Fic: Upon Waking (Popular, fanfic100)

[mysensitiveside]

Fanfic100, Part 12/100 -- check here for the chronology of completed fics

Title: Upon Waking
Fandom: Popular
Pairing: Sam/Brooke
Rating: PG
Prompt: 074 Dark; written for the fanfic100 challenge
Word count: 2,313
Disclaimer: Alas, I don’t own the characters of Popular. They belong to Ryan Murphy, but hopefully he won’t mind if I borrow them for a little while.
Summary: Sam wakes up.
A/N: I know, I know... I've been horrible about updating this series. But I can guarantee that the next two parts won't take nearly as long.
A/N2: Muchas gracias to my two awesome betas, wolfemeister   and theagonyofblank  !

When Sam opens her eyes, it’s dark.

She blinks a few times, slowly, but can’t really make sense of anything beyond how much her head hurts, how much her whole body hurts. Sam feels like her brain is moving slower than normal, but before too long, it registers that she has no idea where she is.

It hurts too much to move, so she tries to speak, but her throat is so incredibly dry that nothing comes out.

It’s then that Sam starts to panic, as her eyes adjust more to the dark, and she notices things like the IV sticking into her, the various tubes all around her, and the loud beeping of some machine nearby, running in time with her racing heart.

Something off to the side catches her eye, though, and instinct makes her shift her gaze in that direction, ignoring the pain.

Brooke.

Sam’s breath catches at the sight of her friend, curled up and fast asleep in an uncomfortable-looking chair. Brooke is beautiful, even in such an awkward position, and Sam’s pain clouds out everything else, except for that thought.

Brooke is beautiful. And she’s here.

Brooke’s presence is enough to calm Sam, who simply takes a deep breath, closes her eyes again, and allows the dark to surround her.

* * *

The next time that Sam opens her eyes, she shuts them again almost immediately. The dark had been confusing, but at least it wasn’t as blindingly painful as the light.

She tries to speak again, but all that comes out is a groan.

“Sam?? Oh God. Oh, Sammy baby, can you hear me?”

The breathless voice belongs to her mother, and Sam wants nothing more than to open her eyes wide, smile, and have her mom tell her that everything’s okay. But she’s afraid to open her eyes, she doesn’t think she’d be able to smile even if she tried, and her body is telling her loud and clear that everything is not okay.

Shaking hands brush across her forehead, down her cheek, along her arm. Sam groans again in response, because it’s the best she can do.

Sam hears footsteps take her mother away from the bed; hears her calling out for a doctor; hears the noisy commotion of more people crowding around her.

Finally, she tries to ease her eyes back open again, though she doesn’t make it past a half-lidded squint. She can make out a blurry vision of her mom and various white-coated strangers, but there’s no sign of Brooke. She looks towards the chair off to the side, but it’s empty this time.

It’s the sight of this empty chair that triggers some kind of memory in Sam. She doesn’t know why, but suddenly there’s this overwhelming fear -- not for herself, but for Brooke.

Had she simply imagined the idea that Brooke had been there with her? Suddenly it feels so important to know where the blonde is, but Sam can’t quite find the strength to ask.

Sam’s mom reaches out to her, and Sam is grateful for the warmth of her mother’s hand, clutching tightly to one of her own. Jane is openly crying, and a stray tear slides slowly down Sam’s own cheek as well, though she can’t quite decide whether she’s sad, or happy, or something else entirely.

“Samantha?” Sam’s attention is drawn to the doctor, a kind- but serious-looking woman with steel-gray hair and eyes to match.

“Samantha, I want you to do something for me, okay? I’m sure you’re tired, but I want you to try to squeeze your mom’s hand now, okay? Just squeeze her hand if you can,” the doctor directs.

It seems to take an abnormally long time for the message from Sam’s brain to reach down to her fingers, but eventually she manages to constrict the appropriate muscles, and Jane releases a broken sob of relief as she feels the result of Sam’s effort.

