Synopsis: Alternate ending to the episode Shock Theater. Sam doesn't get that last shock therapy treatment in time and Al loses complete contact with him.

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: The Quantum Leap series and its characters belong to Belisarius Productions and MCA/Universal. The plot of this story, however, is mine all mine. This story may not be redistributed in any way without the express consent of the author. Some scenes were taken directly from Shock Theater, written by Deborah Pratt. No infringement is intended.

Timeline: Starts at the end of Shock Theater where Al is pleading with Sam to tell the nurse to give him another shock therapy treatment, or else he may lose contact with Sam forever.

Archive: My website and fanfiction.net, all other's please ask first.

Feedback: Yes, please. Constructive criticism is welcome, but no flames please. Email: loriscorpio@hotmail.com

Author's notes: This story begins at the end of Shock Theater. I have left some things exactly the same from that last scene, and have changed certain things, or incorporated my own things into that last scene. I had to do that in order to make the story work. Even after incorporating my own things, I have gone back and taken things from the original scene and incorporated that into what I changed. In other words, some of that last scene will be the same, and other parts of it will different. The story goes further than that last scene, and will be its own story after that scene.

I'd like to thank my beta readers: My mom, Robin, Dave and last but not least, BriarRose. I couldn't have done it without you guys.

Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Doctor Sam Beckett led an elite group of scientists into the desert to develop a top secret project, known as QUANTUM LEAP. Pressured to prove his theories or lose funding, Doctor Beckett prematurely stepped into the Project Accelerator, and vanished. He awoke to find himself in the past, suffering from partial amnesia and facing a mirror image that was not his own, driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. Trapped in the past, Doctor Beckett finds himself Leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong and hoping each time, that his next leap will be the leap home.

"Al, don't leave me."

"I won't, Sam," Al said.

"Don't leave me."

I won't, Sam," Al said again, ready to cry at the sight in front of him. Sam was lying on a gurney, restrained. An overload of shock therapy treatment, when he had first Leaped into this mental hospital, had pushed him over the edge. In the time Sam had been here, his overloaded brain cells had tricked him into believing that he was different people he had Leaped into in the past. He had been such people as Samantha Stormer, Jesse Tyler and Kid Cody. Now he lay on the gurney thinking he was Jimmy La Motta. Each time his brain made him think he was someone else he had Leaped into, he had taken on their personality, talked the way they talked, had the reactions they would have. So now, as Jimmy La Motta, who had Downs Syndrome, he was reacting as Jimmy would react. He was scared to death, and it killed Al to see him like this.

Al had been telling Sam over and over again that he needed to get another dose of shock therapy treatment or there was a possibility that Al would lose contact with him forever. Trying to keep in touch with Sam and his scrambled brainwaves was taking most of the power Ziggy had. The power was running out fast. The only thing that would bring Sam back to himself and make him Leap was another dose of shock therapy treatment. Al hated what he had to tell Sam next, but it was the only way of not losing contact with Sam and Leaping him out of this hellish situation.

"Sam, tell them you have to have the same voltage as yesterday."

Al saw Sam's eyes widen in fear at that prospect.

"Tell them," Al said.

"It hurts," Sam said.

"Tell them," Al shouted, knowing his time was running out. "Come on, Sam, tell them buddy. I can't hang on much longer," Al said as his voice cracked.

"Same shock as yesterday," Sam said to the nurse and the doctor.

"No," the nurse said.

"Same shock as yesterday," Sam shouted, shaking his body.

"No," the nurse said louder.

"Yes, it's gotta be the same as yesterday," Al shouted, on the verge of tears. This was tearing him apart.

"Same shock as Butch put yesterday," Sam shouted.

Suddenly Al heard Sam start screaming.

"No, Al, don't leave me. DON'T LEAVE ME! NO! NO! AL, AL COME BACK TO JIMMY. PLEASE, AL, COME BACK TO ME!" Sam said as he began sobbing.

"I'm here, Sam, I'm here."

"No," Sam continued sobbing, "Al left Jimmy. Al left Jimmy."

"No, Sam, I'm right here," Al said.

"Admiral," Al heard Ziggy's voice say.

"What?" Al snapped.

"You've lost visual contact with Sam. You can still hear him for the time being, but he can't see or hear you."

