CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Title: "Salvation: Forever and Always: Elusive Dreams – PART III"

Author: Michelle Heath

Rating: MA for adult situations and language

Summary: Story #9 in the Salvation series. The bonds of family bring the Five-0 ohana even closer.

Disclaimer: I so do not own Hawaii Five-0; unfortunately! All original characters are the property of the author!

Date Written: November 3, 2012

(She's cold; cold and wet and frightened but doesn't know why and she can't see anything through the thick, almost suffocating fog that envelopes her. All she can do is keep moving and hope that she can move out of the grayness and back into the sunlight. Taking a step and then another and another, she keeps moving, but the fog is not clearing. If anything, it seems to be getting thicker and darker and the temperature is dropping, as well. Her heart rate picks up and fear begins to slither in her belly, cold and dark, but she doesn't stop. She can't stop because she's afraid that, if she does, she will be forever lost in this terrible void. She is so very tired and it takes real effort to force her feet to continue to move, but she cannot stop. Suddenly, the fog begins to thin out and she can see indistinct shapes in front of her and the level of her fear increases with each step she takes. Her heart rate picks up and she begins to tremble, whether from fear or the cold she doesn't know. The shapes in front of her are becoming clearer now. Doors. Huge, doors are what lie in front of her now. "Sam". Who was that? "Sam." Who. Was. That! Everything slows down. She sees her feet moving in slow motion toward the doors. She watches in horrified fascination as her hand slowly reaches out toward one of the doors, every fiber of her being silently screaming, "NO!" The door is opening now, and she desperately, DESPERATELY does NOT want to see what's on the other side! What she wants does not matter because the door is slowly opening and she is compelled to move forward. She has broken out in a cold sweat and her heart is pounding painfully in her chest, but she cannot stop her forward movement. Sheet-covered metal tables, side by side, the strong smell of antiseptic, shadows transforming and taking on ghoulish shapes, and a heavy weight crushing her chest. She can't breathe! No! No, I don't want to do this! "Sam." Oh, God, no! "Sam." She shuts her eyes and prays that this will all disappear. When she opens them again, her parents' dead bodies, bloody and torn, bones protruding through skin, eyes open and staring, lie before her. No. No! NO!)

"Sam! Sam, wake up! SAM!"

(Her eyes snap open and Steve sees pure panic and fear in their emerald green depths as he does his damndest to bring her out of the nightmare and back into the safety of his arms. She is breathing so hard and fast that he's scared she's about to pass out and he lets go of her upper arms to grab her face with both hands and force her to look directly in his eyes.)

"You're all right, Sam. It was a dream; just a dream. I'm right here. I've got you. You're all right."

'St. . . Steve?"

"Yeah, Beautiful, it's me. I've got you. You're all right, Sweetheart, I'm right here."

"Ho. . Hold me."

"Til the end of time, Sam, and then some."

(But she is still trembling; violently so, and the fear and panic are still present in her eyes and Steve is getting worried. Never has he seen Sam this frightened, this vulnerable, this lost, and it's killing him. Pulling her into his arms, he holds her very tightly and does his best to talk her down from the nightmare. A quick glance at the clock tells him its 0337 hours, and he has a feeling they've got a long night ahead of them. Sam scrambles to get as close to Steve as she can and he tightens his arms around her while he continues to softly reassure her and intersperses his words with soft kisses. Finally, after what seems like hours, Sam's trembling lessens and her breathing slows to a more normal rate, and Steve heaves a sigh of relief.)

"Better?"

"Yeah. What time is it?"

"0421."

"Steve?"

"What, Baby?"

"Go get Emily, please. I need both of you right now."

"Be right back."

"Steve?"

"Yeah, Sam?"

"Hurry."

(Steve hurries into Emily's room, scoops his sleeping daughter up quickly, and hands her to her mother in a matter of seconds. Sam deftly lays the baby on her side, pulls her little body up close to hers, and gently kisses Emily's dark, silky hair as Steve slides into the bed, pulls both of them close, and puts a strong, muscled arm around Sam's waist. Emily McGarrett never even stirs, but neither her mother nor father sleep another wink the rest of the night. Sam can't sleep because she's afraid of having another nightmare and Steve won't sleep because he's determined to keep watch over his wife and daughter. He feels soft shudders run through Sam's body and reaches up with one hand to find her face wet with tears."

"Sam, Baby, you're all right, you and Emily are safe. I won't let anyone hurt either of you. Promise."

"I know that, Steve. I trust you wife my life, with Emily's life."

"Go to sleep, Sweetheart. You need to rest."

"I can't, Steve. I'm scared."

"I'm right here, Sam. I won't leave you."

"I know. . . . I don't want to . . . See them like that again, Steve."

"I know you don't, Baby. I'm sorry you had to see them like that at all. If I could take that memory from you, I would."

"Let me go."

"You're okay."

"No, Steve, let me go! I'm going to be sick!"

(And, although he's not quite sure how they manage it, both of them are out of the bed and Sam flies to the bathroom all without waking Emily. Steve can hear Sam retching violently in their bathroom, and he quickly puts some pillows around Emily to keep her from rolling off the bed and goes to Sam. He spends the rest of the night alternating between checking on Emily and holding Sam's hair back as she empties her stomach and wiping her face with a cool washcloth. Just as the dawn begins to break, Steve carries Sam's limp form back to their bed and gently lays her down. He has already put Emily back in her own bed, and Sam is so exhausted from being sick that she has fallen into a deep, and he hopes dreamless, sleep. At 0600 hours, he snags his cellular phone from the bedside table, hits a speed dial and waits.)

"Steve? Everything okay?"

"No, Mike, everything's not okay. I need you and Libby over here ASAP. There's a problem with Sam."