Day 7 – Family ("Hands")
In the end, only kindness matters.
-"Hands" (1998) by Jewel
O-O-O
Luna and Sam didn't usually spend much of their time thinking about the future. They were two hard rockin' girlfriends who loved to live for the moment, and in the year or so that they'd been dating, they'd done plenty of that. They made music, they went places together, and they spent a lot of time just looking for new things they loved to do.
But this afternoon, as the two of them sat in the front yard together in front of Sam's house, they were thinking about the future... their future, together. They weren't alone: Lana had asked Luna to bring her over so she could spend time hanging out with Sam outside the animal shelter, and Luna had obliged, even though it might cut down on the amount of making out the two of them would be able to do. They didn't mind keeping an eye on Lana as they talked to each other and played their guitars in the grass... it was a beautiful day, and they had plenty of time to enjoy each other's company.
"So, I been thinkin' about college..." said Luna, looking up at Sam as the latter strummed a few notes on her acoustic guitar. "What I wanna study and all that stuff, you know?"
"And?" Sam said curiously, leaning in. "Gonna go to a local school, or somewhere a bit farther away?"
The two hadn't talked much about college, but they'd been planning for it over their junior year, and both had taken their first entrance exams. Sam had outscored Luna, but they both scored well enough to get into a decent school, and both of them had plenty of extracurriculars as well. Of course, ideally they'd be able to go to college together, but if one of them got into a really nice school, the other wouldn't stand in their way.
"Well... I got a call last week from somebody," said Luna, looking up at Sam. Her face was a mixture of worry and pride, and Sam wasn't quite sure how to read it. "Some fancy big shot lady from New York City. Guess they've been watchin' my online videos and my concerts, and askin' around about me..."
"Oh?" Sam replied, leaning in a bit more. "What'd they say?"
"The lady who called me wanted me to audition to go to Juilliard," said Luna.
"Oh my god, Luna, that's amazing!" Sam said excitedly.
"I know, they're like the number one music school in the country."
"It's a huge honor to go there, and super hard to get in! Luna, they hardly ever ask people to audition, usually you have to apply to them! They must know how talented you are!"
"Yeah..." said Luna, rubbing the back of her neck. "I mean, my SAT scores weren't so great, I didn't think I had a shot at getting into a school like that, but the lady said that with my music talent, they could overlook it..."
"You got an 1120, that's not bad!"
"It's not as good as your 1300."
"But still! Luna, that's awesome, you should schedule an audition!"
"But Sam, what about you? I mean, are you gonna audition too?"
Sam let out a sigh. She was still smiling, but she shook her head before beginning to speak again.
"I mean, I could probably give it a go, but I don't think I want to go to Juilliard," said Sam. "I don't think music's what I want to do for my career."
"Really? But you love music!"
"Yeah, but I'm not sure it's what I want to do for a living my entire life, you know? I'll always love to play it, and I could totally see still being in a band for fun, especially with you, but I'm not sure I want to go to a music school, you know?"
"Right," said Luna. She sounded a bit disappointed, but tried to hide it as best she could, especially since she didn't even know if going to Juilliard was something she wanted to do either. It was a huge commitment... a difficult course load, having to move to New York City... and of course, if Sam wasn't there, that added a whole new layer of uncertainty.
"Luna, you know if you got into Juilliard, I'd come with you. There's a lot of schools in New York, I'd apply to every single one of them and I'm sure I could get in, then I could see you every day, you know we'd come visit each other. We'd hang out, go for pizza, see Broadway shows... it'd be really fun!"
Luna could feel her disappointment fading as Sam reassured her. Sam even reached over and took Luna's hands, something that always managed to calm her down, cheer her up, or often both.
"I don't even know if I want to go to Juilliard, ya know?"
"But it's a huge honor, Luna!"
"I'm pretty sure they don't have a course on Mick Swagger."
"True, but you could learn all kinds of stuff about music even you didn't know before. Music theory, composition, conducting..."
"Dude, I totally know all that stuff already! I write my own music all the time, and I've already looked up all that music theory stuff online... and conducting? What am I gonna conduct with, my guitar?"
The two girls exchanged a laugh, and Luna briefly looked up at the sky before looking back down at her hands, then looking at Sam. She sighed, smiling wistfully.
"But... it would be pretty cool to go... study with all those other people who like music as much as I do... hang out in the big city, play concerts with the best young musicians in the world... but only if you're there with me. If you're not in New York City with me, I ain't goin'."
"Well, I'd never stand in your way... you know I'd be okay with a long distance relationship, I know we'd make it work somehow."