Al realized that he see couldn't Sam, but could still hear his sobs and his pleas for Al to come back to him.

"Oh, God," Al said, rubbing his face. "This can't be happening. Damn it, this can't be happening! Gooshie, put the power to the max on Ziggy. I need to get back to Sam. He needs to see me and know I'm there."

"Admiral, I don't think-"

"Now, Gooshie, NOW!" Al shouted.

Gooshie did as Al requested.

Al could now see Sam again, although Sam was fading in and out, which really meant Al was the one fading in and out. "Sam, I'm here, I'm here."

"Al, you came back to Jimmy."

"I came back to Jimmy, yes," Al said. "Now tell the nurse to shock you. Now, Sam, now," Al said with desperation in his voice. He watched as the nurse told the doctor what Butch had done when Sam had first Leaped in and watched as the doctor pulled Butch aside and began arguing with him. Now only the nurse was with Sam.

"Give shock now," Sam told the nurse.

"DO IT!" Al shouted.

"Save Jimmy," Sam said and then added in a semi whisper, "Save Sam." He paused for a moment and then continued, "Please, two hundred."

"No, that's too high," the nurse said.

"Time all gone," Sam said, about ready to cry again. "Al will go away again."

"Tell her, Sam. Do it now," Al yelled. He could feel his connection to Sam slipping away again.

"Shock me," Sam pleaded with the nurse.

"I can't," the nurse said in a sad voice, "I just can't."

"Al will go away. Shock Jimmy, same voltage as before."

"I can't, it may kill you."

"Tell her she has to, Sam," Al pleaded.

"Shock me," Sam yelled.

"Oh, God," the nurse said.

Al saw the nurse hesitate and then begin to pick up the mouthpiece that was used during shock therapy treatment.

"That's it," Al said.

She hesitated for just a split second. In that split second, Al couldn't see Sam again. Unfortunately he could still hear him though. His cries turned into shrieks and his pleas turned into screams.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! Help me, Al. NO!" Sam shrieked, screamed and cried at the same time. "Al, Al, come back. Jimmy's sorry the nurse didn't shock him. AAAALLLLL COME BACK!" Sam screamed in a panicked, hysterical voice.

"We need to sedate him right now," Al heard the doctor say, ending the argument with Butch.

"No," Al yelled to no avail, knowing that no one could see him or hear him, not even Sam, "You have to shock him, not sedate him."

"Doctor, I don't think we need to do that," the nurse said.

"I'm the doctor and I make the decisions and I say we sedate him."

"No. No sedation for Jimmy. Al, come back and tell them no sedation for Jimmy. Please, Al," Sam pleaded.

"I can't buddy, I can't," Al said as he reached up and wiped at the tear that was rolling down his cheek. "I can't."

Slowly, Sam's cries and pleas faded away until Al could hear him no more.

"Oh, God, No!" Al shouted at the air.

"Admiral, we've lost complete contact with Sam," Gooshie said.

"I know," Al said quietly as he pushed some buttons on the handlink that opened the door to the Imaging Chamber. He stepped out slowly into the Control Room in stunned disbelief that they had actually lost contact with Sam. Still echoing in his ears were Sam's cries and pleas for Al not to leave him.

"Please don't let this be happening," Al said, about ready to break down. He wiped his hand over his face. "We have to get back to him and fast. Right now. I'm going to get back into the Imaging Chamber. Try and get me centered on Sam again."

"We don't have enough power, Admiral," Gooshie said.

"Damn it, Gooshie, do it and I mean NOW!" Al shouted as he opened the door to the Imaging Chamber and stepped back into it.

Al stayed in the Imaging Chamber for hours. He, Gooshie and Ziggy tried several times to reach Sam. Each time they'd start the Imaging Chamber, Ziggy would lose power and they couldn't reach Sam.

Finally Gooshie said in a grim voice, "Admiral, I don't think we're going to get anywhere doing this. I think we should call it a night and let Ziggy regain her power, and maybe we can get a lock on Sam tomorrow."

"Yeah," Al said exhausted, as he pushed some buttons on the handlink that opened the Imaging Chamber door.

"It's late, Admiral, I think you should get some sleep. You look absolutely exhausted."

"Sleep, yeah, right," Al muttered, knowing he wouldn't get very much of that tonight, if any. "First thing tomorrow morning, Gooshie, we will resume, okay?" Al said as he started to walk out of the Control Room and back to his quarters.

