"Looking at you, looking at me and the view right now is beautiful and so unreal. And the world moves in slow motion all around us as you ask me how I feel."

-Acres, Georgia Gray

Chapter Seven

To Sam, it appeared that time had decided to stand still, freezing him in the most perfect moment of his life. That was his first thought upon waking, when he didn't know and where he wasn't quite sure but those factors didn't seem very important because he was snuggled warm in bed beside the girl of his dreams, who was still sleeping beside him.

Not bothering to devote his attention to deciding what time of day (or night?) it was, Sam instead concentrated on watching only Laura, who was unaware of his attention. Her head was rested upon his bare chest, her curls flowing down her cheeks and across his skin and she had one arm spread across his chest as well. Even though Sam had been hoping for this moment, dreaming for it, since he had laid eyes on Laura, he still found it hard to believe that it had happened. Him and Laura, together at last and, if it was possible, he loved her even more now then he did last night.

To Sam, Laura was the epitome of an angel and he wanted nothing more then to be with her again, to run his fingers through her hair and hear her whisper his name as he kissed her. He wanted to run his fingers down her back, wanted to feel her arms around his shoulders, wanted to make sure that she knew that she never had to be afraid again. Sam wanted to take care of her, to hold her and never let her go.

But Laura looked so beautiful lying against him, his beautiful porcelain doll, that Sam regretted ever having to wake her again. If she could remain forever in dreamland, then she would never have to worry again and he would watch over her forever and make sure that no harm ever came to her. But then, Sam knew that he couldn't stand to be away from her that long, to never hear her voice or see himself reflected in her eyes, so it was best that she'd wake up.
Regardless of what he wanted, which was only her, Sam decided to let Laura sleep, for there was no telling how long it would be before they had a real nights sleep again. While he didn't want to believe that they might be stuck in J.D.'s apartment for more then a handful of days, it was beginning to become more and more of a reality. And it was a reality that didn't make for pleasant dreams.

As silently as possible, Sam slipped out from beneath Laura, regretting every second that he was suddenly away from her. The air in the room was so cold, something he hadn't noticed when he had been in bed with her, that his teeth started chattering instantly and he was shivering horribly within seconds. Quickly, Sam retrieved his clothes and dressed himself with shaking hands, though that did little to elevate the cold; he could see his breath in a thick cloud in front of him and he knew that it was unnatural of it to be this cold. It was also unnatural for New York City to be buried beneath water, but a part of him hoped that that fact was nothing but a dream, that everything other then being with Laura had been a dream.

Sam tried to keep his teeth from chattering as he looked back at Laura again, who hadn't woken despite the sudden change. He noticed that she had started shivering as well, as though by moving away from her he had destroyed the only remaining heat in New York, and he wrapped the thick quilt around her shoulders, tucking it beneath her chin.

Smiling faintly to himself, Sam brushed Laura's hair away from her face and trailed his fingers gently across her cheek. In her sleep, Laura smiled as well but she didn't look any closer to waking then she had earlier. Sam knelt slightly and kissed her on the cheek, her skin warm against his lips. "I love you." He whispering, hoping that she heard him in her dreams. Now that he had said it once, he found himself wanting to tell Laura that he loved her every second; he wondered why he had been so afraid to do so before.

With a last look at his sleeping angel, Sam regretfully left the bedroom, leaving the door cracked so that he didn't seem so far away from Laura. The living room was even colder, if that was possible, then the bedroom had been. Frost crystals covered the windows, blanketing them and making it impossible to see even his own reflection. Sam quickly retrieved the blanket Laura had discarded hours before and wrapped it around his shaking shoulders. They'd have to start a fire soon, otherwise they would never get warm.

Though he knew it was useless, Sam went around the living room and methodically turned on all the lamps that he could find. None came on; the room was devoid of the familiar hum provided by electrical appliances and the streets beyond were utterly silent. It was like being trapped in some sort of bubble, and he knew that was a fitting metaphor; he and his friends were trapped in the apartment until help came. And that didn't seem very likely.