"I know, like Lori and Bobby... but I wanna spend time with you, all the time, every day..."
Sam just smiled and reached up, stroking Luna's cheek with her hand. Luna reached up and took it, and Sam purred softly as she felt Luna's soft hands gripping hers, even leaning over and planting a few kisses on her fingertips.
"So... if you don't wanna study music, what do you wanna study?" Luna asked.
"Well... actually, the thing is, I was thinking about studying to be-"
The next sound both girls heard was a loud, high-pitched scream from around the side of the house. Luna and Sam both gasped, realizing that scream could only have come from...
"LANA!"
Both girls got up, leaving their guitars in the front yard and running to Lana's side as quickly as they could. When they got there, they saw that the young girl was kneeling in the grass, her lip quivering, tears pouring down her cheeks. Luna rushed to her, and Sam was right behind, both older girls fearing the worse, and mentally berating themselves for taking their eyes off of her.
"Lana, what happened, are you okay?" Luna asked, kneeling beside her little sister and gently lifting her head with her hand. "Are you hurt?"
"N...no...b...but...HOPS!"
Lana held her beloved frog up in her hands for Luna to see, and Luna immediately let out a gasp of fright. The frog had suffered a severe laceration to its belly, and both Luna and Sam could see blood pouring out, as well as a small portion of its exposed internal organs.
"Oh my god, Lana, what happened?" Sam asked, putting a hand to her mouth in fright when she saw Hops' condition.
"A... a big bird came by and tried to grab Hops in its beak...!" Lana stammered through sniffles and tears. "I scared it away, but it... it... Hops!"
The frog was barely conscious, and Sam immediately recognized the severity of its injuries, while Luna continued to place a comforting hand on Lana's back.
"It's okay Lana, we'll take Hops to the vet, it's just a few minutes away from Sam's!"
"No," said Sam, shaking her head.
"Sam...?" Luna replied, looking up at her while still comforting Lana.
"Sam, what... what are you saying, are you saying... it's too late?"
"No, I'm saying that a normal vet can't handle a situation like this," said Sam. "We'll need to take Hops to the emergency trauma vet in Detroit, right here."
Sam took out her phone and pulled up the hospital's location. Luna shook her head.
"Sam, that's on the other side of the city, it's a half hour away!"
"What?!" Lana yelled, shaking her head as well. "Hops won't last that long!"
"They're the only animal hospital in the area that can treat an injury like this, and we have to hurry! Luna, you'll have to drive, Lana, get in the van with Hops, I'm going to run inside real fast and grab some first aid supplies. I'll have to treat Hops on the way there, if we can keep him stable he might have a chance..."
As Sam ran back into her house, Lana carefully walked Hops over to Sam's family's van, while Luna stayed with her and tried her best to comfort her little sister.
"It's... it's all my fault, Luna, I saw the bird coming but I couldn't stop it in time..."
"Dude, it's okay... you saved Hops by scarin' the bird away, he's gonna be fine, we'll get him to that animal hospital and they'll make him all better, I promise..."
"But... but you said it's a half hour away... Hops... Hops might not have that much time..."
The two Loud sisters looked at Hops, who was clearly in significant pain but was trying his best to stay awake and alive for Lana. He looked over at Lana, who tried to comfort him as best she could, gently cradling him as she got in the back seat of the van and stroking his head with her hand.
"Hops, buddy, it's gonna be okay, you just gotta hang in there...!"
"Luna, here's the keys," said Sam suddenly, handing Lana the keys to her parents' van while holding her emergency animal first aid kit in her other hand. "Just drive as fast as you can, it's a weekend so there shouldn't be as much traffic on 75, just get us to that hospital and I'll work on Hops until we get there."
Sam climbed into the back seat next to Lana, and after making sure the little girl was properly belted up, put on her own seatbelt as Luna climbed into the drivers' seat.
"Sam... Sam, please..." sobbed Lana, her hands trembling as she gave Hops over to the older girl. "Please save Hops, he's my best friend, I love him so much...!"
"Oh, Lana, I know, I promise I'll do what I can... I've never worked on an amphibian before but I'm going to try to keep Hops stable until we get to the trauma vet... Lana, it's going to be okay."
As Sam took Hops and tried to comfort Lana, Luna pulled quickly out of the driveway and began racing down the street, making a beeline for Interstate 75. She looked back at Sam and Lana, and could see her little sister crying desperately, while Sam had Hops on a towel draped over her legs.
"Luna, try not to hit any bumps," said Sam, giving her girlfriend a worried but trusting look.