"Sure thing, Admiral," Gooshie said.

Al slowly walked back to his quarters. He arrived, opened his door, walked in and shut the door behind him. He headed straight for the bed and sat down. He was exhausted and had a horrible headache. He knew he needed to eat and get sleep, but at this moment he didn't feel like either. All he wanted was for this nightmare to go away. All he could hear echoing in his head were Sam's screams and pleas for Al not leave him.

Al heard a knock on the door.

He grunted. "Who is it?"

"It's Tina."

"Come in," he said.

Tina walked in, closed the door, walked over and sat down on the bed next to him.

"I heard about what happened with Sam. I'm sorry," Tina said in a sympathetic voice.

"Thanks," Al said, not looking up.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked in a slightly suggestive tone, that Al didn't catch.

"Yeah, get me connected with Sam again," he said.

"I wish I could," Tina said, as she started rubbing Al's back and then kissing his neck.

Al pushed her away and got up. "Not now, Tina. This is not the time."

"I'm just trying to help you feel better," she said in a pouty tone of voice.

Al saw that she was a bit put off and shocked that he had pushed her away. "I know, Tina. I appreciate that, but right now that's not what I need to feel better. If you want to help, then just stay here with me and lay down with me while I try and go to sleep. Just stay the night without anything having to happen." Most of the time Al would not have turned Tina down, but right now all he could think about was Sam and getting back to Sam. Nothing else concerned him right now.

"Okay," Tina said.

Al got dressed into his nightclothes, turned out the light and he and Tina laid down on the bed. He felt her put her arm around him. He was sure she felt him shudder as he tried not to break down.

Al finally fell into a restless sleep where he heard Sam pleading for him to come back.

Sam lay on his bed in his room at the mental hospital. His eyes were open, but he didn't comprehend anything that was going on around him. The doctor had sedated him so heavily, that he couldn't even put a coherent thought together. His thoughts were so scattered that none of them made sense. The overload of shock treatment and the sedation had fried his brain. Through all of the scattered thoughts in his mind though, one word was as clear as a bell, although he wasn't sure what it meant, or who it was, or if it even was a person. In his haze, his mind kept saying, "Al," over and over again.

A couple of hours later, Al woke up. He laid there for what seemed like forever, not being able to go back to sleep. He finally got up quietly, as not to wake Tina. He put on a jacket and slippers and walked outside. He walked over to a brick wall and leaned against it. He looked up at the stars.

"I'm sorry, Sam," he said softly.

The guilt was eating him up inside. In everything Sam had gone through in the past years with Quantum Leaping, Al had been the only constant thing for him. Al lived at the project so that he could be there for Sam, whenever he Leaped into a new situation and needed him. Sam had done so much for him. Sam was the only one who had given him a chance when he was a bit younger, angrier and drank too much. Sam was the only one who believed in him, when he stopped believing in himself. Sam had not just given him a chance with the projects they had worked on together; Sam had also befriended him. Had become his best friend at a time in his life when he didn't have many friends. They had become best friends before Sam even started Project Quantum Leap, and Al had been honored when Sam had asked him to come aboard the project with him. With everything Sam had done for him throughout the years, his helping Sam out on the Leaps was just a repayment to him. It was the least he could do for him. And after everything Sam had done for him, he had let him down tonight by leaving him, when Sam had needed him the most. Deep inside, Al knew it was out of his control, but that didn't make his guilt any less. He could've tried harder to get Sam shocked. He could've tried harder not to lose the connection with Sam. In his mind, there were so many could'ves and would'ves. All he knew was that he would do whatever it took to get back to Sam Beckett and get him out of this situation.

He couldn't stand the thought of Sam being all alone in the state of mind he was in, probably not realizing it was out of Al's control that he had left him. Sam probably thought Al had abandoned him. It killed Al knowing Sam was in that place. God only knew what they were doing to him.

Al looked up at the stars one last time and then turned around and walked back to his quarters. He got back into bed, falling into another restless sleep.

First thing the next morning, Al was in the Control Room trying to figure out a way to get back to Sam. He was exhausted from very little sleep, but no matter how tired he was, he needed to keep working to find a way back to Sam.

"Good Morning, Admiral," Gooshie said as he walked into the Control Room.