With a sigh, Sam dropped onto the couch and buried his face in his hands. The probability of someone coming for them, especially since no one knew where they were, was even more unlikely today as it had been today. He felt utterly helpless, trapped without even the knowledge of what time of day it was. It could still be the middle of the night for all he knew, or mid-afternoon, or even evening. Sam wanted to get up and do something, anything, and felt utterly defeated when he realized that there was nothing he could do.

Sam didn't uncover his face until he heard one of the bedroom doors bump against the wall, signaling the someone else in the apartment had woken. Seconds later, Laura appeared with a smile on her face that Sam found seductive, wrapped in the blanket from the bed.

Without a word, Laura came over to the couch and dropped onto Sam's lap, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, engulfing him in a mixture of fabric and her curls. Giggling quietly, Laura kissed him, her eyes shining and a smile on her face. Sam wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her even closer to him, kissing her forehead and brushing her hair away from her face. "Hey beautiful." He kissed her on the tip of her nose. "Did I wake you?"

Laura shook her head. "No, but I wish you had." She rested the back of her head against Sam's shoulder, allowing him to cradle her in his arms. "What are you doing out here? You should come back to bed." She grinned at him.

"That's very tempting." Sam murmured, kissing her again. "I was just checking to see if the power had come back on." He sighed. "But it's still out."

Laura sighed and snuggled closer to him. "I guess the heat's gone out too." She shivered and drew the blanket higher around her shoulders. "It's so cold."

Sam held her tighter, rubbing his hands up and down her arms in an attempt to banish some of the chill. Laura smiled and he knew that he would never get tired of seeing her beautiful smile, especially now that he knew she was smiling for him. Suddenly, he didn't care that they were trapped in an isolated apartment; he had Laura and that was all that mattered. He wanted to stay there forever with her.

Laura trailed her fingers along Sam's arm, almost absently. "I love you, Sam." She mumbled off-handedly, lifting his hand and kissing his fingers. You saved me, she wanted to tell him; there was so much she wanted to say but, somehow I love you seemed perfect. At least for a moment.

Sam kissed the top of her head, then her cheek. "I love you too." He told her and he did. He had never loved anyone like he loved her and he knew that he'd never love anyone like that again; though he wasn't thinking much beyond her, because he wanted to be with her forever.

Several moments passed in perfect silence, with Sam holding Laura and Laura allowing herself to be held. Despite the situation, Laura didn't think she had ever felt safer then she did at the moment, wrapped in Sam's arms, trying to fight off the cold. It didn't seem as though they were trapped in an apartment, which had become an island surrounded by an ocean that had once been New York City. She didn't want to believe that this was anything but normal morning, if it even was morning, with the man that she loved.

But it wasn't normal, as much as she'd like to believe and Laura sighed quietly, forcing herself to ask, "What's going to happen to us?" Before Sam could ask her to clarify just what she was talking about, Laura did it herself. "Do you think help will come?"

Sam trailed his fingers gently down her cheek and she shivered slightly because his fingers had become like ice. But Laura still welcomed his touch and snuggled closer against him. "Of course." He assured her, though he wasn't quite sure whether it would or not. But that wasn't the sort of thing you told the woman you loved. "We just have to find some way to let them know we're inside."

Laura nodded, almost thoughtfully. "How are we going to do that?" She questioned, though she wasn't sure she wanted to hear Sam's answer. She knew that there wasn't an answer and that scared her; she didn't like not having a plan, especially when that plan assured her survival. But here she was, trapped in a city she barely knew, with little hope of escape. Suddenly, she wanted to cry but repressed her tears, resting her cheek against Sam's chest.

Sam didn't answer Laura's question; this was something he hadn't thought of. In time, he knew, he could come up with some kind of idea, some sort of plan. But he didn't know how much time he had.

