BACKSEAT | LRH

5.6

same day

[sam]

She pulled her phone out from her back pocket and unlocked her phone.

In that moment, she would swear she felt her heart stop momentarily. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth.

All of the sudden, she dropped to the floor on her knees. her phone dropping on the found with a loud thud.

"Sam! Sam! What's going on?" Kat yelled, dropping to the floor to help her friend up.

Sam wasn't over dramatic about anything, so Kat knew something really bad just happened.

"K-Kat-" Sam stuttered.

"Sam, what is happening?!" Kat asked frantically.

She just held up her phone for Kat to see.

"Oh. My. God."

-

She sat quietly in the hospital waiting room as she let her thoughts consume her mind. The wait was killing her. She needed to know if he was okay. Sam couldn't bare to loose him. Not now.

Her heart wouldn't stop racing in her chest, her leg boning up and down nervously as she waited for someone to bring her news. She looked towards the door as she heard a familiar voice in the distance.

She slightly smiled as she saw her friend approaching her. Michael came rushing towards her with open arms. She stood up and embraced him tightly.

Once they let go Michael cleared his throat and asked, "How is he?"

Sam felt a lump in her throat start to form, "We don't know yet."

"I'm so sorry, Sam." Michael's face faltered. She just nodded and bit her lip, trying not to spill anymore tears.

Sam didn't like people seeing her cry. This was definitely an exception and it would be totally fine for her to just let it all out, but she still refused to let people see her weak.

This is where she was very stubborn.

"He's gonna be okay Sam, I know it. Don't you worry about it." Michael said in a calm, soothing voice, rubbing her back.

She sniffled, feeling tears brim her eyes, "What did I do to deserve you and the other guys?"

He laughed a little, "Sam, people may think you aren't the nicest person and maybe that's true in some cases, but what people fail to see is that you're just hiding behind a mask. You're so kind and wonderful under all that shit you hide behind. Please, just be yourself Sam, you don't need to hide anymore."

She felt at a loss for words. She had never expected Michael to say something so kind and thoughtful to her. Not to belittle Michael or anything but that just wasn't a Michael thing to say.

She pulled him into another hug and whispered a thank you to him. A single tear rolled down her cheek as they pulled away again. He gave her a sad smile as his thumb went up to wipe the tear from her cheek.

"You should take your own advice, Clifford." Sam said as they both sat down.  He looked up from the floor at her and gave her a look of confusion.

"What do you mean?" He lightly chuckled.

"About being yourself." She replied.

"I am myself-" He started, but she interjected before he could go on.

"You and I both know that you act a lot different around certain people. You aren't yourself all the time. I like this Michael, be this Michael more often, yeah?" Sam gave him a small smile as she stood up to walk to a nurse that was standing outside the door.