Sorry this took forever the fight scene was especially hard to work out plus I had soo much exams I don't even want to start!

THanx to all those who reviewed and favourited you guys are the icing on my cake the tomato in my soup the apple in my apple crumble . . . you get the picture!

Chapter 18: The Awakening(cue eerie music and ghoulish wailing)

It was quiet, very quiet. It was dark as well. There were no voices like last time just silence. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. There wasn't much in the room and even then it was dark so she couldn't tell. She tried retracing her thoughts remembering how she came to arrive where she was.

Nothing.

Actually she only remembered near to nought. Her head felt heavy and her stomach was sore. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, taking deep calming breathes.

Astrid tried squinting looking for a source of light to indicate a door.

Nothing.

Again.

Astrid decided she was going to have to do this the old fashioned way. She shakily grabbed the side of the bed and hauled herself up. She took an unsteady step forward followed by another. Taking her third step, her knees buckled. Astrid shrieked as she fell only to be caught by a pair of strong arms. Astrid immediately panicked, and then froze when she heard a warm voice whisper.

"Now now, you should have rested in bed a bit longer." Sam guided her back to the bed then tucked her in. He avoided her eyes instead using the darkness to his advantage and deciding to stare at his hands.

"How long have I been unconscious?"He looked up in her direction but still avoided her gaze.

"Not long, around a day and a half."

"A DAY AND A HALF?"

"Astrid calm down it's not like you missed much."

"Where's Little Pete?"

"With Edilio"

"Why isn't he with you?"

"I was looking after you"

"Why? Is there something wrong with me?" Sam opened his mouth to speak then stopped and bowed his head.

"Sam?" Astrid lowered her voice "what's going on?" For the first time since she'd woken up Sam looked directly at her.

"Astrid, I'm so sorry."

"What? What is it? What happened?" She searched his face for any clues but found none.

"Astrid . . ." He stopped again. "It's . . . your house, it burnt to the ground there was nothing we could do." Astrid's face fell.

"Oh is that all? There's me thinking that it was-"

"Astridyourpregnant."

"-Something serious. Wait what?" Sam sat there for a minute just looking at her he knew she had heard him he was just waiting for her reaction. Astrid sat breathing hard for a second. He didn't just say what she thought he said. HA Ha (!) There's no way. No way. She couldn't be pregnant she wasn't exhibiting any symptoms . . .

The vomiting

The mood swings

The sleeping for unusual amounts of time

The nightmares. The nightmares? There's no way nightmare's is a symptom of pregnancy. Hmm she would have to look that one up later.

The sore stomach. Astrid gasped then placed her hand on her abdomen. It was almost surreal she was sitting in a pitch black room contemplating her possible pregnancy at the age of 15 in a weird dome with a sarcastic acronym.

She looked up at Sam with an unusual look on her face. "Sam." She said her voice barely reaching above a whisper. "What are we going to do?" Astrid panicked there was so many things that could go wrong and she didn't want those things to happen she didn't ask for any of this. Astrid leaned forward dropping her face into her hands sobbing weakly. Sam leaned forward and climbed into the bed besides her, pulling her close to him. A single tear falling down his cheek as the same thoughts raced through his mind.

What were they going to do?

Looking after Little Pete wasn't actually that hard. All he did was sit around and play on his video game. Every few hours you had to stop him so he could go to the toilet and eat and he just goes without a fuss. And when it is bedtime all you had to do was change his clothes, put the game on the bedside table and Pete would just fall asleep no trouble at all. That morning Edilio went to go visit Dahra. She'd said that they were going to relocate Brianna's knee today, she didn't want to leave it too long even though Brianna was still unconscious. Edilio sat Little Pete in the corner with this Game console then went to join the small crowd around Brianna's body.

"Alright, now that everyone's here let's get started." Lana said. "Now I've have already gone through the procedure so I'll hand you over to Dahra who will assign the jobs then we'll relocate her knee ok?" Everyone nodded so Dahra spoke.

"Edilio, you and Dekka ware gonna hold Brianna down, she may be unconscious but the pain will surely jolt her." Edilio nodded his understanding so she continued." Lana and I will attempt to relocate her leg remember we need to keep her as still as possible ok?" Everyone agreed then moved to their designated place. Dekka holding one shoulder while Edilio grabbed the other. Lana and Dahra both had a hold on her leg, one hand at her thigh the other on her shin.

"Ok everyone brace yourself 1. . . 2 . . . 3!" Lana and Dahra thrust her shin upwards then pushed it sideways back into place in one swift movement. Instantly Briana's eyes snapped open and she started howling in pain. She thrashed violently making it difficult for Edilio and Dekka to restrain her especially with her super speed.

"HOLD HER DOWN!" Lana screamed, while she and Dekka tried to attach a splint to her leg.

"We-have . . . to . . . calm her . . . down" Edilio shouted over Briana's hysterical screaming. Dekka nodded tears racing down her face. Edilio looked away it was obvious seeing Briana in pain upset Dekka. Briana's voice was now hoarse but she still screamed never-the-less.

