The damn doctor got in the way of that plan. He was too good at his job. Sam was alive, in a hospital bed, hooked up to an odd machine he couldn't identify.
"Your vitals are recovering well...can you speak?"
The Doctor who spoke had well groomed black hair. He wore a white lab coat and dark blue scrubs. Sam was in a hospital, alive, patched up, and unable to find River for hundreds of years.
"No!" Sam gasped, gripping his head as he sat up, wincing. "No..."
"Uh huh. If you wanted to die, don't crawl into a top ranked hospital." The man exhaled. "My sister found you in the lobby with a gaping stomach wound. We were able to sew you up and fix the tear, but don't move much. Could be a month, and stomach acid damage is a bad thing to deal with..."
"...Who are you?" Sam was half paying attention. The horrible white suit was gone. He was bandaged completely around his torso.
"The attending on your case, Doctor Simon Tam. Do you have any allergies we should know about during your stay?"
Sam stopped completely as the words fit together. Osiris. Simon Tam. Who had a sister. An Angel who'd flung him through space and time.
"...your sister isn't River Tam, by any chance, is she?" Sam inquired
"Yeah, that's her. The famous teenage psychic." Simon replied non chalant.
"The Alliance didn't take her?" Sam's heart grew lighter.
"What alliance? Independents won the war...did you hit your head?"
Sam laid back in bed and smiled, holding a hand out toward the glass roof, which spaceships soared over. Congratulations. You changed the future. He smiled still, shutting his eyes. And I'll see you soon, River Tam.