Brooke awoke with a start and listened as she heard lots of violent coughing, gagging, and her name being weakly called out. Brooke jumped out of bed and ran toward the source of the sound...Sam's bathroom. There she found Sam hunched over the toilet with tears streaming down her face. Brooke's protective instincts immediately kicked in as she made a beeline for Sam and wrapped her arms around her. "Brooke...I'm sick. I'm so sick and I don't know what to do!" Sam cried as she mustered all the energy she could to speak. Sam sobbed into Brooke's chest. "I just feel terrible. I don't think I've ever felt so sick. Please make it go away, please!"

"Ok...shhhh," Brooke cooed, "I'm here. I've got you." Sam sobbed and sobbed and Brooke's heart broke for her girl.

Sam broke out of Brooke's embrace and quickly bolted back around to the toilet. Brooke grabbed a hair tie and carefully pulled back Sam's hair and fixed it into a bun on the top of her head. After fixing her hair, Brooke softly rubbed Sam's back until she could move away from the toilet again. Sam sat back down and curled her knees into her chest as fresh tears poured from her eyes.

"Oh, honey," Brooke said, "you must have a stomach bug. I'll go grab you some medicine from the cabinet. Do you want me to help you get back into bed?" Sam responded, "No...I need to stay here. I get sick all over again so fast. My bed is too far away." "Ok. I'll be right back," Brooke said as she made her way into the kitchen to search her medicine cabinet for something to make Sam feel better.

Tears pinged behind Brooke's eyes at the thought of how uncomfortable her sweet Sam was feeling. She was clearly hurting and Brooke just wanted to fix it as fast as she could. Brooke grabbed some nausea medicine, poured a glass of water, grabbed some blankets, and headed back into the bathroom. Brooke took the blankets and made Sam a pallet on the floor of the bathroom before grabbing her pillow to add to it. She gently handed Sam the medicine and prayed that it would stay down as she watched Sam swallow it.

"Ok, sweetheart, let's try to lay down on these blankets. You're right here in the bathroom if you need it. Try to close your eyes and rest." Brooke smiled warmly as she guided Sam's head onto the pillow she had placed in her lap. Sam laid down, but could not ignore the searing and throbbing pain in her gut. As her head laid on the pillow in Brooke's lap, tears soaked it. Brooke softly combed through her hair, kissing the top of her head from time to time as she did all she could to comfort Sam.

Every 15 minutes from midnight until 6am, Sam had to jump up and rush to the toilet. Brooke stayed right by her side, rubbing her back at the toilet and combing through her hair as she laid on the bathroom floor. Sam cried and Brooke reassured over and over again.

Finally, 6:30 rolled around and Sam had not needed the toilet. Brooke began to feel relieved. 30 minutes was the longest she had gone yet without getting sick. By the time it was nearing 7, Brooke was breathing more easily. Perhaps the worst of it was behind them.

"Sam, honey, is your stomach feeling a little bit better?" "Yes...it is a little," said Sam. "Good...let's go get you into bed. You haven't slept all night and some rest will do you good." Sam didn't protest at all. She let Brooke help her up and tuck her into bed. Brooke brought a trash can to sit next to her bed...just in case. She kissed the top of Sam's head as she told her' "I'll be right out there," she pointed toward the kitchen. "You call me if you need me," Brooke said as she walked out the door, leaving it cracked behind her.

Of course Brooke hadn't slept all night either, but she had a meeting at the store at 10. Brooke was contemplating whether or not to go to the meeting or to cancel it. After a quick call to Millie and Julian, Brooke made a plan to get to her meeting while Julian came to sit at the house with Sam. She hated to leave Sam because she wanted to be the one to comfort her if her illness ramped back up. However, she knew she would need to begin trusting Julian to do more things for her and Sam. Brooke saw them as a family in the future and needed to give Julian the place to begin to be a father figure to Sam.

At 9:30, Julian let himself into the Davis home. "Hi Brooke Davis," he cooed as Brooke melted when her eyes met his. She began to walk toward him and grabbed him to kiss him, but Julian held her at arms length. "Whoa! Not so fast Ms. Davis. You've been caring for a sick little Sammy and I don't want to share those germs with you. After all...you will need SOMEONE to care for you if you come down with it too." "Mmmmmm," came Brooke's reply. "Ok, then," she said as she smacked his rear with a giggle. "I guess we need a new greeting!" Julian flashed his illegal grin at Brooke as she melted all over again.

"Listen...Sam is sleeping, finally. Like I told you, she has been super sick all night long. I believe we're finally past the worst of it and she just needs to sleep now. If she wakes up, please try to get her to eat a little something. I have a thin bagel that you can toast for her, but leave it plain. She can drink water, tea, sprite, or Gatorade, but only a little bit at first. Have her eat and drink very slowly. Start with a fourth of the bagel and put her drink in one of Jamie's little cups so she doesn't have too much. She can't have anything else. Do you need me to write all of this down?"

"I got it, Brooke. Now you go. Sam will be fine. We will be fine. I will call you if we need anything."

"Ok," Brooke said as she exited her home. She couldn't help but worry, but she knew Julian would take great care of Sam...and Sam would be happy to see him there when she woke up. She and Julian had such a sweet relationship, which meant the world to Brooke.

A little after 11, Julian heard stirring from the inside of Sam's bedroom. He stood up from his spot on the couch and walked to check on her. He saw Sam sitting up in her bed looking a bit disoriented. "How are you feeling, Sampson?" he inquired. " I'm feeling better, but not super great," she replied. "Ahhh...well I'm on strict orders to fix you something to eat. On the menu today is a bagel...and only a bagel." Sam smiled a little bit and said, "I'll try it." "Great!! What do you want to drink? I'm also on strict orders to offer you only water, tea, sprite, or Gatorade. Which will it be?" Sam smiled again, "I'll try some tea, please. Also...where is Brooke?" Julian smiled at Sam, "Brooke had a quick meeting at the store she should be headed home any minute, so let's eat! We want to follow to the orders of Miss Davis," he said with a laugh. "You got that right," said Sam matching his laugh.

Julian fixed a small tray for Sam and brought it to her in her room. He sat on the chair in her room as she ate slowly, encouraging her to keep taking it very slow. Sam rolled her eyes a little bit, but secretly loved that she was being so well taken care of. She could not remember a time in her life when someone had cared for her or comforted her when she was sick. She had always taken care of her self and had gotten through it somehow.

Just then Brooke walked in and smiled at the sight of her two favorite people in the world. She walked right up to Sam and kissed her head. "How are you feeling, kiddo?" she asked. "Much better!" "Great!! Take it slow on that bagel," Brooke warned. Sam rolled her eyes again. "Ok, Mooomm," she said jokingly.

Sam couldn't believe how much her life had changed! It wasn't always easy with rules to follow and other people to consider, but Sam had never been happier! She had a family and she had found it in the most unexpected way. Brooke was the most wonderful mom!

Brooke said, "ok!! You finish up Sam and I'm going to go check the weather when the news comes on at noon. We have some rough stuff headed our way this evening and I want to make sure we're prepared if it gets bad. I'm so glad you were sick last night and not tonight!" Brooke said to Sam.

Sam finished her bagel as Brooke and Julian headed to the living room to watch the news.