Hospital walls, so blank and sterile, completely devoid of any sign of life. Sam began pondering why hospitals are always painted in that sickening eggshell white; it was the most depressing sight she had ever seen in her life. Since arriving at the hospital, Sam found herself with nothing better to do than stare at the plain white wall directly in front of her. She lacked the focus or desire to read one of the magazines sitting on the table in the centre of the waiting area; it all seemed surreal and unimportant. Brooke had been rushed straight into the theatre as soon as they had arrived, after she had been crying for the ambulance ride over. Her face had gone a deathly shade of white due to the tremendous pain she was in; Sam had done her best to comfort the injured girl while the paramedics administered a strong dose of morphine. After a few seconds of the pain killer entering her system, Brooke had succumbed to unconsciousness. The paramedics had explained to Sam that due to the pain her sister was in, it would be better if she was asleep rather than awake until the doctors could treat her injuries and assess the damage. Nicole remained unconscious throughout the trip, which Sam knew was a good thing for her own sake. She wasn't sure that she could keep her cool at that moment if Nicole decided to wake up. Now, she was sitting alone, waiting for news of Brooke's condition or even a sign of their parents' arrival. Anything other than the relentless boredom, the drawn-out nothing which succeeded the previous adrenaline rush would be welcomed. Aside from news that Brooke's dead. Trying to ignore her mind's negative path, Sam closed her eyes and forced herself to think of something other than the situation she was in. With nowhere else to go, her mind began circling what her heart had been screaming at her all evening. The thought of Brooke hurting after Harrison had chosen Sam had left Sam's heart roaring and telling its owner to go after the blonde. It had also been screaming that Sam didn't want to date Harrison, that she really didn't care if he chose Brooke over her. Then, when she had been standing in the street and witnessed Nicole's car slam into Brooke and send her flying, it had almost stopped beating in sheer terror. For too long now, her heart had been trying so hard to make itself heard over Sam's incredibly busy and stubborn mind. Every fight with Brooke McQueen had enraged Sam's heart; it had been burning furiously at the horrible things sent in the direction of the blonde while also reeling from the insults sent back. Perhaps you're in love with her, ya idiot! Before she could react to this mental revelation, Sam was joined by Jane and Mike.
"Sam, oh honey, are you all right?" Jane rushed over and took her oldest daughter in her arms. Finally caving in to the gravity of the situation, Sam began sobbing into her mother's shoulder. Her entire body shook with the force of her tears although they were silent. As long as her mum was around, it was fine for Sam to let her emotions out like that. The overwhelming feeling of safety, warmth and home had gathered around her just by this simple embrace she found herself in. It was as though nothing bad or hurtful could reach the journalist as long as her mum was there. However, she was surprised when she felt Mike's strong arms wrap around her as well and it made her heart lift slightly. Now she understood better why her mum had falling so deeply in love with this man, he was so caring and understanding. Now I can see where Brooke gets that from, it's certainly not from her mother. Thoughts of Brooke and if she would ever wake up again made Sam cry even harder. All she wanted was to hold her soon to be stepsister and never let her go. Just so her brain would register that the blonde was going to be fine and so her heart would stop hurting so badly. Not long after the parents had arrived, the three of them were joined by a doctor who coughed slightly so as not to interrupt them too abruptly. He was a slightly older looking gentleman, with flecks of grey through his dark brown hair and his steely-blue eyes contained weariness in them. Sam couldn't help but wonder how funny it was that she should noticed details like this when a terrible and traumatic event had just occurred.
"I presume you are the family of Brooke McQueen," he said gently, "the ambulance team told me of your refusal to leave her side when they put her into the ambulance, Miss. Well, I have some good news on your sister's condition. She's resting at present, the injuries she sustained are not life-threatening and she has not had any damage to her spinal cord in any way. However, she has suffered a deep fracture to her pelvis and her right leg has been broken in several places from the thigh to the ankle. We have no choice but to operate on her to insert pins internally to hold her pelvis together and to keep the bones of her leg aligned. Also, she will have to remain in hospital for at least a couple of months while her leg heals, as we will have to fit some external hardware to keep the bones in place while they knit together." Mike asked the question that Sam wanted to ask, but too afraid to voice in case of the answer.
