Disclaimer: See the previous. Only Sam Boscorelli belongs to me.
Author's Note: This one was hard for me to write, just because I was having horrible writer's block. It's shorter than the other chapters. Again a lot of information I got for this chapter is from Oh, and I just realized that in this chapter and in previous ones, I spelled Doctor Moralis's name wrong. It should be Morales, but I'm not going to change it now for consistency's sake. On with the story!
"Hey Mo, aren't you uncomfortable like that?" Bosco heard a voice say through his sleep-muddled brain. He opened his eyes and looked upon the face of his younger brother, Mikey. It took him a second to place where he was until he looked around. He looked down at Sam still asleep, looking sicker than ever.
"What are you doing here, Mikey?" Bosco asked, confused.
"I was at Ma's place when Faith called her. I came with her. I love Sam too, you know."
"You mean you weren't too busy doin' a number to come see your own niece?" Bosco asked, for he knew the habits of his younger brother. Mikey gave him a mixed look of sadness and anger, and Bosco immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry, Mike. It's just…"
"I know, man. I know. No worries." He went to sit down on the other side of Sam. He stared at her for a minute before addressing Bosco. "So…how's the little bugger doin'?"
"Not good," Bosco sighed. "We're waitin' for the test results. Where are Ma and Faith?"
"They went downstairs to get some coffee. Ma was kinda having a hard time seeing Sam…you know…"
"Yeah, I know." They sat in silence and watched Sam breathe. Since she had fallen asleep, her breathing had become much more ragged. They listened as she wheezed in and out. Mikey reached his hand towards Sam's face and pushed her bangs out of her eyes.
"Her head is really hot, Mo." At Mikey's touch, Sam stirred and opened her eyes.
"Hey, bugger," greeted Mikey. Sam gave him a blank look. Mikey gave a worried glance towards Bosco. Mikey was one of Sam's favorite people. If anything could have made Sam feel better, it would have been the sight of her Uncle Mikey. But it seemed like she couldn't even remember who he was.
"Sammi?" Bosco said, grabbing her attention. "Do you know who that is?" Sam slowly turned her head back towards Mikey. She shook her head. "Do you know who I am?" Sam stared at him for a long time, scaring Bosco.
"Daddy?" she whispered.
"Yeah, sweetheart. It's Daddy," he said, slightly relieved that she could at least remember who he was. But when he looked up at Mikey and saw how shaken up he was, his relief quickly disappeared.
"I'm tired," Sam said. "My head hurts." Before Bosco could respond, Moralis came through the door.
"Bosco? Can I talk to you outside? I have the test results."
"Yeah sure, hold on a second." He turned to Sam to tell her that he would be right back, but she had already fallen back asleep. He gave her a quick peck on her hot little forehead and followed Moralis out the door, with Mikey right on his heels. When they got into the hallway, they saw that Faith and Rose were coming back from the cafeteria. When they had joined the group, Doctor Moralis began.
"First of all, sorry we haven't moved her upstairs to the PICU yet. There are a lot of people up there. She'll have a spot in the next hour. Second of all, I have the test results from her lumbar puncture." The four of them drew in a breath. "Unfortunately, we were correct. It's bacterial meningitis. We are already getting her started on an aggressive medication. We'll monitor her very closely. However, I want you all to know that I can't promise anything. With this disease, there is the possibility of seizures, coma, or she may not be able to breathe without the aide of a machine. You may have noticed, while she was awake, she was very confused."
"That explains why she didn't know who I was!" exclaimed Mikey.
"Yes, that's why. The fever is interfering with brain functions. One of the most important things we need to do right now is lower her fever." Bosco had been very quiet through all of this. When she was done, he spoke up.
"Is she gonna die?" he asked softly, not quite meeting Moralis's eyes. She hesitated before answering, and Bosco hung his head.
"Honestly, Bosco, I don't know. Most of the people I get with this die within a week." Bosco held back tears. "But there have been a few cases where people do pull through. In Sam's case, I'm really not sure if being so young will help her or hurt her. I promise we'll do the best we can."
"I know you will. Thanks, Doc." Seeing that there was nothing else she could do there, Moralis turned and walked into Sam's room to prepare her to go upstairs.