What We'll Survive Together (UD One-Shots)

Josh and Sam- I'll Make Sure It's Worth It

     The moment Sam hung up the phone with the hospital, she was on her way out the door. She ran past her father to her car and drove as fast as she could down the road. She ran through the hospital doors and reached the front desk, not even breaking a sweat.
     "I assume you're Samantha Giddings?" The receptionist asked, not even bothering to look up from her paperwork. Sam nodded vigorously. "Down the hall to the psychiatric wing. Fourth door on the right." She told her. Sam was gone before she even finished speaking.
     As she approached the psychiatric wing, Sam could feel the pit in her stomach getting bigger and bigger with every step. It had been almost six months. She had no idea what to expect after all that time.
     As she stepped into the small hospital room, Sam's heart rose to her throat. There he was, the infamous Joshua Washington, laying in the bed. He was visibly skinnier, his skin was pale and tinted grey. His eyes were sunken in and he wore a surgery mask over his mouth. She finally noticed that he was chained to his bed by his arm. Her heart broke at the sight.
As she stepped closer, Sam saw his eyes flutter open. He looked around for a moment until his eyes landed on her. She could see his eyes water as he sat up.
"J-Josh..." she choked out as she sat in the chair next to his bed.
He watched her sit, but he wouldn't meet her eyes. "I shouldn't be here..." he mumbled behind the surgery mask.
"What?" She asked in confusion.
"I was supposed to die on that mountain..."
"Josh, don't say that-"
"It's the truth!" He yelled. "It's exactly what I deserve!"
"No it isn't!" Sam argued. "I know, you messed up, but so did the rest of us!"
Josh went quiet for a moment. "...who made it back?" He asked.
"Everyone else who went." Sam answered.
     "Are... a-are they mad at me?"
     "I don't know. Some of them were at first, but Chris went off on them and they starting feeling guilty." Sam explained.
     Josh chuckled. "That's my bro for you. Always sticking up for me... and yet I put him through hell..." he recalled, his voice laced with regret.
     "I'm sure he forgives you." Sam tried to reassure him.
     "I hope so..." Josh trailed off.
     The two survivors sat in silence for a moment. Sam had spent months believing Josh was dead, and Josh spent months praying that he'd get to see Sam again. Now that they were actually together, neither one really knew what to say. They both knew they had unacknowledged feelings for one another that had only gotten stronger in the previous year, but they weren't sure if now was the best time to try and address them.
Josh was the first to speak up. "Do... you have anything to tell me?" He asked nervously.
Sam chuckled sadly. "More than you could imagine..." she answered.
"Then say it." He said.
"I don't know if I-"
"Sammy, please. I promised myself that if I ever got off that damned mountain, I would be more honest with myself and everyone else. That's a little hard to do if you're not honest with me too. Please..." he begged.
Sam sighed. "You want me to be honest? Fine... I hate you. I hate that you pulled that stupid prank that scarred all of us for life. I hate that I blamed myself for what happened. I hate how guilty I've felt because I thought you were dead..." she felt her eyes brimming with tears. "...but I'm also so glad to see you. You don't know how relieved I am that you're here now.  I never thought I'd see you again... I never got to tell you that I want to try again..." she admitted.
     Josh was stunned. He didn't know what to say for a moment, making Sam nervous. "Y-you... want to try again...? You mean us together...?" He finally asked hesitantly. Sam nodded shyly, her eyes full of hope.
Josh couldn't help but feel guilty for his next words. "I-I'm sorry... I can't..." Sam looked down in disappointment. "I-it's not your fault! I-it's just..." Josh tried to explain. Seeing no other way, he slipped the surgery mask off his face, revealing that the skin on one side of his mouth had been eaten away, revealing long and gnarly fangs.
Sam's eyes widened in shock. Everything made sense to her now. "This is why they didn't find you at first..." she put the pieces together.
Josh nodded. "They has to tranquilize me to move me... when I woke up, I was in the hospital. They told me that I had been possessed by a wendigo spirit, and that they had exorcised me..." he explained.
"So... you're okay now?" Sam asked.
Josh shrugged. "They wanna keep me here for a few more weeks just to be safe... I'm sorry."
"It's nothing to apologize for. They just wanna be safe." Sam reassured.
"Yeah..." he trailed off. They both fell silent once again for a few moments. Josh opened his scarred mouth a few times to speak, but couldn't seem to find the words. When he finally did, he looked Sam in the eyes. "How about I make a deal with you?" He offered.
"A deal? I don't see why not." She replied.
"I already know I'm gonna be stuck here for a long time. My parents want me to get corrective surgery for, uh, all this." He gestured to his scarred mouth. "Plus they wanna observe me to see how I do. I don't think I'm gonna be allowed to leave for a long time..."
"Aaaand?" Sam asked, encouraging him to continue.
"Once I get out of here, I wanna start over. With our friends, with school... with you. I guess what I'm trying to ask is, can we try again when I get out of here?" He asked hopefully.
Sam's face lit up like a Christmas tree. She took one of his now claw-like hands into hers. "Of course we can. I don't mind the wait." She told him before kissing his cheek tenderly, causing him to blush.
"I'll make sure it's worth it, I promise." Josh vowed.