"Good Morning," Al said, turning to face him. "I've been thinking, Gooshie, what if I Leap to where Sam is and make sure he gets the shock therapy treatment he needs so he can Leap out of that hellhole?"

"I don't think that's such a great idea, Admiral," Gooshie said reluctantly, "What if you Leap and we never get you back?"

"I know, I've thought of that, too, but I can't let what's happening to Sam happen. I can't let him stay in that hospital in his present condition. Eventually he may Leap, but then again he might not. I can't let him stay there, Gooshie."

"I understand that, Admiral, but I really think we should try to think of another way first."

"I agree. It's just an option right now, but," Al said firmly, "it's an option we need to keep open and give some serious consideration to."

"We'll keep it open, but like I said, let's try to find another way first."

"Well, first of all, let's try the Imaging Chamber again and see if we can get a lock on Sam."

"Okay," Gooshie said.

Al got into the Imaging Chamber. At first it looked like there would be enough power to possibly get back to Sam. But with Sam's brainwaves not functioning normally, they couldn't get a lock on him right away and eventually that drained all of Ziggy's power, which in turn made them lose power again.

They continued to try the Imaging Chamber for another two hours with no success. Al got out of the Imaging Chamber.

"Damn, there has to be some way to get back to Sam. I know there has to be."

"What if we had an alternate power source of some sort that could give us a power boost and in turn give us enough power for you to be able to stay in the Imaging Chamber as long as need be to find Sam and make sure he gets the shock therapy treatment that he needs?" Gooshie questioned.

"That would be great, but what type of alternate power source are we going to get that will give us that much power?" Al questioned back.

"I don't know. We need to give it some thought, but maybe we can find something that will work," Gooshie answered.

"Well, we really don't have a lot of time here to be thinking up in-depth solutions."

"Well, hopefully it will only take us a couple of hours or so."

"Let's get to work then," Al said.

Five hours later they had still come up with absolutely nothing.

Al slammed his fist down on the desk they were working at. "There has to be some way to get an alternate power source, or there has to be a way to get back to Sam that we haven't thought of yet. It's been thirty hours already," Al said as he got up and began to pace back and forth. "I've left Sam alone for thirty hours," Al reiterated to get his point across. "I've got to Leap. There's no other way."

"Admiral, I really don't think that's a good idea."

"What else am I supposed to do, Gooshie?" Al shouted. "Am I just supposed to leave Sam there for those monsters to do God only knows what to him?"

"I understand what you're saying. I don't want to leave Dr. Beckett in that hospital any more than you do, but do you really want to jeopardize your future to get him out of that place?"

"If it were the other way around, Sam wouldn't even think twice about it. He'd do it for me," Al paused and began again quietly, "I can't let him stay there when it's primarily my fault he's stuck there."

Al noticed that Gooshie looked taken aback by his comment.

"Well, it is," Al said.

"Admiral," Gooshie began softly, "it's not your fault that Dr. Beckett is stuck there."

"It's not, Al," Al heard a voice from behind him say. He turned around to find himself facing Donna.

"I could've tried harder to make sure he got shocked, I could've tried harder not to lose contact with him. There's so many things I could've done to save him, and I didn't."

"Al," Donna began softly, "It isn't your fault Sam is stuck there. You can't blame yourself for things that were out of your control."

"You weren't there. Neither of you were there to see him pleading for me not leave him."

"You weren't actually there either," Donna said.

"You know what I mean. Sam probably didn't realize that I really wasn't there either, with the state of mind he was in. You didn't see him pleading like I did. You didn't hear his screams and sobs when I lost visual contact with him. It was literally a living nightmare. It broke my heart. It tore me apart."

"Admiral, it's still not your fault," Gooshie said.

Al continued as if he hadn't heard Gooshie. "He thinks I abandoned him. Oh, God, he thinks I abandoned him."

"No, no, Al. No, he doesn't. And you didn't abandon him," Donna said.

Al turned around with watery eyes. In a slow, methodical, firm voice that was wrought with guilt, Al said, "He-Thinks-I-Abandoned-Him." His voice cracked as he tried to choke down the tears and emotion that had been threatening to overcome him since he had lost contact with Sam.

"Al, how can I convince you that you didn't abandon him?" Donna asked.