"I can't make any promises," replied Luna, who was already going about fifteen miles an hour over the speed limit.
"And don't speed too much, if we get stopped-"
"I know!" Luna shouted back, before letting out a long sigh. "Sorry, I just..."
"We all want to save Hops," said Sam, before smiling warmly at Lana. "And we will... just stay positive and believe that Hops will be okay. I'm sure it'll do a lot to help him if he sees that you're confident, okay Lana?"
"Uh huh..." Lana said. She was nodding, but her eyes were still terrified, and full of tears. She looked at Hops and tried to form a smile even as she trembled in her seat. "It'll... it'll be okay, buddy... we'll get you to the vet, and in the meantime, Sam's gonna take good care of you, all right?"
Hops nodded and gave a weak croak, but still looked to be in enormous pain. Sam looked down at him and tried to give a smile of her own, but she too was worried and trembling slightly, as her mind tried to focus and concentrate on everything she knew about giving first aid to a frog.
Okay, Sam, thought the blonde, trying to psyche herself up to begin administering life-saving first aid to Lana's beloved frog. You've got this. Just take it easy and remember what you've done before.
Sam steadied her hands and grabbed an eye dropper from the first aid kit, filling it with a clear liquid from a small pouch. She set down the eye dropper and rubbed some water on her hands before next working to close the wound that the frog had sustained, using her hands to hold it closed after making sure the frog's internals were back inside its body.
"Sam, what are you doing? Using your bare hands?"
"It's okay, Lana, I wet them down first, but if I use gloves it could irritate Hops' skin, just a little bit of water is enough to make him comfortable so he won't jump around when I'm trying to close his wound. Next, I'm going to take some of this saline solution and apply it to the wound, and then I'm going to use some bacitracin..."
"Oh man," Lana whispered, another tear sliding down her face. "I've been helping animals so long, but I barely even know how to treat injured ones..."
"You're really good at protecting animals, Lana, that's why you're not very experienced with helping them when they get hurt."
"Some protector I am, I let my best friend almost get eaten by a scary bird! Oh, Hops, I'm so sorry...! ...Sam, I... I'll let you work, it must be hard to concentrate with me crying like this..."
"It's okay, Lana... so far so good..."
As Sam continued to work, Luna kept driving, pulling onto the interstate and immediately getting into the fast lane. She began to drive as quickly as she safely could, pulling ahead of slower cars as she did so, and following the directions Sam had sent her on her phone. The animal hospital was still 20 minutes away... and as tempted as Luna was to look back and check on her sister and Sam, she knew she had to keep her eyes on the road, especially when she was going this fast.
"Sam, how's it going...?"
"I'm still working, just focus on getting us there and I know Hops will be okay."
Sam tried to sound confident, but her heart was beating rapidly as she continued her delicate work on Hops. She'd managed to stop the bleeding, at least for the moment, and she was now working to apply saline and bacitracin to Hops' wound, in an effort to stave off infection.
"The good thing... about frogs... is that their wounds heal quickly," said Sam, carefully using the eye dropper to make sure just the right amount of saline solution was being applied to the right spots. "So once Hops gets treatment, he should make a full recovery..."
"But... but he's got to survive first, doesn't he?" asked Lana, her lip trembling as she watched Sam work. "He... he doesn't look so good..."
Sam could tell that Hops was struggling just to stay conscious, and still in tremendous pain. She didn't know what kind of internal injuries the frog had sustained, though the fact that his internal organs were visible when Lana found him wasn't a good sign. She had no way to tell what kind of damage there was, all she could do was heal what damage she could, prevent any further damage, and pray.
After Sam finished applying the saline solution, she began applying the bacitracin, which would hopefully prevent the wound from becoming infected... something that was absolutely vital, due to the wound's severity. As she did so, Hops let out a quiet croak, and his eyes contorted in pain. He even kicked out his legs and shook on Sam's lap, and Lana let out a scream.
"Oh no, HOPS! Sam, stop, you're hurting him!"
"I have to apply this antibacterial medicine, or he could get an infection... I know it stings, but I don't have a choice."
"That medicine, isn't there medicine that doesn't hurt...? Mom used that stuff on me when I got a scrape and it didn't hurt anymore!"
"There's a topical antibacterial medicine with a painkilling additive, but that additive is poisonous to frogs, so we can only use the basic stuff," said Sam, using a cotton swap to continue applying the bacitracin, even as Hops winced in pain. "Hops, I'm sorry... but this is the only way to save you..."
