(Here's chapter 2. Anyway, here we go again. Thanks to Niblick, capm, and fatlip565 for reviewing chapter 1.)
Copyright 2004
4:41 p.m. – Clover's House
Back at Clover's pool, the girls were getting Sam to race against them to get her in more shape for the swimming competition.
"Are you ready for the race against Alex and me?" Clover asked, looking serious.
"Yes, I am." Sam said confidently.
Alex had gone inside to change into her bathing suit. She came out 2 minutes later wearing her 2-piece yellow bathing suit. (from season 1's "Vacation/The Getaway" and "Evil Boyfriend.")
"We do this because we all love you, Sam. Even if you lose, you'll still have us to cheer you up." Clover said to Sam.
"Gee, thanks guys." Sam said warm-hearted as she hugged Clover once again.
"Time Sam, Mathew," Clover requested as she tossed me the stopwatch.
"Sure thing." I said as I caught the stopwatch.
The girls walked over to the left side of Clover's pool, then all 3 girls got into diving position.
"Ready, GO!!" Clover said.
Sam, Clover and Alex dove into the pool and started swimming as fast as they could. Swapping the lead back and forth. First was Sam, then Clover, then Alex, then Sam once again, and so on. When the 3 girls reached the other end, Alex had gotten there first but just by 3/4 of an inch over Sam. Clover came just a half-inch behind Sam.
"6.94 seconds." I called to Sam.
"Sammy, what happened?" Alex asked.
"Maybe I'm just a little nervous or something." Sam said embarrassed.
"Sam, this isn't the competition. Get over that nervousness and try to beat the both of us." Clover said, looking even more serious than ever.
"She did improve on the time though, but just by 2 tenths of a second." I pointed out.
The girls climbed out of the pool and got into diving position once again. I reset the stopwatch after they came out.
"Ready, GO!!" Clover said.
The girls dove into the pool and swam with everything they had. This time, Alex and Sam had dropped Clover after a few seconds and were battling for the lead, until Sam pushed herself a little bit more and beat Alex by 3/4 of an inch. Clover finished 2 inches behind them.
"You did it, Sammy." Alex said.
"Mm-hmm. Now you're ready to face Mandy at the competition." Clover said.
"What's the time, Mathew?" Sam asked.
"6.83 seconds." I said looking at the stopwatch.
The girls climbed out of the pool. All of a sudden, Sam felt a little strange. She was starting to get really thirsty and very dizzy. She was standing very wobbly and her mouth was very dry.
"Sam, are you feeling okay?" Alex asked.
"Sam, can you hear us?" Clover asked.
"I-I think I--"Sam was about to say, but she didn't finish her sentence. A second later, she fainted and fell back first back into the pool. She was floating unconscious.
"SAM!!" they both cried out.
Reacting fast, Clover dove into the pool carried Sam on her back, while Alex helped Clover out of the pool. Alex and Clover helped carry an unconscious Sam to the beach chair next to me. Her eyes were shut tight.
"What happened?" I said.
"Sam just fainted into the pool. She felt a little funny, then she just fell into the pool." Alex said.
"Do you think we might have pushed her a little too far?" Clover asked, looking pretty bad inside.
"I'm starting to think so, Clover," Alex said nearly starting to sob.
"Hold your heads up, girls. Maybe she's bushed from all that swimming. She needs rest. Let's get her dried off and onto the couch inside." I said.
"Get her to my bed. It's much more comfortable." Clover said.
Alex grabbed Sam's towel and dried her off. When she was done, I tried to carry Sam with all my strength, but she was a little too heavy.
"Let me help," Clover said.
Clover lifted Sam by her shoulders and I lifted Sam up by her legs. Alex held on to Sam's back.
3 minutes later, we had reached Clover's room.
Clover released the grip on one of Sam's shoulders and opened the door.
The 3 of us carried Sam to Clover's bed, placed her on and pulled the blankets over her body. Sam was still in her green bathing suit.
Clover and Alex were still wearing their bathing suits too as they sat down with me next to Sam's left hand. She was still unconscious from all those tiring hours out there swimming and getting in shape for the competition.
"Do you think Sammy will be okay, Mathew?" Alex asked looking nervous.
"I don't know, Alex. I'm not a doctor. All we can do is wait. Only time will tell if Sam's okay." I said.
"I'll go get some water for Sam in case she come around," Clover said. She went back outside and picked up Sam's bottle of water she left outside.
Come on, Sammy. You can't leave us. I have to see you better. Please wake up, I thought to myself as I clutched my fists together.
Clover came back 3 minutes later holding the bottle of water she had gotten from outside. "How's she doing?" she asked.
"I checked her pulse, and she looks like she might come around in a couple of minutes or so." I said.
"Should I call her parents or Jerry?" Clover asked.