Al wiped a hand over his face. "My best friend was pleading for me not to leave him. He needed me more than ever, but I left anyway. What do you call that? I call that abandoning him."

"Through no fault of your own, Al. It was out of your control. Look, Al, I'm his wife. His wife, and I don't blame you. Instead of placing blame, let's try to find a way back to Sam."

"It's not that easy, Donna. We're having trouble getting back to Sam. What if we never get back to him? What if we've lost contact for good? I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that were the case. You guys just don't understand," Al said and started to walk out of the Control Room.

"Admiral," Gooshie started.

"Let him go, Gooshie, he needs some space," Al heard Donna say.

"But we need to find a way to get back to Dr. Beckett."

"We can do that without Al. It's okay. Just give him some time."

Al walked back to his quarters. When he got there, he walked in and slammed the door shut behind him. He was utterly exhausted and the more time that went by without finding a way back to Sam, the guiltier he felt. Deep down inside he knew what Donna and Gooshie were saying was true, but he was having a hard time convincing his conscious self that he wasn't responsible for what happened.

The truth was, whether it was his fault or not, he had abandoned Sam and that made him feel guilty. He probably would've felt guilty no matter what situation Sam was in when he had lost contact with him. But he wondered if he would've felt this guilty under any other circumstances. It was the state of mind Sam was in and the place he was in. Sam didn't even really know who he himself was.

Al went over to the bed and lay down. He was only planning on laying down long enough to get himself back on track again, so he could really focus on what needed to be done to get back to Sam. He knew he couldn't work in the state of mind he was in, which is why he had left the Control Room to come back to his quarters. Exhaustion took over though, and before he knew it, he was asleep.

Three hours later, Al woke up groggy and disoriented. He had been in a deep sleep because of his exhaustion, due to the lack of sleep the night before. He sat up and wiped the sleep out of his eyes. Everything that had been happening rushed back to him. He looked at the clock.

"Oh my God," he said realizing how long he had been gone from the Control Room. He got up and made himself as presentable as possible. In the mirror he saw a man, who even with the three hours of sleep, had dark circles under his eyes. He was beginning to get a five o'clock shadow and had a haunted expression in his eyes.

'So much for looking presentable,' he thought.

He walked out the door toward the Control Room. Although he felt bad for being gone for so long, he knew if any new information would've come up on finding Sam, they would've awakened him. Al walked into the Control Room.

"Any new information yet on getting back to Sam?" Al asked Gooshie and Donna.

"Al, are you all right? We were worried about you. Gooshie was just about to go make sure you were all right."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I fell asleep. I'm sorry."

"Well, you needed it, Al," Donna said.

"So anything new?" Al asked.

"Well, we might be onto something," Donna started, "If I remember correctly, Sam put something that's akin to a built-in generator in Ziggy. If the power goes out, then the built in generator should kick in. The thing is, if I remember correctly, Sam had it set up so that it didn't go on by itself when the power goes out. There's a code that needs to be entered into Ziggy to activate it. I can't remember why Sam wanted it that way, but he had his reasons that were good reasons to him at the time. The problem is, only Sam knows the code. He didn't give it to anyone before he Leaped the first time, which I just think is something he overlooked. So, we've been going through Sam's things in his quarters and in his office, trying to find the code. If we can find that code, we can get back to him. The built-in generator should have five to six hours of power, which should give us plenty of time to find Sam and get him out of that situation," Donna ended.

"Look, Gooshie, Donna, we need to talk. I've already been away from Sam for thirty-three hours. We don't have enough time to try and find this code. It could take days, even weeks to find this code, if we ever do. We need a way that will get us to Sam right now. There's only one way to do that. I have to Leap."

"Admiral..."

"I know, if I Leap, I might not come back and there are so many other things that could go wrong, but it's a risk I'm going to have to take. It's a risk I'm willing to take for my best friend. It's my choice and even with all the risks, I have to do this, I need to do this, I want to do this."

"There's nothing we can do to talk you out of this, Admiral?" Gooshie asked.

"No," Al said.

"Oh, Al," he heard a voice from behind him say. "Are you really going to do this?"

Al turned around and saw Tina. "Oh, Tina. I have to. I have to save Sam."

"What if you never come back, Al?"

"I'm sorry, Tina, but I have to save Sam. I have to. He's done so much for me. I can't let him stay there. I have to get him out of that situation any way I can, and if that means Leaping, then that's what I have to do."