Sam gave Hops a comforting smile, and the frog's kicking ceased, though Hops still looked extremely distressed, and was wincing as Sam continued to apply the medicine. Sam looked over at Lana.
"Lana, if you want to make Hops feel better, you could try singing to him..."
"Okay, buddy..." said Lana, who began to sing softly to her frog, even as more tears slid down her face. Sam finished applying the medicine, and put away the cotton swab as Lana continued to sing. Sam looked over and could see the tears still coming down Lana's cheeks, and felt a tear of her own slide down her face as she grabbed something else from inside the first aid kit.
Sam reached over and placed a hand on Lana's, joining her in her song for a few seconds as Luna continued to drive down the interstate as quickly as she could. Lana sniffled, looking up into Sam's eyes, and Sam gave her an encouraging smile. Sam then noticed just how fast the cars were going by, and stole a look at the van's speedometer.
"Luna..." said Sam, loud enough to get her girlfriend's attention.
"Yeah?"
"Luna, you're going 90."
"I know, we gotta get Hops to the hospital!"
"Luna, you're going ninety miles an hour with your little sister in the car. Slow down. ..just a little."
Sighing, but realizing that Sam was right, Luna decelerated slightly, and Sam watched as the speedometer ticked back down below 80.
"Sam, we gotta hurry!" said Lana, more tears falling down her face. Sam gripped her hand and gave her another encouraging smile.
"It'll be all right... we'll make it, I know we will."
Then, Sam set to work on continuing to treat Hops, her hands shaking slightly as she pulled a small medical suturing kit out of the box. She'd only applied stitches to an animal twice before in her life, and never to a frog, but she knew that she couldn't keep Hops' wound closed any other way. It would be an amateur job that she hoped would hold long enough to get to the trauma vet... but with Luna's slower driving, it was still 15 minutes away.
"I'll need to concentrate for this," said Sam quietly. "And Lana, I'll need you to hold Hops still for me while I apply the sutures."
"You're.. stitching him up?"
"Only temporarily, until we get Hops to the vet. Luna, go ahead and call them to let them know we're coming."
"Right," said Luna, pressing a button on the steering wheel and using the phone's hands-free function to dial up the trauma vet as the van continued down the road. "Is this the South Detroit Animal Trauma Center? We got a badly injured frog, a bird attacked him and he's gonna need help, like, immediately!"
As Luna continued talking with the vet, and Lana gently held Hops' legs down so Sam could work, Sam began the careful process of suturing Hops' wound, making sure not to penetrate anything vital. She had to pause for a few seconds at a time whenever her hands started shaking too much, struggling to stay calm as she listened to Lana's sobs.
"Lana, you're being such a brave girl... and Hops, you're being so brave too..."
Hops winced as Sam applied the sutures, and was still clearly struggling to stay awake. At times, it seemed like the frog was struggling just to breathe, and every time Lana saw Hops struggling, she couldn't help but cry. Sam, watching as Hops trembled in pain, began shedding several tears of her own, but she blinked them away and continued to work, praying that Luna would avoid any bumps in the road.
"Luna, Sam, I'm so scared Hops is gonna die...!"
"Lana, it's okay, Sam knows what she's doin', it's not too far now, the hospital said they can see Hops as soon as we bring him in, I just gotta get him there! Lana, you know Hops loves you more than anything in the world, he's fightin' right now for you, you gotta believe that!"
"I know, but he's hurting so much and it's all my fault!"
"It's not your fault, and Hops knows that," said Sam, managing a smile even as she performed the most delicate operation of her entire life. "Hops loves you so much, he doesn't blame you for what happened, and he's strong, he's real strong...!"
Luna felt a tear slide down her face as she pulled off the interstate... the hospital was only a few minutes away, and as she pulled onto the road that the hospital was on, Sam finished suturing Hops and put her supplies away, applying a small bandage to the wound to keep it closed. After she finished, she looked down at the frog, and though its wound had been closed, there was still a worrying amount of blood on the towel... and Hops' breathing was still badly labored.
"Oh, Hops... we're not gonna make it...!"
"Come on..." Sam whispered, looking into the frog's eyes and gently holding it in her hands, as Lana's hands joined her in holding Hops and gently stroking him. "Lana, Hops is going to make it."
"No... no..." Lana whispered, watching as Hops closed his eyes. Sam blinked back more tears, looking up toward Luna... the van was on a crowded road right now, she couldn't ask her girlfriend to drive any faster.
"I'm almost there..." said Luna, sniffling but keeping both hands on the wheel, letting the tears slowly fall down her cheeks. "Lana, Hops is gonna be fine, I promise he will!"
