Chapter 28
Running down the hall, feeling like she was in quicksand, wearing those impossible heels. Why ever had she put them back on? She had to get to him, to catch him before he left, to pull him back from the dark this time. She was out of breath when she reached the door, more from fear, than her sprint.
Mercedes blinked twice not believing her eyes, Quinn in red holding her husband. She was the woman that had permeated their life, posing as a friend, all while subtly squeezing into spaces she had no right to be, between their bond, in the middle of their marriage. He was her husband, her life. How dare she touch him so intimately, hold him so close? Inside she roared, Quinn had taken everything, but not him. She couldn't have him.
Though what right did she really have to lay claim on him now? She told him she was walking away, that she wanted out. Mercedes pretended his kisses meant nothing, she steeled herself against the flutters she still got every time he said her name. He was an impostor, she knew that, she was smart to try to move on. But maybe Emma was right, maybe she had never really given him a chance. She accused him of not bothering to get to know her, but hadn't she done the same? Dismissing the current version of him because he was slightly unfamiliar?
In her mind she had given him up to Quinn, trying so hard to put his happiness first. That decision seemed less solid now that she was face to face with the woman. She was supposed to stay locked up for a good while so Mercedes could get used to the idea of Sam loving Quinn or maybe somehow a miracle would happen and Sam's heart would shift and he'd fall for her instead. A pipe dream for sure, Quinn was everything Mercedes was not, and never could be. Mercedes was a realist, she had to be to survive, but hidden away she kept a store of faith, just for the really important times, like now, when it was so clear she was losing the man she loved. Her wishes weren't unfounded, he'd given them credence once, that night and then again that morning at the hospital, when they had been so close.
He tasted like peppermint, sharp and sweet, as he assaulted her with kisses that morning. She was getting dizzy, lightheaded from not enough air or maybe too many kisses. She wasn't sure which and it didn't matter. He made noises, moans against her mouth as he urged her closer, pressing deeper, filling her completely. For a man just out of a coma he certainly had a lot of energy, sucking on her neck, kissing down her throat, his tongue drawing designs across her chest. He had lifted her a bit off his lap to gain better access to her breasts. Hands under her arms holding her steady while his mouth teased her soft peaks. Incoherent murmurs about sweetness and chocolate covered strawberries was all he said between their frenzy of intense kisses. She bit him, teeth grazing his lower lip, and he growled, his eyes laughing but his actions serious as he kissed her harder, unrelenting until she surrendered, Melting against his body, whispering his name, again and again. Sam, her Sam, she wanted him more than she ever had in that moment, months without his touch had created a building need that could finally be released.
"What are the chances that someone will barge through that door?" he asked breathlessly between kisses.
"I don't know." She kissed him again. "It's early still. 60/40?"
"I'm not liking those odds, especially with the position we're in," he said before plunging into her mouth again.
Mercedes pulled away, trying to clear her head, to focus on their conversation. "Hopefully they will see I'm in here and quickly leave."
"Wouldn't seeing a nurse on top of her patient make them rush in even faster? This has got to be against the rules." His hands were all over her, exploring her body, tracing her curves, his crystal green eyes taking her in.
"I suppose you're right. They'd report me out of spite. All the nurses have such a crush on you. They're secretly jealous that you're mine."
"I'm yours huh?" he asked tilting his head to observe her.
"Yeah well I mean you're my patient. Not that…" She hesitated, at a complete loss how to back out of this jam. "I mean…" He cut her off with a kiss.
"You are so cute when you're flustered," he smiled, rubbing his nose against hers before pulling away.
His face was flushed and his skin warm to the touch. "Is this too much for you? Should I stop?"
"Don't you dare stop unless I keel over," he warned, leaning forward so she could wrap her legs around his torso completely.
"You shouldn't joke about that. I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you."
"I'm sure you could find another patient to have your way with."
"You think I do this with all my patients?" Mercedes asked, frowning.
"No I don't." Fingers through her hair, feathering across her cheek, he held her there, making her face him. Total honesty in his eyes. "I shouldn't have said that. I only did because I was feeling weird."
"We can stop," she said dropping her gaze.
"No. I don't want to. It's just strange with you, we are moving so fast."
"It's not fast to me. I've waited nine months to kiss you again." Mercedes felt her cheeks warm at that confession and she prayed she hadn't said too much, made him feel uncomfortable.
"Again?"