The doctor smiles encouragingly. “That’s great, Samantha.” Opening her mouth, Sam isn’t quite sure what she wants to say, but it doesn’t matter anyway, since the doctor immediately continues, “Don’t try to talk. At this point, you just need to work on saving up your energy. But I have to say, Samantha, it’s really a pleasure to finally meet you.”

* * *

Sam falls asleep again before long -- still confused, still worried, still in pain, but unable to keep her eyes open regardless.

When she wakes up, the doctors and her mother are gone, but Brooke sits once again beside her, wide eyes fixed firmly on Sam.

She must be pumped full of drugs, because Sam’s head feels pretty loopy, but she doesn’t hurt anymore. She idly wonders if this is actually happening, though -- if Brooke is really there -- or if it’s some weird hallucination.

Before Sam can fully process anything, though, Brooke suddenly starts crying. Not just a few stray tears, but great, heaving sobs. Brooke’s whole body seems to shake.

Sam’s never seen anything like it. She blinks, confused.

She opens her mouth, and it takes a few tries, but eventually Sam manages to whisper, “Jeez, Brooke. I know we’re not the best of friends, but I never thought just looking at you could make you so upset.”

The joke only makes Brooke cry harder. The blonde raggedly runs her sleeve across her face, but can’t seem to get herself under any semblance of control. Her hand hovers near the bed, but she seems almost afraid to touch Sam. With a bit of effort, Sam flips her hand over so that it’s lying palm up, and Brooke sees the action as the invitation that it’s meant to be, with both of her own hands immediately clasping onto the offered one.

“They...they told me you were awake, but...” Brooke manages between gulps of air. “But I didn’t... I couldn’t believe them until...until I saw you myself.”

Brooke keeps one hand wrapped tightly around Sam’s, but the other reaches up to run shakily over Sam’s hair. “But you’re really awake. Right? You’re okay. I’m not dreaming, am I? Are you really okay? Are you really here?”

“I think so,” is the best that Sam can come up with as a reply.

Brooke’s crying is a bit calmer now, though it hasn’t stopped completely. And maybe it’s the effect of the drugs but Sam is happy to simply lie there, staring at her. Brooke can’t quite seem to keep still, though, as her free hand keeps moving -- light touches flitting from Sam’s cheek, to her arm, to her shoulder, to her eyes -- as if to continually verify Sam’s presence, verify that Sam’s eyes are open.

* * *

For a while, everything is a blur. Days filled with doctors poking, prodding, and stretching Sam’s stiff muscles, trying to get them to cooperate again.

Visitors come and go, and while Sam’s been told the basics -- Nicole proved herself to be the crazy psycho bitch that Sam has always known her to be, but Sam saved the day -- it almost doesn’t feel real. Sam doesn’t remember any of the details, so it feels more like a story than reality.

Still, most of the information comes from second-hand sources, like her mom, or the doctors; people who’ve heard about what happened, but weren’t actually there. The people who were there don’t want to talk to her about it, though. Neither Brooke nor Harrison -- who, Sam’s noticed, never seem to visit her at the same time, somehow -- want to talk to her about what happened. It’s confusing, and it’s frustrating.

As Sam is wheeled out after her latest session of physical therapy, also known as “Sam’s personal torture,” Brooke is there as usual, smiling and waiting. She takes a few minutes to chat with Ian, the physical therapist, giving Sam a chance to relax before wordlessly bringing Sam back to her room. It only took one instance of Brooke trying to get Sam to talk immediately after a therapy session for the blonde to learn that Sam’s always irritable after the intense physical strain.

Even from the wheelchair, Sam can tell the exact moment when Brooke sees Harrison. She stiffens, and the wheelchair jerks to a stop right outside the door. Harrison looks up from his seat inside the room, but his expression pales slightly at the sight of the two of them.

He stands up, awkwardly stuffing his hands in his pockets as Brooke comes to life again and pushes Sam the rest of the way into the room.

“Hey Sam... And Brooke...” Harrison begins haltingly. “I, uh, didn’t realize you’d still have company, Sam. I’ll just come back later.”

