Matters of the Heart
Chapter Eight
The first thing that pierced the hazy fog around her mind was a distant, echoing beeping sound.
She latched onto the noise, trying to find its source, and the beeping began to grow louder as the world around her shifted. A tingling sensation went through her, and slowly she could feel her body coming back to life, stiff and sore. Her head was pounding, and she felt incredibly dizzy, but at least she was starting to regain conscious thought and awareness.
Her eyelids felt heavy, but somehow they managed to flutter open, and she instantly regretted it. The harsh white lights above her were painful, and she squeezed her eyes tight against the intruding light. After a few moments, she tentatively let her eyes drift open, blinking as they adjusted from the darkness where she'd been floating for what seemed like years.
The beeping noise was still present, and as she blinked up at the ceiling, she was finally able to place it. It was a vitals monitor, which meant she was in the hospital. That made sense, given the sickeningly white walls around her, and the sterilized taste to the air.
But what the hell was she doing in the hospital?
Squinting, she turned her head slightly, and found there was someone else in the room, seated in the chair beside her bed, asleep in what looked like a very uncomfortable position. It took a minute for her groggy mind to identify him through her blurry vision, but once she did, her heart swelled with an emotion she couldn't really identify.
Not for the first time, she wondered how she could have ever mistaken Will to be Austin's son, when he clearly looked so much like Lucas. Even his mannerisms were the same as his father's, something that had simultaneously annoyed and endeared her in the past. Back when things had been especially dark and cold between her and Lucas, when her heart had felt like it could never be whole again, sometimes she had just watched Will sleep, marveling in how beautiful a child they had created together. In some ways their friendship, that deep and powerful bond that was stronger than anything she had ever felt in her life, had lived on in him.
A small smile touched her dry, cracked lips at the sight of Lucas sleeping at her bedside. He looked much younger in his sleep, more like the boy she had met all those years ago, but less brash and certainly less arrogant. Of course, she'd always rather liked him that way, but she would never admit it.
His ego was big enough as it was.
At that moment, he began to stir, waking up, and she decided he had good timing; she hadn't even had to throw anything at him. His eyes fluttered open and he stretched, then froze in mid-yawn, his eyes widening when he saw her watching him. It was almost comical, the expression of pure shock on his face right then, and she smiled faintly.
"Sami," Lucas breathed in relief, and his dark eyes looked like they were shimmering with liquid. "Oh God, Sami... you're awake."
Sami swallowed hard, her throat dry and scratchy, and parted her lips to reply, but fell silent when Lucas suddenly pushed to his feet. He leaned over her, placing his hands on either side of her head, and brought his forehead down to rest against hers.
Her eyes fell closed for a few moments, his familiar scent tingled her nostrils, and when her eyelids opened again, she noticed a solitary tear sliding down his cheek and frowned. Why was he crying?
"Lucas?" she rasped, and winced at the rough, hoarse sound of her own voice.
He didn't respond at first, but after a few heartbeats, he straightened, opening his eyes and offering her a trembling smile. "For future reference," he drawled sarcastically, but there was a faint quiver to his voice. "There are easier ways to stop a wedding, Sami."
Sami frowned, confused, but then realization finally kicked in. Her father and Kate had been getting married at Tuscany! But if what Lucas had just said was true, then the wedding hadn't happened, and she'd been the one to stop it.
"What happened?" she croaked, looking down at the IV in her arm and shuddering.
Lucas looked taken aback for a moment, then he carefully asked, "You don't remember?"
Furrowing her brow, Sami tried to remember what had happened. She knew she had gone to Tuscany with the intention of doing whatever she had to in order to prevent her father from marrying Kate, but he hadn't listened to her, had he? She had a faint recollection of Lucas shoving something into her mouth to keep her from objecting, and being carried outside...
Where the Salem Stalker had cornered her.
Her eyes widened in alarm as she remembered her desperate struggle with the masked killer, and the gleam of a knife flashing towards her. There had been so much pain, and the killer had been standing over her ready to finish her off, but he hadn't.
"Brady," Sami breathed, remembering her stepbrother's face hovering over her as the world around her faded away.
"Yeah, Brady was there," Lucas said gently, his tone encouraging as he rubbed her back. "Do you remember what happened now?"
Swallowing hard, she nodded, her eyes welling with tears. "The killer snuck up on me," she informed him, her weak voice faltering for a moment. "He stabbed me."
