and cameras outside the emergency doors. He was relieved to see that the hospital had contacted the police and made them aware of the ongoing situation and that their services would be required to prevent the media from entering the hospital. He, CJ and Josh were in no mood to deal with them now. He thought he should be surprised that they had found out where Sam was so quickly, but he wasn't really. He put their presence in the back of his mind, aware of the fact that they would have to deal with them later. CJ would have to return to Washington and give a briefing on the new developments, but only when they were sure that Sam was going to be okay. The people who really needed to know about what was going on between these walls were made aware. The President said that he was going to call Sam's parents himself with the latest news. He was glad the President had volunteered for the task, because he wasn't sure if he would be able to do it and he was pretty sure that Josh was in no condition either.

He looked at his watch again, wondering how much longer the operation was going to take. Just as he was processing that thought, the door opened quietly and Doctor Thomas carefully made her way in the room, not wanting to abruptly awaken anyone. Toby instantly jumped from his chair and approached her.

"How is he? What took so long?" he whispered.

"Mr. Seaborn experience a few bouts of breathing problems due to the pneumonia, so they had to wait for it to pass before they could continue with the surgery, but everything is under control now. The surgery went well. They managed to repair the bone and there wasn't any sign of infection. We've installed him in the ICU, so if you want to see him, I can bring you up." Toby nodded, turning towards his sleeping friends. He approached CJ and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"CJ," he said, shaking her gently. Her eyes popped open in surprise.

"What? What's wrong?" she exclaimed in a low voice, disoriented.

"It's okay. He's out of surgery, we can see him now." Upon hearing those words, the tiredness that had lingered in her eyes completely disappeared and she leaned over and awoke Mallory. Toby made his way to the other sofa and gently woke Josh from his slumber. Like CJ, Josh sprang awake immediately, waking Donna in the process.

"We can see him now." Josh quickly got to his feet and rubbed his eyes.

"How long have I...?" he asked, but didn't finish his question, unable to say the last word as a sense of embarrassment invaded him at the thought that he actually managed to fall asleep while his best friend was in surgery.

"Almost 3 hours," Toby responded.

"Why did the surgery take so long?" Josh asked, repeating Toby's question.

"His breathing became very labored a few times and that slowed the surgery down, but right now he's stable. If you'll follow me, I'll bring you up." They all followed her down the hall and into the elevator. They made their way up to the 7^th floor. Exiting the elevator, they made a left and entered the Intensive Care Unit. Passing by the main desk, the nurses looked up at them and acknowledged them, obviously having been made aware of who they all were. Doctor Thomas stopped and pointed towards a glass window to their left. They all looked in.

Inside the small room, lay Sam Seaborn. He was surrounded by several monitoring devices, all of which were hooked up to his now healing body one way or another. The most visible one was the nasal cannula on his face, providing him with an extra dose of oxygen to help alleviate his struggling lungs. A large white bandage around his head and completely covering his right eye accentuated the paleness of his features. The only sign of the surgery was the heavy cast that enveloped his left arm up to his elbow.

He simply lay there, asleep, safe and unaware of the activity around him. Nor was he aware of the concerned and worried looks his friends were giving him through the large window or of the fact that he was no longer alone.

To be continued......