So I know some of you have followed me from years and years back, and while there will be some similarities between this and the old one, this will be different; as great as the one back then was, this is going to be different. And very enjoyable! So enjoy, and don't forget to review; reviews give me life!

The ride to the hospital was a quick one, but still not fast enough for Sam. The moment Mercedes parked, he was out of the car. Mercedes didn't know if he wanted her to stay, but she didn't feel right leaving him.

When he entered her office, she was instantly attracted to him. A part of her wanted to tell him to leave because he was a man she could see herself getting close to, and it was all Sugar's fault. All she could talk about was how Sam was such a good man, such a great big brother and father figure, and how he gave up his life to take care of his siblings. It meant that he was a family man.

The more Mercedes spoke to him, the more she was sure that he was the perfect candidate, but she understood why he wasn't sure about it; hell, neither was she. But she wanted to be there for him when he got the call.

As she walked inside the hospital, following after Sam, she watched as a nurse stopped him.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you can't go back there."

"Either move the hell out of my way, or I will move you," Sam growled.

"I will call security! This is a Children's Hospital!" The nurse warned as Sam pushed past her. A big, burly man came up and grabbed Sam's arm, and Mercedes frowned, moving to step in. Sam was so worked up; all he had to do was say he was there for his sister, but he wasn't thinking.

Stepping up, Mercedes moved between Sam and the guard. "Excuse me. I am sorry, but he's just upset. This is Sam Evans; his sister was brought in; she got hurt at school."

The guard side-eyed Sam as he let him go, and the nurse looked at Mercedes. "What's the name?"

"Stacey, Stacey Evans," Sam said on the brink of tears.

The nurse nodded. "Okay, I see Sam Evans as the guardian; he can go back. She's in room 113."

"Is Stevie back there too?"

The nurse looked at her notes and nodded. "Yes, he is, refused to leave her side."

Mercedes sighed in relief when they started to go forward, but the nurse stopped her.

"I'm sorry, only family is allowed back there."

Sam looked at Mercedes as if pleading with her not to leave his side.

Turning to the nurse, she raised an eyebrow. "I am family. Sam is my fiancee, and I belong back there with our sister."

The nurse looked to Sam for confirmation, and he nodded. She offered Mercedes a small smile. "Okay, sorry, you can never be too careful."

"No, I understand, and thank you."

The nurse's smile widened. "You know you, you look so much like Mercedes Jones."

The security guard smiled. "Right! I was thinking that, too."

Mercedes nodded. "I get that a lot." She said before she led Sam to the back.

As they walked, Sam squeezed her hand. "Can you…Can you tell me something, anything…I can't go in there like this. I have to be strong."

Mercedes stopped walking and turned Sam towards her. "This is scary, one of the scariest things I can think of experiencing. But if you are any indication of those twins in there, then I know we are going to go in that room to two very beautiful and strong kids."

Sam stared at her momentarily, his hand going to her cheek. "Thank you. I couldn't even breathe at the thought of her being hurt. Thank you."

Mercedes leaned into his touch for a moment before pulling away. "Okay, let's get to room 113; I am sure they can't wait to see you."

A small flash startled them as Mercedes looked around. Sam took her hand back and led her to the room where his siblings were.

"Sammy!" They heard as they opened the door.

Sam smiled, seeing Stacey in the bed with a pink cast, and Stevie was sitting next to her; they were eating ice cream and watching Shrek on the TV.

Sam moved closer to Stacey, kissing her forehead. "How are you feeling lil bit?"

"It really hurt, but the doctor gave me something to help." Stacey replied softly.

Stevie smiled proudly. "She's been really brave, Sammy, didn't cry or nothing."

"I cried a little," Stacey said as her eyes went to Mercedes. "Sammy, who's she? Is she your girlfriend?"

Mercedes stepped forward, not sure what Sam wanted to do or say about her.

Sam smiled. "Why? So you can try to run her off?"

Stacey eyed her and smiled. "Nope. I like her."

"You don't even know her lil bit."

Stevie eyed her, then looked back at Sam. "She's pretty. Why is she with you?"

Before Sam could answer, the door opened. Sam stood up straight as a doctor walked into the room.

"Hi, I am Dr. Clark, and you are?"

"Sam Evans."

"Ah, the big brother. Stacey is doing well; she fell off the monkey bars and broke her left arm. It's a clean break, so she should only need the cast for four to eight weeks. You can bring her back here or take her to her Primary Care Doctor to get it removed."

"Sam nodded. "Okay, so what do I…how do I…"

Mercedes stepped up, placing a hand on his shoulder. "What are her aftercare needs?"

Sam nodded a thanks to Mercedes as Doctor Clark spoke. "You want to apply a bag of ice, though frozen vegetables can work too, to the cast for 20 minutes every two hours; I am going to prescribe Ibuprofen, which will help with the swelling. If she experiences any discomfort, a fever, anything out of the ordinary, you want to bring her in immediately."