“No you won’t,” Sam articulates forcefully. “I told you to stop by now for a reason. You’re staying too, Brooke.” The blonde blushes sheepishly as Sam catches her trying to sneak out the door.

“Now one of you help me out of this thing,” Sam continues, starting to try to hoist herself up out of her chair. Both Harrison and Brooke immediately rush forward, almost crashing into each other in their haste, before they laugh uneasily and Brooke ends up being the one to help Sam back into bed.

Once she’s settled, silence descends upon the room, and Sam starts to think that maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Sighing, she asks, “Okay, so what’s the deal with you two?”

Her question is only met with two identical blank stares.

“Clearly, there has to be something that’s making you two uber-weird right now, and it’s getting annoying. You know, I haven’t been oblivious to the fact that you can’t seem to stand being in my presence at the same time, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it must have to do with the whole dinner fiasco beforehand. But I don’t remember any of it, so you’ll have to help me fill in some blanks, here.”

Turning to directly face Harrison, Sam asks, “Who did you pick, Harrison? Which one of us? Just tell me, and then we can all just deal with it and move on.”

Harrison’s eyes widen as he stutters, “Um... What? I mean, uh, I...”

“Look, it doesn’t matter, Sam,” Brooke mercifully cuts in. “With everything that happened, I think that I can speak for both myself and Harrison when I say that there are more important things to worry about than our dating lives. The whole thing was stupid, and petty, and it just really doesn’t matter.”

“Which means that he picked you,” Sam intuits. “Because if he’d picked me, then it wouldn’t be your place to even say that it didn’t matter.”

Brooke opens her mouth to speak but nothing comes out, and a red-faced Harrison is now staring intently at the floor, all of which only serves to confirm Sam’s theory.

“So that’s fine, okay?” Sam continues, even though her heart thumps painfully at the thought of the two of them together. “You don’t have to worry about tiptoeing around me or whatever. You don’t have to be so weird about it. Just go ahead and date each other already!”

Brooke looks torn as she gazes back and forth between Sam and Harrison, who still won’t meet anyone’s gaze. “But...” the blonde begins hesitantly. “But I don’t...”

“Brooke’s right,” Harrison abruptly interrupts. “Now’s just not good timing. Right now my own love life isn’t exactly high up on my priority list.” He moves to the side of Sam’s bed, smiling gently at her before leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. His gaze shifts briefly to Brooke before he continues, almost more to himself than to either of the girls, “It’ll all work out. No matter what happens, we’ll be okay. But I should go. I promise to try not to be so awkward, though,” he concludes. He squeezes Sam’s hand once, offers a small smile to them both, and then walks quickly from the room.

It’s quiet for a minute, as Brooke watches Harrison leave, a frown etched into her forehead, and then pulls up a seat next to Sam’s bed.

“I’m sorry,” Sam murmurs softly, but Brooke only looks at her in confusion.

“Why?”

“Because things shouldn’t be so complicated for you two. If things had gone differently, you might be dating Harrison right now.” It feels like Sam’s fault, somehow, that her two best friends aren’t together when it seems like they’d want to be if circumstances had been better.

Brooke’s frown deepens. “If things had gone differently, I might not be here at all, Sam. We’re both alive, and nothing else matters.”

Sam’s somewhat taken aback by the utter conviction in Brooke’s tone. She gazes contemplatively at the blonde, seeing that she’s completely serious.

There’s something in Brooke’s expression that’s different from the way Brooke’s ever looked at her before. It makes Sam’s heart skip a beat, but for lack of a better word, Sam decides to label it as gratitude.

It’s been a long day, though, and Sam feels her eyelids start to droop. Noticing, Brooke reaches out to pull up the blanket that’s been pushed to the edge of Sam’s bed.

“You should get some rest, Sammy,” Brooke smiles, tucking Sam in and smoothing a stray lock of hair away from Sam’s face.

“Will you be here when I wake up?” Sam asks with a yawn. Sam’s sleep is usually plagued by bad dreams now, and Brooke’s presence seems to be the quickest thing that can calm her upon waking.

