Winning His Heart
Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, nor do I own the movie Gym Teacher
A/N: The characters are 16 in this story. Thoughts are once more in italics and regular speech in regular font.
Chapter 25 (Race for a Miracle)
Sam rushed out of the hospital, she knew that she was short on time and had to avoid all obstacles. Not only that, but she knew that she had to somehow convince Susie's parents to get to the hospital, they would have to do some paperwork in order to let Sarah administer the drug. Also, she had to convince her mom to administer it for free.
Of course, if her mom had to, she could administer it for a cheaper price. Sam didn't care to think of money, but only getting everything done as fast as she could. She knew that by doing this, she was most likely giving up on ever having Freddie's heart, but it was still the right thing for her to do. She was the only one that could save Susie, surely that wasn't a lot of pressure. She was giving up the chance to actually love and feel someone truly loving her in return. Shane didn't seem to love her, but he promised her that he did and that he'd never hurt her.
"I have no choice but to believe him, really. He seems genuine when he says he won't hurt me." Sam continued running toward her home, thankfully it wasn't so far away that she couldn't get there. The only problem was that she was sure she saw Shannon as she ran by. She stopped and glanced back, seeing Shannon glaring at her. She didn't have a lot of time to chat, but it seemed Shannon wanted something. "Hey Shannon, I don't have time."
"I know what you're doing," Shannon said while narrowing her eyes. Sam raised her eyebrow and spotted Rueben walking out of a nearby building. He sighed and walked over to Shannon, crossing his arms and staring at Sam. "You're trying to make it so I don't stand a chance with Freddie! I will win his heart, you'll see!" Sam kept her eyebrow arched and watched as Rueben rolled his eyes and glanced away. This time, she really could see how the two went together. She smirked and crossed her arms, earning an immediate glare from her rival. "Why are you smirking?"
"Oh, because you're an idiot." Shannon's jaw dropped and Sam turned around. "You should know by now that Freddie wants nothing to do with you, you'll never win his heart at this rate. It's just as I will never possibly date Rueben. I don't mean to sound harsh, but you really need to move on. I'm sure there's someone better for you, and I bet you'll find him." Shannon scoffed and closed her fists. If there was anyone out there for her, she didn't know who it was or where that person was. Sam smirked and glanced back slightly. "Go ahead and look around, I'm sure he's around somewhere. Perhaps even closer than you think. I will say this, he isn't Freddie."
"Yeah, well what do you know." Sam shrugged her shoulders and took off in a run, she couldn't accept any more holdups. As she was running, she saw Shane in the distance, he was walking down the sidewalk. She was sure she heard him say hello, but she didn't stop to chat with him. He narrowed his eyes and told her hello once more, but she didn't respond. So in turn, he grabbed his wrist and pulled her back.
"I said hello," Shane stated. Sam looked into his eyes and chuckled nervously.
"I'm sorry, Shane. Well, hello to you!"
"Hey, you want to do something?"
"Not right now, I have something important to do." Shane raised his eyebrow and smirked as he coolly gazed into her eyes.
"Is it possibly more important than I am?" Sam didn't even have to think about the answer to that question, of course it was more important.
"It's a matter of life or death."
"I don't know, I consider it life or death whenever I'm without you, babe."
"Yeah, but you'll live! Anyway, I'm very sick, it's catching!"
"I don't mind catching whatever it is." Shane started to lean in, but Sam quickly tried to push him away.
"No Shane, not right now!"
"Yes, now." Shane wrapped his arms around Sam, causing her to let out a yelp and a scream. "Come on, you're my girlfriend."
"I have to do something!"
"She said not right now," A voice said from behind. Sam's eyes widened slightly and Shane turned his head back. Freddie was standing behind Shane with his hands in the pockets of his jacket. His eyes were narrow and his head titled slightly in annoyance.
"Freddie, a little privacy here, buddy?" Shane said while smirking. "I think it's 'us' time for me and my girlfriend, wouldn't you say?" Freddie growled and took a step forward, keeping his eyes narrow and his glare on Shane. He looked to Sam and saw that she had a panicked and desperate look on her face. His face hardened even more as he glanced from Sam and to Shane.
