Again...I may have gotten a little carried away... I couldn't help it! xD Hope you guys like it though ;)
Sam felt as if her entire body had been beaten with sandbags. She honestly thought she may have cracked a rib or two and she felt like everything had been bruised—even her lungs. Her breath was just now starting to come back to her but very painfully. Allie clutched to Sam as if she was her source of life, which Sam guessed she kind of was. They sat there for a long while, Sam just comforting Allie while she cried, Sam wanted to cry too but she didn't. Instead she spoke words of comfort to Allie, not entirely sure if they even made sense but they had calmed her shaking so at least they were working.
Dusk was approaching and Allie finally seized with the sobs, now silent tears leaked out every now and again. Sam supposed that she had a lot held in and was just now finally letting it all out. Good. Sure, it may have taken her a suicide attempt to do it, but at least now they could move forward and progress—because it could not get worse than this. Sam tore her gaze from Allie and found Ace a few feet away grazing but Popcorn was gone.
Sam sighed and hoped that he would head back to camp. She just hoped that nobody would panic. Great, she really was making quite the mess. Though she couldn't bring herself to care much. All she wanted right now was to help Allie, to turn her life around and to help her get a new start. She deserved it just as much as anybody else did.
"I'm s-s-sorry," Allie whispered with a little hiccup. She pulled herself away from Sam a little and Sam could feel that her shirt was wet and very stuck to her.
Sam brushed her messy wet hair away from her face. "It's ok. Just promise me you'll never do anything to hurt yourself again."
Allie didn't flinch from Sam's intense gaze; instead she met it head on. "I p-promise."
They were quiet and Sam hugged her again, just holding her. Allie pushed away and crawled away a little bit. And barfed into a bush until she was left dry heaving. Sam crawled to her and rubbed her back.
"C'mon I got a canteen on my saddle. We'll get you some water," Sam stood and almost fell right back down. She wanted to barf now but held it in; the pain was that intense. She helped Allie to her feet and despite her body's protests lifted the girl and carried her. Allie wasn't heavy; in fact, she was probably too light weight. But right now it was like carrying a calf—at least she wasn't fidgeting.
"Ace! C'mere boy," she rasped still a few feet away. His head poked up, some grass hanging from his mouth and Sam feared for a moment he wouldn't listen. To her relief he started trotting towards her; stopping in front of her and nudging her with his nose as if asking what had taken her so long.
Sam grimaced as she lifted Allie into the saddle. She took one of those deep shaky breaths that were involuntary after you've been crying a lot and looked around confused.
"Where's-" hiccup "-Popcorn?"
Sam untied the canteen and handed it to Allie who gulped it down greedily. "He's probably back at camp, don't worry, he's fine. Probably worried about you though."
Allie smiled weakly and handed the canteen back to Sam who tied it back to the saddle. She put her foot in the stirrup and tried not to moan as she pulled herself into the saddle. Allie curled into her again and Sam felt like the heroic cowboy helping the damsel in distress. She grinned at the thought then grimaced; she wrapped her arms around Allie, holding her close, and took up the reins.
Ace took careful steps as if he knew Sam was in pain and she was thankful for it. Thankful that he was intuitive like that. Allie was quiet and just kept staring up at the sky. Her gaze shifted to Sam and her brow wrinkled.
"You're bleeding," she stated.
Sam shrugged and smiled hoping to reassure her. "No biggie. Honestly, I didn't even know." That last part was a lie. She could feel her head throbbing. Allie traced a line on her neck.
"What's that from?"
"What?" Sam asked confused feeling her neck which felt tender.
"You have a bruise," Allie frowned and looked away. "Which is probably my fault."
"Hey, no more self-blame either for now on I want you to consider yourself blameless...ok? And as for my neck, it's probably just from my hat," Sam pulled at the stampede string to prove it. Now at least she knew what had been choking her.
She smiled softly. "Blameless."
Sam shifted in her seat and smiled too. "Exactly."
x-x-x-x-x
They had almost reached camp when Sam saw a rider in the distance. Jake. Relief flooded through Sam as he drew closer. He pulled Witch to a halt next to them and Sam saw the worry etched into his face.
"Sam-"
Sam held up her hand for him to be quiet and pointed at Allie who had fallen asleep. She finally felt the burn of tears in her eyes and wanted nothing more than to go to Jake but resisted...barely.
"I'll explain later. But please, can we hurry and get to camp?" Her body shook and she tried to contain it so she wouldn't shake Allie.
Jake seemed to be filled with pain for her, she was sure he was struggling with himself to, resisting to reach out for her and Sam's heart swelled with that thought.
They walked the rest of the way silently, Jake seeming to never take his eyes off of her, and Sam was sure while he was worried he was probably curious too. She tried to keep her pain masked and hoped he didn't see it because then he would insist on taking Allie. Sam wasn't sure that would be best either.
When they reached camp everybody ran to meet them and Jake silenced them all. "Darrel, you and Jen get everyone else set ok?"
Darrel glanced at Sam worriedly before nodding but Jen didn't move. She seemed torn between helping Darrel and checking on her best friend. Darrel took her hand and pulled her away with him leaving her no choice. Carefully, Sam got out of the saddle, she wasn't sure how she managed without waking Allie and without falling but she did. Jake trailed her as she took Allie to her tent and laid her down softly inside. Tara crawled in behind them and gazed at Allie before turning to Sam.
