A regular beeping sound penetrated her consciousness; Voices that spoke to each other and a gentle breath that caressed her neck below her ear and sent pleasant shivers through her body. Sam!

She felt like she was slowly swimming back to the surface of the ocean. With every step she got closer, she became more aware of her surroundings and the voices became louder. Sam's scent hit her nose and the next moment her whole body tingled with excitement as she felt his arm holding her securely before she even opened her eyes.

"Finally," Helen sighed in relief and Penny turned to her friend's smiling face. Relief appeared on her face and her colleagues who gathered around her were now all smiling too, satisfied that everything had turned out well.

She turned her face to the other side and discovered Sam lying on his side, really with his face in her neck and his arm around her waist. He was there for her, holding her like he had in the dream even though he was asleep.

"How much longer will he sleep?" Penny turned back to Helen and was startled for a moment by her raspy voice. 24 hours was apparently enough to cause your voice to become rusty if you didn't use it.

"Maybe an hour, maybe a little more. He'll wake up when the drug wears off."

"Here, Penny. Drink this. Helen said your body urgently needs fluids," Ellie turned to her and handed her a cup.

"Ellie! A sippy cup? Are you serious?!" Penny asked her annoyed and Ellie grinned broadly.

"I went down to Dilys' specifically to get it after Sam turned around. I assumed you wouldn't want to get up so quickly," she replied cheekily and winked at her.

Penny blushed and took a deep drag from the mug to cover her embarrassment.

"We're glad you're back with us, Firefighter Morris," Steele said, smiling now and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you sir, I'm very happy to be back too."

"I can just imagine that well in your situation."

"Cridlington! Now don't you blow in the same horn as Firefighter Philips!" Steele now objected harshly and Penny looked at him gratefully before taking another sip. "Let's go into the kitchen and order something to eat from Bronwyn. We can all use some refreshment and our two lovebirds here are probably starving," Steele added, giving Penny one last grin as she choked up.

"How are you, Penny?" Helen asked her while the others gradually disappeared.

"Funnily enough, I'm still a bit tired and weak, even though I've slept so much. But otherwise very good," she answered, stealing a look at Sam.

"That's normal. Your body has been pretty neglected. Once you've had enough to drink and eat, you'll start to feel better. I'll go to the others. Let me know if you want to get up so someone can help you. Until then... .enjoy it." Smiling, Helen patted her gently on the shoulder before she too disappeared.

She turned to Sam, moving away from him a little; just enough so that she could look at his face and worry began to spread through her. His face looked tense, his eyes were a little narrowed and a single tear ran down his cheek.

She remembered how desperately he had held her in the dream and had spoken to her. His words had come from deep in his heart and touched hers. Had he saved her when she was about to give up?

Sam still held her right hand, but with her left she now gently wiped the tear from his cheek. His face had been well hidden from the others by hers, but if he woke up and someone saw his tears, he wouldn't feel very comfortable with it. Sam always attached great importance to maintaining the appearance of a serious and controlled firefighter. She had seen him so many times when it came to saving his brother or nephew or niece that he seemed close to tears of worry, but he had never let it break through and she had never spoken about it to anyone, not even Sam. It was a side of him that she would protect as best she could to protect him. What was going through his mind that now brought him to tears? What happened to him in the dream and what did he have to go through? Did he think she was dead?

"Sam?" she spoke to him quietly and put a hand on his cheek. "Sam, I'm here. I'm in reality and I'm waiting for you. Wake up, my love." His features relaxed, but he didn't seem to want to wake up yet, but she knew he had heard her. "I know what you did for me in the dream, Sam. You were my anchor and my lifeline. That's how I have always felt safe and secure with you and that will never be different. All of the things you said to me are also my wishes and dreams: to be with you, to grow old with you, to have a bunch of little Sam's to keep us going. I love you so much, Sam." She kissed him gently on the lips and when she pulled away he followed her and took possession of her lips again, kissing her with passion and love. They were both glad they were lying down because this kiss was even more breathtaking than the one in the dream and literally tore their feet away.

"I love you too, Pen. More than you can imagine," he then sighed breathlessly against her lips. "You have no idea how happy I am that you are healthy, that you are here, with me. You belong here and I will never let you go again."

"I really hope so, Sam," she replied, smiling and kissing him again. Sam put his arms around her and pulled her close. It was so wonderful to be so close to each other, the emotions inside them were going crazy and it sent waves of pure happiness through their veins. They forgot space and time as they completely lost themselves in each other's kiss and arms...until a throat clearing made them jump in shock.

"You do know that breathing is an important basis for survival, right?" Helen asked her sternly and the two of them turned bright red while her colleagues and Malcolm giggled behind her.

"Eating too," Ellie now chimed in. "So, are you hungry? It just looked like you were about to eat each other right there!" she added with a cheeky undertone and had to duck a moment later as Penny threw a pillow at her, which then smacked Arnold square in the face instead.

"I'm sorry, Arnold. And you: mind your own business, Philips!" Penny replied, but her smile took away the seriousness of her words.

"I do. After all, it's about my future godchild. So please make an effort," she replied with a grin and while a discussion broke out between her colleagues about who would be the better godfather or godmother for her children, Sam rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"Wow, that's really strange," Penny objected when she had found her speech again.