"Do you not understand the words 'not now,' Shane? Let…her…go, right now." Freddie's teeth were clenched and he was trying hard to keep his anger suppressed. "I'm sure once she finishes whatever she has to do, she'll probably make out with you or whatever."
"Gee, thanks dork!" Sam shouted.
"Sure thing, not now Sam." Sam rolled her eyes and pushed at Shane once more. "She wants you to let her go, so let her go." Shane chuckled lightly and released Sam as he turned toward Freddie.
"Are you trying to steal my girl, is that it?" Freddie smirked and crossed his arms.
"If I wanted to do that, I would have done it already." Sam blushed and raised her eyebrow, wondering what he meant by that. "I'm a gentleman, so I abide by the rule that one man's girlfriend is his own, and another man shouldn't take her." Shane shrugged and looked toward Sam.
"You just had to scream, didn't you?" Sam gave him an apologetic look and turned around.
"Sorry, but I have to go, it's life or death!" Sam exclaimed as she ran off. Shane sighed and Freddie made a chuckling sound. Sam continued to run, not letting anything stop her until she made it to her home. Once there, she opened the door and ran inside. "Mom! Mom, are you home!"
"Yes sweetie, why are you shouting?" Sarah asked as she stepped out of another room. "Are you okay? You look a bit…rushed."
"I know, but I had to get here as fast as I could. Susie's dying!" Sarah tilted her head and tapped her chin, trying to remember who Susie was.
"Susie, isn't she Freddie's old girlfriend?"
"Yes, and I'm the only one that can save her. Well…you are, but you get my point!" Sarah walked toward Sam and smiled at her daughter.
"Okay, take a deep breath, relax, then tell me what's going on." Sam nodded and inhaled, then she slowly exhaled.
"Susie has that disease that you discovered a cure for, and she's in a lot of pain. She's at the Poly Hospital just a few blocks from here."
"Wait, that hospital…they're a small hospital."
"I know, and I know that they don't have enough money for you to administer the cure, but you have to! I think she has less than a day to live!" Sarah's mouth opened in slight shock, she knew the disease would have had to progress pretty far for that.
"Well, if it means that much to you, I can administer the cure for free. I mean, it is a human life we're talking about here, I don't mind saving her. We do have to contact her parents, they have to say they will allow us to administer the cure, or else there's no chance…"
"You mean you'll do it? Really?" Sarah nodded and Sam quickly hugged her. "Thank you Mom, you don't know how great this is."
"What more, is if we can save Susie, this drug will save the lives of many people." Sam nodded and Sarah quickly left into another room to grab her supplies. They would have to get down to the hospital and call the parents in.
-NEW SCENE-
Sam stood in the hospital room with her mom and a few other doctors, they had called and received permission from Susie's parents to administer the life saving antidote. Susie's parents were in the room as well, both of them were praying for this to work. As for Freddie, Jake and the others, they had been requested to wait outside the room. Sarah looked to Susie and smiled as the girl lifted her pained eyes up to her. Susie trusted her, that was the most she could do, was to trust Sarah with her life. After all, her life was literally in this woman's hands.
"Don't be afraid," Sarah said in a calm and gentle voice. "We're here for you. It may sting, but the antidote should remove all of the infection from your system. Do you trust me, Susie?"
"Y-Y…" It was too hard for her to talk, so Sam took Susie's hand and looked at her mom.
"Susie, if you want to say something, just squeeze Sam's hand. When I give you this injection, I want you to squeeze Sam's hand, but wait until after I've removed the needle, do you understand?" Susie squeezed Sam's hand, signaling that she understood. "That's good, and you trust me, you believe this will work?" Susie squeezed Sam's hand two times and Sarah gave another smile. "I'm glad, now, are you ready?" Once more, Susie squeezed Sam's hand. Sam looked at Susie and frowned, she could see that Susie's body was all cracked and had a gray and greenish color to it. It looked horrible. A sign that the cure would work was supposed to be painful at first, but very soothing toward the end. The color would return to Susie and the cracked and dry skin would start to go away.