"Hey, I can stay with her. You look kinda rough, go take care of yourself," she seemed concerned for the both of them and Sam was eternally grateful. She did help Tara clean her up though before she climbed back out of the tent warily.
Jake was right there and he scooped her up. Sam finally did let out a gasp to show her pain and Jake froze.
"Jesus, Sam. Are you ok?" He asked his gaze burning into her.
"I think I may have broken a rib."
Jake closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He carried her to her tent and lay her down inside; zipping it up behind them. "Sam, tell me what happened," he said sitting beside her.
So taking a deep breath also; Sam told him. She told him the basics of Allie's story and how she had taken off. The way Sam chased after her and caught her, falling to the ground. She told him how she felt through the entire process and about the amount of pain she was truly feeling. She even told him how scared she had been.
Jake scooped her up carefully into his embrace and it was Sam's turn to seek comfort. She hissed at the sharp pain in her stomach and Jake set her back down carefully. "What hurts?" He asked.
Sam snorted and winced. "Everything."
Jake gave her a look that told her she better elaborate.
She sighed. "Mostly everything from my collar bone to my hips. Allie may not look like she weighs much but sheesh, she does when she hits you like that!"
"Do you mind if I check for broken bones?" He asked tentatively.
Sam scrunched her eyebrows. Why should she care? She expected him to. "No."
He seemed shy and looked away rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh, you-um, might have to take off your shirt," he stuttered uncomfortably.
Sam blushed. Oh. That made sense. Now she knew at least why he acted so weird when he asked her. "Oh, right. Ok," she went to sit up and tug her shirt off but winced as the pain shot through her. It was her turn to feel awkward. "Jake, could you maybe, uh, help?"
He nodded and rubbed his hands together before reaching for the hem of her shirt. Carefully, and slowly he lifted it. Trying to keep his eyes away from her tight exposed stomach, he inched it up more until it slipped over her head exposing her black bra and toned body. He took a shuddering breath the same time Sam did. They stared at each other for a few moments, shyly. Jake's gaze took in everything about her and he thought he had never seen something so beautiful. He cleared his throat hoping to clear his mind too. He needed to help Sam, check on her, not maul her...
"Ok, lay back down," he told her slipping his arm around her, touching the bare skin as he helped her lay back down. "Ok, I'm going to check for any broken ribs you tell me where the pain is," he told her but she thought he was telling himself also.
Sam nodded and pointed to her rib right below her bra. "This is where I feel it most," she whispered and shuddered as his warm hands tentatively touched her stomach. He slowly applied pressure and Sam grimaced making him remove it immediately, his hand now rested on her lower stomach. His gaze rested to where his hands were before meeting Sam's.
"How...intense...was the pain?" He asked swallowing hard his gaze shifting back to her stomach.
Again, she felt familiar warmth in her cheeks. "Not terrible, it was there, but bearable...," she trailed off as his hands began stroking her stomach softly. His fingers began tracing mindless patterns and they felt like they were leaving a burning trail in their wake.
"Ok here?" He whispered still tracing his fingers over her stomach. Sam's eyes closed and she sighed softly.
"Yes."
Her heart leapt as she felt his warm breath tickle her stomach. His lips softly made contact with her skin, leaving light feathery kisses trailing up to her collar bone. She felt her heart thudding in her chest as it threatened to burst out and she hoped he couldn't hear it. Her breath quickened and she shivered with delight as his hands slowly slid up to her collar bone. He pressed lightly and Sam forgot that it even hurt.
"Here?"
"Mmm," she sighed. His kisses began again up her neck, to her jaw, finally meeting her lips. He chastely brushed his lips against hers and Sam, unable to hold back, pulled him towards her kissing him. Her kiss was insistent and full of need and want. Jake carefully lay himself on top of her and let his hands roam over her bare skin.
Sam felt like there were fireworks going off in her stomach as she pulled herself even closer to Jake. He moaned softly making Sam shudder, he pulled away and made his way to her neck again. Sam felt his heavy breathing and knew she was breathing hard too. Wanting more, she reached for his shirt and tugged. Jake paused and with much effort pulled himself away.
"No," he was breathing hard and his eyes were glazed. "Too far. We should stop," he gulped and rubbed his face as if trying to clear things up.
Sam tugged on him again. "I don't want to," she realized she sounded very breathless also.
He closed his eyes and took deep breaths finally chuckling humorlessly. "Trust me Sam, neither do I. But we have to."
"Why?"
He rolled off of her and sat beside her instead; resting his head in his hands. "Because we aren't thinking clearly. This is my fault, I'm sorry."
Sam was confused, she was pretty sure it was clear what they both wanted.
"I just lost myself, seeing you—Sam, I'm sorry," he apologized again sounding highly upset with himself.
Sam crawled to him and gave him a comforting hug. "Don't be sorry. You have no reason to apologize."
He still didn't look at her. "I was supposed to be checking to make sure you were ok and then—I'm sorry."
Sam glared at him even though he wasn't looking. "Jake Ely, I swear if you apologize one more time you'll be the one with a broken rib."
He groaned. "Oh yeah, I don't think your rib is broken, just bruised."
Sam giggled and mocked him. "By the way..."
He looked up and smiled momentarily before frowning again. "I should go," he said pulling himself away from Sam.
She held on to him. "Please don't go. Stay with me tonight. I promise to be good."
He chuckled and nodded and Sam hugged him again.
"Oh one condition," he added.
"What?"
"Please put your shirt back on, for the sake of my sanity."
Sam laughed, happy to oblige.