It was around midnight when Robert Coleman realized this his soon to be ex-wife had forgotten to do the grocery shopping for the week. That was around the same time that he realized that the sad excuse for a hamburger he had had earlier that day wasn't going to do much when it came to fighting off his hunger anymore. He figured he'd been so caught up in trying to figure out what had happened to his beloved city that he hadn't thought much about how hungry he had soon become.

Well, the fact that New York City was flooded no longer seemed important as Coleman stormed around his kitchen, flinging open cabinets and searching for food inside. Aside from a stale box of cereal and a package of ground beef that he couldn't cook anyway, the apartment was surprisingly bare. It was like something you expected to find in an empty house, not a fully functional and expensive New York apartment. Coleman mentally cursed his wife for knowing every take-out number by heart and forgetting how to use the stove.

And, as life seemed to go, Coleman found himself even hungrier now that he knew that there was no food. It was like realizing you were about to die of thirst when you were stuck in a desert. Trying to push aside his food cravings, Coleman decided to make due with the box of cereal and sat down on his floor, beside the lone flashlight he had uncovered beneath the junk in his closet, attempting to find of anything but his situation.

However, there wasn't a whole lot to think about, once he realized that most of what he occupied his mind with was now underwater. He couldn't think about work because there was no more work; baseball didn't matter anymore either, because the green was submerged. Coleman couldn't even fluster himself by thinking about his ex-wife because, chances were, she was buried beneath the water as well.

That thought should have made Coleman smile but it didn't. All he could think about was that he had no food, little reliable water, no electricity and no way out of the city. He started thinking about how long a person could survive without food before dying of starvation or being driven totally mad. He figured that the latter would happen first and he dreaded the thought of himself, driven crazy because he couldn't have a cheeseburger.

Coleman eagerly pushed that thought aside. It would do him no good thinking like that, because it wouldn't come to that. Before he had to even worry about hallucinating, he would be rescued. Sooner or later, someone would come for him.

Laura had fallen asleep once more, cradled in Sam's arms, still shivering because of the cold but seeming, for the large part, oblivious. Sam held her against him, his chin resting on her shoulders, listening to her quiet breathing and trying to think of nothing else. He wished that things were different, that he was safely at home on his own couch with Laura in his lap and the only thought in his head of her.

But there was so much more bogging down his mind that Sam knew he couldn't even begin to tackle all the problems they would soon be faced with. Sure, they had food now but what would happen in a week or less when all the food had run out and they still hadn't been rescued from J.D.'s apartment. And water was an even more pressing problem; with the growing cold, Sam had begun to worry that the pipes would freeze and cut off their water supply. When Laura and Brian woke, he was going to have to get them to start filling whatever they could with water, though he didn't know what good that would do.

At the moment, Sam was worried the most about the cold; if the temperature continued to drop, there was going to be no way for them to fight off the chill and stay warm. The heat clearly wasn't functioning and he doubted they could find enough blankets for all three of them to successfully stay warm.

If they could just get in touch with someone, let someone, anyone, know where they were, then maybe they had a chance. But without that-

Laura shivered in his arms and murmured something in her sleep, snuggling closer against Sam's chest. Sam couldn't bare the thought of something happening to her, not something so horrible as starving or freezing to death. If anything happened to Laura, he knew without a doubt that he couldn't handle a life without her. For the first time in his life, he finally understood Romeo and Juliet.

Sam sighed and pulled Laura closer to him. There had to be some way to get them out of this apartment and somewhere safe. But, unless they found a canoe, he couldn't come up with anything at the moment.

Down the hallway, one of the bedroom doors opened and Brian emerged seconds later, his teeth chattering, his shoulders shaking so badly that the blanket he had wrapped around them nearly flew off. "It is too god-damn cold," he complained noisily as soon as he saw his friend, "to be nature."

Sam motioned for him to keep his voice down and gestured toward Laura, who was still sleeping on his lap. He had reasoned long ago that she could sleep through anything but he still didn't want to take the chance of waking her. Brian raised an eyebrow when he saw Laura's new sleeping arrangement and sat down on the other end of the couch to look at his friend. "So you finally did it?" He remarked. "You finally told her you loved her."

