Drive You Home
Its funny how
Even now
You still support me after all the things that I've done…
"Can we please go home?" Sam asked Danny, having to raise her voice to be heard over the bass of the music that seemed to make the house shudder. Danny ignored her and continued to talk with Paulina and Kwan as he sipped his drink. Dash had spilt Danny's old one and insisted he replace it. Danny had eagerly accepted, wanting to win points with the popular crowd and a possible date with Paulina.
Rejected, Sam stormed away back into the shadows where she had spent the better part of the night. She loathed the popular clique but couldn't say no when Danny asked her to come. Even when he was being a total jerk, Sam found herself crumble when he talked to her. She found herself staring into his sapphire eyes and getting lost in them until he asked her what was wrong.
She loved him.
But, he loved Paulina.
You're so good to me
Waiting patiently
And isn't it sad that you still have to ask that I care…
Sam beat herself up inwardly with frustration and put her fingers to her temples trying to massage them. The terrible rap music was giving her a throbbing headache and she felt like she had to lie down or at least take some Advil.
"I wonder if Dash has any in his house," Sam asked herself and wandered into the hallway, past pictures of Dash holding dozens of football trophies. Near the end of the hall, Sam saw one with him in third grade holding a paper that was decorated like a diploma. It read 'Dash Baxter has been awarded the Terrific Kid Award! Congratulations! Signed, Principle Gladys Cox.' Sam almost laughed out loud as she made her way into the bathroom.
I never said I was perfect
But I can take you away…
After Sam had retrieved some Advil, she returned back into the living room where Danny was to try and make another attempt to make him drive her home. She spotted him in the corner with Valerie and began to make her way across the room.
Suddenly, she was stopped by Paulina. Sam tried to walk round her, but Paulina grabbed her by the elbow and turned her around, sending the contents of her soda spilling onto Sam's shirt. The whole room grew silent as Paulina laughed and emptied the last drops of her cup before putting a hand on Sam's shoulder and trying to look apologetic.
"Oh my," she exclaimed in a fake worried tone as Sam stood there trying to hold back tears. "I'm sorry! But, since you're driving home with him, I'm sure you wouldn't mind Danny wiping it off for you."
The entire room burst into a loud roar of laughter. Sam felt as if she were standing at the center of some demonic carousel ride with jeering faces circled around her. Paulina disappeared into the crowd as Sam caught Danny's eye watching her with sympathy. She lingered there, gazing at him for one moment more before running out of the house and slamming the door behind her.
Beneath the twilight, she finally gave into tears.
Walk on shells tonight
Can't do right tonight
And you can't say a word cause
I leap down your throat
So uptight am I….
Sam stood in the darkness, watching the moon intently. She loved the moon, that goddess of the night, with her court of stars and distant planets that helped to make her seem all the more royal. But, tonight the moon looked especially gorgeous as it peered down at the earth and at a lost soul in the shadows.
"Sam."
Danny put a hand on her shoulder, but she brushed it off bitterly, almost against her first impulse. She hated being angry with him, but tonight she couldn't help it; seeing the way he just stood in the sidelines, watching her get humiliated.
Sam, I never meant for…"
"Just forget it," Sam interrupted softly as Danny sighed behind her. She bit her lip and suppressed a few tears as he walked around her and down the steps to his car. He ran a hand threw his raven hair and looked up at her.
"Let me drive you home," he said, almost inaudible as he opened the passenger door for her to get in.
I never said I was perfect
But I can drive you home…
Sam stared out the window at the signs and streetlights that passed so swiftly. They hadn't uttered a word to each other since they started to drive away from the party. The radio was on, quietly playing a Garbage CD that skipped with every speed limit sign they passed. Danny tapped the rhythm of the song playing on the steering wheel and tried to sing a few of the words softly to try and cheer up Sam. The only response he got was a request for him to stop singing.
