Something no one's mentioned is something that is so parental, so deeply caring I'm amazed nobody's picked up on it. But maybe you have to be a parent to understand. I mean John standing just outside the bathroom door while Sam tends to himself. Perhaps others thought he was waiting to make sure Sam followed orders, but I see him listening to make sure Sam was all right, that there wasn't a thud of him hitting the floor, falling, passing out. That John was there in case Sam needed him, but allowing Sam the privacy to care for himself until and unless he needed help.

I have been on both sides of arguments like this--though without the physical trauma. Neither side has it easy. You told it well.