Lana looked back down at Hops... the frog was still breathing, but barely, with both eyes closed.
"Hops... HOPS!"
Lana's normally calm and raspy voice turned into a shrill, terrified scream. She sobbed violently and tried to stir her beloved frog, but he wasn't moving. Sam choked out a sob as well, her tears joining Lana's on Hops and on the towel, as the animal trauma hospital came into sight through the window.
"Come on... come on...!" Luna called out, looking back at Sam and Lana for a moment before making the last turn toward the hospital. "We're almost there, Lana, just a block now..."
"Hops, please, please don't leave me!" Lana screamed, picking up her frog and gently cradling it in her arms. Sam just leaned back into her seat and looked at Luna, who looked back at her again as she pulled into the parking lot.
"Luna, I'm sorry, I did everything I could...!"
"Sam..."
Sam let out another loud sob and put her head in her hands, and Luna would've immediately wrapped her arms around her to comfort her if she wasn't pulling into the closest parking spot available. As soon as Luna got parked, Lana threw open the door to the van, and still holding Hops, ran toward the front entrance of the hospital with Sam and Luna right behind her. The three girls dashed into the reception room, and as Sam and Luna rushed up to the desk, Lana ran screaming into the hallway, crying out her frog's name and desperately begging for help.
"PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP HOPS, HE'S DYING!"
Fortunately, the lead veterinarian there had been expecting them, and though he wasn't quite expecting to see a desperate, hysterical seven-year-old girl holding a dying frog running through his hospital, he quickly rushed to Lana and took Hops with an understanding expression on his face.
"It's all right, I'll do what I can for Hops, I promise."
"Please, please, save him, he's my best friend!" screamed Lana, falling to her knees with tears streaking down her face. As she begged the doctor to save Hops, a tearful Luna and Sam quickly ran up behind Lana and gently helped her up, with Luna taking Lana and hugging her tightly, while Sam approached the doctor and calmly explained what had happened.
"He was attacked by a bird and we rushed him here," said Sam. "I applied first aid as best I could, I even sutured the wound, but I don't know if I was able to do enough in time to save him... but... please... please save Hops, he means so much to my friend Lana... he's... like family."
Luna nodded, and Lana gave the doctor one more desperate look. The doctor nodded, gently taking Hops and placing him on a wheeled table.
"I'll do everything I can," said the vet. "In the meantime, you'll need to wait outside in the reception area."
"But... but... I want to stay with Hops!" Lana sobbed, trying to pull away from Luna.
"Lana," said Sam, kneeling down in front of Lana and getting on her level. "The doctor needs to be able to concentrate to do his work, just like me... you'll see Hops soon."
"But...!"
Sam reached over and gently wiped the tears from Lana's face, while Luna leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her sister's forehead.
"Ya gotta trust the vet, and trust that Sam did a good enough job that Hops will be okay," said Luna, before looking at Sam and giving her a warm smile. "I trust her, how about you?"
Lana looked back at Sam, then softly nodded, though she was still shedding tears as Luna gently led her over to a chair to sit down.
"...I just hope I did the right thing," said Sam, running her hands through her hair as she fretted. "I've... never treated an amphibian before."
"Are you familiar with animal care?" asked the vet, as an assistant took Hops into the surgical room.
"I volunteer at an animal shelter in Royal Woods," Sam replied.
"And your name...?"
"Sam Sharp," she told him.
"Well, Ms. Sharp, it sounds like you did everything you could," said the vet, smiling at Sam. "We'll take it from here... you should go and be with your friends."
"Right," said Sam, somewhat reassured but still quite worried as she walked back over to sit down with Luna and Lana. "...this is a really good hospital, Lana. I'm sure Hops will get the best care... he's got a really good chance to make it."
As Lana took one last look at the table carrying Hops, and watched the vet and his assistant disappear into the surgical room, she turned back around, put her head in her hands, and started sobbing again.
The young girl wasn't reassured in the slightest... and Luna wasn't either, giving Sam a worried look as she sat down.
"Sam... be honest... how's it lookin'?"
"I'm not a vet, Luna, but..."
Sam leaned in, whispering in Luna's ear.
"Hops was barely breathing," she said, and a hint of another sob could be heard in her voice. "He lost so much blood... I... I don't know, Luna, I really don't know."
"Sam?" asked Lana, looking into Sam's eyes and trying to figure out what she'd just whispered to her older sister. "How's Hops... tell me, tell me straight, is Hops gonna make it?"