"Well not again, obviously. I mean I've just been waiting for you."
A look crossed his face, fleeting like a ripple in a pond, where it seemed like he remembered, like a recollection had flashed in his mind. Then he smiled, his cheeks lifting, clearing the expression.
"If I knew I was going to get a beautiful woman on my lap I would have woken up sooner," he teased running his hands over her bare thighs.
Mercedes bit her bottom lip as she debated if she should continue. It was getting so difficult to keep all the lies straight, to keep her feelings for him muted, the urge to tell him everything about their life, and their marriage was growing stronger with each kiss.
"I kissed you while you were in the coma," she admitted.
"You did?"
She ran her fingers through his hair, pushing it away from his face, the way she did every day since this ordeal began. His eyes fluttered shut and he leaned into her hand, smiling slightly as she continued to stroke his hair.
"I was hoping you'd wake up like Sleeping Beauty, but you never did." Tears burned as she pictured him so still, as he was such a short while ago.
"I…uh..wow," he stammered.
"I ruined the mood didn't I? I shouldn't have said anything,"
"I can't figure out why I'm not scared of you." He chuckled, removing her hand from his hair.
"Great! You think I'm crazy." Mercedes sat up straight, embarrassed that she had let things get this far. Half naked with a patient, her behavior was beyond unprofessional, it was bordering on criminal.
"A little bit, yeah, but I must be just as crazy as you are." Sam wrapped his arms around her, clasping his hands at the small of her bare back. "Because I'm right here with you."
"Well you are pretty much trapped in the bed and probably really horny after all these months," she joked, relaxing into his body, shivering as he ran his fingertips up and down her spine.
"Good point." He laughed. "So it's just you that's crazy."
"I better get my shirt, in case someone comes in," Mercedes declared, but failed to move from her spot. Rubbing his chest softly, her ear pressed to his heart, cherishing the sweet cadence of its beat.
"Let's not be so hasty, you said the odds were 60/40." Sam dipped into the waistband of her shorts, hesitantly descending, testing her reactions to the circles he traced on her skin.
"And they only increase the later it gets." Unbuttoning his pajama top, slow like a strip tease, pausing after each button to kiss the newly revealed spot on his chest.
"I say we take a chance and see what happens." He smiled as he eased his shirt off the rest of the way.
"I don't know about that. How's your blood pressure." Arms around his neck, topless in the splashes of sunlight, glorious and golden, making her feel sexy and wanted, she threw her head back arching her body toward him so he could claim her with his mouth.
"Feels really normal, I think it needs to be elevated."
Skin to skin, he pressed her closer burning a path along her neck, to her cheek, until he finally reached her mouth, only to tease her with little nips at her lips.
"Sam I don't know if you're ready for this."
"I'm ready. Can't you feel how ready I am?" he asked, positioning her on his lap so she could feel the full effect of his readiness.
"Maybe I'm the one that's not ready."
"I know a few tricks to help in that department," he said against her ear.
"I meant emotionally ready."
"Okay." He let out a breath and stopped his movements. "I get that. This is scary stuff."
"I thought you said you weren't afraid of me."
"I'm not. I just mean it is scary what's going on between us, how we're feeling."
"And how exactly are we feeling?" Mercedes asked.
"Like we might have done this before, maybe in another life. It feels natural, a little familiar," he said looking into her eyes, a smile surfacing on his face. She leaned back, eyes widening. Could this be true? Did he really remember her somewhere inside his mind? "At least it does for me," he added quickly.
Mercedes grinned as she pulled him in for a kiss.
All that filled her mind as she stared at Sam and Quinn sprawled in the middle of the floor. The surreal scene paralyzed her. She hoped she was hallucinating.
"Where's Marcel?" asked Quinn, breaking Mercedes from her trance and snapping her back to the present.
"He went to find a doctor." Mercedes slid to her knees beside them. Sam's lips were parted, the area below his nose was stained with blood, his head strangely twisted on Quinn's lap.
Her lower lip trembled as she fought the urge to break down. He was trying to leave her again, the bastard. She wasn't sure she had the strength to go through this another time. Then she touched him and she knew. There would be no question, as long as it took, she'd be there, never giving up on him.
"And Sue?"
"She went to hurry him along," responded Mercedes, eyes still trained on Sam. "You should go join her," she added finally looking up.
"I'm not going anywhere Sam needs me and I'm going to be here for him."
"The hell you will."
