Chapter 8: Confessions

EJ gently brushed an errant blond strand of hair out of Sami's eyes. She looked so small and fragile hooked up to countless machines while lying lifeless on a hospital bed. He kissed her forehead and then collapsed into a chair next to her bed. He grasped her hand with both of his, afraid that if he let go, she would drift away. He mulled over the last few hours.

"How is she?" asked EJ pouncing on the tired surgeon as he came out of the OR.

"The bullets missed all major organs and arteries so we were able to stop the bleeding. But with the head injury coupled with the loss of blood… we won't know the extent of the injury until we do an MRI." The surgeon replied shaking his head.

"Are you saying that she could still die?" Elle, EJ's mother, asked getting to the point.

"No!" EJ said fiercely. "Samantha is a fighter, she will live; she has to. I want to see her, doctor."

"I'm sorry Mr. Wells but she's still in ICU and there are still several tests that need to be run…" The surgeon explained.

"Bollocks! If my grandson says he wants to see his fiancée, you are going to make that happen or I'll make sure you never work in any hospital again." Ace threatened.

"I'm sorry; Mr. Wells will have to wait. I cannot risk the health of my patient." The surgeon said firmly.

EJ ran this hand through his hair in frustration, he didn't need his grandfather making things worse. "Leave him alone Grandfather, he's just doing his job." He turned to the surgeon. "Please keep me informed of her progress."

"There's nothing to worry about EJ my boy, I'm having the best specialists flown here as we speak. She'll be right as rain soon." Ace said gruffly.

"What the hell happened?" Derrick asked using his long strides to reach his brother's side. For the first time since they were in their teens, EJ physically reached out to his brother and allowed his brother to comfort him. "It's all over the telly that Sam has been shot?"

"Derrick, she threw herself in front me and took the bullets meant for me. It should have been me. Why couldn't it have been me?" EJ said hoarsely releasing his brother and slumped into a chair holding his head in his hands.

Derrick squeezed his brother's shoulder in comfort hating feeling so helpless. "Don't say that EJ! She loves you enough to take a bullet for you; you're demeaning her sacrifice by wishing she hadn't done what was in her nature to do."

Anguished, EJ looked at his brother with bloodshot eyes. "You don't understand, Samantha and I… the relationship between us…" EJ wasn't able to finish as a police officer interrupted them.

"Are you Mr. Wells, Mr. EJ Wells?" The policeman asked uncomfortably as three pairs of unnerving eyes glared at him for his audacity to approach their group.

"Yes, I'm EJ Wells." EJ answered nodding to his family to stand down. He stood up to shake the policeman's hand.

"Hello, I'm Detective Marsh and there are a few questions; we need to ask you regarding the shooting." Detective Marsh said officially shaking EJ's hand.

"Have you apprehended the person who shot my brother's fiancée?" Derrick demanded his voice so forceful that the policeman took a step back.

"The hotel security was able to detain the shooter until the police arrived." Detective Marsh said quickly.

"Has she explained why she tried to shoot me?" EJ asked racking his brain as to the reason.

"So you are saying that you were the intended target and not your fiancée, Ms. Brady?" Detective March said pulling out a note pad and pen and started scribbling.

"The shooter was definitely aiming for me." EJ replied with certainty.

"What is your relationship with the shooter, Sheila Gardner?" Detective Marsh asked.

"I don't think I've met her acquaintance before..." EJ answered honestly.

Elle, Ace, and Derrick all drew in a sharp breath in surprise at the name Sheila Gardner.

"Detective, I think we need to talk alone." Derrick said trying to draw him away from his brother.

"No! I need to hear this, who is Sheila Gardner? Did you know her?" EJ asked his brother. By the way his family was avoiding his eyes, he knew they were trying to hide something.

"Sheila mistook you for me." Derrick admitted.

"You? Why was she trying to shoot you?" EJ asked but he had a sinking feeling he already knew the answer.

"Look, you need to concentrate on your fiancée, I'll deal with this." Derrick said avoiding the question.

