Title: Waiting
Fandom: Popular
Pairing: Sam/Brooke
Rating: PG
Prompt: 015 Blue; written for the fanfic100 challenge
Word count: 883
Disclaimer: Alas, I don't own the characters of Popular. They belong to Ryan Murphy, but hopefully he won't mind if I borrow them for a little while.
Summary: Brooke hates hospitals.
A/N: It is junior year of high school, following the events of the series finale.
A/N2: Thanks, as always, to my two awesome betas, theagonyofblank and wolfemeister!
For a lot of people, hospitals were a place of healing. A place where diseases were cured, and babies were born. Brooke, however, hated hospitals. She didn't exactly have a good history with them. The whole eating disorder thing, while under control at the moment, had forever ruined any kind of positive associations Brooke might have with hospitals.
To Brooke, a hospital simply meant that something was wrong.
Specifically, Brooke found that she really hated the particular shade of blue that covered the walls in almost every room of the local hospital. Whenever she saw anything resembling that color, it always put her in a bad mood, and now here she was, surrounded by it once again.
o0o0o
Brooke watched Jane pace back and forth in front of the hospital bed, holding a sleeping Mackenzie in her arms, as her dad sat in one of the chairs in the room. Her head was starting to hurt again, so she closed her eyes, listening to the click of Jane's shoes on the cold tiles, the soft jingle of change in her dad's pocket as his leg bounced nervously up and down, and the whirs and beeps from the various machines in the room.
Finally, Brooke spoke up. "You guys should go home. I'll be fine here."
"That's ridiculous," Jane answered almost immediately. "We're not leaving you here, Brooke."
"No, I mean it," Brooke reiterated. "You both look exhausted. Plus, given the fact that Mac wasn't even born here, the percentage of her life that she's spent in this stupid hospital is already way too high. I'm sure that getting out of here would do you all a lot of good. You can come back when you're a little more refreshed. I really don't mind. Besides, school's almost over for the day, so a bunch more people will probably be stopping by soon."
When no one said anything, Brooke turned to her father, knowing that her powers of persuasion worked best with him. "Seriously, Dad. Take them home. I know you guys are waiting to hear about the latest test results, but you know how hospitals are... It'll be hours before we hear anything. I promise to have the doctors call you as soon as they know anything new."
After a moment of silence, Mike stood up and put a hand on Jane's shoulder. "She's probably right, Jane. We can go home, maybe get a quick shower or a nap, and then come right back."
Jane sighed and offered Brooke as sincere of a smile as she could manage, considering the circumstances. "All right. Thanks, Brooke. We'll be back soon, okay?"
"Take your time. I'm not going anywhere."
Brooke welcomed a tight hug and a kiss from each of her parents, and then she was left with the whirs and the beeps and those damn blue walls.
Brooke got up out of the chair she was seated in, stretching out her stiff muscles. She had been sitting in the same position for hours, and while her body might protest the lack of movement, she hadn't dared to leave the room. Walking over to the hospital bed, she hesitantly reached out to the nearest of Sam's motionless hands.
Clasping the hand in one of her own, Brooke sat gingerly on the bed. "Well, it's just you and me now, Sammy." Brooke paused, as if Sam might answer back. "Considering how many times I've wished that you would just shut up, it's kind of ironic how I now would give anything just to hear your voice." Brooke tried to laugh, but the strangled sound that came out was closer to a sob than any expression of amusement.
With a deep breath, Brooke went on. "But you'll be fine. You have to be. You're too stubborn not to be. You can't give up on me, Sam! Do you hear me? You just can't!"
Brooke's hand was trembling slightly, as she reached out to softly caress Sam's hair. "I know you're fighting in there. I'll never forgive myself if..." Brooke couldn't bring herself to say it out loud. She knew it was irrational, but she felt as though voicing the worst possible scenario would make it more likely to come true.
Brooke was silent for another minute, letting a few tears fall. "Why did you do it, Sam?" Brooke whispered. "It's just...you shouldn't be here. Nicole wanted to hurt me. It should be me lying in this bed, not you!"
Brooke inhaled shakily, once again feeling the overwhelming fear and guilt that had been plaguing her for the last five days.
Brooke looked at the clock on the wall -- 1:45pm. She had about twenty-five minutes until Harrison, Carmen, Lily, Josh, Sugar Daddy, and Mary Cherry would descend upon the room, like they did most afternoons. She set the alarm on her watch for twenty minutes later and then lay down on the bed beside Sam, carefully placing her arm across Sam's waist. It was only when she got this close that she could actually see the small movement of Sam's chest, showing that air was going in and out.
"Keep breathing, Sammy," she whispered softly. "Just keep breathing." The last came out closer to a sob as she curled up as close as she dared to the unconscious brunette.