What do I do? In her head she was screaming, trying to regain control. She should have made Marcel come to the room first. He had years of nursing experience, unlike Mercedes. She was struggling to recall her training. Vital signs, she remembered, check his pulse.
"You are wasting time arguing with me," said Quinn not moving an inch, she remained draped over Sam's body.
Okay baby. Work with me here. You're okay. She checked his pulse. Steady and strong. Now what's next? She scanned her brain for the answers. Reasons for unconsciousness think of those. Head trauma. Everything looked normal, no visible bumps or bruises. Lack of oxygen. He was breathing normally, as if he were sleeping. Mercedes unbuttoned his shirt, just to be safe. What else? Oh god she was drawing a blank. What if he dies? Be a nurse. Be a nurse. You can do this.
"You're right. Talking to you is a waste," she pushed Quinn back, careful to support Sam's head. "Let's get one thing straight right here and now. See this ring on my finger?" She held up her hand. "This means I get to be here. Until I take this ring off or he asks for it back, I'm the one that gets to take care of him, not you."
"If he were awake now, he'd tell you he wants me," said Quinn moving farther away from Mercedes.
She looked angry and a bit scared. Maybe Quinn wasn't so sure about Sam's feelings after all.
"I don't care! I'm the one that loves him."
"I love him too," said Quinn, unabashedly proud. She had no shame, openly displaying her love for a married man.
"Maybe so, but he's mine." Mercedes hugged Sam tighter, wrapping her arms across his chest, rocking him gently against her. "Come on Sam, come on baby, wake up now. Come back to me."
Mercedes pulled him between her legs, somehow finding the strength to move his body up to lean against her, his back on her chest. She wiped at the blood that was starting to flow again from his nose with a piece of her dress, stretching it up to reach his face.
"You promised you'd come back," Mercedes said against the top of his head. "That was supposed to mean forever, not just for a couple of months." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "I didn't mean what I said earlier. You're still my Sam. I was upset, but you have to know how much I love you."
Mercedes tried to block out the sound of Quinn crying a few feet away, a loud reminder that she was truly out of the hospital and back in their lives. She was about to tell Quinn to shut up, when a pair of shoes appeared in front of her.
"Leave it to Sam to go back into a coma during his own party. He's such a drama queen."
Mercedes looked up and smiled. Help had arrived.
"Mike this is not the time for your jokes. You think it's funny that your brother is out cold?" asked Sue.
"I'm trying to infuse some levity into the situation. You all have such long faces. Mom, you've got to relax." He rubbed her shoulders affectionately. "I've brought Dr. Kali, so everything's going to be okay. Besides Sam knows I will kick his ass if he gets sick again. Trust me, he won't risk it."
There was something about Mike that Mercedes loved. They had gotten off to a rocky start with the whole Shane thing. Mike was stuck in a rough spot, his brother and his friend were involved with the same woman. Despite all that, they made it through to a better place and he became a great brother-in-law even while living thousands of miles away. Their Skype sessions held in Sam's hospital room had kept her going. Some days the only time she ever laughed or smiled was because of him. Just like now, when all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry, Mike was bringing a smile to her face. There was just something so special about him.
"Dr. Hill do you think you can help him?" asked Quinn, her voice hoarse from crying.
Dr. Kali Hill had rushed into the nursery, kneeling on the floor in her burgundy cocktail dress, immediately getting to work. Within seconds her complete attention was on Sam.
"I need to examine him first. Marcel, Mike can you move Sam over to the bed please? Elevate his legs. Mercedes, you need to let go of him so they can pick him up."
Mercedes nodded, but didn't move, her arms still tightly wrapped around Sam. She was scared to let him go, even for a second, even though she knew she had to so he could get help. But what if things went wrong when he left her arms? What if it was like last time, when she let go of his hand and disaster hit?
"Mercedes sweetie. Come over here with me," said Sue pulling her arm. Mercedes looked up, unsure whether to trust her mother-in-law. She looked at Sam, motionless against her chest and she reluctantly loosened her hold.
"Don't drop him!" Mercedes yelled as Marcel and Mike lifted Sam from the floor.
"They won't," said Sue, as she helped Mercedes to her feet.
"How did this happen Sue?" Mercedes asked once they were across the room from the bed. "He was fine."
"I don't know really. It all was so sudden. We were arguing about what happened to Beth and he just collapsed."
"He knows?"
