For The Love Of A Bad Boy

XLI

I couldn't sleep. Again. The medication Dr. Greene had me on lessened the pain, but it kept me up all day and night.

I laid on my back in the dimness, blinking at the ceiling. I stuffed Buttons in the bag Jeremy brought me from home. He wasn't helping me relax.

There was nothing to do but breathe. That was fairly painful with my rib problem. Every time I inhaled, I cringed.

Anthony had gone home for the night and so had Noah.

My headache had subsided hours earlier, which did no help at all to my slumber issue.

There was absolutely no chance of me slipping into a coma, but I wished there was. A coma would of been perfect.

Jeremy was peacefully asleep in the room next to mine. Dr. Greene let him sleep there. He'd been there day and night for me, he at least deserved a bed.

I clasped my hands together, closing my eyes.

I thought if I prayed, God would let me sleep. It was worth a shot.

"Okay, I know I'm sort of a stranger to you. We haven't spoken in a while...but I hope you'll find some time to listen to me now." I whispered into the darkness.

"I know it's pretty dumb to pray for sleep, but I don't know what else to do. I guess you know what happened. I'm not sure how you work...if you believe in revenge or not. Do you think I'm a terrible person now? If you let me sleep, I'll try my hardest to be a better person than I am now. So I never have to put up with someone like Mike ever again."

-Jeremy's Point Of View-

Three or four days. I lost track of how long Sam was in the hospital.

He had been awake for a while, I could hear him at night.

I think he fell asleep the fourth or fifth day.

I was just sitting next to his bed, playing games on my phone.

Sam hummed in his sleep, rolling onto his back before his heart monitor deadlined.

I gasped, tossing my phone into mid air. I grabbed Sam's face in my hands. I peeled his eyelids open, his pupils still.

I tripped out of the room, "Dr. Greene! It's Sam!" I caught her running down the hallway. She must of got an alert or something. I didn't know how the process worked.

The sound of Sam flatlining could be heard from the hallway.

Suddenly, Noah and Anthony were beside me.

"What's going on?" Noah asked as he watched the nurses rush into Sam's room.

"Sam died, and-"

"He's dead?" Anthony enunciated.

"Yeah, but I think they're going to revive him or something. I don't know, his heart monitor stopped." I broke down.

Anthony rushed into the room. I couldn't let him see Sam.

Noah and I went in after him.

Dr. Greene and four other nurses surrounded Sam's bed, bustling around and preparing equipment.

Dr. Greene stood at Sam's side, the paddles of the defibrillator ready in her hands.

"Clear!" Dr. Greene called, pressing the pads to Sam's chest.

His body jerked upwards as the electrical current traveled through him.

I was horrified.

"He can't be dead." Anthony shook his head, tears already streaming down his face.

Sam's body was still motionless. We all moved closer to his bed.

"Clear!" Dr. Greene said again, sinking the pads into Sam's chest again.

Barely a second passed before Sam came to life, coughing and wheezing. It was the best sound in the world to me. His hand darted out, reaching for someone.

"Jeremy," He coughed out, "what happened?"

"You died for two whole minutes." Noah told him.

I was too relieved and terrified to speak.

"I died? Seriously? Am I okay?"

"You're fine now. How do you feel?" Dr. Greene asked him.

"Did I really die? I didn't feel it...." Sam said thoughtfully before a smile brightened his face, "I feel awesome. I just died!" He laughed.

Nobody said a word.

Dr. Greene glanced at me, a humorous look on her face, "Well, if he's okay..." She trailed off.

"I'm better than that. I just died. How incredible is that?" Sam was still smiling.

"Sam! This isn't funny! I thought I lost you!" I retched my hand away from his.

"It was, like, surreal. I thought I was sleeping, Jeremy. I'd be happy for you if you died for two minutes."

I heard Anthony snicker behind me.

"I'll be back to check on you in a little while, Sam. Try to rest." Dr. Greene said as she and nurses filed out of the room.

"I'm sorry, Jeremy, okay? But you really shouldn't take this so seriously. I'm alive now, aren't I?" Sam shrugged.

"You don't get it! You shouldn't of died at all! You were gone for two minutes and I didn't have a brother anymore!" I exclaimed.

"You knew I wasn't dead for good. You knew that." He shot back.

I shook my head at Sam slowly, not able to look in his eyes anymore.

"I'm going home. If you want to die, go ahead. Don't expect me to watch." I took Noah's hand and stormed out with him.

~

"Jeremy, baby, you have every right to be upset. But Sam's okay now. We should stay with him in case something happens again."
Noah told me softly once we made it home.

"If I look at him again, I'll just...I thought he was really dead. I'm already an orphan and...without Sam, I wouldn't have any family left."

"You have me." Noah squeezed my hands.

"I know," I put my arms around him, "but Sam's my brother...and I've been taking care of him for years."

Noah nodded, giving me a kiss, "I get it. I think Sam needs you right now, though."

"Can we see him tomorrow? I'll just cry if I see him again today. Anthony's with him."

"Okay. By the way, why don't you like Anthony? He's cute."

"I arrested him a few years okay. I didn't want him around Sam, but they dated anyway. Wait, you think Anthony is cute?"

"Not in the way I think you're cute."

Noah was the entire reason I stayed grounded that day.

After the scare at the hospital, I realized even more I couldn't survive without Sam.

It was unfortunate I needed him to die before I realized it.