"I understand, Al," Tina said with tears in her eyes.

Al hugged her and kissed her. "I'll be back. I promise."

Al then turned around and said, "Somebody get me a Fermi suit, please."

Donna walked off and came back with a Fermi suit. Al got undressed and put on the suit.

"Set the Leap date for October 3rd, 1954, Gooshie," Al said.

Gooshie did as Al asked.

Al turned around and waved at Tina and mouthed the words, "I'll be back." He turned around and walked into the Quantum Leap Accelerator and got in. He went to the middle. A few moments later, he heard a noise and felt a strong wind coming up from beneath him. He raised his arms up and closed his eyes. A few moments after that, he started to feel what felt like electricity going through his body. Suddenly he didn't feel the strong wind anymore or hear the noise. He opened his eyes only to find he was still in the Quantum Leap Accelerator.

"What the hell?" he said out loud. He got out of the Quantum Leap Accelerator and walked back out into the Control Room. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Oh, thank goodness you didn't Leap, Admiral. Donna and Tina continued to look for the code for Ziggy's built-in generator and we found it in Sam's office, finally. So you can get to Sam through the Imaging Chamber."

"Oh, that's great," Al said.

"Okay, here's what's going to happen, Al. You'll get in the Imaging Chamber and we'll start it. When Ziggy's power runs out, I'll enter the code into Ziggy and her built-in generator will be activated, giving you at least five to six hours, which should give you enough time to find Sam and get him to Leap," Donna said.

"All right," Al said as he picked up his handlink from where he always left it and got into the Imaging Chamber. Again, it was hard to get a lock on Sam. After a long period of time of not finding Sam, Ziggy's power was drained. Suddenly the power came back on, letting Al know that Gooshie and Donna had entered the code into Ziggy and it had worked. It took a while, but Al finally locked onto Sam's brainwaves. He found Sam lying on his bed in his room at the hospital. His eyes were open, but he didn't seem to comprehend anything that was going on around him.

"Sam, buddy, I'm back." Al got no response from Sam. "Come on, buddy, I know you can hear me. You've got to come around, Sam." Sam stirred a little bit, but he still did not respond.

"You're back, you're back. Do you have anything else on the future?" Al heard someone ask. He turned around to see Tibby lying on his bed next to Sam's bed.

"No, Tibby, I don't have anymore information on the future. Look, I need to get Sam here to talk to me. Do you think you can help me out?"

"Yeah, yeah, what do you want me to do?" Tibby asked.

"Can you go over to him and shake him gently?"

"Okay," Tibby said. He walked over to Sam. "Hey, your friend is back from the future. Wake up, wake up," he said as he shook Sam.

"No," Sam said pushing Tibby away.

"He's here, he's here," Tibby said again.

Sam turned away from Tibby and clutched the pillow that was already in his hands tighter.

"Sam, come on, buddy. Listen to me. Look at me."

Sam turned his head and looked directly at Al. He stared blankly at him for a moment and then turned his head back the other way.

"Oh, Sam, what have they done to you?"

"Butch tried to kill him, that's what they did to him."

"I know, Tibby. You can go back to your bed now. Thanks."

Tibby got up and went back to his bed.

"Sam, come on, listen to me," Al pleaded. Finally Sam turned around and looked back at Al.

"You...You...Al! You left me, Al. But you're back. You came back for me," Sam said.

"Of course I did, buddy, of course I did."

"You came back for Jimmy. Thank you, Al."

"Jimmy? You still think you're Jimmy La Motta?" Al asked.

"Yeah, I'm Jimmy," Sam said.

"Okay, well that's not important. I need you to listen to me, okay?"

"Okay," Sam said in an almost child like voice.

"Do you want to get out of this place?" he asked Sam.

"Yeah, Jimmy want out."

"Then you need to get another shock, Sam," Al said firmly.

"No, no more shock. No more shock."

"I know you don't want another shock, but that's the only way you'll get out of here."

"Al leave Jimmy again if he doesn't get a shock?"

Al hated to be firm with Sam with the state of mind he was in, but he had no other choice.

"Yes, Al will leave Jimmy again if he doesn't get another shock. Now get the doctor's attention."

"Doctor, Doctor, DOCTOR!" Sam shouted as loud as he could. "DOCTOR! DOCTOR! DOCTOR!"