"No not all of it. I planned to tell him," replied Quinn.
Mercedes whipped around to face Quinn. "So you did this to him," she stated angrily.
"I didn't do anything. I just told him about my postpartum." Quinn pointed toward Sue. "She was the one that brought up the rest."
"I get it. You were trying to appease your guilty conscience by confessing to Sam. Do you feel better? Has the weight been lifted now that my husband is unconscious?"
"I wasn't trying to appease anything. Sam and I were having a personal conversation and the subject came up."
"Why on the night of his party? Which by the looks of what you're wearing you knew about. What the hell are you doing here anyway?"
"Sam had me released last night."
"Right the hotel." Bile rose in Mercedes's throat as the photo of them at the hotel popped into her mind. "Was that your welcome home bang?"
"I don't have to answer that. What Sam and I do is none of your business."
"You sleazy bitch!" Mercedes lunged toward Quinn's throat, but Mike grabbed her around the waist before she could make it to her target.
Mercedes didn't like her tone. It was too personal, too much like they were a couple. Quinn shouldn't have any business with her husband other than Beth, and since she had no rights to the baby, even that topic was off limits.
"Quinn!"
"Yes Dr. Hill."
"Can you do me a favor? Go in the bathroom and wet a towel, make the water as cold as you can and bring it to me."
"Okay." Quinn walked away without a word, leaving Mercedes fuming.
"You've got to take it easy Cede," said Mike once Quinn was gone.
"This is insane. Why is she even here?"
"Sam wanted her here," Sue replied quietly. "I know you don't want to hear that but it's true."
"I warned him about this last night. I told him Cede will be so mad when she finds out, but he wouldn't listen," said Mike.
"You knew Quinn was out of the hospital?" asked Mercedes punching him in the arm.
"Ow!" Mike rubbed his forearm. "Don't give me that look. I didn't know what his plans were until we got upstate. Next thing I knew I had a stowaway in my backseat."
"I want her out of this house." Mercedes covered her face with her hand, leaning back against the crib. "She has no right to be here."
"Your dress has blood on it," said Sue touching the fabric.
"I thought the rumpled and bloody look was in," smirked Mike.
"You hush up," Sue snapped.
Mercedes looked down at herself, her green dress was creased in numerous places and stained dark red with blood. Sam's blood. Mercedes gasped as she turned to look at him on the bed, it all hitting her full force again.
"Sam," she called out as she rushed over to the bed.
"Good you're back. I need your help," said Kali.
"What can I do?" Mercedes asked. Sam looked the same, so pale in his all black. She climbed up on the bed beside him, stroking his hair as she always did.
"Here's the towel, Dr. Hill." Quinn handed it to her. "Thank you Quinn." Kali placed the towel on Sam's forehead. "Mercedes? Are you okay?"
She shook her head. Nothing about this was okay. It was starting to look so eerily familiar like they were back in the hospital sitting vigil by his bed.
"You're shaking Mercedes. I need you to relax." Kali sounded so far away, drowned out by the intermittent beeps of the monitors and life support systems that used to fill Sam's hospital room. Flooding back so vividly, she could see him, as he was, so gaunt, eyes closed, in silk pajamas. "He's not back in a coma."
Not a coma, something worse, an eternal sleep that no one would be able to rouse him from. Such a leap to think of him dead, but Mercedes knew all too well how quickly life could change. In the car accident, he was hurt but holding on, then in an instant he had fallen from the car and stopped breathing. She relived that accident almost nightly since it happened. Most times it was a replay of events, Sam falling, going into a coma, but on those other nights when her mind was especially restless Sam never made it out of that crash. In some ways that version of her dreams was more accurate, Sam had come back from the coma, but he wasn't really the same man. That other Sam seemed to have died that night, his body left bloody and cold on the muddy embankment, just as her mind tried to scare her into believing.
"Are you sure?" asked Quinn, touching Sam's arm. Not a friendly pat, but a caress, her fingers curling around his flesh possessively.
Mercedes's head shot up, her face twisting into a snarl. "Don't you touch him!" Mercedes yelled, her whole body convulsing in anger. Quinn dropped her hand and moved away.
"Hey!" said Kali. "This isn't helping."
"I want her gone."
