Chapter 11

Alan carried Brian into the emergency room. The girl behind the desk looked up. "Can I help you?" She noticed Brian's limp form.

"Yes," Alan cleared his throat. "This is my brother, Brian Littrell, and he collapsed earlier this afternoon. We think it may have something to do with his heart."

"Ok," The girl wrote down some information, "You name?"

'Oh shit! Um...' Alan thought quickly. "Harold, Harold Littrell."

"You miss?" The receptionist looked at Sam, "what can I do for you?"

"He, Brian, is my boyfriend." Sam said. As she said it, she realized how she liked the sound of it.

"Ok miss, you'll have to wait here, only family is allowed beyond this point." She called a stretcher to the desk.

Sam's face fell. She didn't want to leave Brian, especially since she was supposed to be his body guard. She looked at him on the gunnery. He gave her pleading eyes to come with him. "I have to stay, but I'll be in as soon as I can, ok?" Brian weakly nodded. "You'll be fine." She assured him. Sam leaned down to kiss his forehead. Shortly after, they wheeled Brian away and Sam was left by herself. She sat down on a very uncomfortable vinyl chair. She watched people come in and out of the ER.

A while later, a girl about her age sat down near by. Sam looked at her, but went back to staring at the on coming people. "Why are you here?" the girl asked.

Sam turned to face her. She wasn't accustomed to people just talking to her without officially meeting to begin with. She put her guard up. "'Scuse me?"

"Why are you here?" The girl repeated.

"B - my boyfriend," Sam caught herself. "was having trouble breathing. We think it's his heart." Sam hoped she didn't give away too much.

"Oh," The girl sounded hurt.

"What about you?" Sam tried to be friendly.

"My brother has cancer."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Sam really meant it.

"What's your name?" The girl asked.

Sam thought quickly, "Alex,"

"Amy, nice to meet you." Amy greeted.

Sam felt at ease with this girl, but her guard remained up. Many people came and went, and the girls chatted to pass the time, and to cover their worry. A little while later, Alan came back into the room and said that Brian had gone into surgery. After hearing that, Sam was a wreak. She hadn't known Brian that long, but in that short time, they had become close.

Sam must have fallen asleep, because she felt someone shaking her arm. "Alex," A female voice called out.

"Huh?" Sam looked around groggily. She spotted Amy, "Hey,"

"Is your boyfriend's name Brian Littrell?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, why?" Sam was awake now.

"Well, the doctor just came in asking, for the party that was with a Brian Littrell." Amy replied.

Sam looked up and noticed a doctor standing by the door. "Brian Littrell?" he asked.

"I'm his girlfriend." Sam said as she stood up. She glanced at Amy, who gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Ok, miss..." The doctor searched for a name.

"Alex," Sam supplied.

"Ok, Miss Alex. It seems that your boyfriend, Brian, had a heart murmur, and we had to give him surgery to close up the hole. He's in his room resting, and his brother asked me to come down and get you." The doctor explained.

"Thank you." Sam told the doctor. "Will he be all right?"

The doctor smiled, "Yes, in time, he'll be back to his normal state."

Sam turned to Amy, "I hope your brother is ok."

"Thank you," Amy smiled. "I hope Brian has a full recovery, it was nice talking to you."

"And you," Sam responded. With that, Sam followed the doctor up to Brian's room.

Sam entered to room, taking in the lifeless body before her. Brian was still pale, but he had some color back in his cheeks. She seemed to be looking at someone else, not the young man who was going to save them all. "Brian," She softly called out.

He slowly turned his head so he could see her. "Sam," She saw a trace of a smile.

"How are you?" She took a seat at his bedside.

"Great, never felt better!" He smiled, and for a minute, he seemed to be the boy she had met the other day.

"The doctors say that you'll have to stay about a week," Sam announced. Brian seemed perplexed at the news. Ever since he was little, he had hated hospitals, and he never wanted to enter another one again. "Brian?" Sam was concerned.

"I'm fine," Brian insisted.

She knew he was lying, but she decided not to pursue it. After some small talk, Brian fell asleep. Sam, in a chair at his bedside fell into a restless sleep soon after.

Fear crept over her. She was truly scared for the first time in her life. She could hear his foot steps coming closer to her hiding spot. She knew that when she took on this task, it would be dangerous, but now that she was at the point where she could be killed any second, she regretted even taking on this mission. He was looking for her, and if he found her, she would be as good as dead. She tried to make herself as small as possible. She could see his shadow and the gleam of the light reflecting off the knife in his hand. She gulped. She knew this was the end. 'Lord, please take care of Brian,' She silently prayed before the knife hit her flesh.

Sam woke with a start from the dream. The sweat pored from her brow. She was terribly alert. Instinctively, her hand went to her thigh where her dagger was hidden under her jumpsuit. Sam saw Amy enter the small room. But something was different about her. She had this odd glow around her. "Amy," Sam asked quietly.

"Shhh..." Amy placed one finger on her lips as if it would silence Sam. "Take care of Brian, Samantha, he's all they have left." Her voice was mystical, pure, but it came as a whisper.

"But how-"

"I know many things Samantha. Watch out, they're coming for him, and you. Watch out for my baby boy. Right now, he needs your protection." With that, she began to fade into the darkness.

It suddenly dawned on Sam, "Alex," She breathed.

"Yesssss..." Alex's voice disappeared with the body, her words blending with the wind from the open window. Sam was in awe as she looked at the spot where Alex just stood.

Sam had let her guard down when she saw Alex. Without warning, someone emerged from the shadows and advanced towards her and Brian. Sam saw the brief movement, and grabbed her dagger, ready to defend Brian. As the figure lunged the blade of his knife at Brian, it was met with a clang as Sam's dagger deflected to blow. The hooded figure advanced on her. With every blow, she had a counter attack. he pulled out a second dagger and challenged her with it. In one swift move, she detached his hand, and grabbed the limb before it hit the ground. Quickly, she pried the blade from the fingers and faced him again. The attacker didn't seem to notice the missing hand for a second, but then he pulled it to his chest and continued to fight with his good hand and blade. Sam quickly noticed how determined he was and he would die trying to get to Brian and killing him. Another figure appeared from the shadows. 'Oh Shit!' Sam realized her predicament. She quickly kicked to knife out of the first assailant's hand and kicked him square in the chest, causing the wind to be knocked out of him. 'At least he's down for the moment.' Sam barely had time to think before the other attacker lunged at her. While she was busy deflecting his blows, the first assistant came up behind her. His knife was at her throat when a sharp pain went through his side. He looked down and noticed the dagger sticking out of his body. He winced as it was removed and then reentered several inches away from the first cut. His eyes rolled back into his head he started to slump to the floor. As he did so, the other knife cut into Sam's shoulder. She yelped out in pain, but continued to fight. She briefly looked behind her and saw Brian's figure.

"Need some help?" He offered.

"Thanks." Sam smiled. Just then, several more attackers entered the small room. "Um, Brian... I think now might be time for a new plan."

Brian glanced around the room, "I think so," The new assents started closing in on the duo.

Chapter 12