New team

35.Last chance

Another week has passed. Time passed inexorably slowly, and Sam felt each visit more and more. He still visited Penny regularly, and even though the doctors said that even though her condition was still stable, the guarantee that the wound wasn't so harmless was growing less and less each day. But Sam still believed. He hoped he knew Penny well enough to know she was strong enough. He repeated it to her every day, hoping that maybe the words spoken aloud would carry more power.

Since his conversation with Andy, the boy had opened up much more and was no longer afraid to tell him what he was afraid of. He was afraid to walk Sam to his mom's, but he still did it as long as Sam agreed to let Andy sit on his lap. This simple gesture was enough for the boy to gain self-confidence again and he could tell his mother what he had been doing all day and what new secrets he had learned about his guardian.

However, neither Sam's honest words nor Andy's stories changed anything. It was more like Penny was just falling into an even deeper sleep. There were fewer and fewer signs, her heart didn't speed up slightly when Andy took her hand. Her chest didn't visibly calm down with each breath as Sam spoke to her. She seemed weak but calm. However, the sight hurt Sam and Andy even more, because they knew that for now there was nothing more they could do than wait.
So they waited. Every morning they would get up only to wait until the afternoon when they would come together to sit next to Penny's bed and just be with her. Sitting helped, although Sam often caught himself, and Andy too, closing their eyes when they said something to Penny. He did it himself so as not to have to face the grim reality, and Andy's childhood imagination probably gave him more opportunities to think about other circumstances in which he could talk to his mother.

Today it was also the same, the same sequence of activities. Sam picked Andy up from school and they went to a lonely room at the end of the hall. They entered and Sam could already feel that Andy was going to want to sit on his lap again. He squeezed his hand tighter, which Sam returned with an encouraging smile, seeing that even though it didn't help Penny, it certainly made the whole situation easier for the boy to deal with.

"Mom," Andy began quietly, taking his mother's hand gently in his. "I don't want you to disappear like daddy," he said in a sad tone. "Warm days are coming. But they will be cold without you," he rubbed his mother's hand gently. He started talking about what was going on at school and his adventures in Pontypandy. "Sometimes I close my eyes and imagine you sitting next to me and laughing with me. But I know you're here," he finished with sadness in his voice.

Sam saw Andy's eyes narrow and knew immediately that the boy was on the verge of tears. So he placed his comforting hand on his shoulders and then gently pulled him closer so that Andy could hug him. The boy gently tucked his arms under himself and then buried his face in Sam's shoulder, crying quietly.

"Can I go to the bathroom, Sam?" Andy asked as they sat in silence for a longer while.

"Of course," Sam agreed as Andy jumped off his lap. "Just don't get lost!" He called after him.

Andy turned around in the doorway to look at Sam and nod obediently before closing the door quietly behind him. Sam moved his chair a little closer to Penny's bed to take her hand in his. She was still as cold as the first time. Sam shuddered at the thought of what the consequences would be if she became even colder.

"Andy's a gentle kid," he said slowly, gently stroking Penny's hand with his thumb. "He's strong, but you can see that there are moments when he can't cope. He laughs and has fun, but I can bet that he definitely wouldn't be laughing and having fun like that if you were with him," Sam said confidently. After talking to Andy that evening, he saw how much the boy really missed time with his mother. "He needs a mother. Penny, if you hear me, you can't give up. Andy is counting on you. And so am I," he added after a moment's hesitation. "I never admitted it, but after you left, I realized that you were important to me. Now I know that I need you," he confessed honestly, bowing his head as he felt tears trying to escape from his eyes. "Penny, you have to win this fight. You have to come back," he said in a pleading tone.