"I have every right to be here." Quinn was fighting back from behind the lines. They had kept her out, held her at bay, Sue, Marcel, and Kali blocked Sam from Quinn's view, perhaps unintentionally, but Mercedes was satisfied with the result all the same. "Sam and I are-"
Mercedes jumped from the bed, pushing past Marcel, to slap Quinn across the face. Hard, like a punch, she put all her weight behind the blow. Quinn staggered back a bit, holding her cheek.
"You and Sam are nothing! Do you hear me? You are the cheap whore he knocked up. Nothing more!"
"Okay you're out of here, the two of you," said Mike as he shoved her and Quinn out the door. "I'm not going to have you brawl over Sam's body."
"You can't kick me out," said Mercedes once they were in the hall.
"Oh yes I can," said Mike, blocking the doorway with his body. "Something could be seriously wrong with Sam and I'm not going to have you making it worse. And I know you're in rare form tonight Cede. Kurt told me all about your cage match with Rachel. I know my brother likes them feisty but damn girl you're a handful when pissed."
Mercedes put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. He wasn't going to get away with this. "Yes I am, and your pissing me off right now Mike."
"Use your claws on her. I'm not your enemy." Mike stepped further in the room. "You can come back when you prove you can behave," he said, shutting the door.
"Son of a bitch," Mercedes muttered under her breath as she twisted the doorknob. He had locked them out. She kicked at the door in frustration.
"Yeah, that'll help," said Quinn with a roll of her eyes.
"You shut up. This is all your fault. I should be in there with my husband and because of you I'm in the hall."
"Stop with the whining! I'm the one that should be in there. He's going to be looking for me when he wakes up. You're such a sad pathetic little thing. I almost feel sorry for you. I've tried to be respectful of your feelings, because I'm sure it truly sucks to be you, but no more. You think I'm just some whore? You think Sam doesn't care about me? You are so wrong. Dead wrong. You are the one he could care less about. He wishes the two of you weren't married so he wouldn't have to deal with your ass. You are just the problem he inherited. I'm the one he wants to be with."
Mercedes crossed her arms and looked Quinn up and down. "Kali better up your dosage, because you are delusional. Sam has psychological amnesia. That's a medical condition, in case your boobs are blocking the pathways to your brain."
"I'm not an idiot. I know he has amnesia."
"Do you know what that word means? Let me break it down for you. That means Sam has temporarily forgotten some events in his past and the feelings associated with them. Temporarily," Mercedes said slowly. "I know a big word, but it means, for a short period of time, not forever. Meaning he may want you now, but once his memory comes back, he will be all about me again." Mercedes flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned away.
"Don't you turn your back on me." Quinn roughly grabbed Mercedes by the shoulder, forcing her around. Mercedes yanked away, tense with anger "Listen to me little girl," said Quinn clenching her hands into fists. "Sam has loved me since he was sixteen. That has never gone away. He may be married to you, but we share a child, and an emotional bond that you can't even begin to comprehend. Another big word. Comprehend." She drew the word out, enunciating each syllable. "That means understand, as in you don't have a chance in hell of keeping Sam, memory back or not."
"Why are you doing this?" She blinked back tears. Her marriage was under assault from multiple directions, both Sam and Quinn seemed determined to take the life she used to love down. "You know Sam loved me. We were going to find our way back to each other."
There was a time when she thought Quinn could have become a friend, back when she was engaged to Puck and living with Julian and they were trying to bond as a family. Now Mercedes could see it never would've worked. The strange vibes Mercedes had picked up from Quinn were explained. Quinn had been hiding some serious latent feelings for Sam.
"No I don't know that. You filed for divorce and treated him like crap. Every day he begged you for another chance and you beat him down for it, and if that wasn't enough you crashed his car and stole months of his life, taking away precious time with his family and his daughter."
This was low, bringing up the accident was akin to stabbing her in the heart. Quinn knew how much it killed her that she was the cause of Sam's condition. So many months Mercedes struggled with her guilt, only barely forgiving herself for it now. For Quinn to pull it out like a grenade and toss it at her feet, just proved how little regard she had for her. Whatever meager bond they had forged the day Sam came out of his coma was gone.
"You know that's not true. The crash was an accident. I never meant to hurt him. How dare you question my love for Sam? He is my whole life. We had our future mapped out, children, traveling, growing old together. I have been waiting for him to wake up all this time and you know that."
"I've been waiting for him too. You aren't the only one with plans. When we stayed at the Beacon we got very close. Sam is the one person in this world that I trust completely. He is my best friend and one of the best things in my life. I'm not going to give him up for you, a person that tossed him aside more than once. You just did it again tonight. You don't really want him. You just don't want him to be with me."