"Why Derrick?" EJ accused blocking his brother from leaving. "Please don't tell me that it was because of the business."

"It was business…" Derrick tried to explain.

EJ looked betrayed and angry. "So Samantha may die because…" He was unable to finish the horrific thought. "Get away from me, all of you!" EJ said angrily turning his back on his family. He had futilely tried for years to change his family's ruthless business tactics and eventually had left the business because of it.

"I'm so sorry Samantha… Please try to wake up." EJ said as he pressed his lips against her cold hand. He was so preoccupied that he didn't see his brother slip into the room.

"Before I met you, the only time I felt alive was when I was racing over a hundred miles an hour around a track. Being around you gives me more of a thrill then racing ever did. I've never been needed by anyone before. I don't know what it is but I feel closer to you then any woman I've ever met and we've never even had sex. We understand each other even though we are so different. Let's face it the only thing we seem to have in common is that we are both the black sheep of our families." EJ paused at the thought. He could almost see Sami toss her hair trying to convince everyone that being the black sheep of the family didn't matter to her even though he knew it did.

"You have no idea how special you are. Underneath your insecurities, you have this beautiful indestructible core. You're so fearless in pursuit of love and you're never afraid of showing your emotions. Even after all the horrible things that have happened in your life, things that would make most people turn cold and emotionless like my family, you've never given up. Your friendship means everything to me Samantha. You're teaching me to dream about things I've never known existed or even wanted…"

Derrick's hand hovered over EJ's shoulder but he didn't dare touch his brother. He snuck out of the room determined to make things right for EJ whatever the cost.

Derrick's family intercepted him once he was outside.

"How is he holding up?" Ace asked.

"Sam means a lot more to him then we first calculated." Derrick replied thoughtfully watching his brother through the window. "She's seems to have helped him with his depression."

"A whole lot of good that does if she dies!" Elle spat out.

"Sam is not going to die, mother." Derrick said confidently, there was going to be hell to pay if that wasn't the truth.

"Well at least we have Jane as back up if things don't go according to plan." Ace said trying to be positive.

"He won't forgive us if Sam dies." Elle said. "Why did we have to push them together? If only we'd stuck to our original plan and used Jane."

"Our plan will still work, we just need to adjust or time line." Derrick said. "Besides, even if we had used Jane, I don't think she would have thrown herself in front of a bullet and it would be EJ lying in there with bullet wounds."

"Don't say such a thing, don't even think it!" Elle said horrified at the thought.

"I think we did a good job in picking this Sam girl. She has what it takes to be a Wells." Ace said giving his approval.

"The more I think about it, this could be a good thing." Derrick said thoughtfully.

"How so?" Elle asked, curious about Derrick's train of thought.

"The head injury might cause temporary amnesia which will give us more time to convince Sam that EJ is who she wants and not her real fiancé Austin." Derrick said warming to the idea. "If she doesn't wake up with amnesia, I'm sure there are drugs that could make her forget."

"Brilliant!" Elle and Ace exclaimed.

"The only problem I see is how to keep's Sam's family away long enough for us to put our plan into motion." Derrick continued.

"I've already sent Cat and Bree to Salem to delay them from coming up. It's a pity that the shooting is all over the news." Ace sighed.

"Jane volunteered to meet Lucas, the father of Sam's child, Will at the airport and give him the bad news about Sam. I called my contact at the airport to make sure Lucas is detained, that should keep him busy for at least 24 hours. Maybe Jane can find out why he was coming here to see Sam in the first place." Derrick said.

"I talked to Bree 15 minutes ago. She said that she was able to acquire, the perfect mansion for us in Salem. The previous owners were our old 'friends' the DeMiras. It' a pity that he's not around, without him it has been a little dull." Elle stressed the word "friends" meaning the opposite. The DiMera's and the Wells had been bitter business rivals for centuries. With the absence of DiMera presence in the business world, the Well's empire had grown considerably and had gotten a strong foothold in the states in the last year.

"The DiMeras were fools! Always obsessed with something or another!" Ace spat out. "I'm just glad that they are no longer a pain in my arse.