"Where do we sign?" Julian asked.

The doctor handed them the form.

"Thank you. Now I know that this is difficult but we have a waiting room for surgery on the floor above for immediate family only. You can stay here or go up there."

Brooke turned to Julian, "I want to go."

"Babe, are you sure? I mean we ca-"

"NO Julian. You can stay, but I need to be there." She said with conviction.

He thought about it and turned to the doctor, "We'll both go."

The doctor nodded, "Okay. Unfortunately it can only be you two. I'm going to go prep for surgery. You'll be allowed up in ten minutes."

Brooke and Julian sat down with the family. Peyton placed a hand on Brooke's knee, "Sweetie it'll all work out."

"You don't know that." Brooke said hoarsely.

Peyton stopped her, "YES I do. Sam's a fighter. We all know it."

Brooke clasped her hands together and fidgeted nervously. Finally her and Julian were called and they made their way out of the lobby.

Haley spoke up, "I, I can't believe this is happening."

Nathan rubbed her back and kissed her cheek, "We're all in shock."

She looked up to address Sawyer but noticed her absence, "P. where's Sawyer?" she asked.

Lucas and Peyton quickly became alerted. He turned to her, "Babe where's Soy?!" Lucas asked confused.

Peyton remembered and breathed relief, "She's in the restroom." She took a moment to speak again, "But she left a good while ago. I'll go get her."

Instead of in the restroom she found Sawyer in the hallway sitting on the floor. She slid down next to her daughter.

"Soy?" She said softly.

Sawyer said nothing, but her tears spoke volumes.

Peyton felt Sawyer's heartbreak, although she was unaware of the high that Sawyer was feeling from her pills simultaneously.

"Soy, sweetie…I know this is difficult, but Sam's gonna get through this."

Sawyer's face crumpled and she fell into Peyton's arms, "Mom I'm so scared!" She cried, "I don't want Sam to die!"

Peyton consoled her, "Sweetheart she's gonna be alright. I know it."

Sawyer flipped, "No you don't know! You don't know anything! She got shot mom!" Her tears betrayed her and she started crying again, "She-she's my best friend! And I wasn't there and now look!"

Peyton pulled her in, "Come here!" she rocked her, "Shh, Shhh. I know Soy. I know."

Lucas went looking for them and found Peyton consoling Sawyer. He bent down to her level, "Hey Soy?" He asked softly.

She looked at him

"Hales and Nathan left. Sam's gonna be in surgery and she won't wake up for a while afterwards. But it'll all be fine! How about we go home and they'll call us when she wakes up?" He said.

Sawyer stood up, "Can't I stay?" she asked pleadingly.

Peyton stood up and responded, "No Soy. You need to rest. But I promise the moment she wakes up, we'll come straight here."

Sawyer agreed reluctantly.

… … … … …

Brooke and Julian waited and waited and waited.

"She hates me." Brooke finally said.

Julian looked at her surprised, "What're you talking about Brooke?"

"She said I'm like all her foster moms. In a matter of months I've slapped her, called her a slut, said I was ashamed of her, and blamed her for something that wasn't her fault…I would hate me. And now, now she's on a hospital table and to think that she might not make it..." Her voice trailed off into tears.

Julian pulled her in for a hug. He soothed her, "Brooke you know that's not true. There's a reason for what you did. We all make mistakes and Sam loves you."

She pulled away, "HOW DO YOU KNOW?!" She asked desperately.

"Brooke. When she was on the floor and I was begging her to stay with me she asked for one thing."

Brooke stared into him and stayed quiet.

He continued, "He asked for you Brooke. Her words were, 'I want mom. Dad, I want mom.' She was falling unconscious! And all she wanted was you. And I promised her that you'd be there when she woke up. Don't you get it babe? That girl loves you, no matter how much of a front she puts up."

Brooke sat back into the chair, "I'm sorry. I know she loves me. I just, I just can't handle this. I need someone to blame. I should've been there." She whispers.

"No. We know who to blame." Julian said stoically.

A few hours later the doctor came out. He was smiling and this relieved both parents.

"Well as you guys can tell by the smile on my face the operation went well. We had some scares, she flat lined for ten seconds, but she made it back. She's still asleep and it might be a while until she wakes up. We have to monitor this closely as she can still go either way. Her blood loss was tremendous, but we've restored some through a transfusion and her body should replenish the rest."

He took them to her recovery room, and they thanked him. Sam had a tube through her mouth, and the faint beep on the monitor was continuous. Brooke composed herself and let go of Julian's hand. She sat by the bed.

"Sammy I love you." She whispered. She looked at Julian, "This place is so depressing. Can you buy flowers?"

Julian smiled, "I'm on it."

Brooke took out Sam's teddy bear from her purse and placed it in her arms. She then began to fix Sam's hair. She hummed and hummed.

A nurse came in, "Excuse me miss?" She asked.

Brooke looked surprised, "Oh. I'm sorry. Am I in the way?"

The nurse smiled, "You're her mother right?"

She nodded.

"I just need to check her vitals."

Brooke watched her, "Umm she'll be, I mean, well, she's gonna be okay, right?"

"We're all really positive about her turn around. She's showing good signs, but as you know we can't confirm anything."

