Something's Gotta Give

Chapter 19

Penny had just started to drift off when her phone woke her. She couldn't think of anyone who would have a reason to call her so late, unless it was her father, but she reached for the phone anyway.

"Hello?" she answered in a groggy voice.

"Penny?"

Penny sat up as she recognized Kate's voice.

"Can you come?" It was barely a whisper. "They're calling Sam but I don't know who else to call."

"I'll be there soon, hang on," Penny said, ending the call and reaching for something to wear, she had just grabbed for her shoes when there was a knock at her bedroom door.

"Penny," Sam's voice called softly.

Penny threw open the door and looked at Sam who was fully dressed.

"Kate called you," he asked, watching her as she reached for her wallet and keys. She nodded before closing her bedroom door and following Sam out the door and quietly down the porch steps.

They were both quiet as Sam drove quickly and expertly through the deserted streets, they made it to the hospital in less than ten minutes, and with Sam leading the way Penny was hurried down the corridors until they reached Colten's room.

Sam immediately took charge as they entered the room. He began talking softly to the nurses and finally Colten, who looked so small and helpless as he lay on the bed gasping for air. Penny reached for Kate's hand. She stood off to one side, crying and watching in silence. It was something she had been through before and she knew there was nothing she could do but wait and see if Sam could save him again.

Penny watched while Sam kept his cool as he went through the motions of helping the boy, and it was amazing how the atmosphere in the room changed. A chaotic panic turned into a fast paced efficiency as Sam calmed and directed at the same time.

"As long as we hear the beep it's O.K.," Kate said, nodding to herself as she leaned on Penny and watched through wide dry eyes. Penny looked from her to Sam and something in his expression made her pause. He looked up at Kate and then over at her and she knew that what he was doing wasn't working. He looked from her to the door and Penny understood.

"Let's go wait outside," Penny suggested softly as she led a very passive Kate into the hall and towards some chairs a few feet from the door.

The corridor was eerily quiet, and except for the occasional nurse passing by they waited in silence, holding hands but neither saying a word. It was at least half an hour later when Kate froze, she even stopped breathing as she closed her eyes.

A few minutes after that Colten's door opened and Sam exited, slowly walking towards them. Penny had never, in the two years she had known him, seen him looking so tired and sad.

He knelt down in front of Kate and took her hands in his, holding them tight. "I'm sorry Kate, there was nothing...we lost him. He's gone."

Penny put her arm around Kate's shoulders as she buried her head in her shoulder and started sobbing. Penny could feel the tears on her own cheeks as she looked at Sam. She reached up and wiped his tears away with her thumb and he turned his face into her hand, kissing her palm.

Penny didn't know how long they sat in the hall weeping for the little boy who had never had a fair chance in life and now never would. There was no doubt that Sam had done everything that he could, but his little body was tired of fighting.

A nurse who Penny didn't recognize stuck her head out of Colten's room and called softly for Sam to join them and, with a shaky smile of support, he rose and walked back into Colten's room.

"I knew the moment he was gone," Kate said, "I felt it."

Penny nodded. "I know you did, you stopped breathing too." Penny's voice cracked and they both started sobbing at the thought that Colten was no longer breathing and never would again.

A few minutes later Sam rejoined him taking Kate's hands again. "Would you like to see him? The nurses have him ready for you, they took extra care."

Kate nodded and Sam led her back into the room, looking at Penny who shook her head. There was no reason for her to go, it was what Kate needed, she would rather remember the young boy who had laughed at her story about the mice and begged to see a photo of the kitten. She couldn't help but think that now he never would.

Sam and the nurses all filed out of the room shortly after Kate entered, and Sam walked over to her pulling her into his arms, not caring who was watching. Penny wasn't sure whom was comforting whom as they held each other tight.

"We should see if she wants to come home with us," Penny said softly and she felt Sam nod above her. She placed a hand on his chest and felt his heartbeat so strong and steady and all of their troubles over the last few weeks seemed to, suddenly, no longer matter. Even if they lost the house, if they had each other, it would be O.K.

Penny looked up at Sam and gave him a watery smile. "None of it really matters does it?"

"No, as long as you marry me, none of it matters," Sam said as he pushed her hair off of her shoulders and rubbed her neck while she buried her face in his chest and breathed in deeply.

A few minutes later Sam broke away and said he had to take care of a few things but he wouldn't be far and they would leave as soon as Kate was ready. When Kate emerged from Colten's room she looked weary and heartbroken.

"Will you come home with me and Sam?" Penny asked and Kate shook her head.

"No, I need to go home and be by myself." She looked over her shoulder at the door to his room. "It's so strange, I was so afraid for him to come into my life all those years ago and now I'm afraid for him to leave it." She looked at Penny begging for her to understand, and she did, but all she could do was nod.

Sam joined them, along with a nurse, a few moments later, and he put his arm around Kate's shoulders, giving her a kiss on her temple, "You'll come home with us?" he asked softly.

"I already offered and she said no," Penny said softly, "but we will follow you home at the very least," she insisted and she saw Sam give her a smile.

They were all focused on their grief, and they missed the nurse's quick look from Sam to Penny as she absorbed what they were saying. They also missed the little spark of excitement in her eye as she realized that she had the juiciest bit of gossip that had hit the hospital in a long time. Dr. Sam Evers had a lady love and they lived together, she could barely contain herself.

Sam remembered the nurse's presence and looked down at her while reaching for the papers. He took a few minutes to explain what they were and then waited while Kate signed them. When she was done he handed them back to the nurse, noting this time that she was staring hard at Penny.

"Thank you Jenny, I have it from here." The nurse looked at him startled, before she blushed and then scurried excitedly away.

The trip out of the hospital was a somber one and they drove Kate to her car then silently followed her to her apartment on the south side of town before turning the truck back towards home, arriving just as the sun had finished rising.