Sam noticed that Danny was driving a bit strange; he swerved a little on the highway and a few cars had blasted their horns at him. She leaned her head to the driver's seat and immediately smelled an odor of alcohol. She tried to remember back to the party…Of course! It was the cup that Dash had given him. Sam knew there was something funny about the way Dash had been so polite.
"Danny," she whispered looking straight at Danny. He seemed a bit surprised that she addressed him after not saying a pleasant word for exactly seventeen minutes.
"What's wrong Sam?" He asked her, noticing a hint of worry in her voice.
"Danny, I want you to pull over. You're not fit to drive." He looked at her as if she were an idiot and looked back to the road. "Danny, please, before you hurt someone! Let me drive you home…"
"No, Sam," he replied with a tone of finality that frightened her more than anything.
I got down on myself
Working too hard
Driving myself to death trying to beat out the thoughts in my head…
Suddenly, there was a car merging onto the freeway right where Danny's car was. Sam screamed for Danny to move but the alcohol had delayed his reaction until he was jerked to attention when the other car to collided into his. The impact sent their car spinning into the middle of the freeway and facing the opposing direction.
All they could see were the lights…
All they could hear was the screams and the tires…
And then darkness took over…
What a mess I've made
Sure we all make mistakes
But they see me so large that they think I'm immune to the pain…
The sound of sirens resonated in his ears along with the gasps and murmurs of the spectators watching as if it were a sport. Danny wanted to yell at them, but couldn't find his strength or his voice. There was only one thing on his mind:
Sam.
Was she okay? Where was she? He had a million questions to ask, but no one to ask them to. He was attached to a stretcher and was lifted in to an ambulance just as someone on a phone said, "Jack Fenton? County Hospital calling."
Blackness again….
Walk on shells tonight
Can't do right tonight
And you can't say a word cause
I leap down your throat
So uptight am I…
Danny awoke in a pastel room in the hospital, surrounded by nurses and strapped into machines that gave him water or monitored his heartbeat. There was a curtain that separated him from another person like a hand above a child's eyes. He heard the nurses o the other side murmur to the patient.
"Hold on, girl."
"You can do it! Be strong!"
"Hold on, Samantha!"
Sam.
"She's slipping away!"
Her machine started to become less consistent; it faded in and out. He heard her gasp for air and felt tears run down his face. He had to do something, but how could he with all these tubes attached to him.
Sam. Sam. Sam. Sam. Sam. Sam. Sam.
Suddenly, Danny lost all resistance. He took one hand and ripped the tubes out of his arms, shocking the nurses around him.
"Mr. Fenton, you have to stay in…"
Danny let his feet find the floor and he ran to the other side of the curtain where he found Sam. Blood covered her and bruises were beginning to form around her arms and face. She saw him staring at her, in horror at what he'd done, and she smiled as best as she could. He smiled back at her and tried to shoo his nurses away from tugging at his arms and chest.
Sam coughed and reached out a hand to Danny for him to take. He took it gently and kissed it like he saw a debonair leading man do in an old black and white movie they had watched together. She looked back into the eyes of the man she loved so much and let tears stream down her face as a nurse ran a tube of water into her arm.
"Danny," she breathed. He held her and tighter. "I love…"
The machine let out one monotonous beep and Danny sank to the floor beside her bed, cradling her in his arms as tears burst out of his eyes. He kissed her lips a dozen times, saying in between each one, "I love you, Samantha" as if he thought it would bring her back to life. But, it was no use. She was gone and it was all his fault.
I'm praying for a miracle
But I won't hold my breath…
Samantha
By Danny Fenton
"I can drive you home…"
The love of my life
Is now cold and dead
She died by my side
In that hospital bed.
I lie awake at night
And think about her still
Hoping tears will bring her back
But I know they never will.
Samantha died in peace
Though that night was filled with strife
You know I love her still
And will for all my life.
"I can drive you home…"
I never said I was perfect
But can you take me home…
The End