"Very strange. But with a bunch of little Sam's it won't be difficult for everyone to get their own godchild," he replied with a grin and Penny gave him a quick nudge on the side as she stretched her legs over the edge of the bed.

"Were you awake the whole time?"

"I was wide awake at that part," he replied with a grin and gave her a kiss on the cheek before jumping up and helping her up. Penny let out a surprised sound as he picked her up and wrapped his arms around his strong shoulders.

"You know that I can walk myself?" she asked him, smiling skeptically.

"You still have to take it easy and eat properly first to regain your strength. I also have to enjoy it. Everyone understands that now, but that will change and then I won't be able to be as close to you as often as I can now," he replied and gave her a gentle kiss.

"We can do it every free minute for the rest of our lives," she replied with a smile and absentmindedly scratched his neck, which elicited a satisfied hum from him and sent pleasant shivers across his skin, which earned him a questioning look from Penny.

"If you don't stop, I might forget myself, my angel," he replied embarrassedly and she had to laugh before she placed a gentle kiss on his neck below his ear.

"I want to hope that you will later, my love," she whispered to him quietly and blushed when he looked at her surprised and a big grin appeared on his face.

"Are you practicing for the wedding yet?" Ellie asked them as Sam walked into the kitchen with Penny on his arm.

"Don't make fun of Firefighter Philips! There's nothing worse than going into something like this unprepared. Door frames are narrow. Too narrow if you have other things on your mind," Station Officer Steele objected.

"Everyone knows how narrow door frames are, sir," replied Arnold, now perplexed, as Sam put Penny down on a chair.

"Well, you definitely can't walk through with your bride on your arm without hitting her head and spending your wedding night in the hospital if you are not careful," Sam now told the story that had amused Pontypandy in his childhood and sat down next to Penny, as everyone started laughing and Steele turned bright red.

"Tell us more about Station Officer Steele's misdeeds, Sam," Ellie said with a malicious grin.

"Don't you dare, Sam! I still have a few of your youthful sins in store, which I'll also tell then. Who knows whether your future wife will like all of this?!"

"Why are you all putting the cart before the horse? We're just at the beginning of our relationship and you're all already talking about getting married and having children."

"You've been pining over each other for as long as you've known each other," Elvis interjected with his mouth full.

"Exactly. Sam had thousands of fan letters after the film and almost as many marriage proposals. He could have had anyone."

"Thanks, Arnold. It didn't come across as half as flattering as you might have meant it," Penny replied skeptically and felt Sam put his arm around her.

"Come on, Penny, half of Pontypandy has already courted you. Elvis, Trevor, Ben, Tom, Moose..." Ellie now interjected in a good mood, consciously ignoring that Penny wanted to prevent her from continuing with a silent gesture to speak.

"What now? Tom and Moose?" Sam now turned to his girlfriend in shock. It was no secret that Elvis had briefly fallen in love with her when she came here and that Trevor had also courted her, especially since Trevor adored everything that wasn't male. Ben was the most stubborn of them all, but he didn't want to think about it or his blood pressure would just go up again. But Tom and Moose were two of his best friends. There was definitely still a need for clarification.

"They invited me to dinner once when I and Moose were new here, but I declined both of them. It's fine Sam, nothing else happened and I don't think they were interested in me in that way anyway."

"Whatever. The fact is that you've never been interested in anyone else like you are interested in each other. If you're not meant for each other, then who is?" Arnold asked now.

"And aren't you saying you haven't talked about the future yet?!" Ellie added with a grin and the two looked sheepishly at their plates.

"Now tell us what you did in your dreams?" Elvis changed the subject and Penny gave him a grateful look.

"Yeah, let's start with what Sam said you had a lot of fun in the feathers. I want all the raunchy details, Penny!" Ellie suggested with a grin and Penny looked at Sam in surprise.

"What did you tell them?" she asked him, stunned.

"I wasn't really awake yet and just started talking," he justified himself and turned back to his colleagues. "But I explained to you that we were just have had a pillow fight!"

"Of course!" Steele now objected sarcastically and they realized that no one would believe them anyway, no matter what they told them.

"So, what else?" Malcolm asked her now.

"We went to an amusement park, to the beach and flew around the world on a magic carpet," Penny said, looking Sam in the eyes. These experiences were special and she would always keep them in her heart.

"How long do you think you can dream together?" Arnold asked them and Sam shrugged his shoulders with a smile as he had to tear himself away from the eyes of his true love, but instead took her hand.

"Who knows. Maybe days, maybe months, maybe forever. I will enjoy and use every minute to fulfill every seemingly impossible wish for the woman of my dreams, while I will use the waking state for all possible wishes," he replied and smiled at Penny so lovingly that it elicited an enraptured sigh from the women in the group, including Steele.

"Do you think you won't get annoyed with each other at some point if you're really on each other's toes all the time?"

"Never. I wouldn't even think of that in my dreams, Arnold," Penny objected.

"Especially not there, my angel," Sam replied with a smile and they both knew that each of their dreams would be unique and wonderful, just like their future lives.

To be continued...