Sam smiled and held Lana's hands tightly, only for Lana to rip them away.
"No, no, no, NO! Sam, be HONEST with me, is Hops gonna be okay?!"
Sam took a deep breath as she looked into Lana's eyes. She sighed, and steeled herself to do the most painful thing she'd ever done in her entire life, even more painful than the fights she'd had with Luna, even more painful than any of her rock climbing injuries... she looked into that little girl's eyes and told her the truth.
"Lana, it... doesn't look good."
"...no...!" Lana screamed, before collapsing into sobs in Sam's arms. Sam just held Lana tightly, hugging her tighter than she ever had before, her hands caressing the girl's back as she tried desperately to comfort her. "Hops...Hops...no, Hops...!"
As Sam held the sobbing, screaming little girl in her arms, tears poured down her own cheeks as well, and as she looked into Luna's eyes, she could see Luna start crying again too. She gave Luna a hopeless look, not knowing what to say or do that could possibly make any of this better... she was absolutely speechless, and could only look helplessly into Luna's eyes, powerless to do anything at all to make things okay.
She just held Lana and continued caressing her back, remembering times when she'd comforted her little brother Simon when he was feeling sad. It was a familiar feeling, and as Sam felt waves of sadness going through her with every one of Lana's tearful sobs, she felt for the first time just how much she cared for her. For the first time, Lana felt like a member of her family, like her own little sister, and as Sam looked once again into Luna's eyes, she could see that Luna wasn't even trying to comfort Lana because she knew... she knew that Sam could do just as good a job.
And indeed, Lana's sobbing slowed the more Sam held her in her arms, until it stopped entirely. Lana was still crying, but not nearly as loudly as before, and Sam felt a familiar comfort in knowing that she could calm her down.
"Lana... it's going to be okay," Sam whispered softly, as Lana began to release her arms from around her body. "They're doing everything they can for Hops right now."
"But what if it's not enough?"
"...then it'll still be okay, eventually," Sam replied, reaching up and stroking more tears from Lana's face. "And you'll still see Hops again... across the rainbow bridge. Do you remember the poem I shared with you, after we had to have Monster put down last month?"
Lana nodded, remembering the old dog that had been left at the shelter, the dog that had died before they'd been able to find him a home.
"If Hops doesn't make it, you'll see him there too," said Sam, smiling warmly. "And he'll be so happy to see you."
As Luna watched Sam talk to Lana, she felt a mix of emotions... sadness about Hops, but also love... toward her little sister, and toward Sam, who was once again showing just how caring and compassionate she was. She looked back toward the surgical room, and said a silent prayer for Hops... but promising to be there for Lana if things didn't go the way they wanted them too.
"Yeah, dude," said Luna finally, prompting Lana to turn back toward her. "Hops'll be waitin' on the other side of that bridge, and he's gonna hop right into your arms and give you the biggest hug ever. I mean... you know, if he doesn't make it."
Lana sniffled, looking back toward the door and hoping against hope that everything would be okay... but for the first time, starting to accept that maybe it wouldn't, and allowing herself to think that things would eventually get better, even if she lost her best friend. She then hugged Luna as tightly as she'd hugged Sam, burying her face in her older sister's shoulder and letting another tear fall down her cheek.
Please... Lana prayed silently, closing her eyes and thinking of Hops. Please let my best friend be okay.
A half hour later, the door to the surgical room opened, and the lead veterinarian stepped back out. He walked over to the three girls, who rose from their chairs. Lana was tightly gripping Luna and Sam's hands as she looked up at the doctor, all three of them waiting for an answer. Luna looked into the doctor's eyes, trying to get something from his stoic expression. Finally, he began to speak.
"Hops," said the vet, looking into Lana's eyes. "Hops is... going to be just fine."
As Luna and Sam both breathed audible sighs of relief, Lana trembled, her eyes going wide, but not yet smiling... wanting to know if what she'd just heard was really true.
"Really?" Lana asked him.
"He's going to make a full recovery," said the vet. "It was touch and go for a little while, but we got him stabilized and performed a quick operation, and fortunately none of his internal organs were seriously damaged, so after giving him a bit of hydrating solution and closing him up all the way, his natural healing factor will be able to repair the rest of the damage fairly quickly, and he'll be back to his old, froggy self in a few days, maybe a few weeks depending. Would you like to see him?"
"...would I?!" exclaimed Lana, a smile of relief overtaking her face as tears began streaking down her cheeks... though this time, they were tears of joy. "Yeah, of course I would!"
