Stand-by Me

A Matter of Time

Sam has been awake for a few days now and finally, Iain is going up to the ward, which Sam has been moved too. He gets to Keller ward and walks on and looks around. "Excuse me" Iain speaks up to an older nurse dressed in dark green scrubs.

"Hi, Can I help you," She says with a friendly tone.

Iain nods "Yeah I'm here to visit a Samantha Nicholls" Iain smirks as he finds it weird calling Sam, 'Samantha'. The nurse looks through her patient notes and then asks his name "Iain Dean" He smiles.

The nurse nods happily and shows him to her. He walks over to Sam nervously, his hands are sweating and he is trying to keep himself calm as possible. Sam looks over at Iain and smiles as she instantly notices him. "Iain" She speaks happily.

Iain is taken back by Sam speaking to him, he though her bleed on the brain would cause her memory loss. "Sam" He smiles and gives her a friendly hug as he gets to her side of the bed. "How are you feeling?" Iain smiles as he watches her sit upright.

"Good actually... although..." she mutters but stops.

"Although What Sam?" Iain questions.

Sam looks at her lap, she didn't want Iain to know how venerable she actually is, she knew he always knew her as hard as nails and stands face to face with death in most risky call outs. "I... I can't walk" She replies.

"What do you mean? Are you being lazy?" He questions her and tries to have a laugh with her.

Sam shakes her head, "No I'm not joking... It's something to do with my accident" Sam explains and Iain sits down and listens to her. "I'm not allowed to go home until I can do things for myself, this could take months, I may never be a paramedic again... Iain... what am I meant to do" Sam says as she finally cracks and the tears start to stream down her face.

Her freezes unsure of how to comfort Sam, He sits forwards and offers her a hug which she gladly accepts. Sam wraps her arms tightly around Iain and rests her head against his chest. Iain just sits there and comforts Sam.

"Here I've got you. I will look after you and help you through it all" He smiles happily as she continues to hug him.

"You can't, I should be able to cope alone" She replies.

Iain smiles at her as he pulls away from the hug. "I will, I can drop you off at physiotherapy, help with a lot of things... what are friends for ay?" he smiles.

Sam smiles slightly, she doesn't like the idea of relying on Iain, but after all, he is offering his spare time to help her. They fall into a comfortable silence and just sit there quietly until Iain breaks the silence "Do you want anything from yours? I and Charlie have been round yours with your spare keys feeding your cat."

Sam smiles "Hmm some of my own bedclothes would be nice, toiletries and a bottle of vodka," she says.

"You can't have that Sam, you're on strong meds!" Iain replies thinking Sam is being serious.

She starts to laugh at him "You really don't know me, Iain, I hate vodka... Whisky is my poison" She laughs and Iain slightly smiles at the fact Sam had actually managed to fool him after two weeks in a coma.

"Right well I can get you those things later on" He smiles reassuringly.

They once again fall into a comfortable silence, it was nicer this time and they just enjoy each other's company for a good two hours. Iain plays a few games on his phone while Sam sits quietly watching the world go by, clearly still heavily dosed up on medication from the past few days.

"You made the news, Sam," Iain speaks up as he brings up the newspaper story on Sam. "Hero Paramedic fighting for life after a roof collapse" Iain reads out to Sam.

Sam looks at him and just listens as he reads the short story about her. "Am I really that well praised by the parents?" Sam questions and Iain nods.

"They've been asking about you a lot; they want to thank you personally. From what I can gather" Iain explains to Sam who seems to be overwhelmed by it all.

She blushes and smiles as it all sinks it, she has a warm feeling deep down as Iain does his own thing on his phone, she can't help but watch him and smile. Iain looks up and their eyes meet, "You okay" He questions.

"Yeah, I'm fine" She replies quietly and looks down at her lap.

"Are you hungry? Because I am" Iain smiles which instantly makes Sam smile again as she knows he's always thinking about his stomach. She thinks to herself and then shifts a little in bed before nodding.

Iain looks down at his phone "Pizza?" He questions.

"But the nurse put my dinner on order from the hospital kitchens" Sam replies.

Iain laughs and pulls a face "You really want that crap, I've known better dinners coming from a dustbin," Iain laughs.

Sam nods in agreement and then allows Iain to order them a small pizza for them to share among themselves.