Possibly Sam

Chapter 10

This chapter concludes the story. Again, I thank the creators of Moonlight and whoever holds title to it. I appreciate that they let us make up our own stories with the wonderful characters they brought to "life" for us.

I felt waves of sympathy, like there was nothing else to do but mourn. I couldn't believe I had lost Josef. My intent was to get him back his lost love, or to help him move on. Never would I have gone forward with my crazy idea if I thought there was a chance I'd lose Josef myself.

"Sarah's been dead since 1955, and Josef is dead now. Do you think I'm going to arrange a double funeral for them? Josef is a part of me. I can't lose him!"

"I don't know what else to try," Sam said. His voice was moist with swallowed tears.

"Follow your instincts," Francis said. "You know him best."

I looked down at my friend. "This can't be. I won't have it," I told Fate, as though I had the power to change it. I lowered myself to the bed and covered Josef with my body, resting my cheek on his, my hips against his, as if I could warm him to life. On another level, I knew that was impossible. I was as dead as he was. "Josef, I need you," I said. "Don't leave me." Nothing changed. Sam picked up his drum and began that primal beat that first called me to him. Each time he played it, the beat was individual, like a heart beat. It was only the music. He had no words to calm my soul if Josef had gone to a place where I couldn't reach him.

If I was deranged, so be it. Josef was more than sire or brother to me. There was a connection between us that couldn't be broken, like Sam's connection to Francis. The elder walked to the bed and rested one hand on me, the other on Josef. "What does your instinct tell you to do now?" he asked.

I turned Josef to his side, leaned across him and moved so that my neck was stretched out before his mouth. One miracle had already taken place on this bed. I pressed the back of his head toward me and prayed for my own miracle. I felt the slightest movement and then sharpness as Josef's fangs pierced my skin. I snuggled closer to him, feeling warm and loved as he drew my blood into himself. "Let him take enough," Francis whispered. I was content to just be there for Josef. The drumbeat stopped and then Sam was beside us too. My eyes were half closed, seeing nothing but Josef. I felt Sam rather than saw him beside us. Blood loss was making me weak, but I didn't care.

"You've taken enough, Josef," Francis' voice came. "Stop." Josef stopped, but his eyes hadn't opened. I relaxed my grip, but continued to hold holding him, and not wanting to move.

"Who am I, Josef?" I asked softly.

"Hmm. You taste like…let me think about this. Oh yes." He licked his lips. "I taste friend, father, brother, son. A little Sam, some Francis, but most of all, my Mick." He hadn't moved anything but his lips and his words were so soft, they could have been in my mind.

"Damn it, Josef!" I shouted. "Wake the hell up!"

"You don't have to scream in my ear." His eyes snapped open and looked at me, then up to Francis and Sam. Tears of joy flooded my face and drenched Josef's face. "What do you think you're doing?" Josef gave me a little shake and a push "You're getting me all wet. Move." I got out of the bed and stood next to Sam and Francis. Josef wiped his face and sat up to face us. "Well, Mick? What do you think you were doing?"

"Going insane?" I suggested first, but I amended it. "Actually, I was praying for my own miracle, and got it."

"What am I going to do about you, my friend?" Josef asked. My tears started again and I had to look away.

"What about you?" Francis asked Josef. "You've been through a shock."

Josef blew a long breath out. "You can say that again. Sarah thought her last life was a dream. She's living another life now and she's happy. What can I be but happy for her?" He got off the bed and looked around. "I have things to take care of. I have to see her body properly interred. She's human again, isn't she? She won't wake up in her coffin, six feet underground?" He looked to Francis to answer his question.

"She's human again, but let's not take chances," the elder vampire said. Josef's resurrection apparently surprised him less than it surprised me. He must have seen a lot in his 4000 plus years. "Cremation is your best option to put your mind at ease. If you'd like, we'll stay with you until it's done. We nearly lost you too."

Josef refused to comment on that. "Where's my cell phone?" Josef looked for the charger and retrieved his phone. He made the arrangements for Sarah's cremation and interment in a mortuary tonight. "I know people," he explained shutting the connection. "I have to call the placement agency to tell Sarah's nurses their patient is dead and their employment is over. I'll give them each a sizeable bonus for caring for her. They gave Sarah the best care they could. Then, I need to call the realtor to sell the brownstone."

"Are you sure that they will keep their knowledge of Sarah to themselves?" Francis asked.

"They will. I interviewed each of them carefully and paid them well. They didn't understand her condition, but they did their best for her. My love is what killed her. I understand that now." He looked at me and hung his head. "Poor Mick. You tried to help me see this through. I'm not an easy guy to have for a friend."

"That's the truth," was the best I could do for a retort.

"As long as you're being so agreeable, get a bag of blood from the refrigerator and pour yourself a glass. And wipe your nose. You look like hell." He gave me one of his signature grins.

"Thanks," I said. "Thanks a lot." I went to do as he said while Josef made his phone calls.

Josef arranged pick up of our rented car. Sam and Francis drove us out to the airport to Josef's private plane. It would be loaded, tank filled, with pilot, co-pilot and hostesses aboard when we got there. Francis and Josef talked business all the way. I sat in the back with Sam, resting my head against his shoulder, my arm wrapped around his. "You did more than I ever could have imagined," I told him. "You have my eternal thanks. If there is ever anything I can do for you, you know how to reach me," I said. "Anything. You only have to ask, and if it's in my power, I'll do it."

"I know," Sam said. "I think you and I go back a long way too. We'll see each other again, in this lifetime and in others."

"I hope so," I said.