"Okay, mom and dad, I want you to take Susie's other hand," Sarah directed. "In fact, take her arm. Sam, you hold down the arm that you have now." Sam nodded and positioned her hands on Susie's arms. Susie's parents held her other arm and stared tearfully at their daughter, they had the utmost faith that the medicine would work. Yet, they also had their fears. Sarah shifted her eyes to two doctors and directed them to hold down Susie's legs. Another doctor was instructed to hold down Susie's shoulders. She didn't want the girl's body to jerk around when the medicine was injected.
"This cure has been tested on several different holders of this disease, and at different dosages and stages. If this works, and I believe it will, Susie will be cured of the disease, and doctors can then administer this. Let's get started…where is the source of the infection?"
"Right here, doctor," A nurse said as she rolled up Susie's shirt sleeve. Sarah spotted the crusty scab and frowned, it appeared to be filled with pus and other disease.
"Okay, when this cure is put in, that infection should go down and disappear. The life threatening part of the disease should go away within six minutes of injection, but she will have to stay in the hospital for a few days before her features completely return to normal. During this time, I request that all doctors have her on constant surveillance." The doctors nodded and watched as Sarah cleaned the area that would have the shot. She then picked up a syringe and filled it with the antidote. She held the syringe in the air and tapped it lightly, removing the air bubbles. She then moved in toward the pus filled infection. "Okay Susie, here we go, take a deep breath."
Susie nodded slowly and inhaled. Sam squeezed Susie's hand with the hand not holding down her arm and gave her a tearful smile. Susie smiled back at Sam and her parents as she closed her eyes. She tried to think of anything other than the disease she had and the thought of dying. Sarah positioned the needle directly in the center of the scab and quickly injected the needle in, that was the easy part for everyone. The next part was pushing the antidote into Susie's body, it felt like fire rushing into her arm.
Susie opened her mouth and wanted to scream, it burned more than anything that she had ever felt. Sam, the doctors, and her parents all had to hold her body down as she started to shake violently. Sarah quickly pulled the needle out, having successfully injected the medicine. She then disposed of the needle and took a small sigh of relief. Susie's body jerked violently, all of the pain was now shooting throughout her entire body, burning her. Sarah slowly knelt beside Susie and spoke in a calm and soothing voice.
"Don't worry, it's the medicine wiping out the bad disease. It'll all be over soon. You're doing great, Susie, hang in there." Susie turned her eyes toward Sarah and whimpered, she hated the feeling that she was having. Everyone in that room knew that it was going to be the longest six minutes of their lives. Susie's body thrashed and her movements became worse and harder to control. More doctors and nurses had to come in and help hold her down. Susie turned her eyes and met Sam's gaze, the two held each other's gaze and felt it to be somehow soothing.
"You're going to make it," Sam said in a quiet voice. "You're going to make it, Susie." Soon, the six minutes passed, and Susie's body stopped shaking. She felt what seemed like cool water flowing throughout her body. It was a cleansing feeling, one that felt as if it was cleansing her body of the ashes left from the disease. Susie smiled and everyone in the room relaxed, thankful that the worst part of it had ended. Sam looked at Susie's arm and saw that the scab was starting to go away, no more would the swollen infection threaten Susie's peace. Sam smiled and tears started rolling down her face. "You did it, Susie. You survived."
"Heh, you're the first person to survive a bout of that damnable disease," Sarah stated while crossing her arms and smirking. She couldn't be happier to see that she had managed to save someone's life. Not only that, it seemed like her daughter had made a new friend. "Congratulations Susie, you've been granted a longer life."
"Thank you, Ms. Puckett," Susie said in a calm but dry voice. Sarah smiled and looked toward a nurse.
"Miss, could you please get some water for this girl? I believe she needs some fluid in her." The nurse nodded and exited the room. "Okay, here's what needs to be done now. She needs to be placed under surveillance in recovery in the ICU for five days. As for feeding, I want her on liquefied food for the first couple of days, then slowly move to solids. I'll write down the rest of my report. Good job everyone…" Sarah looked toward Susie as the nurse propped up the bed and helped give the cool glass of water to her. "A miracle has just been performed."
Susie lives! She'll be in recovery for a bit. Good thing Sam managed to get to her mom in time.