"Mr. Halliwell?" said the doctor, interrupting the overwhelming gloom in the room, "You can see her now" she added, leading him to the observation room.

Bianca caught up with Chris just as his brother left the waiting area.

"Hey… what happened?" she asked urgently. Chris hugged her and put his head against her shoulder. "It's OK" she comforted him, fondly rubbing the back of his head.

"Sam's in observation… something about high pressure…" he felt his eyes burning and sat down where his brother had been. He rubbed them attempting to fade incoming tears away.

"What…?" Bianca lifted his head gently to face her.

"Always thought he had it all. Power. Love. A family of his own" he licked his bottom lip. His whole mouth had dried out. "But… there are times such as these… that I cannot imagine how he does it" he confessed, his voice slowly breaking. "How does he not lose his mind? Everything seems…"

"Listen to me, Chris" she interrupted him and held his hands, squatting down to meet his eyes. "They'll be alright. All of them… but you gotta stay strong for them. You need to help them through… I know you wouldn't have it any other way" she smiled and placed her hand on his cheek. Chris bent forward towards her and stole another kiss from her lips, closing his eyes, taking in a moment's peace.

IN OBSERVATION…

Wyatt stepped in without being able to take his eyes off his wife. She had her eyes closed, and was still breathing a bit too quickly, but the monitor showed she was stable.

"Sam, I'm right here" she whimpered something inaudible at the sound of his voice, but her eyes remained shut. Wyatt sat on a stool by the bed and caressed her head with one hand, taking her hand in his other. "It's OK" he nodded even though she couldn't see him. "Everything's gonna be alright. I promise" he tried swallowing his sorrow which had decided to nest in the back of his throat, pulsing, aching…

A couple hours later, the doctor came in with the results on her bloodwork. Nothing seemed to be apparently wrong now they had taken care of her pressure levels, except for a slightly high glucose level, which they would fix with an insulin dose.

"She in a coma?" asked Chris, who was allowed in for just a moment to check on his brother after a while. Wyatt wouldn't leave his wife's side, not even for a second to let them know what was going on.

"Not quite. She's in something called stupor where she still vaguely reacts" he explained his brother. "The doctor still wants a CAT scan to make sure it's not a head injury"

"What else could it be?" asked Chris hoping it wasn't something from being banged all over the underworld.

"Maybe a depressive stupor" Wyatt explained. "What happened with Meghan, might have… triggered something in her head… something that's causing her to lock herself away" he squeezed her arm hopeful she would feel him and find her way back.

"What are the doctors gonna do about it?" Chris asked, fidgeting nervously by the end of the bed.

"There's not much to do… if it isn't physical. Her pressure's gone back to normal. Must have been the shock of it all" he caressed her hand tenderly now, his eyes red from shed and unshed tears.

"So… then what? How do we get her back?"

"She needs to bring herself back" Wyatt wiped a couple rogue tears on either side of his eyes. "Not sure she wants to right now" Wyatt saw his beautiful bride's face and kissed her hand. He tried taking a steadying breath, but it got caught half-way in his chest, momentarily struggling to breathe. "Have you talked to dad?" he said wiping away yet another random tear in the corner is his eye. "Tell him we're doing good for now. Check on mom"

"I did a while ago. They were ready to move her to ICU. She's breathing on her own, so that's good" Chris said.

"Thank goodness" he sighed.

"Dad wanted to come down and check on you, but…"

"He is exactly where he needs to be. We both are" Chris nodded solemnly.

IN SAM'S HEAD…

She walked barefoot among tall trees. Sunlight warm on her face, peeking from amongst the treetops. She ran her palms against nearby trunks as she moved through the thicket. She could hear water falling so she followed the sound. There was a small waterfall, surrounded by enormous mossy rocks. The trees mighty towering on every side. The sky clear, filled with birds songs.

She walked down to it, kneeling down to touch the water. It was so soothing, she bent lower to splash her face with it, smiling as the water touched her skin. She sat down on a nearby rock and just stared at the falling water. Suddenly, a rush of wind blew around her, making her tremble. She shrunk as much as she could, rubbing her arms, trying to stay warm against the chilly air coming to get her.

"Hey mom" Sam turned to her right and saw her daughter Meghan all grown up, sitting very close to her. The sky slowly filled with thunderclouds, leaving the peaceful skies behind.

"Why are you here?" she fearfully asked as the clouds above them roared aggressively.

"I don't know. You tell me. You're the one doing all this, mom" Meghan waved her hands around signaling from the trees to the dark clouds above. Sam stared back at the water; it had gone from crystal clear to murky before their very eyes.

"Not sure where I am…" she confessed to herself.

"Anywhere is better than back home, I guess" said Meghan completing her thought, throwing a pebble in the water, causing a tiny splash. Sam looked away, embarrassed this was without a doubt the truth.

"I…" Sam knew she wanted to say something, but wasn't sure how to put the words together. Everything she thought seemed illogical, random, meaningless. Meghan took her hand. Sam turned to face her, seeing every bit of her father and herself reflected in her youthful face. "I'm sorry, baby" she finally told her.

"I know" Meghan comforted her. "If there had been any other way, you wouldn't have dared do what you did" she went on staring at her mother, her eyes felt as if digging into her pain. Her chest, her throat were throbbing, her body shivering in despair "I know you love me, mom. I know you never meant to harm me"

"It's a lot more than that, baby" said Sam staring tenderly into her daughter's eyes. She turned to the water for a moment and tried clearing her throat against the unfathomable ache bouncing up and down along with every breath she took. "When we… lost our first child…" her memories starting to reveal on different parts of the water as she reminisced. The thunderclouds releasing an angry pour on everything in sight, somehow sparing the two. "it was tearing us apart… we almost forgot how much we meant to each other…" Sam could see herself in bed with her back against Wyatt, a sour memory she wished wouldn't come back to haunt her. "I swore… to myself… to him… I would never let anything like that happen ever again" there was a cry echoing around as Sam remembered the exact moment her first born daughter had come into the world. "First time I laid eyes on you, I remembered my promise…" she held her daughter's hand now. "I was supposed to protect you, all of you, no matter what…"

"Mom. You have made the ultimate sacrifice for me. You saved me from myself" Sam reached for her daughters face and caressed her cheek. "It's OK to hurt, mom" Meghan put her hand on her mother's, tightening her grasp on her cheek. "Let the pain run through you, embrace it and when the time's right… let go" her lips trembled as her sorrow poured out her eyes uncontrollably. Her heart aching beyond belief. "I'm not gone, mom. Promise me you'll remember that" the thunderstorm around them roared, distracting her gaze for a fraction of a second. Next thing she knew, Meghan was gone.

Sam considered her words for a moment, staring at every memory she had of her little girl reflecting on the surface on the water. She allowed herself the tiniest smile even as her heart was deeply breaking into a million pieces. Eventually, she started feeling the cold raindrops fall on her as well, refreshing her, making her feel the faint breath of life calling, claiming for her. "I promise" she whispered as the sky thundered away.