"I was trying to walk away because it hurts and I want him to be happy. I thought maybe if he felt so strongly about you, then it was meant to be, but now I see how wrong I was. I don't know if you're bored, lonely or just plain desperate, but you don't really love Sam. You couldn't, because if you did, you wouldn't be trying to take him away from me. You know he'll hate you for it."
Sam had to have told Quinn how he felt about their marriage, if they were as good of friends as she claimed. He used to tell the postman, people at work, random strangers at BreadStix, how happy he was to be married, so Quinn had to know. She just chose to ignore it now because she wanted him for herself.
"I don't know about that. He might thank me for saving him from a lifetime with a flighty, immature brat."
"At least he promised me a lifetime. He was willing to make that long-term commitment with me. When did you ever get a proposal from him Quinn?" Mercedes knew Sam had never given Quinn a ring. Something she always thought was rather sad given how much he claimed to have loved her back in the day.
"Tonight actually," Quinn said with a smug smile. "So if you think Sam's not serious, you're wrong. While you are busy living in the past, holding on to a man that can't remember you, I'm in the present, creating a new future with him."
"Don't you see? You're living in the past too. Sam doesn't love you, not the real you that's here right now. He wants the person you were three years ago, before you screwed him over with Mike and dropped his baby in the woods."
Sam was getting so wrapped up in her and he and no idea who she was anymore. Quinn didn't seem to be in a rush to clue him in. Why would she be? She would certainly lose her footing with Sam the more dirt he learned. It would be so easy to tell him, to blow Quinn out of the water, but Mercedes was reluctant to go that far, knowing Sam might be decimated by the information. For now she would keep it to herself unless desperate measures were needed.
"You act like I'm the only one that hurt him. You've done your fair share as well. No need for me to list your offenses, but I will bring up your latest blow. I heard what you did to him earlier tonight, calling him damaged and messed up all because he doesn't remember you. Who the hell are you to make those judgments?"
Mercedes was floored. He had told her about that? She could see the two of them sitting around comparing notes behind her back, laughing at her gullibility and critiquing her pathetic attempts at seduction. Inwardly she groaned, as she wondered if Sam had given Quinn a play by play of every encounter they had. It made her uneasy that they seemed so close, so she lashed out.
"I'm the one thing you'll never be – his wife."
"Don't be so sure. Sam will be running out the door as soon as he can. He can't wait to be with me. Told me so just tonight."
Maybe she was the one getting lashed. Sam obviously had been pouring his heart out to Quinn. He was making it so hard to stick with him. He had amnesia, she reminded herself. That changed things. She had to stay strong, bite back the jealousy and anger if she wanted him back.
"Do you know what it's like to scrap, to fight, to have to battle your way up from the darkest of places just to survive? I bet you don't. Everything was handed to you because you're pretty and you look good in a bikini. For me life was a little harder. I worked for everything I got, for all I wanted. Mostly I wanted money, so I could get away from my mom, but then I moved here and my priorities changed. I met Sam." And he changed her life for better and worse.
"What's with the biography? I know you had it rough in L.A., but you got it all now, money, family, a job, nothing left to fight for."
"That's where you're wrong. I thought I was too tired to do this, that I had enough of the endless battles to win him over, but you see when you really want something you fight for it. Fight to keep it, to protect it. And there's nothing I want more than Sam Evans. I've felt that way since the day I met him and the feeling hasn't left me yet. I had a conversation a little while ago with Emma and she opened my eyes to a few things I let myself forget. She reminded me that true love was worth fighting for. I used to believe that and Sam did too, but I lost track of that along the way. I let myself get clouded by our current difficulties. I know I have true love with Sam. I don't care if he woke up from a coma asking for you, that doesn't matter much, because when he thought he was going to leave this life, his last thoughts were of me. His last words before he lost consciousness were about loving me. So you think you can take Sam from me? Try it. I dare you, but be ready for the fight of your life, because I'm not letting him go."
"Looks like you're in for a battle, because I'm not letting him go either. Never again," said Quinn, a surprising intensity in her eyes.
"Are you done here or am I going to have to get Daley to break things up?" asked Mike popping his had out of the partially open door.
"I'm done here," said Mercedes.
"Me too. I've said all I need to."