Instinctively, her hand went to her stomach, which was covered by a mint green hospital gown, but Lucas stilled her hand with his own before it got there. "Lexie worked on you at the scene," he told her, squeezing her fingers. "They stabilized you once we got you to the emergency room, and they stitched you up. You probably shouldn't mess with that yet, sweetheart."
"Lexie?" she echoed, wrinkling her nose.
"Yeah," Lucas nodded, and she noticed that he hadn't let go of her hand yet. "Nicole came inside to get help in the middle of the ceremony. Lexie had her bag in the car, so she was able to help until the paramedics arrived."
"She doesn't like me," Sami pointed out hoarsely.
Lucas gave her a wry smile, finally releasing her hand to adjust her pillow behind her so that she could prop herself up easier. "She's a doctor, Sami, she doesn't have to like you to save your life."
Sami made a face, but decided not to argue, she was feeling kind of tired, anyway. Besides, she'd heard the subtle reprimand in Lucas' words, and he was right. She probably should be a little grateful to Lexie Carver for saving her life, whether she liked the older woman or not. After all, she wasn't exactly Lexie's favorite person, and the good doctor had still come through for her.
"How are you feeling?" Lucas asked with concern. "Are you in any pain?"
"A little," Sami replied, grimacing as she shifted to get more comfortable. "My stomach."
"I'll talk to Lexie about getting you some morphine or something, then," Lucas promised, settling back in his chair. He hadn't taken his eyes off of her for even a second since waking up, which would have normally unnerved her, but after her ordeal it was oddly comforting to have him there, even if he was staring at her like she'd just grown a second head.
"Thanks," she murmured, and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember anything about her attack that might be of use to identify the killer. While the attack itself was clear in mind now, she couldn't seem to pinpoint anything that stood out about the masked killer, save those chilling, bottomless eyes.
Despite herself, she shivered, almost able to feel the killer's eyes on her all over again. Her breathing quickened, and for a moment the panic and fear came rushing back at her, the desolate knowledge that she was going to die all alone, that no one was coming to save her...
"Sami?"
She nearly jumped out of her skin when Lucas spoke, tentatively touching her hand. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she opened her eyes to look up at him. He was nothing but a watery blur at first, the tears had resurfaced of their own accord, but after blinking her eyelashes a few times he came back into focus.
"You were thinking about last night, weren't you?" he asked quietly, concern evident in his dark eyes as he leaned towards her.
"I called for you..." she rasped. "But you didn't come."
"I'm sorry, sweetheart, I couldn't hear you," Lucas swallowed, blinking back tears of his own. "I didn't know. If I had, I would have come... you know that, right?"
Sami nodded weakly, her eyes fluttering in exhaustion.
"I'm just so glad you're okay," he told her gently, voice thick with emotion as he squeezed her hand tightly in his. "I was so afraid that..."
"That what?" Sami asked breathlessly, that strange tickling sensation that she'd come to expect when Lucas was in close proximity stirring in her stomach.
Lucas licked his lips and hesitated, as if he was trying to find the right words. "That, uh, that you were going to make us sweat it out for a few days," he finally replied flatly.
"Oh," Sami murmured, deflating a little at his answer.
"Sami," Lucas whispered, and she lifted her gaze to meet his expectantly. He didn't speak, just raised a hand to brush a loose strand of hair behind her ear. It was Sami's turn to swallow, and he smiled faintly when he noticed it, before leaning in to give her a gentle, feather-light kiss. Her heart skipped a beat as he drew back, still looking at her with that tender look in his eyes, although he couldn't resist smirking. "Try not to give us another scare like this for at least a few months, okay?"
She flashed him a ghost of a smile, ignoring the flutter of emotions he'd just caused in her. "I'll do my best, General."
Lucas smiled at her old nickname for him, but his smiled faded a moment later, and she saw something akin to guilt flicker across his face. "It's my fault you were attacked," he muttered, shaking his head. "I should never have locked you out like that, not when I knew that monster was on the loose out there-"
"Not your fault," Sami assured him hoarsely, giving a slight shrug of her shoulders, and wincing when that movement tugged at her stomach muscles. "Didn't know."
"No, I didn't," Lucas agreed somberly, a pained look in his dark eyes. "But it's still my fault that you got hurt."