"Doctor, my daughter's the cheerleading captain of her school," he whispered, "Will she ever recover enough to resume cheerleading?" The doctor smiled sympathetically at Mike, he truly hated seeing families of patients that came through the hospital doors in anguish. He knew if it were his daughter, he would truly be beside himself with worry.
"I'm afraid that Brooke will be unlikely ever to be capable of taking part in any sporting activity ever again," he replied gravely, "her right leg has sustained terrible damage, such to a degree that she will only be able to walk again after intense physiotherapy. I'm terribly sorry." With these words, Sam could almost hear her world and Brooke's world come crashing down around her head. As much as she had appeared to hate the entire cheerleading squad, she knew how much cheerleading meant to Brooke. If she heard that she could never do her favourite physical activity ever again, Sam wasn't sure how she would handle it. Her eyes were now looking restlessly around the hospital reception area once again. The sick waiting to be seen, the people sitting to learn word of their relatives or friends. Each of these things seemed unimportant yet terribly significant at the same time. It was all so bittersweet. Brooke was alive and if the doctor was correct, then she should make a complete recovery. However, she would never be able to do one of the things which in Sam's view gave her reason to get up every day.
"Can I see her?" the emotionless tone her voice had taken had surprised everyone aside from Sam herself. She purposely avoided the looks of alarm and concern being displayed on Mike and her mum's faces.
"You may go in to see her if you wish," the doctor responded kindly, "however, due to her injuries, we have had no choice but to keep her in a medicated coma. Until she gets her operations tomorrow, it would be unfair to allow her to be fully conscious as she would be in unbearable pain." Sam was already walking through the doors to the room where Brooke was being kept before the doctor had finished talking. Only one thought was prevalent in her mind now: to see Brooke again.
Lying, hooked up to a ventilator with a drip full of morphine hooked up to her hand, Brooke never looked a more tragic sight to Sam than at that very moment. Her face was a pale shade of white, which Sam guessed was due to the injuries underneath the surface. She had a few cuts on her face which had been cleaned and covered up; it broke Sam's heart to see the blonde lying there so helpless. She looked half dead and as though waiting for the other half of her to catch up with that bit of news. Nothing made sense to Sam anymore; her entire world had been turned upside down in the space of one evening. Although Brooke had not been killed outright by Nicole's car, the impact of the accident on Sam had been as bad as when she lived through her dad dying. She knew, though, that Brooke would need her in the months ahead. She couldn't run to her mum every time she felt like curling up and dying because her world had been ripped out from beneath her feet. There were some things even your mum can't shield you from, Sam realised that to make the step into adulthood, and she would have to learn to stand alone. Pulling a chair up to the hospital bed, Sam sat and took one of Brooke's hands in between her own two.
"Hey, Brooke, you know you really don't look that good as road kill," her attempt at bad humour even made Sam roll her eyes in disdain, "ok, bad joke I know. But, seriously, if you got hit by Satan's fancy car to maintain your popularity or get back at me, then it really wasn't worth it. I feel bad enough as it is for our fight over Harrison. I just want you to wake up, be healthy again and for us to get out of here and be home. God, Brooke, please fight back and forgive me for everything!" Unable to keep a tight rein on her emotions any longer, Sam burst into tears and buried her face in the soft covers on Brooke's bed. She remained like this until she cried herself to sleep.
Brooke's surgery went ahead the following morning, with Sam staying in her hospital room like a sentry. She had only left the room to change out of her prom dress and to visit the toilet. Mike and her mum had been in to see Brooke before the operation and left Sam clothes which she had changed into as soon as they had left to return to look after baby Mac. Now she was waiting impatiently, staring once more at the blank white wall directly in front of her, this time in the room where Brooke's bed sat. Watching, waiting, not really thinking about anything other than wanting to see her blonde awake and well again. When did she become your blonde exactly? Too mentally drained to pursue where her mind was going with these thoughts, Sam closed her eyes and silently waited for the hours to pass by before Brooke was back. The nurses had offered her food, but the brunette refused to eat anything given into her. Eating was the last thing she wanted to do at that moment, nothing mattered to her apart from Brooke being brought back to her. It seemed like such an insignificant occurrence to wait for, but for Sam it was the most important thing in the world to her at that time. Not long after three in the afternoon, Brooke was wheeled back in. Her right leg was encased in a metal cage-like structure, pins going into her leg from several points. The surgeons had changed the blonde into a hospital gown prior to the operation, but Sam couldn't help but wince as she looked at the cast brace which was covering the entire length of Brooke's leg, from thigh to ankle. There were small holes doted along the support where the pins could go under and pierce the skin to keep Brooke's leg supported internally. Sitting on the floor, back against the wall across from Brooke's bed, hugging her knees, Sam silently vowed not to sleep until she had seen Brooke was awake and well. The sleeping girl was no longer hooked up to a ventilator or a morphine drip. Eventually, she would awaken from her deep slumber and Sam would be waiting.
