Hold me close and don't let go
Pairing: Sam Carpenter x f!reader
Warning: canon typical violence
Summary: Sam almost lost you.
Masterlist
The stale air of the hospital sits heavily in Sam's lungs. One might've gotten used to it at this point, but not Sam, not even after years spent going to the doctor's with Tara, not even after numerous times she had to be the one on the cot, with her body full of gaping wounds.
She doesn't look away from the too still body on the bed, her hand wrapped tightly around cold knuckles, her body rigid as she waits for you to wake up. She swallows the lump in her throat, her mouth dry, eyes watering.
“Any changes?” Tara walks back in with a bottle of water and a sandwich from the cafeteria.
Sam shakes her head no, and her sister sighs, dragging another chair to sit by Sam's side. “She'll be alright. Doctor said she'll make a full recovery,” she reminds gently.
Sam nods, still not looking away from your face. She counts cuts and bruises, winces when the number grows into double digits.
All her fault.
“Sam,” Tara tries again, quieter this time, “She's gonna be okay.”
Sam nods again, and blindly accepts the sandwich Tara pushes into her hand. When she doesn't make a move to unwrap it, Tara does so herself. “She'll need you at full strength when she wakes up.”
Sam blinks, finally looking at her sister.
Her bandaged arm is snug against her front in a sling, the deep cut on her forehead cleaned and stitched. She's smiling hesitantly, her eyes brimming with exhaustion. Immediately, Sam's guilt grows tenfold - her little sister, looking after her after having to go through another massacre, all because of her.
She pulls her into her side, mindful of her injuries, and presses a kiss to her temple. “I'm sorry,” Sam speaks up for the first time, her voice scratchy.
She feels her sister's head shake against her shoulder. “None of this is your fault, Sam.”
Sam sighs, only now starting to feel a painful throb in her side. She glances down, sees the bandage slowly grow red, and looks back at your still form.
“Why… why did she do that?” She whispers, blinking back tears. “I- I could've handled him. I almost had him, but she…”
“Sam,” Tara pulls away, her voice shaky, “he almost had you. If she hadn't thrown herself at him, you-” she chokes on a sob and turns away, hiding her face in her palm.
It's a startling realization, one that makes her breath come short. No matter what she'd like to tell herself, she was an inch away from inevitable death. She remembers the look in Ethan's eyes - hate, rage and pure, undiluted madness. She imagines she looked the same at the moment.
And then there was you, kind and good and all the things that Sam is not, throwing yourself on his back with a knife in your hands, plunging it into his side without hesitation.
He was stronger, of course. The image of you being thrown into the wall, him towering over your prone body before his knife easily sliced your body open, is still too fresh in her mind.
She made him pay.
Tara's shoulders are shaking. Sam looks down at her sandwich, and after a moment of contemplation places it on the bedside table. She's reaching out to her little sister when a quiet groan makes her jump up.
There you are, eyes slowly blinking open. She rushes forward, but hesitates once you're in reach, her hand hovering over yours awkwardly.
“Sam?” You rasp out, moving to sit up, but Sam is quick enough to gently push you back into the bed, her hands lingering on your shoulders.
“I'm here, baby,” she breathes out, tears sliding down her cheeks. You relax, smiling, and she can't help it, not after holding it in for the past sixteen hours, she sobs quietly, burrowing her face in the crook of your neck - the only place on your body devoid of any injuries. She clings to you like a lifeline, her heart squeezed painfully in her chest.
Your fingers find purchase in the strands of her hair, your other hand wrapped around her shoulders. “I'm okay,” you whisper, “we're okay.”
She cries harder, shuddering in your hold.
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