"No," Sami shook her head, careful to restrict the movement so as not to inadvertently cause herself any more pain.
"No?" Lucas echoed, almost hopefully.
"No," she repeated with a faint smile. She didn't have the heart to hold it against him, not when she could clearly see how he had tortured himself with guilt all night. Besides, it really wasn't his fault, now was it? He'd just been trying to keep her from ruining his mother's wedding day.
Of course, she'd managed to stop the ceremony after all, even if it hadn't been the way she planned.
Hopefully there was still time to talk some sense into her father before he made the biggest mistake of his life, because there was absolutely no way she was going to allow Lucas to become her stepbrother!
They shared a son together, after all, the very idea of making them any form of siblings was just wrong.
"We were all really worried about you, you know," Lucas told her, and she gave a soft snort. "I mean it, Sami. Your parents were just devastated, and Belle was a wreck."
Sami's expression softened at the mention of her little sister. She loved the girl dearly, but Belle was a bit delicate when it came to the hard things in life. The serial killings had left Belle quite shaken, and none of the victims had even been people she was that close to.
She probably had a meltdown last night, then, Sami thought with a faint smile of affection for her sister. Belle could be a bit self-absorbed at times, but she supposed that was to be expected at that stage in life, especially when Belle hadn't had to endure half of the things she had by that time.
"You've got so many people who love you, sweetheart," Lucas insisted. "Your grandfather was here, and so were John, Bo, Hope, Shawn, Brady, Chloe, Rex and Mimi. Uncle Mickey, Mom and Philip were here for a while, too."
"Your Mom was probably rooting for me to bite the dust," Sami rolled her eyes.
"Hey, that's not true," Lucas protested sternly. "She really loves your Dad, Sami. I'm not going to bother saying she likes you, because it'd be a waste of breath, but she doesn't want you dead."
"Too bad she didn't have this change of heart a few years ago," Sami muttered with a scowl, giving him a pointed look. "I could have used it back then, like in Italy."
"I've apologized for that, Sami," Lucas said quietly, and there was genuine regret in his eyes.
"I know, but has Kate?" Sami demanded, huffing in annoyance as anger began to creep into her system. "She says she wants to make peace with me, but she acts like I don't have good reason to hate her! Until she admits that she's tried to kill me over and over again, she can kiss any chance of us burying the hatchet goodbye."
"Well, you know that isn't going to happen, Sami," Lucas replied wearily. "So maybe we should talk about something else, okay? I don't think it's good for you to get worked up right now."
"Fine by me," Sami folded her arms over her chest stubbornly, eyeing him curiously. "You said that Rex was here?"
"Yeah, he's the one whose blood they used in your transfusion," Lucas nodded. "I don't get that kid sometimes, I thought you two hated each other."
"We do," Sami murmured absently, but she couldn't help remembering that Rex had come to visit her the last time she was in the hospital, too.
"Anyway, your parents stayed for a while after everyone else left so they could sit with you," Lucas commented. "They finally headed home, though, to get some sleep."
"But you stayed," she said softly, more of an observation than a question. She didn't miss the double meaning to her own words, and gave a silent laugh at the irony of the fact that it was true. Out of all the people in her life, Lucas was the one person who had every reason to leave, and yet he was the one person who never had.
"I couldn't go," Lucas replied quietly, his brow furrowing slightly. "I needed to be with you."
"Yeah, I know, for Will," Sami muttered, looking down at her hospital gown.
"For both of us," Lucas corrected, and she looked up in surprise, her gaze locking with his. After a moment, she looked away again, not wanting to face the unspoken emotions she saw there, and uncertain whether or not she could trust herself to keep gazing into his eyes much longer without doing something stupid.
"Will?" she asked weakly, not bothering to clarify what she meant when she knew Lucas would know what she was asking.
"He's fine, I sent him home with Mom last night, and your Dad ended up staying there, so he's in good hands," Lucas told her with a reassuring smile. "He's going to be so thrilled to hear you woke up, though, Sami. That kid was just a mess when he found out you'd been attacked. He really loves you, you know that?"
Sami nodded. "I love him, too."
"I know you do," Lucas replied, his smile softening as he gazed at her, his thumb absently running over her knuckles. "You're a really good mother, Sami, and I'm glad that Will has you."