Sam nodded as the Doctor smiled. "The nurse will be in in a few minutes to discharge you, give you her prescriptions, just Ibprophen as I said, and some antibiotics because her arm was cut open, and to get your insurance information for the billing and everything."

Sam nodded, trying to remain calm. As the Doctor walked out of the room, Sam ran his hand through his hair. "This is…"

Mercedes ran her hand down Sam's back. "It's okay, she's fine and safe."

Sam sighed. "I don't have insurance. No work means no insurance. I can only imagine what all this is gonna cost. I can't…"

"Sammy, I have to go to the bathroom…" Stevie said, standing.

Sam nodded. "Do you…Would you mind…"

Mercedes offered him a smile. "Take him; I will stay here with Stacey."

He didn't know why, but he trusted her, which was something huge: she didn't have to be there or speak up and help. He nodded. "Thank you. We will be right back."

Sam walked out the door, and Stacey looked at her. "You seem nice."

"Thank you, you seem nice too."

There was a knock on the door, and a woman walked in. "Excuse me, I am looking for Mr. Evans; I am here for his insurance."

Mercedes smiled. "He went to take his brother to the bathroom, but if this is about the bill, I want to pay it in full."

The woman stepped back. "Ma'am, the bill is $14,500."

Mercedes pulled out her wallet. "Do you take debit or black cards? Or would you prefer a check?"

She blinked a few times. "D-d-debit will be fine."

Mercedes nodded. "She has some meds the Doctor prescribed. Can we get them here?"

"Yes, um, we have a pharmacy…"

"Great, can you have those sent up? You can add them to the bill."

The woman nodded, putting the information into her computer as Mercedes handed her her card.

"Oh my God, you really are her, aren't you?"

Mercedes smiled. "If you wouldn't mind, I would appreciate it if you didn't make a show of it. This is a trying time for us, and I don't… I don't want to take the focus off of Stacey."

The woman nodded. "Of course, do you think…would you mind taking a photo with me? I am a huge fan; I still have your last EP on repeat."

Mercedes looked at Stacey, who was intrigued and nodded. "Of course."

Posing for the photo, Mercedes smiled, clearly making the young woman's day. After she was done, she prayed the woman would finish before Sam returned.

The woman produced her mobile POS and swiped the card. After a moment, she handed Mercedes the receipt to sign and smiled.

"Thank you, thank you so much for the photo, and I will personally bring up the prescriptions."

After the woman left, Mercedes moved to sit on the bed with Stacey, her back to the door. "How are you feeling? I know when my daughter is hurt, she puts on a brave face, even when she's in pain."

"You have a daughter?" Stacey asked.

"Yep. She's five, just like you. Her name is Faith."

Stacey sniffed as she blinked back a few tears. "I love Sammy, but I miss my mommy; I bet she'd sing to me when I was hurting… that's what mommy's do, right?"

"Well, I sing to Faith, so I know some do."

"Does it always make her feel better?"

"Sometimes, and then sometimes, she needs cuddles too."

Stacey nodded. "Do you think…" She hesitated and frowned. "Never mind."

Mercedes smiled, leaning forward, wiping Stacey's eyes. "How about, if you don't mind, maybe just for today, I can sing and see if it makes you feel better?"

Stacey nodded, sniffing. "O-okay."

Mercedes moved the young girl's hair out of her face as she began to sing. "Oohh, When I think of home, I think of a place where there's love overflowing. I wish I was home, I wish I was home, I wish I was back there, with the things I've been knowing. Wind that makes the tall grass bend into leaning, suddenly, the raindrops that fall, they have meaning. Sprinkling the scene. Makes it all clean."

As she sang, Sam and Stevie walked into the room, Mercedes closed her eyes for a moment, and Sam shhh'd Stacey, not wanting to interrupt their moment.

Mercedes smiled, opening her eyes as she continued to sing. "Maybe there's a chance for me to go back now that I have some direction. It sure would be nice to be back home, where there's love and affection. And just maybe I could convince time to slow up, giving me enough time in my life to grow up; time be my friend and let me start again.

"Suddenly, my world's gone and changed its fate, and I still know where I'm going; I have had my mind spun around in space and still watched it growing. And Oh, if you're listening God, please don't make it hard to know if we should believe the things we see. Tell us should we try and stay, or should we run away, or will it be better just to let things be? Living here in this brand new world might be a fantasy, but it taught me to love, and now it's real, real, real to me. And I learned that we must look inside our hearts to find. A world full of love, like yours, like mine, like home."

As Mercedes ended the song, she bent down, kissing Stacey on her head, and the blonde girl smiled as Sam and Stevie clapped. Standing, Mercedes turned and looked at them.