"Briana, it's ok" Dekka said quietly.

"You can relax the worse is over, I'm here and I'm not leaving" Briana stopped thrashing and looked at Dekka.

"Dekka?" Briana whispered. "Why does it hurt so much?" Edilio looked down at Briana's swollen knee; no doubt the girl was definitely in pain. Dekka pressed a finger to Briana's lips.

"Shh, just sleep when you wake up everything will be better I promise." Briana smiled a little then her eyes slid shut and she went limp. Edilio heard Dekka choke back a sob but decided not to look at her, she'd probably still want a little reserve of her dignity left. Instead he gave a quick wave to Lana, who returned it then left taking Little Pete with him.

2 weeks had passed since the fire and things hadn't been improving. Briana was still unconscious, Dekka never left her side and Astrid rarely talked to him. After leaving the makeshift hospital Astrid moved into her old room in Sam's house and was almost never seen. But the rare times Astrid was a shadow of her old self; her hair was limp and weak, her eyes dark and hallowed and her voice rough from screaming and crying all night. Her nightmares had increased tenfold since she'd learnt of her pregnancy which wasn't helping herself or the child she carried. Especially as she had locked her bedroom door and refused to be comforted by Sam.

Sometimes Sam would spend hours on end, on the other side of her bedroom door begging to be let in, so he could stop the sobbing he could hear on the other side. Sam even contemplated blowing up the lock but what would he do then? Astrid had distanced herself from him. One time she'd been walking down the corridor, Sam had tried to pull her in for a hug but she had flinched away violently giving him a strange look then making a beeline for her room staying in 5 more days before she'd dared to come out again.

This morning Sam stayed in his bedroom for a while waiting for Astrid to emerge. He could hear her getting ready from inside his room, there was no doubt she wouldn't leave today. Edilio was dropping off Little Pete this morning and Astrid had to be there to help settle him back into his room. Distracted by his thoughts Sam missed the sound of Astrid leaving her room until he heard the stairs creaking as she made her way downstairs. He waited a few minutes before heading down after her. He walked into the kitchen and stood behind her.

Astrid stood at the sink washing plates in bowl of water they got on a weekly basis. Sam saw Astrid tense and noticed the way she deliberately kept her back to him.

"I came down here for breakfast but all the plates were dirty." Astrid said her back still to Sam as she scrubbed a metal pot.

"Astrid. . . "Sam started

"When did Edilio say he was dropping off Little Pete?" Astrid cut Sam off acting as if he hadn't even spoken. Sam glanced at the clock, it read somewhere between 10:20 and 10:30.

"He said between 9 and 12." Sam replied "Astrid . . ." He tried

"Sam . . . "She sighed heavily "Could we not do this now?"

"But Astrid-"Sam tried again

"NO!" Astrid shouted turning around and startling Sam. He still hadn't gotten used to her rapid mood swings. Astrid sighed again obviously making an effort to calm down. "Sam, please could we- just please let's not start this now." She turned back as if to end the conversation but Sam wasn't letting her slip again so she could go hide in the confides of her room again.

"If not now, when? And if not when, why not? Why do you keep running away from this?" Sam knew he'd struck a nerve when Astrid froze before calmly rinsing the plate she was washing and laying it on the counter. She then turned around to Sam glaring daggers.

"Running away? I'm running away! How can I run away from this?" She pointed fiercely at her stomach "How can I ruin away when every day I wake up it'll be there to remind me?" She all but raised her voice instead choosing to hiss in a deadly tone.

"Stop referring to OUR CHILD as an 'it'" Sam said in a tired tone he almost couldn't believe what Astrid was inferring.

"Don't tell me what to do" She hissed back.

"I'll stop telling you what to do when you let me take care of you"

"Take care of me (?) I don't need you looking after me I can take care of myself" She said bitingly

"Yeah like you have been doing the past few weeks! Think of the baby not just yourself!" Sam yelled, frustration bubbling up within him

"THINK OF THE BABY! How could you say that?" Astrid was screaming at him now."What about the situation we're in? What about food? What about pre-natal care? Hello! We are in the FAYZ! There's no hospital! No Doctors! No Nurses! No epidural! No surgical equipment! Plus there is a radioactive monster out there," She gestured vaguely to the wall to her left "Trying to doom us all!"

"Astrid I know this is hard-"

"HARD! Hard doesn't even begin to express what is going on Sam have thought about what could happen? I could die! The thing could die! And it'll be your fault!"

"Hey! It takes two to tango this is your fault as well as mine."

"really Sam? 'Cus right now it feels like I'm the only one with a problem to solve." She said cryptically turning to walk upstairs but Sam grabbed her arm on her way past.

"Don't touch me!" She grinded out before wrenching her arm form his grasp and making her way upstairs.

For any people who lknow about knee relocations and other thigns I apologize for the horrible description nbut I wanted to include and all the information I got was from a friend who was being very vague.

I hope Sam and Astrid get back together soon don't you?

Please Review

Hunnybunny