"No. We can't let Gabi or Jerry know about this," Alex said.
"Okay," Clover said.
Alex, Clover and I waited by Sam's side, hoping that she would wake up. I clutched Sam's left hand, and repeatedly started kissing it with every half-minute.
"Maybe I should call her parents or Jerry," Clover said coldly standing up after she waited for another 15 minutes.
"No need to, Clover." Sam said slowly waking up.
"You gotta be kidding me!" I said looking so surprised as my jaw dropped.
"Sammy!!! You're okay," we all said.
"Mm-hmm. I'm feeling much better. Funny thing is, I don't even remember what happened." Sam said weakly.
"Well, that doesn't matter, Sammy. The main thing is that you're back with us and not up in Heaven." I said while hugging her.
Alex and Clover joined in the group hug with Sam and I.
"You need any water, Sam?" I asked.
"Yes I do. I'm thirsty after all that swimming." Sam said sitting up.
Clover stood up and gave Sam the bottle of water she had sipped earlier in the day. While Sam drank the water slowly, she began to feel a little better.
"I think I'm up for one more race," Sam said.
"No don't," Alex said.
"Alex is right, Sam. You have to rest your body. Even if you try just one more race with the both of us, it's just not gonna be pretty after it's done," Clover said.
"Maybe you're right, guys. I'll stay here and rest my body." Sam said.
"That's better. If you think you're tough, tell that to Ryan Hughes. They say he's the toughest motocross rider. Just last year, he broke his left fibula after hitting it on the swingarm of his 125cc KTM during the first moto at Southwick, MA and he actually rode the second moto, finishing in 16th after a 10th in the first moto." I said.
"Wow, that's what I call toughness." Alex said.
"How do you know this, Mathew?" Clover asked.
"Believe me, I watched a lot of motocross racing since '97 and I've been riding since '96." I said.
"Cool," Sam said.
"Maybe by tomorrow, Sam, you'll be at peak strength and you'll beat Mandy." I said.
"Oh yeah that's right. I have a date with destiny with Mandy tomorrow." Sam said snapping her fingers.
"Hopefully I'll feel better and not get kidnapped or anything." Sam said.
"Relax, Sammy. We're gonna sleep over and keep you from getting kidnapped, even though no criminal is out walking the streets. " I said.
Clover went to get some extra sleeping bags for Sam, Alex and me. Sam wound up sleeping next to me in different sleeping bags, while Alex slept on the other side just by Clover's bed, where Clover slept.
A few hours later, the girls and I took our baths and got dressed in our nightclothes. Sam wore a long pink nightgown, Alex wore a long blue nightgown, Clover wore a long yellow nightgown, and I wore a Hangtown MX Honda motocross T-shirt with Steve Lamson's last name on it and underneath it was a 6. I also wore blue sweatpants, and white socks.
"Sam, I'm really sorry I pushed you so hard earlier today just to get you in shape for the competition tomorrow. I feel so bad inside. Will you forgive me?" Clover said.
"Of course I forgive you, but you don't have to apologize, Clover. Your encouragement and your words of wisdom, as well as Mathew's confidence and his encouragement is what got me to trust myself, and most importantly, trust my heart." Sam said sweetly. She quickly hugged Clover.
"Are you serious, Sam?" Clover asked.
"Believe me, Clover. I'll try my best at the competition tomorrow, and I'll listen to your encouragement and Mathew's too." Sam said.
A minute later, Sam's lips met Clover's as they romantically kissed each other. As Sam and Clover backed their heads away, they walked to where they were going to sleep.
A few minutes later, Alex and Clover had gone to sleep, but Sam and I lay awake. Sam was a little nervous about the competition tomorrow.
"Believe me, Sam, you'll beat the entire pack tomorrow. All you have to do is believe in yourself. I know you can do it." I said to Sam trying to get her to feel more than 100 confident like I was with her.
"Are you sure?" Sam asked softly.
"Trust me, I know you can do it." I said.
"But what if--" Sam was about to say.
"Shhh, just believe that you can do it," I said softly.
"Okay, I'll try, Mathew. You know, one thing that I have noticed about you is that you're so supportive even if I have to date someone else." Sam said.
"I'm basically that kind of type too, other than the gentle type." I said.
"Let's get some sleep," Sam said yawning.
"You're right, Sammy. You've got a date with destiny tomorrow." I said.
"Good night, Mathew" Sam said softly.
"Same to you, my gold medal winner." I said back to her.
"I think you're starting to get just a little overconfident, if you know what I mean." Sam said.
"I'm not, I just know you're gonna win, no doubt about it." I said.
Sam and I quickly kissed each other, and went to sleep, ready for the swimming competition the next day.
(Who will win the competition tomorrow? Sam? Mandy? Somebody else? Leave some guesses in your reviews and I'll try to update as soon as I can.)