There's Too Much Green To Feel Blue

"Sam!" Peter reached out and caught her before she hit the floor. He got on his knees and held Sam closer to the ground.
"Daddy, what's wrong with her?" Lily cried out.
"Lily, I need you to be a big girl and get daddy's cell phone, now!" Peter ordered.
Lily scrambled to Peter's room. Peter brushed Sam's hair from her face and examined her.
"No, no, no, Sam, don't do this to me. I just got you back." Peter pleaded.
He shook her slightly. She was completely out cold.
"Sam, Sam." he begged. He lowered his ear to her chest and listened, she was still breathing.
Panic flooded Peter's body and constricted his chest.
"Come on, Sam, come on." he patted her cheek, "Not another one, I can't lose another one." he breathed fiercely.
Lily came back with the phone.
"Lily," Peter said grabbing the phone, "be strong for me, okay? Everything's going to be fine."
Lily nodded fervently as Peter dialed Brendon.
"Peter?" Brendon answered, "Dude, I'm working right now--"
"Brendon, I need an ambulance!" Peter panicked.
"What, what happened?" Brendon asked.
"It's Sam, she just collapsed!" Peter shrieked. "I think she fainted!"
"Okay, what happened?" Brendon asked taking a sudden calm, business-like tone Peter had never heard.
"I don't know, she was just standing there saying that she felt hot and she collapsed!" Peter sputtered.
"Oh, my God. Okay, I'm sending someone, Peter. But I need you to be calm, all right? Now, is she still breathing?"
"Yes, yes, she's just passed out. What do I do? I'm freaking out here! She was just fine a minute ago!"
"It would help if you brought her outside, but be careful! Can you do that?"
"Yes, yes." Peter said.
"Okay, then, go. Don't worry, man, she's probably fine." Brendon said.
Peter hung up and handed the phone to Lily. "Lily, I need you to follow me."
Peter slowly stood up. Sam wasn't heavy but Peter was weak with shock. But he gathered himself and carefully carried her down the hall and into the elevator. He was trying to hurry without hurting Sam in any way.
"Baby, press the button on the top." Peter said when they reached the inside of the elevator.
"But, daddy, I can't reach it!" Lily said.
"Jump, baby, please try." Peter said desperately.
Lily jumped as high as she could and she was able to hit the button.
"Good girl! Oh, I'm so proud of you, baby." Peter said.
The elevator down to the lobby took years, it seemed. Peter brushed the small curls from Sam's face. He grew chills staring at her so limp in his arms. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to think of what could happen to Sam. He opened his eyes and watched the numbers light up.
"Lily, when the door opens up, run ahead and hold the door for me." Peter instructed.
There was a ding and the doors opened. Lily ran ahead.
"Oh, this girl is a blessing." Peter said stumbling out of the elevator.
Peter walked as quickly as he could, hoping to attract as little attention as possible. Of course, he was about to go out into the sidealk, there were bound to be stares there. And sure enough, when he stepped out, the curious passer by's stared. Peter was just about to go back inside when he heard the siren close by.
"Wow, that was fast." Peter said relieved, "Lily, stay close."
A red and white ambulance pulled up in front of him. The moment it stopped the back doors opened and Brendon jumped out followed by a man pulling out a stretcher.
"Hey, I jumped on the first ambulance I saw." Brendon said.
"Can you do that?" Peter asked.
"I don't know." He looked down at Sam in Peter's arms, "Okay, what do we got here?" He held out his arms.
Peter carefully deposited Sam into Brendon's arms, Brendon turned and placed her in the stretcher. The other man strapped her in and pushed the stretcher into the ambulance.
"We'll take care of her, Peter." Brendon said turning towards the ambulance.
"Wait, I'm coming, too!" Peter said.
"You can't, Peter." Brendon said putting a leg on the ambulance, "What about Lily?"
Peter turned and looked at his frightened daughter. Brendon was right, Lily had already been through too much trauma today.
"I'll be there in an hour." Peter said.
Brendon nodded and stepped into the ambulance. Peter watched the ambulance drive off until he couldn't see it anymore.
