"Hey, Caleb," Sam yawned the next morning, heading over to her desk, passing him one of the coffees in her hand.
"Tired?" Caleb asked.
"A little, yeah," Sam nodded.
"So," Caleb said, smiling. "Would you like to explain these texts I got from Kira and Leah last night?"
"What texts?" Sam frowned.
Caleb pulled out his phone. "This one's from Leah. It says, 'Hey, my mom actually has a date tonight. Can you believe it?'"
"Oh my God," Sam said, rolling her eyes.
"And this one's from Kira," Caleb continued. "'Mom's actually wearing a dress and heels for some dude.'"
"They're so grounded," Sam mumbled.
"So how was the date?"
"It wasn't a date!" Sam hissed. "There were three people there. The last time I checked, at date consisted of two!"
"But did you wear a dress?"
"That's irrelevant!"
"Well fine, who were these two people you went to dinner with?" Caleb asked.
"Just some people I knew back when I lived in Seattle," Sam said, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Uh-huh," Caleb smirked.
"Puckett! Jameson!" Sam and Caleb's captain, Sargent Williamson, barked, poking his head out his office door. "I need you to head over the bodega on 12th and 32nd to investigate an armed robbery!"
"Come on, let's go," Sam said, taking a swig of her coffee.
….
We hung out until two in the morning watching movies, just like in the old days, Freddie thought the next morning, pouring himself a mug of coffee. That's got to count for something. Maybe she's coming around and sees how sorry Carly and I are. Maybe she's actually starting to forgive us.
"Morning," Carly said brightly, stepping out of her room and heading into the small kitchen of the hotel with Freddie. She grabbed the coffee pot and poured herself a cup. "Well, I'd say last night went pretty well."
"Me too," Freddie agreed. "I think we're getting somewhere."
"Now I just hope nothing screws it up," Carly said.
For a second, Freddie could've sworn Carly glanced over to him as she said this, but she quickly diverted her gaze to her shoes. "Anyway," Carly continued. "I-I was wondering if you would mind if maybe, I-I asked Sam to go shopping."
Freddie shrugged. "Sure, I don't care."
"I mean, just the two of us," Carly finished.
Freddie stared at her.
"It's just, you know, Sam and I always had this special bond from being best friends since we were eight and I've been missing it," Carly quickly explained. "I was thinking maybe if we spent some time together, you know, together, we could try and get it back. We could talk about girl things and look at shoes, maybe grab some cupcakes-"
Freddie sighed. She has a point, Freddie thought as Carly continued to ramble on. Her and Sam were inseparable years ago. Maybe…maybe it would be good for her.
"Okay," he nodded.
Carly smiled at him. "Thanks, Freddie. It means a lot to me. And maybe after the three of us could do something together again."
"Sure," Freddie said. "That'd be cool."
…..
Leah had another hospital appointment that evening, so the second Sam got off of work, she sped back to her apartment to pick up both of the girls so that Mrs. Fisher could attend her weekly bingo tournament. Sam was on her fourth cup of coffee that day and she could practically feel the caffeine leaving her body the second she drank it.
Guess I can't handle five hours of sleep to get me through the day anymore, Sam thought to herself as she watched a nurse insert several IVs into Leah.
"Mom? How long is this going to take?" Kira asked impatiently. "I'm bored."
"Don't you have a math test this week to study for?" Sam pointed out.
Kira let out a groan as she hastily reached for her backpack. "How'd you know?"
"I have my ways," Sam said simply.
"More like a lucky guess," Kira mumbled. "Oh, and by the way, I need a stupid dress for school."
"Why?"
"Because my music teacher picked three girls from the class to sing at the winter performance on Saturday and she picked me," Kira said. "And she said that we need to wear dresses, which isn't fair."
"You're going to be singing in the performance?" Sam said. "Kira, that's great! Why didn't you say anything?"
Kira shrugged. "I dunno. So will you get the dress?"
Sam smiled. "Yeah, I'll get it for you."
"Thanks," Kira said. She pulled out her Pearpod and plugged in her headphones as she less-than enthusiastically began working on her math.
Just then Sam's phone began to vibrate. She looked down at her caller ID and saw an unknown number.
I swear, if it's another telemarketer, Sam thought bitterly as she answered. "Hello?"
"Hey, Sam, it's Carly," came Carly's voice on the other end. "I-I got your number from Freddie."
"Oh," Sam replied. "Well…hey."
"Listen, I was just wondering if maybe…maybe you wanted to go shopping tomorrow?" Carly asked slowly. "Have some girl time?"
"Girl time?"
"Yeah, you know, two girls shopping through New York," Carly said. "Sort of like in the movies."
"Um, sure," Sam said. "I can go after I get off work tomorrow. I just found out I need to buy Kira a dress for school anyway."
"Awesome!" Carly said excitedly on the other end. "Great, well, um, I-I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Hey, Carly?" Sam said quickly before the other girl hung up.
"Yeah?"
"You don't still take forever in one store, do you?"
Carly gave a small chuckle. "I'll try to control myself."
"Alright well…bye," Sam said.
She hung up her phone just as Phil entered the hospital room.
"Hi, Sam," he said, heading over to Leah's bedside. "I see the whole gang's here."
"Yup," Sam nodded. "So how's she doing?"
Phil didn't respond. He just wrote a few notes down on his clipboard.
"Phil?"
"Sam…could I speak to you for a moment outside?" the doctor asked.
Oh God, Sam thought to herself, slowly getting to her feet and following Phil out of the room and into the hallway.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked at once. "Is Leah okay?"
"Well…Sam, the good news here is that this new treatment isn't making Leah any worse," Phil started.
Sam breathed a sigh of relief. "Well that's good then, isn't it?"
"Unfortunately," Phil continued gently. "It isn't making her any better either."
Sam blinked. "What?"
"Sam, I'm going to be direct with you because I think you deserve that," Phil said, his voice heavy with sympathy. "Leah needs a new kidney by the end of the year. At the latest. Right now her own kidney just can't support her body in its present condition."
"But-But she's been on that donor's list for years!" Sam said, her voice shaking. "And she still hasn't found a match! How can we find one for her in less than a month?"
"Sam, I'm sorry," Phil said, handing her a tissue as tears began to fall from Sam's face. "But we're doing everything we can. I've put in calls to hospitals all across the nation and they've promised to contact me if something in one of their facilities becomes available. But…But just in case…perhaps you'd like to start considering-"
"No!" Sam snapped, wiping her eyes fiercely. "I'm not considering anything besides making sure Leah gets better!"
"I just want to make sure you know the reality of this situation," Phil told her.
"I know the reality perfectly well," Sam said coldly. "But that doesn't mean I'm just giving up on my daughter."
And with that she turned on her foot and headed back into Leah's room.
