I watched in horror as the two men rushed across the room, Chuck in a forward motion and Sam backing up until they crashed into a wall behind Sam. There was a sickening sound of something cracking but I wasn't aware of what it could have been at the moment. I rushed to the other room and reached inside the closet. At the back, behind a dresser was my Smith & Wesson 1911 handgun. I ran back into the living room knowing the gun was loaded and having the extra ammo stuffed into my pocket I was loaded for bear. I found the two men still struggling, Sam had a cut above his eye and Chuck was bleeding from his lip and nose. I held the gun up and trained on Chuck, "Stop it now!", I screamed. He turned to see me standing there with him in my sights and he held up both hands. It pissed me off that he began to laugh when he saw me.
"So you're going to hold a gun on your boyfriend even though this guy here is the one in the wrong place.", he said indicating Sam. I never lowered my gun, "Sam has never hit me either but I can't say the same for you. Oh and you are no longer my boyfriend. Sam is here to help me get my shit so I can leave. I've got what I need and you can take the rest and shove it up your ass! Come on Sam let's go." Sam picked up one of my duffle bags in his left hand and the two of us left the house.
Once we were in the truck I noticed that Sam was favoring his right arm. "Are you hurt?", I asked him as he pulled out of the driveway with a grimace on his face. "It's nothing I haven't dealt with before. Just my shoulder is out of place. I'll pop it back in when we get back to the bunker." My eyes went wide, "Oh hell no Sam! You need to go have it seen about! What if it's not dislocated, but broken?" Sam shook his head, "No I don't do hospitals." A tear slipped down my face, "Sam please for me, let's go have this seen about. You don't have to go to the hospital. I've got a friend that's a doctor and she'll check it out. All I have to do is call her. She knows Chuck and knows what I've gone through with him. It's my fault that you're hurt at all. Please." Sam glanced over at me and saw that I had begun to cry.
"Ok just tell me where to go.", he said with compassion but I could see he was in some deal of pain as well. I gave him the directions and I called Nancy's number to let her know we were coming. She told me to come in the back door and she'd take care of us. I thanked her and hung up the phone. Soon we were at her office and I instructed Sam to pull in back. We were buzzed in and a sweet nurse directed Sam and me into a room. It wasn't long until Nancy came in after knocking on the door softly. Sam stood as she walked in. Her eyes lit up when she saw me and saw that I wasn't the one that was hurt, "Oh my God Jade! I just knew it would be you that I was patching up. Who is your handsome friend here?", she said as she winked at me and then turned her attention to Sam. "Nancy this is Sam. He helped me get my stuff from Chuck's." Nancy looked at me with shock, "You finally got rid of that dog?", she patted Sam's good shoulder, "Looks like you got a good one this time though."
Sam blushed as we talked about him as if he wasn't in the room. "Yep I'm out of there. Sam's letting me stay with him a few days but I may go to my dad's. I've got some decisions to make." Nancy nodded at me and then turned back to Sam, "Ok big guy let's see what's going on here. How about you take that flannel shirt off and we'll go from there." Sam obliged by removing his outer shirt and handing it to me. When it came time for him to remove his tee shirt though he couldn't lift it over his head so I stepped over and helped him get it off of his left arm and then I gently slid it down his right one. He gave me a look of gratitude and I could still see the pain in his eyes but he was making sure we didn't know how much pain he was in.
Nancy gently probed his shoulder and lifted his arm a bit to see if she thought it was just dislocated. Finally she said, "I think I need to x-ray it to be sure. I don't want to do more damage to it." She directed Sam down to the x-ray room and I stayed behind to wait on him. When the x-ray tech took Sam out Nancy poked her head back inside, "You need to hold on to that tall drink of water! Damn he's a sexy one! How is he?", she gave me a wicked look. My eyes went wide, "Nancy I haven't done anything with him! He came into City Sliquors yesterday and then Chuck showed up and hit me and Sam came to my rescue." Nancy looked near giddy, "Ohhhh he's a gentleman! Well you need to find out how he is but let me see how hurt he is first. I know how wild you can get.", she teased and then ducked quickly out the door before I threw Sam's tee shirt at her.
Sam wandered back into the room after a few minutes. I may have been enjoying watching him sit around without a shirt a little more than I should. I think the nurses were enjoying it too since they kept finding reasons to come into the room where we were. Nancy had been called to see about another patient so we had to wait a little longer than normal so the two of us were sitting in the room just staring at the walls at one point. I had noticed the tattoo on Sam's chest so I decided I'd ask him about it. "So what is your tattoo about? I've never seen anything like it." Sam glanced down at his ink and then shrugged, "Just a family thing that my brother and I got a few years ago."
Nancy chose that moment to come back into the room. She had a grim look on her face and I knew her well enough to know that this may not be good. "Well Sam it looks like you've got a break instead of just being dislocated. I'm going to need to set it and then you'll be in a sling for probably a couple months." Sam lowered his head and shook it. Nancy told us she would be right back with something for pain and a sling. When she left I walked over to Sam and lay my hand on his knee while he sat on the examining table, "I'm so sorry Sam. It's all my fault that you're hurt in the first place." Sam looked up at me, his eyes soulful, "No Jade don't you worry about it. It goes with my line of work."
Before I was able to ask him about that Nancy was back with a shot and a sling. "I'm going to give you a little shot but I'll need your backside sweetheart.", Sam shook his head and stood up. He struggled a bit with his jeans but was finally able to get his belt and jeans undone with one hand. He looked up at me shyly, "I may need help getting these back closed." I nodded silently and gave him a little wink. It was the least I could do for him.
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Jade's friend, Nancy got Sam fixed up even if it was a little embarrassing and he handed Jade the keys to the truck, "I think it'll be best if you drive home." When they were back in the bunker, Sam felt a little tired. He told Jade that he was going to his room to lie down. If she needed anything she could come and get him. She assured him that she would be fine.
Sometime after Sam had been asleep he woke when he heard a soft knock on his door and heard some sniffling. Sitting up he saw Jade standing at the door, "Come in.", he said quietly to her. She came in and looked embarrassed, "I'm sorry I woke you Sam, but I went to sleep in my room after it got dark and I had a terrible dream. Can I come in?" Sam nodded and scooted over so that she could sit on the bed on his left side. Her tears came harder the closer she got to him, "I feel like a big weak dummy. I've just brought pain and suffering to you since I met you yesterday." Sam pulled her against his chest with his good arm, "Shhhh. Don't cry. I've got you. You can stay here with me as long as you need. I told you that." Jade sobbed again, wetting the front of Sam's grey shirt. Again Sam soothed her, "Shhh you're good." At that he lay back on the bed and pulled her close again. He reached for the cover and pulled it up over the two of them and let her cling to him in the near darkness of his room. Soon she was asleep and breathing evenly. Sam rubbed his hand up and down her back and looked up at the ceiling. What had he gotten himself into?