Then he turned to Lily and picked her up, "Let's get you dressed, you're going to grandma's." He took her up to the apartment, dressed her, quickly traded his gray shirt for a v-neck black one and then they jumped in the car.
He was able to drop Lily off after a discussion with his mother and then stepped on the gas toward the hospital. He stepped into the hospitals waiting room and immediately saw Brendon. He rushed to him, "Brendon, how is she?"
"Peter," he said grabbing a clipboard from the front desk.
"Can I go see her?" Peter asked, not giving Brendon a chance to answer.
"Not yet," Brendon said examining the papers, "I can't talk, Peter, it's very hectic today."
"But she's okay?" Peter asked.
"I'll come by later." Brendon said walking away quickly.
Letting out a frustrated groan, he grudgingly sat in a chair and waited. He couldn't read a magazine or watch the tv on the wall like the other people were, all he could do was tap his fingers, stomp his feet and fidget in his seat. He moved around so much, a lady asked if he needed a doctor. He waited for three hours. He had his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands when a thought occured to him.
"Aw, man," he said loud enough for only him to hear, "the last thing I said to her was : 'Did you make those clothes out of your blanket?' He miserably rested his chin in his hands.
"Peter." Brendon called.
Peter immediately perked up and looked at Brendon as he walked up to him.
"You can go see Sam now." he pointed a thumb over his shoulder.
Peter quickly stood up, "Is she okay?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, she's fine. I was joking around with her right now." Brendon laughed.
"Joking around?" Peter asked.
"Yeah, come on, I'll take you to her." Brendon said.
Peter followed him into an elevator, up a few floors and into a hallway that was all too familiar.
"Is..is this the right--" Peter began.
"Yep." Brendon said.
"They're...they're in the same...?"
"Yep, they're seperated by one room." Brendon answered, "Ironic, huh? Come on."
He led him to where Hash resided and walked passed it, to the left, and stopped two doors down. Peter felt odd walking by his wife's room. He felt even more strange when Brendon opened the door and he saw Sam happily sitting up over the covers and watching tv.
"Peterberry!" Sam cheered.
Peter fought all urge to run and hug her. Sam obviously wanted to do the same, she moved to climb off the bed.
"Sam." Brendon held up a hand.
Sam made a noise in her throat and frowned at Brendon.
"Sam, you're okay." Peter fought to keep his excitement down, "You scared the crap out of me, what happened?"
"You'll never guess what it was, Peter." Brendon said shutting the door, "She was dehydrated," he turned and smirked at her, "stupid girl."
Sam smiled, " 'I can't take this, ' " she sang, " 'Born to break this.' "
Peter and Brendon stared at her as she giggled.
"What? You don't get it?" she asked, "You see, it's cuz he said 'stupid girl', so I said--you don't get it, okay, never mind." she pouted, "It's a music joke, people!"
Peter turned to Brendon, "What do you mean she was dehydrated? I saw her drink plenty of wine yesterday."
"Peter!" Sam scolded, slightly embarassed., "I drank the tiniest amount of wine--"
"But she didn't have enough of the fluids her body needs to function on a day to day basis." Brendon turned to her, "You need to drink more water."
He went to her bedside table where there was a plastic pitcher and paper cups and poured her a cup.
"But she's always drinking that tea....wait. When was the last time I saw you drink that tea?" Peter wondered out loud.
"Drink." Brendon urged. He offered her the cup.
"No!" Sam pushed his hand away.
"Sam, do what the doctor tells you." Peter urged.
"He's not a doctor, he's a nurse!" Sam said.
Brendon gasped, "How dare you?!"
"Guys," Peter scolded, "Sam, drink your water."
"Yeah, Sam, choke--I mean, drink it." Brendon said.
"Brendon, in the last few hours. I've peed, like, fifty times!" Sam said, "No more water, I'm fine."
Brendon placed the cup on the bedside table and turned to Peter, "You tell her to do it, maybe she'll listen to you."
"Brendon, go check on your other patients, let me talk to Sam." Peter said.
Brendon opened the door, looked back at Sam and blew a raspberry at her.