"He's still inside the operating room. He's been sedated, so he won't be able to move around too much, but he should be just awake enough for you to say hello. All three of you can come if you'd like."
"Thank you doc, thank you...!" Lana shouted, wrapping her arms tightly around the vet's leg in a hug, forcing him to hobble back to the operating room with the little girl in tow. Luna and Sam both followed, smiling and shedding a few tears themselves, and the doctor had a few more words to say as they walked.
"Well, don't just thank me," said the doctor, looking over at Sam. "Miss Sharp, is it? Your quick thinking made it possible for us to save Hops in the first place. Without your first aid, he probably wouldn't have made it here alive at all."
As Sam stood slightly stunned by what the doctor had told her, she felt Lana's immediate embrace around her own legs, as Lana loudly exclaimed just how grateful she was to Sam for saving Hops' life. Sam smiled, rubbing her hands through Lana's hair as the doctor continued to speak.
"Have you ever considered a career in the veterinary field?" asked the doctor.
"Well, I, uh...um..." Sam stammered, still slightly taken aback by the vet's compliments, and also overwhelmed by the emotions of the day. "I mean..."
The door to the operating room opened, and Lana immediately stopped hugging Sam and rushed inside to see Hops. The doctor followed, leaving the two girls standing on the threshold of the door. As Sam continued to process everything that had just happened, including the fact that she'd just saved a life... a frog's life, but still, she felt Luna's hand grip hers tightly, and when she turned to face her girlfriend, she could see a warm, tearful smile on her face.
"Sam, you're an angel," Luna said, her voice trembling, while her tone indicated the strong possibility that she literally believed Sam was an actual angel. "You are... the best."
"Luna-"
Before Sam could say anything else, Luna grabbed her and gave her one of the fiercest kisses she'd ever given her, kissing Sam passionately and repeatedly, barely giving her girlfriend the chance to respond.
"I... just... wanted to... save... Hops... he's... my family... too...!" Sam managed to say through the barrage of kisses, before finally managing to get Luna far enough away to collect her thoughts, smiling but keeping her at arm's length as she finished speaking with tears streaking down her face. "I'm so glad I was able to save him... Lana means so much to me... she... she's... like my little sister..."
"Dude..." Luna replied, tears still pouring down her own face as she looked into Sam's eyes. "You really mean that...?"
"Of course I do," Sam replied, wiping away her own tears before reaching up and wiping away Luna's. "She's the sweetest girl ever, I love working with her at the animal shelter, and... well, she's your sister, and you're... Luna... I love you, so..."
The two girls then embraced tightly, holding each other close and shedding the last of their tears. They continued speaking through their tears, mostly just saying 'I love you' to each other over and over again. Sam couldn't express in words alone how glad she was to have been able to save Hops' life... to see the joy in Lana's eyes and the joy in Luna's as well... but she knew she had something more meaningful to her than any gift she'd ever gotten before.
She was, slowly but surely, getting another family... and the closer she and Luna became, the more love she had for everyone Luna loved. Lana first, but then, hopefully, everyone else in Luna's big, wonderful family.
She knew it was still too early to start thinking about forever... but it was never too early to dream.
O-O-O
The next day, Hops was back home, and Luna and Sam and Lana were sitting in the living room of the Loud House, with Luna and Sam on the couch and Lana gently playing with Hops on the floor. The little frog was patched up, and Lana had a whole little booklet of instructions on how to take care of him during his recovery, and some medications to help Hops heal and stave off any chance of infection. As the two girls watched Lana play with her best friend, they couldn't help but smile... and Lana took notice, gently lifting Hops up to Sam's face.
"Hops wants to say thanks again for saving his life," said Lana, before Hops 'thanked' Sam by sticking his tongue out and pushing it against her cheek. Sam giggled as she felt the brief wet slap of the frog's tongue, and leaned over to give him a gentle kiss on top of his head.
"Careful, you're gonna turn him into a prince," said Luna with a smirk. "The way you saved him yesterday, you gotta be some kinda magical princess or something."
"Aw, stop!" said Sam, still giggling as she elbowed Luna. "I just did some basic first aid, that's all... but I am glad Hops is okay."
"I better get him up to my room," said Lana, picking Hops back up. "Thanks again for saving him, Sam, and thanks for driving us to the vet... you're almost as good a driver as Bobbie Fletcher, Luna!"
"Pssh, I'm way better than her, let's see Bobbie Fletcher dodge rush hour traffic on I-75!"