Sam couldn't help but smile. "Something like that." He agreed, which only caused more curiosity to fill Brian's face. Before his friend could say anything, Sam intervened, saying with a sly grin, "You know I don't kiss and tell."

Brian rolled his eyes. "That's just like you Sam." He mumbled. "You're the worst gossiper."

"Brian, I surprised," Sam said with false concern, "you care more about what happened between Laura and I last night then the fact that we're stuck in an apartment building."

His friend shrugged. "What can I say," Brian sighed, "I'm just trying to ignore that fact for as long as possible."

Sam sighed as well. "I know what you mean but ignoring it won't change the fact that it's happened." He pointed out, shifting his weight and causing Laura to mumble something inaudible but clearly indignant. He kissed her forehead. "We've got to get out of here."

Brian nodded slowly. "I know, I've been thinking about that for most of the night." He sighed. "If it even is night; do you have a watch?" Sam shook his head. "I can't come up with any ways to get us out of here."

"Me neither." Sam muttered reluctantly. He didn't want to admit that he didn't know what to do, that he didn't know how to save his own life.

"So, unless Sleeping Beauty there has any ideas, I think it's safe to say we're screwed." Brian deduced.

Sam's brow furrowed. "Don't say that." He mumbled. "We'll think of something." But he wasn't so sure.

It was no surprise to Jack that Lucy wasn't asleep by the time one A.M. rolled around. Her worry for Sam and her often erratic sleeping schedule at the hospital were more then enough to keep her awake. So, when he found his ex-wife sitting in his office -where she had bedded for the night- looking at childhood pictures of Sam, Jack decided the best thing to do would be to join her.

Lucy didn't even look up when he entered, her mind totally focused on the frame photograph in her hands. "I love this picture." She told him absently, trailing her finger across the image of eight-year-old Sam standing beside a mound of sand that had once been a castle.

Jack smiled faintly when he saw the picture she was holding. "So do I." He told her, and he did. The sight of his son, looking either very angry or quite pleased that his labors had been destroyed by the tide, always seemed to make him smile. "When was that taken?" He questioned.

"In Miami." Lucy told him, looking away from the picture finally, a slightly accusing look on her face. "Remember, you were in Alaska, doing research on your doctorate." Jack winced slightly. "Sam and I went with my sister."

Jack sighed and nodded slowly, though he regretted very minute of it. "I was never home." He decided aloud, though Lucy made no remark. "It's only when something bad happens that you realize all the mistakes you've made."

"Don't say that Jack," Lucy admonished. "You've been a good father." Even to her, her words sounded hollow but they were true. Jack loved Sam, no one could argue that, but he wasn't always around to show it.

Jack sighed and perched himself on the edge of his desk. "I just wish..." He sighed once more and Lucy could see his weakness, his sudden inability to handle things. "When he comes back, things are going to be different."

Lucy rested her hand on Jack's shoulder and smiled faintly; she found it amazing that he could speak so lightly about Sam's absence, as though he really was just off on a school trip. But she admired his assurance that Sam would come home, sooner or later, unharmed, acting as though never had ever happened.

"Don't worry." Lucy said with more strength then she knew she had. "He'll come back to us."

Thanks for all the great reviews, I love you guys. It's good to know that I'm not writing this for nothing. Lily: You need to update! Remember what I said about the birds and the fat dog! Wally: Where'd you go? We miss you around here! Punkin: Thanks for the reviews, you're getting better at that harassing thing. And L.B., my best friend, don't let the bad reviews get you down. As they said in "Ella Enchanted", you've just got to grin and bare it (does that remind you of Anne Hathaway with that creepy smile on her face?). I can't wait to read your Parker story so... "hop to it." Okay, I'm going to stop with the "Ella Enchanted" references. Remember that I love you! Keep up those reviews!