iDon't Like Hospitals

Carly Shay was hyperventilating in the passenger seat of Melanie's car as they pulled to a stop in the parking structure at Seattle University Medical Center.

"Shhh… Relax, Carly…" Melanie cooed. Carly was a mess. Melanie knew that she wasn't what Carly needed. She needed Sam. Her sister was the one that was supposed to be here, rubbing Carly's shoulders, telling her to breathe, and telling her things would be fine.

Melanie Puckett cursed quietly in Italian. She was angry, though certainly not at her sister. She was angry at the situation. Of all the days when she could have picked up an extra shift, did her boss really have no one else on the payroll to go to besides Sam?

Melanie brushed a strand of dark hair from Carly's face and gently asked her to sit up and try to focus on why they were here. Melanie was such a mother at heart. This was the treatment that Carly needed – gentle and soft. She babbled unintelligibly. Melanie gently touched her shoulder.

"I promise you, Sam will be here before you know it, Honey…"

Carly knew Melanie was lying. Sam needed to work. She didn't blame her. It wasn't anybody's fault.

"Liar…"

Carly smiled gently. She wanted Mel to know that her little white lie had done as she'd intended. It had lifted her spirits. Carly looked Melanie in the eye and told her she loved her.

"Carly, I didn't do anything. We're family, and of course I love you… so anything you need, I'm here for, remember that."

Melanie leaned over and undid Carly's seatbelt. The brunette's hands were trembling. Melanie was instantly the motherly figure again. She knew that that was what Sam's little Cupcake needed.

"See? Now isn't that much better, Carls?"

Carly spoke, her voice hoarse from crying.

"I'm not a child, Melanie…"

"I never said you were, honey… I just… you know…"

Carly certainly did know. Melanie was the way that she was because Pam Puckett had never been. Sam and Melanie completed one another in that way. One was the softness, the other rock hard. It was just the way that it needed to be.

SEATTLE U. MEDICAL CENTER, FOUR FLOORS UP…

Carly Shay was beyond embarrassed. She knew that she needed to do this, but it felt humiliating. She was hunched over a clipboard, recounting her medical history in intimate detail, waiting to be seen. Melanie had stepped out for a cup of tea in the coffee shop downstairs. Carly knew that the real reason was her sister-in-law not wanting to intrude on the intimate details of Carly's life with her sister. As far as Melanie was concerned, she wouldn't ask and Sam and Carly wouldn't be required to tell. The arrangement had worked out well for them thus far and Melanie felt no desire to intrude. They were all adults and Melanie knew full well what went on when Carly and Sam retired for the night. It was simply not something she felt comfortable discussing with her sister.

DOWNSTAIRS…

Melanie Benson watched her cell phone skitter across the table before setting down her cup of hot tea to check it.

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: Sam

Sent: 12:27 PM, PST

Yo Princess,

My Cupcake okay? Tell her I'll be there soon. Love you both. – Sam

Melanie didn't understand and frankly didn't care. She left her paper cup of Earl Grey half-drunk on the table and headed for the elevator.

BACK UPSTAIRS…

The woman at the nurse's station looked up from the computer screen to see a young woman rubber-necking at the chart next to the exam room. She had just admitted a tall brunette who had a consultation in the next fifteen minutes.

"Excuse me, Miss? If you aren't a patient or family of a patient, I'm going to need to ask you to leave.

She didn't answer. She simply extended her middle finger in the general direction of the nurse's station.

Before she could reach for the phone and call security, a thin, well-manicured hand reached across the desk and pushed down on the desk phone, disconnecting the line.

"What my sister means to say is that we are very much family and that we have, according the hospital's policies, every reason in the world to be here, Thank you very kindly, Ma'am…"

The nurse looked from left to right, fairly confused. Her mouth dropped open ever so slightly. Melanie answered her question before it could even be asked.

"Yes ma'am, we are identical twins, but I would imagine that's something you're quite familiar with…"

She shot the woman behind the desk a wry smile. This was as flippant as her manners allowed her to be. She turned, walked a short distance to her sister, held her close, and spoke to her in a hushed tone.

"Sam? But didn't you have to work?"

That glint in Sam's eye told Melanie that what was to follow would be a half-truth at best.

"Long story, Princess… Gas leak at the restaurant…"

Melanie Benson knew better than to ask her sister for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It didn't matter anymore anyway. She gently nudged her sister out of the way and rapped her knuckles on the exam room door, knowing Carly Shay was probably shaking like a leaf on the other side. She waited a long moment before turning the knob.

The sight Melanie saw caused her heart to ache. Carly was sitting on the edge of the exam table, fully dressed minus her shoes, staring down at the floor, hugging her knees to her chest.

The brunette looked up from the floor to see not one, but two identical blondes framing the doorway. Her heart sang for joy.

"Sam!"

"Hey-ya, Cupcake…"

This was simply Sam Puckett's way. She would always downplay her emotions in public, unless she and Carls were alone. Even with Melanie present, it came too close to exposure.

"But you had to work…."

"Long story…" both Pucketts said in unison.

Melanie turned to her sister and smiled.

"We have got to stop doing that…"

Sam simply shrugged her shoulders.

Melanie entered the room and took a seat along the wall, allowing Sam to follow suit before she spoke up.

"Forgive my ignorance, you two, but what exactly is going to go on here today?"

Melanie asked out of genuine concern for Carly's wellbeing and a heartfelt desire to be as big a help to both Carly and Sam as they needed her to be.

A crude grin crossed Sam Puckett's face and she looped her arm around her sister's shoulders.

"We'll have the 'The Bees and the Bees' talk tonight, Princess, I promise."

Both Carly Shay and Melanie Puckett turned bright red. Much like everything else in life, Sam could even make a routine doctor's appointment a unique experience.