Lana then went up the stairs, leaving the two girls alone, at least for the moment... it was rare that Luna and Sam got to spend any time alone in the Loud House, and they made the most of what little time they had, leaning in and kissing as soon as they saw Lana disappear around the corner.
"Mmm... thanks again, Sam, you're a literal lifesaver," said Luna. "You were amazing in the van, I dunno how you managed to stay so calm..."
"I wasn't that calm," said Sam. "I was terrified... I checked my Fitbit last night after everything died down, and I hit 170 at one point, I think when I was applying those sutures. I don't even get up that high when I'm falling off a rock wall..."
"Well, calm or not, you saved Lana's best friend, and it was amazing. But even if you hadn't saved Hops, it wouldn't change how I feel about ya even one bit... you're the most incredible person I've ever known, and that's why, no matter what, I'm stayin' with ya for college."
"I don't want you giving up Juilliard for me," said Sam, leaning against Luna and nuzzling her nose against Luna's cheek. "We can make a long distance relationship work, or I can find a school in New York..."
"I'm not goin' to Juilliard," said Luna, "and don't try to change my mind, it's made up. It's not because of you, I know you would've gotten into Juilliard or some other school in New York, but... it's not the right fit for me. I've been thinkin', and Juilliard's a music school, but I gotta expand my horizons, ya know? I don't wanna go to college for music either... if I go to college, I wanna learn something like sound engineering, so I can design better guitars and amps... or I wanna learn business, so I can become the only record producer in the music industry who doesn't totally screw their talent over. I wanna be a rock star, but I wanna learn everything about the business. I can teach myself to play music, and whatever I wanna study, I can do it at whatever school you get into."
Sam was slightly taken aback at everything Luna had just told her, but at the same time, she was glad... relieved that she still had a chance of attending the same university as Luna. She smiled in support of her girlfriend's decision, though she was also reminded of what she wanted to do... what she'd been about to tell Luna before Lana's near tragedy.
"Luna, I've decided... I mean, I already kinda knew what I wanted to be before yesterday, but yesterday solidified it, and now I definitely know what I want to study in college. I want to be a veterinarian. I want to take care of animals, and save them... I want to start up an animal trauma hospital right here in Royal Woods! I mean, maybe... maybe I want to be a vet who goes around the world and treats animals who've been hurt by poachers, or a vet at a zoo, or a vet who makes house calls, I dunno, all I know is that I want to help animals just like Hops yesterday... and I'm going to work my butt off in college to make it happen."
"Sam... that's awesome!" Luna replied, before giving her girlfriend another warm embrace. "It's like the perfect job for you... you're really smart, and you have such a big heart, and I know you'll be the best vet ever... and whatever college you get into, I'll be there with you..."
"It has to have a music engineering program and a veterinary program, and we'll both apply to all the schools that have both..."
"And then whatever city you do your post-grad stuff in, maybe I'll go to law school there!"
"Law school?" asked Sam, raising her eyebrow.
"Well, I gotta know the ins and outs of the law to help my fellow musicians out of their terrible contracts," said Luna with a smirk. "I mean, maybe, I dunno if my grades'll be good enough..."
Luna and Sam then looked at each other once again, looking warmly into each other's eyes and holding each other's hands. They blushed, and Luna started to speak again.
"But whatever the future holds, all I know is I want you to be a part of it... like... the biggest part of all," said Luna, holding Sam's hands tightly. "We'll go to college together, then... I mean, maybe someday..."
"It's still a ways off, but... I think I'd like that," Sam replied, tears starting to form in her eyes again as she looked into Luna's and felt the warmth and love coming from her girlfriend, and could already see their future together starting to form. Maybe it wouldn't go as smoothly as they both dreamed, maybe things wouldn't happen as quickly as their racing minds imagined, but they were starting to see the future come into focus, and for both of them, it was as bright as ever. "And... I know... I love you."
"I love you too, Sam..."
Then, they leaned in and began kissing, passionately, deeply, fiercely, holding each other close and not even thinking of letting go. They closed their eyes and felt only the love and tender warmth of each other, not noticing that several of Luna's siblings had entered the room and were now watching them kiss.
Lola opened up her mouth to say something obnoxious, only for three hands to clamp over it at the same time. None of the other Loud siblings said a word, even Leni, who was silently sighing with the others as she watched Luna and Sam's embrace.
They all knew what Sam had done for Lana, and all of them wanted her to someday be a part of their family.
But as much as they wanted it, none of them wanted it more than Luna, who knew beyond all doubt that Sam was an angel, and that right now, in her arms, she was in heaven.
Sam... you make me feel like I've caught a falling star.