"Is that a cease fire then? Dr. Hill wants both of you inside. Sam needs you," he said opening the door fully and stepping aside so they could pass.
"My son is still here passed out and all you two can think to do is fight?" Sue asked as she watched them walk back into the nursery.
"You could hear us?" asked Mercedes feeling embarrassed.
She had stooped so low getting into a shouting match with Quinn. For months she had tried to take the high road, choosing to ignore Quinn's irritating presence. They had managed to live together with Beiste in relative peace for a couple of months, granted Quinn was usually out bar hopping or god knows where else, but still never had they got into it the way they did tonight.
"I think all of Lima heard you. No wonder Sam is still passed out, he's probably scared to face you," said Mike.
"So he's not better?" asked Quinn.
"Does he look better to you?" Sue asked harshly. "It's been too long. I'm calling 911. Mike, do you have your phone?"
"Mom let's think for a minute. What about the party? Do we really want Sam being carried out on a stretcher in front of everyone, being splashed across the front page? He would hate that, to be seen so weak. Kali, is there nothing else you can do for him?"
"Remember when he got sick after our wedding," Mercedes took a seat on the bed next to Sam, ignoring the daggers Quinn was shooting at her with her eyes. "Sam and I held hands the whole time he was in the hospital?"
"Yeah I do." Sue moved closer, blocking Quinn out. "You even slept in a chair."
"We held hands a lot after that. It was like our link. In the car, after the accident, I wouldn't let go of him until I had to. I think bad things might happen when we're separated," said Mercedes her voice breaking.
She thought about running away at their wedding and Sam got sick. She filed for divorce and they were in an accident. She told him it was over tonight and now he was unconscious. The correlation was there, the pattern too clear to dismiss, she made this happen by trying to leave.
Taking his large hand in her own, she threaded his long fingers through hers. She had always been fascinated by his hands, their look, their feel, slightly calloused knuckles scarred from countless fights, smooth but not soft, these hands were used and worked. Mercedes ran her thumb across his wedding band, comforted to see it once again on his finger. She knew he wasn't ready to accept his current reality, to jump back into a life and marriage he didn't remember, but the ring on his finger felt like a promise, a pledge, that one day he would be.
"Mercedes I need you to help me." She looked up at Kali, startled to hear someone else's voice. "Forget that Sam is your husband for a moment. I need you to be professional. Can you do that?"
"Yes." Mercedes cleared her throat.
"Are you sure?" Kali asked again.
"Yes," she repeated, more forcefully this time.
"Good. Now hold this towel on his head."
Wiping down his face with the cool towel, gently caressing each spot, touching him longer than needed, in the hopes he would feel her there somehow. That he would know someone cared. She cleaned away the last traces of blood from the area near his nose, before folding the towel neatly and draping it across his forehead. Leaning in close to his face, so no one would overhear, she whispered words of love in his ear.
"Why isn't he coming to?" Mercedes asked when she finally sat up.
It had been too long. Kali said it wasn't a coma, but what about something else? It could be a clot or an aneurysm. Mercedes wasn't sure of the signs, she had missed too many TBI classes lately.
"I am hoping now that we have his head back down in line with his body and his legs elevated, it will help. We've loosened his belt and his buttons. His pulse is good and he's breathing fine. He should be coming around soon."
"I shouldn't have propped him up against me. I was so scared about him choking on his blood. I wasn't thinking." Such a careless mistake, she knew better than to move an unconscious patient.
"Mercedes, you did fine." Kali patted her hand quickly. "This is a man you care for deeply. Your emotions are on high."
"I just don't want to lose him again."
To say I love you and have him not respond, to kiss him and his lips not move, to have to dream about his pretty green eyes because they were rarely open to be seen, that had been her life, her newlywed year, loving a man that couldn't love her back. It had been almost unbearable the first time. She didn't think she could handle doing it all over again.
"Let's work together and make sure that doesn't happen. Okay? What medication is Sam taking? Anything that has dizziness or loss of consciousness as potential side effects?"
"No," Mercedes shook her head. "Wait, one had vertigo as a possible reaction," she remembered.
"Okay good to know. Did he take those pills today?"
"I don't know. I wasn't with him this morning." Mercedes glared over at Quinn. She had inched her way up between Sue and Mike.
"He did take them. I saw him," said Quinn, speaking up.
Mercedes tried to check the anger that was once again building by turning her attention to Sue and Mike who had stepped away to the other side of the room, huddled together in the corner, in deep discussion.