The afternoon slowly bled into night. Sam was no longer aware of being tired or being full of energy either. Her body and mind had both gone completely numb, it almost felt as though her joints had frozen in the position she had sat in earlier in the day. Her mum and Mike had popped into check on both girls in the early evening, trying to make small talk with Sam, who didn't budge from the floor. Jane had even tried to persuade her daughter to eat something, but Sam just wasn't in the mood to humour them. Feeling disheartened, the couple left their daughters alone in whatever personal hell and prison they were now locked in. It was solitude, their hearts and minds closed off from the world surrounding them; all joy in life had left them. With Brooke, a terrible car accident had rendered her shut off while in Sam's case, deep untold emotional despair. A shared abyss, one which neither girl it seemed could get out of without the other's help. Just as the sun began to rise in the dawn sky, Sam heard a groan so soft that at first she thought it was her mind playing tricks on her. Every little sound had drawn her attention throughout the night. The soft sweeping motions of a nurse's overshoe, the rattle of a trolley full of different kinds of medication. Nothing had escaped the journalist's attention, while she waited for a sign of Brooke being awake and alert, even if it was to give Sam abuse for the fight over Harrison. Or maybe because she had shouted at Brooke in the first place, which had caused the cheerleader to stop in the path of the oncoming car. If only she had moved, shoved Brooke out of the car's path, maybe even pulled her back so both of them would've avoided Nicole's drunken rampage. These possibilities began circling in Sam's mind, taunting her and tormenting her, dragging her further and further into deep remorse and guilt. Finally, a soft cry louder than the previous groan broke Sam out of her stupor and she immediately clambered to her feet.
"Sam!" Brooke's voice had never sounded so beautiful to Sam in all of the time they had known one another. The frailty of the tone also touched her deeply, moving her to the point that for what seemed like the millionth time in the past twenty four hours, her eyes glistened with tears. Standing so fast after sitting in the same stiff position for hours meant that a shot of muscle cramps sped through Sam's body. Gritting her teeth and shaking of the light-headed feeling that followed, she crossed the small room and sat down on the hospital bed beside Brooke.
"I'm here, Brooke, I've always been here," her voice was full of tiredness and sadness, "how are you feeling?" Brooke could barely believe the physical condition Sam was in, there were tremendous bags beneath her eyes indicating a severe lack of sleep. Her face was also drawn in slightly and pale, suggesting she had not eaten for at least twenty four hours if not more. The brown eyes normally full of spirit, life and joy were now dull and full of the deepest sorrow Brooke had ever seen. Even the occasions when she saw Sam get upset over the death of Joe McPherson had not seen her as dejected or broken looking. Sitting up tentatively, mindful of her leg and a terrible dull ache in her lower abdomen, Brooke reached out and wrapped her arms around Sam before lying back down, taking the brunette with her. Gently stroking the devastated girl's back, Brooke began humming softly before speaking.
"To be honest, I feel like I was hit by a truck," her bad joke got a slight smirk from Sam, "and we both know I'm not far wrong with that comment. Now, while I'm wondering how the hell my leg ended up wrapped tighter than an Egyptian mummy, I think we both could use a bit of rest right now. You look like hell, Sammy; we'll talk more later, though. Cuddle into me, being a single bed and all, we don't have any choice on having space between us." Too tired and numb to argue, Sam drew her legs up onto the hospital bed and lay in Brooke's arms until sleep finally claimed her.