"Right, right." She said.

"Ms Davis when she was slipping in and out of consciousness before we anesthetized her, she was continuously apologizing…to you and to someone named Jack." She said carefully.

Brooke took a deep breath, "Thank you for that."

The nurse smiled and quietly slipped out.

Julian finally got back, but instead of flowers brought things from Sam's room. Brooke couldn't help but laugh.

"What?! I thought she'd like this better than flowers. She'd say they're too girly." He responded to her laughter.

She chuckled, "You're right. You're right. Did you bring a notebook?"

He handed it to her; "I wouldn't be her dad if I didn't! It's a new one…I think." He said. "I'm gonna get us some food Brooke. I'll be back."

Brooke opened the first page and it was empty. She decided to turn to a random page and leave a message for Sam. She went towards the middle and found that it's where the writing started. She turned further and saw the name BROOKE written in bold capital letters.

Her curiosity overtook her and she read it.

'This has to be recent.' She thought.

BROOKE…I hate to love you sometimes. But I do, I do love you. You're not like the others. I promise. But damn, who knew being Brooke Davis's daughter could be so hard? So fucking strict. If you knew all the shit I've pulled…..you'd love me anyways. I always wonder why you don't just give up, but then I remember. You're like that train in the story I never read. The little train that could? Pretty sure that's it. You don't give up. I guess that's what moms do. I'm glad to have you. I wish I could just tell you. But sometimes we just explode on one another. It's usually because of something stupid I did. Like yesterday. Sorry about that. Aunt Peyton and dad both told me to let go of my pride…Sometimes, I just hate to love you.

Brook closed the notebook and put it by her bed, "You're gonna be stuck with me for a while Sam. I love to love you." She smiled.

… … …

Sam was finally able to breathe on her own without the tube after a day, but it wasn't until two mornings later that Brooke felt a hand touch her head and caress her hair.

She woke up and lifted her head to find Sam in a half daze smiling at her.

"Hey Momma." She strained to say.

Brooke didn't wait. She embraced her, "Sammy! Oh My God Sweetie." Her tears flowed. "I Love You Sam. I Love YOU!"

Julian woke up and saw Sam hugging Brooke. "Sammy!" He said in delight. All three of them remained in a tight hug. The nurse saw them and came in.

"Sam you're awake!" She said gleefully.

"Yeah. I am." Her voice was hoarse from the tube.

"I'll give you guys some time. The doctor will come in a few minutes" She said as she walked out.

Both parents turned back to Sam. She looked tired.

"Baby how long have you been awake?" Julian asked her.

She shrugged, "I woke up and I remembered I got shot by X." Her eyes got watery.

Brooke punched Julian in the arm, "Julian shut up!" she hissed.

Julian frowned, "Samson you're alright. That's what matters." He kissed her on the forehead.

"Everything hurts mom." She said giving Brooke a pleading look. Brooke brushed Sam's hair back, "I know sweetheart. The doctor's coming."

The doctor came in and made sure Sam was alright. He took out an injection and Sam instantly started tearing up, "NO!" she yelled.

Sam hated needles. Now that she was awake she actually saw it.

The doctor was surprised, "Whoa Sam calm down. It's just an injection for the pain."

Sam shook her head vehemently and turned towards Brooke, "Mommy tell him no!"

"Sam you need this. Or else you won't get better." She told her. The doctor signaled her to distract her as he injected Sam in the only place she wouldn't see.

She kept on going, "Don't worry Sam it's not a big deal."

Sam felt the injection and grabbed a hold of Brooke's hand, "Fuck!" she weakly yelled. The doctor smiled and Julian laughed.

He then called Brooke and Julian outside the room.

"She's recovered wonderfully, but there is still a process. She'll be staying here until she's fully functional. She's still sore from the surgery and she can't make many movements since the surgery was so delicate, we don't want to rupture anything yet. So she'll have to heal."

Brooke and Julian nodded. Realizing that Sam was going to be more dependent than she would ever dream of being.

"Also, there is a psychological aspect to this. From Sam's history I know she suffers from regressed vulnerability and just recently she had a run in with attempted rape…is that correct?"

"Yes." Brooke answered.

"Well then we'll have to see how she copes with all of this as well. The first couple days might be particularly bad. Bed wetting, nightmares, and daydreams are often common. Especially in children. But the key is to make sure she knows she's in a safe place and that it's not her fault." He said.

"We understand. Thank you." Julian said. He turned and hugged Brooke giving her a kiss on the top of her head. "We'll get through this." He whispered.

Julian went to call and tell everyone that Sam was awake, while Brooke went back in.

"Mom can I go home?" She asked.

Brooke sat back down, "Sorry Sam. We have to wait until you're all healed up. How're you feeling?" She asked.

Sam looked down, "Horrible. She paused, "Where's Jack?"

Brooke tensed at the question, "Sweetie we don't know. X took him. But the police are already on his trail."

Sam looked away. She laid back down and turned away from Brooke. She snuggled closer into her teddy bear.

"Sam?" Brooke said.

"I don't want to talk about it." She closed her eyes hoping that would drown out her thoughts.

I hope you liked it! What do you think so far? Suggestions, ideas, anything! Thank you for the reviews. They motivate me so much!