“Of course, Sam,” Brooke answers, leaning down to leave her own kiss to Sam’s forehead. “Always.”

With that assurance, Sam smiles and allows herself to drift back into sleep. Things are still weird between the three of them, but maybe it’s a step in the right direction.

Comments

[random-flores.livejournal.com]

Aw, I love this series. Thank GOD Sam woke up. *squishes her*

[mysensitiveside.livejournal.com]

Yay, I'm so glad that you're liking it! :)

[carpesomediem.livejournal.com]

I liked how both Brooke and Sam couldn't quite believe what was going on around them. First with Sam finding Brooke sitting in her room and then Brooke not quite believing Sam was really awake. That was poignant and it worked really well to convey there was something more to them. I particularly liked this set of lines with regards to it all:

“But you’re really awake. Right? You’re okay. I’m not dreaming, am I? Are you really okay? Are you really here?”

“I think so,” is the best that Sam can come up with as a reply.

I also really liked this line, it just sticks out to me more than anything else: Sam doesn’t remember any of the details, so it feels more like a story than reality.

So, yeah, this was amazingly well-written which isn't a shocker in the least bit, and I like how quickly you went through Sam's progression while still driving the plot forward. :D

[mysensitiveside.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks for the comment! :)

And heh, I'm glad you liked that line about things seeming more like a story than reality. I wasn't sure about including it because, well, it IS a story, lol.

[carpesomediem.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm glad you included it, because like I said, it stuck out so I guess that kinda makes it my favorite line of this one. :)

[sukiluv76.livejournal.com]

once again, really great :-) thanks for sharing

[mysensitiveside.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it, thanks for reading! :)

[xraex21.livejournal.com]

God I love this fic. You're fantastic and so is your writing. Thanks!

[mysensitiveside.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks so much!

[revolos55.livejournal.com]

Glee! Sammy's awake!

Much love and squee for this. Can't wait until the Brooke/Harrison nonsense is straightened out ;)

[mysensitiveside.livejournal.com]

Thanks muchly! :) And don't worry, the Brooke/Harrison stuff won't be dragged out.

[baby-c15.livejournal.com]

YAY! Update! Thank God Sammy woke up, and how Brooke kept touching her, needing to know she was there. So powerfull and sweet. *sigh*

Awesome job! <3333333

[mysensitiveside.livejournal.com]

I know, about time for an update, right? Anyway, glad you liked it!

[p3-den.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, yay, another one from you! And a great one too! Beautiful. Can't wait for the next one. =D

[mysensitiveside.livejournal.com]

Yep, my muse decided to come back for a short visit, lol. And I'm going to send the next one off to the betas pretty soon, so you won't have to wait so long this time!

[joeyseph.livejournal.com]

aw, loved this.
so cute how sam got brooke and harrison to meet, rofl.

[mysensitiveside.livejournal.com]

Hee, I like your icon. :)

Thanks for the comment!

[kauschi.livejournal.com]

Glad to see you haven't given up on the challenge yet!
I really liked this part. Great job!

[mysensitiveside.livejournal.com]

Nope, not giving up! Just taking forever, apparently...

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! :)

[mysensitiveside.livejournal.com]

I'm glad the POV worked. I keep changing it from fic to fic, but I thought it was a good time for a Sam-focused one. And I'm glad their emotions came through as well.

Thanks so much for the comment! :)

[miss-darkmoon.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh, that was so awesome... I had to go back and read some of these because I couldn't even remember where you had left off, but... wow...
It covered so much in such a short expanse of time, but that really worked well, and the tension between Brooke and Harrison was really funny, though I'm not sure Sam's getting the whole picture...

Great story and I can't wait for the next one! :)

[mysensitiveside.livejournal.com]

Oops, just realized that I never replied to this...

But thanks so much! :) I'm really glad that you liked it, and Sam's going to get a clearer picture soon enough. ;)

[miss-darkmoon.livejournal.com]

Haha, sounds sweet! And s'all good about the replying; thanks for coming back! lol