Chapter Two:

Bright light assaulted Sam once he came through. His eyes slowly fluttered opened. He grimaced when he came face to face with the fire station lights overhead. His head rang as he sat up. "give him some space." He heard a voice say. Sam allowed his vision to come back into focus. He held his head. "where am I? How long was I out?" he asked. Nurse Flood touched his head gently. "I'm not sure how long you were out cold for. To answer your first question, you are in the fire station." Sam looked around. He had no recognition of them. "who are you guys?" Helen frowned. "you should know who we are, Sam." She got up. "though with the impact you took I wouldn't be surprised if you have a little bit of amnesia." Sam rubbed his head. Images flashed through his mind. "no. I'm sorry I really don't remember any of you." Penny felt her heart break. She watched her friends look at one another. Penny stepped forward. "hello Sam, I'm Penny." She outstretched her hand. He smiled taking it. Her hand felt warm. He let go of her hand. Sarah looked up at her mother. "he doesn't remember us?" Bronwyn shook her head. She squeezed Sarah's hand gently. James went over to his Uncle. He reached out for him. Sam hesitated before lifting him up. "I think you do remember." He touched Sam's cheek gently. Sam smiled slightly. "mom, why don't we have him stay with us?" he suggested. Bronwyn dipped her shoulders. "he won't be able to, dear. We don't have the space at the moment." Penny thought for a moment. "I'll take care of him." Bronwyn turned to her. "are you sure?" Penny nodded.

Penny lived on the outskirts of town. Her house was safely concealed by the hills. The mountain stood proudly in the background completing the view. Wind rippled through the grass creating light green waves. Penny drove Sam to her house in Venus. Sam kept his gaze out the window the entire time. "you live here?" he asked. Penny smiled. "yeah. I love it out here in the mountains. It's peaceful compared to city life. I needed the change after being in a city for so long." Her tone seemed sad. "shame I'll have to leave it in a week. It's for the best, I promise." She parked Venus in her driveway. "welcome home." She got out of Venus closing the door behind her. Sam followed in behind her. She opened the front door for him. "feel free to have a look around. I'll be in my room if you need me." Sam nodded. He began exploring the various rooms in her house. Penny's house was a single-story cottage with two bedrooms and one bath. Her kitchen sat closest to the front door. It looked like it hadn't been used in a while. Her dishes laid perfectly on the counter in unpacked rows. Sam ran a finger across the top of the counter. He got a light fluff of dust on his finger. He let out a low grunt of disgust. "this place needs some attention." Penny chuckled. "yeah. It does. I haven't lived in here for a couple of years. I'm trying to get the place cleaned up the best I can." Sam walked into the living room. "still no furnishing yet?" Penny shook her head. "No. I'm working on that as well. The moving van is supposed to be here with the rest of my things. It probably wont' matter though. I'll have to pack everything back up anyway. Hey, why don't I show you to your room?" Sam shrugged. "I don't see why not."

Sam's room sat one door over from Penny's. It was an 9x11 space with a window along the back wall. It didn't have a mattress or a bedframe really set up in it yet. "I'm sorry it's not much. Like I said I haven't really had time to work everything out yet. Anyway, I'm sure your tired. I have some spare bedding that you could use. It's the hallway closet if you need it." The sun began to set lower on the horizon. Penny watched the sun set from the kitchen. She heard Sam snoring softly down the hall. She gripped the cup of tea she had in her hand tightly. What am I going to do with him once the week is up? I can't leave him here. I made a promise to take care of him. She thought. His place is here. It's just safer for him that way. You can't afford to have anyone else get hurt. Leaving him will be fine since you really aren't attached to him. She let out a low snarl. She set her cup down on the counter. She gripped the edge of the counter. It's for the best. You know why you can't get anyone else involved in your life. Bad things happen to those you care about. If he gets too close, he dies. Just like the rest of them. She closed her eyes trying to relax. She walked away from the kitchen. She sat down on the cot she had in the living room. She pulled out her phone. She hit play on her music app.

I'm sinkin' like a stone in the sea

I'm burning like a bridge for your body

Penny laid her head against the wall. She sighed softly to herself. The sun set lower making the living room a tone darker. She let the thoughts in her head reel.

Penny had no idea how long she had been out cold for. Her phone still played music by the time she woke up. She sniffed sitting all the way up. She turned the music off on her phone. "I better make myself something to eat." She got up from her spot. Sam left her a note on the counter.