She gave him a tearful smile in response, touched not only by his words, but the sincerity behind them. Too many times in the past they had accused one another of being horrible parents, but the truth was that they both loved Will more than anything in the whole world, and they were always trying their best to do right by him, even if they did make a few mistakes along the way.
"I should probably go call him," Lucas said with a rueful chuckle. "If I wait any longer, he'll probably throw a fit since I promised to call right away when you woke up. I need to get a hold of your family and let them know, too."
"Okay," Sami nodded, then hesitated a moment, biting her lip. "Are you going to come back?"
Lucas gave her a tender smile as he rose to his feet. "Sweetheart, you couldn't get rid of me if you tried," he informed her, leaning over to press a kiss to her forehead. "I'll grab Lexie on my way to the phone and let her know you're awake, okay? She'll probably want to check you over and all."
"Great," Sami groaned, eliciting a wink from Lucas as he headed for the door. He gave her one last smile before disappearing out into the hallway, closing the door behind him, and Sami sighed, leaning back against her pillow.
She couldn't believe that Lucas had stayed the entire night at her bedside, in a chair that looked anything but comfortable. Her heart had soared of its own accord when the first thing she saw after opening her eyes was him sitting next to her bed, but she hadn't expected him to admit that he'd stayed not just for Will, but for himself, as well.
Glancing at the clock on the wall, she grimaced, wondering how much sleep he had actually been able to get. It was still early, much earlier than she had been planning to be awake on New Year's Day, and Lucas looked even more exhausted than she felt.
Maybe she should tell him to go get himself some coffee or something when he came back, he looked like he needed it.
There was a knock at her door, and she looked up as Lexie Carver stepped into the room, her stethoscope hanging over her white lab coat. "Lucas said you were awake," the other woman smiled, with a surprising amount of warmth in her voice, Sami noticed, considering the bad blood between them. "How are you feeling?"
"Like someone ran me over with a truck," Sami answered honestly.
Lexie gave her a sympathetic nod. "I'm not surprised, you really took some damage last night, Sami. You'd lost almost seven units of blood, and probably would have lost more if not for Brady's quick thinking."
"Brady?" Sami asked in confusion. "I thought you were the one who...?"
"I slowed your blood flow until the paramedics arrived," Lexie explained gently. "But Brady had already begun to apply pressure to the wound by the time I made it to the scene, and those first minutes are critical. He probably saved your life, as much as any of the doctors who worked on you last night did."
"Oh," Sami said softly, and gave a faint shake of her head. She remembered her stepbrother's frantic voice calling her name as his face hovered over hers just before everything had gone dark, and smiled to herself, making a mental note to try and be nicer to Brady in the future.
After all, it's what Isabella would want.
Was that real? she wondered wistfully. Were you really there, Isabella?
She didn't remember much after losing consciousness; expect that she'd felt safe, even in the darkness surrounding her.
Maybe Isabella really had been there with her, after all.
"How much pain are you in?" Lexie inquired as she lifted the hospital gown to inspect the tender area where Sami was guessing she had been stabbed.
"It doesn't hurt too much when I lay still," Sami admitted with a grimace as Lexie's fingers gently prodded her stomach. "But moving pretty much sucks."
"That's normal in a situation like this," Lexie assured her, without looking up from what she was doing. "I'll have a morphine drip hooked up for you as soon as possible."
"Thanks," Sami murmured.
A few moments later, Lexie took a step back and began to jot something down on the clipboard she'd walked in with. Sami watched her anxiously, curious what she was writing, and tapped her fingers on bedrail absently while waiting.
"Things look good right now," Lexie said when she finally looked up again. "The stitches have held nicely and there doesn't look like there's been any internal leakage, but we'll do a more thorough check later this morning. Right now there doesn't seem to be anything to worry about."
Sami let out a breath of relief that she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. There was a long pause of silence in the room as Lexie opened her mouth, then closed it again, clearly trying to figure out how to say something.
"I know this is probably too little, too late," Lexie managed with an apologetic frown. "But I really am sorry for accusing you of being the killer, Sami."
For a minute Sami was tempted to snap back that she better be, but she managed to swallow that nasty remark. "You were grieving," she said instead, giving Lexie what she hoped was an encouraging smile, even though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I probably would have reacted the same way if I'd been in your shoes."
Lexie gave a relieved nod. "You should probably get some rest," she advised, glancing down at her clipboard. "Lucas is calling your family, so I'm sure you'll be having visitors soon, and you might want to conserve your strength for that."