"Puto!" Sam yelled as he slipped out the door.
"So this whole time you've been here because you were dehydrated?" Peter asked.
"Shocking, isn't it?" Sam said flipping the tv off.
Peter crossed his arms and gave her a deadly stare.
"Not one for drama, are you, Peter? Don't worry, me neither."
"Drama? You want to talk about drama? I was out there," he pointed to the door, "for hours going crazy over you. I...I can't even describe how scared I was. Lily is traumatized and I..." he paced back and forth, "I was thinking the worst. I was praying with all my heart that you wouldn't end up like the beautiful woman lying in a coma two doors down from you!" he sighed heavily, "Now I know what it's like to live without you and Hash."
"Oh, you found your spectacles!" Sam said brightly.
"My, my what?" Peter asked distracted.
"Your spectacles. You've seen what it's like to live without me and your wife." Sam said.
Peter sighed, ran a hand across his face and sighed, "Yeah and I don't want to live like that." he pulled up a chair next to Sam and sat, "Don't scare me like that again. I need you here. I can't move forward if you're not there to push me through the door."
Sam smiled and shook her head, "Oh, Peter, don't get all poetic on me."
"Just take care of yourself. I was so scared." Peter squeezed her hand and lowered his head, "I almost lost you again."
" 'I don't want to see through the eyes of a liar' ." Sam sang. She giggled, "I'm on a roll today."
"Wait a minute," Peter's head snapped back up, "where did you get those clothes?"
Peter surveyed the tight green skirt, the small purple shirt, the small green sweater and purple flats.
"I have people." Sam said simply. She suddenly kicked her feet, crossed her arms and pouted, "Peter, I'm so cheesed off! I had my first ride on an ambulance and I was passed out!"
Peter laughed as Sam sighed.
"Anyways, I'm bored," she swung her feet over the bed, "let's go do what Brendon does and pretend to be doctors."
Peter allowed her to pull him out of the room.
From that moment on, Sam and Peter spent every waking moment together. They were always at each other's apartment, they did all the shopping together, they visited Hash, they ate meals together...they became inseperable. Sam learned everything about Peter and Peter learned most of what there was to know about Sam. She'd yet to talk about her past. With Sam's company, the world grew bearable. Peter supposed that he was just lonely these two years and needed someone to help him with his life, he needed a friend. Sam was always there to distract him with her quirkiness, her sense of adventure, her singing and her constant optimism and calm manner. There truly never was a dull moment with Sam. Lily loved having her around all the time, too. Sam taught Lily arts and crafts and read to her a lot. Sam insisted they go shopping every weekend and she spent her money as if it grew on trees. She also always bought them clothes and things and she had them eat in places where Peter couldn't even afford the breadsticks. The days were happier and the weeks went by faster. Peter never though he could find hapiness outside of Hash. He still loved her to death, but he was now able to put everything on hold with more ease and less heartache. His wife was in a coma, there was nothing he could do about it. He had to face it, his wife was asleep but he never gave up hope. Now he was just concerned that he wouldn't be able to live without Sam. He grew very attatched to her and grew to adore every trait that made her Sam. Her charm was magic. Whenever Sam would walk into his apartment for the first time every morning he wanted to run and hold her just like Lily did everyday. He was grateful and perhaps that's why he sometimes felt like smothering her with hugs. He would've never thought to even try to piece his life back together for himself or for his daughter. But Sam was there to force him to pick up the pieces. She was a miracle worker and she didn't know how truly special she was. They were simply best friends and Peter was very happy and content with the way things turned out for him. There was life outside of Hash and it wasn't all that bad. He still went to bed alone at night, but he knew Sam would be there in the morning to drag him out of the bed and have him make her breakfast. Pretty soon, Pete began to pick up Sam's easy-going, fun-loving nature and everyday became an adventure. He finally understood what kept Sam going. Everyday was beautiful when he felt alive and cheerful. It was much more pleasant than feeling dead and watching the days go by in a silent, gray blur. So every night, Peter thanked the Lord for experiencing all these wonderful feelings again.