Penny,

I made us both something to eat. I know this is probably shocking to you considering I lost my memory. Yours is sitting in the fridge. I didn't want to bug you.

-Sam

Penny tucked the note into her pocket. She opened the fridge door finding the plate of food that Sam had made for her on the top shelf. "he didn't need to do that." She whispered. She sat down with it in the living room. She fidgeted with her phone as she ate. Soft snores welled up from the crack in Sam's doorway. She smiled to herself. " at least he's resting." She mused. "I better head off to bed myself."

A strawberry blonde haired boy giggled next to Sam. There was a charm around his neck. He climbed into Sam's lap looking up at him. Sam smiled down at him. "Papa." He cooed. Sam chuckled kissing the top of his head. The boy removed the charm from around his neck. He tied it around his father's neck. "there. Now I'm always with you." He grinned. Sam hugged him tightly. Sam snapped awake. He immediately sat all the way up. He patted his chest looking for something. The charm was still hanging around his neck. Sam took it out to look at it. "Desmond." He whispered. "Desmond." The name hit him like a ton of bricks. He let the charm dangle again before laying on his side. He faced the door this time. He spotted something moving around in the hallway. He frowned getting up. He carefully made his way over to the doorframe. The shadow stood at Penny's height. The minute the light came on, Sam let out a sigh of relief. He retreated to his cot. Penny turned the water on in the sink. She leaned against the counter staring at herself in the mirror. She splashed cold water onto her face. "why does sleeping by myself always suck?" she muttered. She wiped the water off her face. She decided to check up on Sam. She found him pretending to be asleep on the floor. She turned on the hallway light. Sam hissed softly. "can you turn that off?" he groaned. She walked up to him. "I take it you can't sleep either huh?" He turned to face her. "How did you guess that?" She sat down next to him. "it isn't rocket science. I've had enough sleepless nights to know when someone can't sleep." She leaned backwards with her hands on the floor and her feet out in front of her. "so what kind of nightmare did you have?" she asked. Sam sighed. "wasn't a nightmare. It was some sort of flashback. I saw a village up on a hill. There was this small boy sitting in my lap. He called me "papa"." He seemed sad. "he gave me this weird charm that I've been wearing ever since. The strange thing is that I don't seem to remember who he was to me. I just get this feeling like he meant something to me." Penny nodded. "I see that some of your memory is coming back. I wonder how you lost your memory." Sam sat up. "I wish I knew though I suppose that doesn't matter now. Why can't you sleep?" Penny laid down on her back. "nightmares. Just things that stress me out." Sam nodded. "I understand what that feels like. Is it true that your leaving in a week?" "yep. I plan on leaving PontyPandy as soon as possible. My time is here is done anyway." He eyed her. "how so?" she sighed. "it's kind of hard to explain. I'll tell you the full story one day."

The skies were covered in a light grey blanket the next morning. A slight breeze rippled through the grass. A dark colored moving van pulled up outside of Penny's yard. The driver got out of the van. He walked up to the house knocking on the door. Sam heard someone knock on the front door. He went to go meet the driver outside. The driver was surprised to see Sam answering the door. "is Ms. Morris here?" he asked. Sam nodded. "She's here but she's still sleeping." The driver handed him a clipboard. "in that case, can you sign off on this?" Sam signed the paper the best he could. He couldn't really remember what his writing style was like. He handed the clipboard back to the driver. The crew began moving the rest of Penny's items into the house. Sam helped them out while he waited for Penny to wake up. They got the last of her items into the house. "there. Sorry about the long wait." Sam chuckled. He waved them off dismissively. "it's okay. I'm just glad you guys got here when you did." Sam checked behind him. "she really must have been tired then." The workman adjusted his hat. "welp I'm off. Have a good day." Sam nodded.

Let me know what you guys think of the newer one so far. Question of the day: Which one is better this one or the original? Leave your thoughts in the review section.

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A/N: As some of you guys aren't aware, PlagueDoctor's house was recently broken into. He lost everything from his mother's items to his musical equipment. His technology was intact thankfully but he has told me that he will not be updating until things have sorted themselves out. He does apologize for the inconvenience. He has been feeling rather depressed so make sure you go by his profile and send him some healing vibes.