"Okay," Sami agreed.
"I'll check back in on you soon," Lexie promised, and started for the door.
"Lexie?" Sami called, steeling herself to say the words she never thought she'd say to Abe's widow. "Thank you for saving my life."
Lexie gave her what was probably the least guarded smile she'd ever received from the woman. "It's my job, remember? I'm just glad I was there to help."
After she left, Sami leaned her head back against her pillow and closed her eyes, intending to take Lexie's advice and try to get some rest before her family showed up, but it was no use. The hospital room felt strangely empty and cold, and she just couldn't keep her eyes shut for more than a few seconds before the fear started to crawl up her spine again.
Sighing, she resigned herself to counting the ceiling tiles overhead. Maybe she'd be able to sleep later, after Lexie got her some of that morphine she'd been promised for the pain. After reaching thirty, she gave up, deciding it was better to be bored out of her mind than stare at the ceiling any longer.
Just then the door opened, and she gave Lucas an annoyed look. "Finally," she muttered. "What took you so long?"
"What's wrong, Sami?" he retorted, shutting the door behind him with a smirk. "Miss me?"
Sami scoffed. "Yeah, right."
Lucas just smiled knowingly as he made his way back to the chair beside her bed. "Will wouldn't stop asking questions, and then I had to call the penthouse to let your Mom and John know you were awake. Brace yourself, I think we're about to get a stampede in here in a few minutes."
"Lexie better hurry up with that morphine, then," Sami groaned.
"I saw her in the hall, she said it would be here shortly," Lucas assured her. "In the meantime..."
Sami blinked and stared at the cup he produced from behind his back. "What is it?" she asked suspiciously.
"Ice chips," Lucas replied, shaking it so that the ice rattled a little. "Sorry it's not something better. I would have brought you a soda, but I think Lexie might have smacked me with that clipboard of hers if I tried it."
"Thanks," Sami smiled faintly, taking the offered cup and crunching some ice in her mouth. The cold chips felt good on her dry throat, and only then did she realize how thirsty she really was. A few minutes later, she had finished off all the ice and handed the cup back to Lucas with a sheepish look. "Guess I was kind of dehydrated."
"Don't worry about it," Lucas smiled. "I'll get you some more when Lexie brings in the morphine."
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Sami asked with a frown.
"Do I need a reason to be nice to you?" Lucas responded.
"Yes," Sami said bluntly. "You don't like me, remember?"
"Sami," Lucas sighed, shaking his head. "Sometimes you are really stupid, you know that?"
Sami opened her mouth to make a biting reply, but he covered her mouth with his hand, so she had to content herself with glaring at him.
"You know I like you," Lucas said firmly, a hint of reprimand in his tone as his dark eyes bored into hers as he took her hand in his for what seemed like the hundredth time since she woke up. "I've always liked you, from the day we met. I admit there have been times when I wasn't exactly fond of you-" Sami snorted at the understatement, but he continued on, ignoring her. "But I like you. I fact, I..."
He trailed off with a conflicted expression, and Sami's heart forgot to beat for a moment, leaving her feeling a bit lightheaded.
"You what?" she whispered when Lucas didn't finish his thought.
"I like you almost more than anyone," Lucas said with a smile, but she thought she caught a glimmer of frustration behind it. "Even if you do irritate the hell out of me."
"Look who's talking," Sami shot back lightly, and despite her disappointment that he hadn't said what she thought he was going to say, she couldn't help feeling warmed by the words he did say, and the affectionate look in his eyes. He'd been looking at her that way more and more over the past year, and it reminded her of better times, back when it had been the two of them against the world.
She missed that.
Lexie came back in just then to set up the morphine drip, but Sami didn't take her eyes off of Lucas as he inquired about more ice chips to Lexie, all the way squeezing her hand in his, absently running his thumb over her knuckles.
The morphine kicked in quickly, and Sami soon found her eyelids fluttering closed. Lucas promised to wake her up if she was still asleep when her visitors arrived, so she gave in to her exhaustion and started to drift off, finally able to close her eyes without remembering the attack.
As sleep overtook her, though, she wondered if it was really the morphine that allowed her the feeling of safety required to fall asleep.
Or if maybe it had something to do with the man sitting at her bedside, still holding her hand.