"I didn't hear you guys come in."

"She sings pretty, Sammy," Stevie said, moving to the bed as Sam approached her.

"Your voice is, its beautiful." He said staring at her.

Mercedes was about to speak when the nurse walked in. "Okay, who is ready to go home?"

"Me!" Stevie said before Stacey could answer. Sam laughed as the nurse handed him the discharge papers and the prescription.

"So here are her instructions, everything she will need to do to make sure she heals completely, and here are her meds."

"Oh." Sam took them. "So the registration nurse was supposed to come in here. Do I go to her and pay for these and the bill?"

The nurse shook her head. "This was all taken care of; you guys are free to go."

The nurse offered everyone a small smile as she walked out of the room.

"It's been paid for…Mercedes?"

Mercedes shook her head. "No strings, okay? I know we aren't…that you didn't agree. But I wanted to help."

Sam was upset; who wouldn't be, but with the twins looking at him, what could he say? "I'm gonna pay you back. You can't just… I."

"Sam, just help Stacey up so we can get to my car. I will take you home."

He wanted to say something more, but she turned and opened the door, letting Sam and the twins walk out. He grabbed a wheelchair for Stacey, who gladly sat down. 0

Sam leaned into her as they walked towards her car, pushing Stacey as Stevie walked beside her. "You've…I can't thank you enough for all of this. I can get an Uber, and we can go home; it's okay, really."

"Sam, please let me help. I feel like I was meant to meet you and help you."

"And you aren't doing all this to try and get me to change my mind?"

She shook her head. "Nope, sometimes, people just want to help."

Sam was about to speak as his phone rang. Mercedes opened her door, helping Stacey into the back seat and putting her seat belt on as Sam answered his phone.

"Sam Evans."

"Mr. Evans. This is Mr. Green. I am sorry to do this over the phone, but I think…the landlord, he's locked you out."

"He did what?!" Sam yelped.

"I saw the eviction notice on your door, and I had to call you and tell you it says you are 60 days behind on rent, and you can not enter the home until you pay it back. I am sorry, Sam; I wish I could do more."

Sam closed his eyes; this was the shit topping to a shitty day. "No, thank you. I uh…thank you."

As he hung up, Mercedes looked at him. "What happened?"

Sam wanted to punch something, and now he had to look at this woman who had everything, who just got him out of a medical bill, and tell her that he was homeless. It was too much.

He turned from her, and she nodded. She had heard enough to know what was going on.

"Sam, I know you have your pride, and I will never take that from you. But your sister and brother have had a long day, and so have you. It's getting late, and I don't want to just…just get in the car and let me help. Just for tonight, tomorrow you can, you can go back to being Captain America, who saves the day for everyone."

He didn't want to; he barely knew this woman, and now she had saved him twice. This was getting to be a pattern he didn't like. But He knew he couldn't afford a hotel, and he could call Mike, but with Sugar being pregnant and them already having Aiden, and they were saving for a house, that was a lot asking them to help.

Mercedes turned his face towards hers. "Look, I know you are dealing with a lot. Just stay with me for the night, just until you get everything figured out. Tomorrow, you can go wherever you want, and I will help as best I can."

"We don't…we don't have anything to sleep in, we don't have toiletries."

She shook her head. "Tonight, let me worry about all of that."

Sam sighed as Stevie opened the door. "Sammy, are we going? We are starving!"

Sam sighed. "Yeah, sure, okay. Mercedes wanted you guys to uh…"

"I wanted you to meet my daughter, and since I live a bit away from here, maybe you can spend the night? I have a game room you would love, Stevie and Stacey; even with your arm like that, I bet you can still play dress up."

The twin's eyes lit up. "Can we, Sammy?" They asked at the same time.

Sam smiled. "Yes, as long as you are on your best behavior."

"We will!" Came from behind them, and Mercedes giggled as she turned to Sam. "What do you guys like on your pizza?"

"You eat pizza?" Sam asked shocked.

Mercedes laughed. "Oh, I get it because I am famous; I can't like normal food?"

"Yes." Sam laughed back.

"I like pizza and burgers. I love sweets and am mildly obsessed with caramel green apple suckers." Mercedes said as she walked to the driver's side of the SUV.

"Stevie likes Pepperoni and Pineapple, and Stacey likes green peppers and mushrooms," Sam said, putting his seatbelt on.

"Sammy likes the supreme but eats whatever we eat," Stevie added.

Mercedes smiled. "Well, then, we are going to have a pizza party."

Pulling out her phone, she shot a few texts, one to her house manager, the other to Roz, and got on the road. She didn't know why, but she just wanted to help, to take care of this family; even if Sam wasn't going to be her husband, she felt a pulling urge to make sure they were okay.