Sorry it's been a while! I suck!
But really, life has been hard this past month-physically, emotionally, mentally and scholastically. I'm drowning in a sea of papers, internships, exams and (at times) overwhelming anxiety and depression.
To top it all off, I've been sick for the better half of two months. I've been working on writing for you guys as much as I can, but I hope you guys understand why updates are taking so long.
Nonetheless, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Chapter Eight: Out in the Open
Spike yawned widely as he walked out of Anytime Child Care. It had been a long night; Maddie had woken up twice during the night due to nightmares and, although she calmed almost immediately, it took Spike a while to wind back down after. Wanting to spare her of having to relive the entire thing over again, Spike waited until Maddie was outside playing with the other kids before updating Sarah and Jenna on Sam's condition and how Maddie was handling everything.
They extended their sympathies and promised to call him if Maddie needed him. Spike thanked them before saying bye to Maddie one last time and heading out.
As Spike climbed into the car, he found himself extremely thankful Team One had the day off. Had they had to work, Spike probably would've called in. How does Sam do this every day?
Spike smiled sadly at the thought of his friend. AFter the second time Maddie woke up from a nightmare Spike was unable to fall back asleep, so he used his trusty tablet to Google Sam's injury and the recovery time/process that accompanied it. It looked like it'd be a long, tedious process...for a normal person. Spike was secretly hoping Sam would use his "super secret Special Forces super solider healing powers" as Spike liked to call them (behind Sam's back of course) and heal up quickly, but only time would tell.
Driving to the hospital, Spike's thoughts stayed on his friend and the hope that he would wake up today.
...
Four hours, that's how long Spike waited before Sam started showing signs of waking up. At first it was nothing more than sporadic finger twitches but then Sam's eyelids fluttered and his breathing changed and Spike was up, out of his chair and by Sam's bedside.
With baited breath, Spike waited until Sam's eyes were fully open (and stayed open) before breaking out into a big smile. He pressed the call button to alert the nurses that Sam was awake and turned his full attention to his friend in the bed. "Hey Samtastic! Welcome back to the land of the living!"
Sam blinked a few times, helping his eyes adjust to the brightness of the room. Turning his head slightly, neck protesting even with the slightest movement, Sam spotted Spike by the side of his bed, a big, goofy grin on his face. "Land of the living but I feel like Frankenstein."
Spike chuckled. "Well you kind of look like him with all that gauze on your neck."
Sam gave a short laugh at his friend's sassy comeback and carefully adjusted his position on the bed. "So what's the damage?"
"The bullet tore through some capillaries, there was a small knick to your carotid, and you lost a lot of blood. Your doctor can give you the full details but you're going to be fine."
"Good to know," Sam said with a small smile. He was silent for a few moments before his facial expression turned serious and he looked back at Spike. "How's Maddie?! Where is she?!"
Sam started pushing himself up in bed, as if he was in any shape to be up and walking around. Spike immediately placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down. "Whoa Sam, relax! Maddie is fine! She's at daycare."
Sam let out a deep, relieved breath and sank back down against the pillows. "Does she know?"
Spike nodded. "She doesn't know all of the details, but she knows you got hurt."
Sam nodded and seemed to relax even further. Spike thought about what he was about to tell him and hoped he wouldn't be too mad. "Listen Sam, about Maddie—"
Before Spike could continue, Dr. Ramirez and a couple of nurses entered the room. "Ah Sam, it's good to see you awake. I'm Dr. Ramirez; I'm the one who operated on you last night."
Sam nodded in acknowledgement and Dr. Ramirez turned to face Spike. "If you would, please step out for a moment while I examine Sam."
Spike nodded and patted Sam's leg before stepping out into the hallway. He took a minute to text the team and let them all know that Sam was awake but asked them to hold off on visiting for a little bit while the two of them talked.
It was another ten minutes before Dr. Ramirez and the nurses left and Spike was allowed to go back into the room.
The head of the bed had been raised up so Sam could sit up a bit more and most, if not all, of the wires and monitors had been removed.
Spike had barely made it five steps into the room before Sam hopped back on to the last thing he said. "What about Maddie, Spike? Is she OK?"
Spike held his hands up in a placating gesture and made his way back over to his chair. Once he was seated he answered Sam. "Maddie is fine Sam. I do have to tell you something regarding Maddie though, and I hope you'll understand."
"What is it?"
"The team knows about Maddie. They met her last night."
Sam was silent. Spike didn't even look at his face, he just kept talking. "I know you were keeping her a secret for a reason, but I couldn't just not bring her up here to see you. At first though, I didn't want to bring her up here; I didn't think the team deserved to meet her. I mean, yeah they followed the ambulance from the scene, but they didn't even know enough about you to fill out your freaking registration forms! Yes, I know, you're not the most forthcoming person when it comes to personal information, but they didn't even know your birthday! You've been a part of Team One for months now and they still don't know ANYTHING about you and they haven't even tried to fix that."
"I yelled at them, right there in the ER waiting room. I grabbed the papers out of their hands, filled 'em out, and sat down to wait. I couldn't even talk to them I was so mad."
"When we got moved to a private waiting room, everyone took turns leaving to change clothes or get food. I went last because of Maddie. I changed clothes, so the blood on my uniform wouldn't freak her out, then I went to her daycare and picked her up."
"You have an amazing kid, ya know? She's so smart and she was incredibly brave about coming here, seeing you, and meeting a bunch of people she didn't know. She's also incredibly charming, a trait she no doubt inherited from you." Spike added with a smile. Glancing up at Sam, there was an expression Spike couldn't place, but he hoped it wasn't anger.
"I'm almost 100% positive that she had everyone wrapped around her little fingers within the first hour they knew her…"
Sam's chuckle stopped Spike's ramble and Spike looked at him to find a small smile replacing the nameless look that was previously on his face. The smile slowly faded as Sam turned to look at Spike. "How'd the team handle it?"
Spike sighed. "They were upset at first, that you didn't tell them about Maddie right off the bat, but then I yelled at them again and said some stuff that, under different circumstances, probably would've gotten me some serious reprimands but I think they were just shocked more than angry..."
Seeing Sam's far-off expression, Spike sighed and continued speaking. "Look Sam, I am in no way excusing the team's actions of the past, but I truly believe they've seen the error of their ways and things will be different now. I'm not asking you to forgive them or completely open up to them right away, but I am asking you to try and let them make amends."
Sam stared off into space for a while before nodding at Spike's statement. "OK, you're right."
Spike smiled and leaned back in his chair, relieved that Sam wasn't mad at him.
Sam relaxed a little too, before looking back over to Spike. "So what happened to Maddie after she met the team? PLEASE don't tell me she slept here all night..."
"No, she didn't," Spike said, propping his feet up on the edge of Sam's bed. "The nurse said it'd be OK for her to come see you, so I explained everything to her and she came right in to see you. After that I took her back to your place; I figured she'd had enough for one night and it'd be best for her to be somewhere familiar. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow and I crashed on the couch... I didn't know how long it would take for you to wake up today so I went ahead and dropped her off at daycare this morning before coming up here."
"Thank you, Spike." Sam said, the sincerity thick in his voice. "For taking care of Maddie, sticking up for me, saving my life in that store, being my friend, everything."
SPike smiled and leaned forward, squeezing Sam's leg in acknowledgement.
Before either of them could say anything else there was a knock at the door. Sam looked at Spike with an eyebrow raised. Spike looked at him sheepishly. "I think the team is here..."
I hope you all enjoyed!
Fingers crossed that the next chapter will be up sooner than this one was!
(No promises though because...life)
