Diclaimer: Nothing's mine except for Doctor Bender. Oh, and Sam and Sarah Boscorelli.
Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long between postings. I'm trying! Thanks for all the reviews everyone. It really does keep me going. Enjoy!
Bobby sat restlessly on a chair outside the PICU. He was waiting for Bosco, Rose, and Faith to arrive. He felt so guilty over what happened on the chopper. How could he have let that happen? It was a morbid thought, but medically speaking, Sam had been dead for a few minutes. He didn't even know how Sam was doing now. The doctors wouldn't tell him anything because he wasn't family.
"Bobby!" he heard from down the hall. He recognized the voice as Bosco. He closed his eyes for a minute, trying to figure out what to tell Bosco, and stood to greet the man and the two women following him.
"How did the flight go? How is she now?" Bosco asked quickly. Three pairs of eyes watched him expectantly as he took a deep breath. Bosco immediately knew that it wasn't good.
"There were a few problems, Bosco," he started.
"What kind of problems?"
"It started out alright, but about half way through, she…she stopped breathing."
"She…she what? Stopped breathing?" Bosco said incredulously. Bobby nearly lost his nerve to continue.
"Then her heart stopped." Rose's hands flew to her mouth and tears were beginning to form in her eyes. Faith shook her head and said "No," over and over. Bosco just stared in horror. "We got her back," Bobby said quickly, realizing that they thought the worst. "As for how she is now, they won't tell me anything 'cause I'm not related," he said, his frustration starting to show. Before Bobby could see any emotion on his face, Bosco walked away from the group to the nurses' station. They watched as Bosco had a quick conversation with the nurse on duty before he came back to see them.
"The doctor's gonna come talk to us," Bosco relayed. Suddenly, Bobby couldn't tell how Bosco was feeling. His face was curiously blank. Bobby guessed that the situation had finally gotten to Bosco. His daughter's sickness was just too much for him and he was beginning to shut down. They stood there for a moment in silence, when a short, older man in a lab coat came through the automatic doors to the PICU and introduced himself as Doctor Bender.
"Which of you are Samantha's parents?" he asked.
"I'm her father," Bosco said.
"And the rest of you are….?"
"I'm her grandmother," Rose spoke up.
"I'm her, um, aunt," said Faith. If she wasn't blood related, there was no way she would be able to see Sam.
"I'm….," Bobby started, not sure what to address himself as. He wasn't very good at lying.
"This is her Uncle Bobby," Bosco said quickly. Bobby sent him a silent thanks.
"Well, as you know, Samantha is very sick. I've been told that her heart stopped once on the helicopter and it stopped again shortly after she got here. We were able to restart it. Right now we have her hooked up to a ventilator because she isn't breathing on her own. We've started aggressive treatment and we are optimistic." Those three simple words brightened the looks on everyone's faces. "We've had increasing success in treating bacterial meningitis over the last few years. We have been able to save about one-third of our patients who are as advanced as Samantha. It would be better if those numbers were a little higher, but there's hope there." There was indeed hope among those standing in that hallway, praying for a miracle.
"Can we see her?" Bosco asked.
"One at a time and only for about five minutes. Like I said, we're optimistic, but she still has a very long way to go."
"Go ahead, Bosco," Faith said. Bosco glanced back at Rose, Faith, and Bobby, and gave them what appeared to be a small smile, although they couldn't quite be sure, and followed Doctor Bender through the doors to the PICU.
Bosco was trying not to lose it. He wasn't used to this much emotion flowing through his body. He was a tough guy who did every once and a while wear his heart on his sleeve, especially where his family was concerned, but nothing in his life had ever caused him this much emotional pain. He'd felt overwhelming happiness in his life, like when he married Sarah or when Sam was born, but never this much anguish. He hadn't even felt like this when Sarah had died. He thought her death had killed him right then and there, but seeing Sam like she was now hurt even worse. At least Sarah's death had been quick. Sam was suffering and Bosco had to watch every horrible minute of it.
Bosco approached what he assumed was his daughter. It certainly didn't look like her, with what seemed like every machine known to man crowding around her bedside. He walked over to the chair by her bedside and sat down, staring at her. He grabbed her cold little hand in his larger, warm one. He had to keep telling himself that the doctors were optimistic. That she would recover. That she was a Boscorelli. That she was tough. She didn't look so tough right now.
"Come on baby," he said quietly. "You can do it. You can beat this. I know you can. I love you, Sammi." He couldn't say anymore. He could only watch her chest rise and fall with the rhythm of the ventilator. He could only wait.