"Thank you Quinn," said Dr. Hill.
"When was the last time he's eaten?" Kali looked from Mercedes to Quinn for a response.
"This afternoon I know he ate, when he was with me. I made him a burger." The first normal thing she had done for him in months, making him lunch like she used to when he came home early from work just to give her a midday kiss.
"Do any of his medications have interactions with food? What did he drink today?"
Mercedes mentally ran through his prescriptions. She knew all his meds and his schedule for taking them. Even though now he was handling them himself, she still kept his routine memorized. Taking care of him had become such a part of her daily life, instinctive, like breathing, she'd yet to break herself of it.
"Water. I know he had water when we were in our bedroom."
"Quinn? Do you remember him eating or drinking anything?" asked Kali.
"I think last night, but not this morning."
"Too busy screwing his brains out to even stop for food?" Mercedes couldn't stop herself, her jealousy bubbling over.
What was it about Quinn that made her so damn unforgettable? What made perfectly sensible men like Mike or Puck lose their minds and their hearts over her? Sam had blindly run to her rescue, freeing her from an asylum she deserved to be in, without knowing all the facts. He'd spent days with Mercedes in the hospital, bonding with her, flirting with her, he had liked their time together, liked her. Still he easily tossed it away for Quinn Fabray.
Quinn took a threatening step forward, her green eyes blazing. Marcel stiffly lifted his arm, blocking her path.
"Let's stay focused," said Kali. "We're trying to help Sam here."
"I saw empty beer bottles in his room," Quinn said.
"That's impossible. Sam knows he can't drink alcohol."
"Sam's a grown man. You think he's going to listen to your stupid little rules?"
"Stupid? He just woke up from a coma. He's on powerful meds that affect his blood flow and his motor skills. Alcohol could seriously disrupt his system." Mercedes stopped, as her mind stumbled upon the possibility. "Oh my God, Kali."
Kali nodded, a smile starting to form. "I'm thinking we need to go old school here. A remedy my abuela used to swear by. Marcel look in that first aid kit and see if there's any-"
"Oui. Doctor. I know what you are thinking." He searched the small green bag. "They are ici," he announced holding out a foil packet.
"Yes!" Kali popped the capsule under Sam's nose. Within seconds his eyes fluttered up and he began to cough. "Easy there," said Kali when Sam tried to sit up. "Just stay down."
Mercedes held him still, rubbing his shoulder until he relaxed back on the bed.
"Smelling salts?" Sue smiled. "I used to keep these in my purse when I was pregnant with my Mike. Fainted all the time with him."
Sam looked disorientated as his eyes adjusted to the light. His eyes landed on Mercedes and he smiled. He ran his thumb down the slope of her nose, but said nothing.
"Sam," Quinn called out from behind Marcel.
"You keep her away," Mercedes ordered, never taking her eyes off Sam.
"Sam, it's Kali. Can you hear me?"
He turned his head toward Kali's voice. "Yeah. What the hell are you doing here?" he asked his voice low and strained, like it took extra effort for him to speak.
"Nice to see you too," she chuckled.
Mercedes could hardly contain her joy, as she kissed each of his fingertips, giggling as he wiggled them against her lip. He'd kept his promise. He came back. Sam watched her with a confused smile on his face, but never protesting as she continued to kiss him, on his cheeks and his forehead.
She knew everyone must be staring at her, silently questioning her sanity, but she didn't care. Her emotions were overflowing, it was either touch him or go in the corner and cry. Her tightly wound nerves were starting to fray, the snapping point painfully near, as she tried to release the fear that had been building since she found Sam on the floor.
"Your bedside manner is incredible," he said, when she was a nose away, hovering above him, debating with herself about whether she should kiss him on the lips.
He smiled and those lips she loved were on full display, ending the debate. She pressed her lips against his, one, two, three, lingering pecks coinciding with the words 'I love you' in her mind. Mercedes pulled back opening her eyes, to find him staring at her, stunned.
"Whoa little nurse, are you giving me mouth to mouth when I can already breathe?"
"I..uh..I'm just glad you're back."
He laughed, his eyes slanting into half moons. "Where'd I go?"
"What's the last thing you remember?" asked Kali.
He paused, thinking over his response. "I remember Quinn."
"What about Quinn?" asked Mercedes, starting to feel queasy.
He frowned. "She did something to hurt our child."