"What's going on in here?" one of the doctors said as he and the nurse ran in the room.

"Shock me or else Al will go away again. SHOCK ME!" Sam screamed as he stood up on his bed.

"We can't shock you just so Al won't go away again," the doctor said.

"You have to, you have to," Sam yelled on the verge of being hysterical. "You have to," he yelled again, as he jumped off the bed and lunged at the doctor.

"Sam, no!" Al shouted.

"Shock Jimmy, shock Jimmy, shock Jimmy," Sam said as he pounded his fists against the doctor's chest.

"We need to restrain him right now," the doctor said.

"No, no restraints, just shock me. Please," Sam begged.

"Get a restraint jacket," the doctor yelled to the nurse, trying to fight off Sam.

"No! No! No restraint jacket. Just shock me! Shock me!"

"We need to sedate him," the doctor said.

"No!" Al shouted, "Don't let them sedate you, Sam."

"No sedation," Sam shouted.

"Nurse, we need to sedate him NOW!" the doctor yelled.

"No, no sedation for Jimmy! PLEASE!"

The doctor managed to get out of Sam's clutches, then left the room for a moment. He came back with a syringe filled with some sort of sedative.

"Sam, don't let them sedate you," Al said.

The doctor walked toward Sam with the syringe. Sam walked toward him, and somehow managed to grab the syringe out of the doctor's hand and threw it on the floor.

"No sedation! Shock me," Sam said.

"All right," the doctor shouted, clearly past his wits end, "Prepare him for shock therapy treatment."

"Doctor, I don't think that's a good idea," the nurse said.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm the doctor and I make the decisions? Prep him for shock therapy treatment."

Sam was lying on a gurney in the room where the shock therapy treatment was given.

"Al, are you there?" Sam asked.

"I'm right here, buddy."

The doctor was setting everything up for the shock therapy treatment. He came and stood over Sam.

"Sam, tell them it needs to be two hundred volts," Al said.

"Two hundred volts, two hundred volts, two hundred volts," Sam said.

"No, we can't give you that much," the doctor said.

"Yes! Two hundred!" Sam yelled.

"No," the doctor said.

"Al, don't go," Sam screamed, "Don't go again."

"I'm not, buddy," Al said, but saw Sam fading in and out, which meant he was fading in and out.

"What the hell is going on, Gooshie? It hasn't been five or six hours. It's barely been an hour," Al shouted. He was silent for a moment, listening to what Gooshie was saying.

"What? This is using up more power than you thought it would? Well, I don't care what you have to do to keep me here, just do it!"

"Sam, do it now. Tell them two hundred now," Al yelled.

"Two hundred shock, two hundred shock," Sam yelled.

"No," the doctor yelled.

"Yes," Sam shrieked as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Now, Sam, make them do it now," Al shouted.

"Please shock Jimmy now, two hundred volts," Sam said. "Now! Now! Now! Now! Now! Now! Al's going to go away."

"That's right, tell him, Sam."

"Now!" Sam shrieked.

"Oh, all right," the doctor snapped, obviously frustrated.

"Doctor..." the nurse started.

"We're going to shock him with two hundred volts. Maybe he's right, maybe that's what he needs to get his brain back on track."

"Al," Sam screamed.

Al could see Sam fading in and out.

"I'm here, I'm here. Don't worry."

The doctor picked up the mouthpiece and put it in Sam's mouth. Then he opened up a tube of ointment and rubbed some of it on each of Sam's temples. The doctor then turned the voltage up to two hundred on the electrodes.

Suddenly Sam looked at Al. Since he was not restrained he was able to move. He reached up and took the mouthpiece out of his mouth. In a voice that was calm and sounded like his own Sam said, "It wasn't your fault, Al. Don't blame yourself, I don't." He then put the mouthpiece back in his mouth and put his head down.

Al smiled. Even if it was just for that split second, he was back to himself and he didn't blame Al for leaving him.

Al noticed Sam had a look of terror in his eyes again, as if he was Jimmy again.

Sam looked up at the doctor and nodded slightly. The doctor slowly began to bring down the electrodes toward Sam's temples. The electrodes touched Sam's temples and his whole body contracted. The last thing Al remembered seeing was a lightening bolt in front of his eyes. And then he and Sam Leaped...Together.