As a child, Sam always hated hospitals. They had a distinctive smell that always made her sneeze at least two times. The hospital meant someone got hurt, someone she loved. As an adult, she appreciated modern medicine and the work people put into becoming a doctor. The hours they spend to heal people and save their lives. The hospital appeared to be the place where she woke up that October day.

Samantha felt a throbbing pain in her right shoulder, and her entire body appeared stiff. As a sneeze arose deep from her lungs. She focused on the warmth on the top of her left palm, soothing heat circled it. The silent beeping sounded foreign and annoyingly spread throughout the room. Her sniffle withdrew, leaving an unsatisfying feeling in her nose. Her eyelids seemed heavy, opening them took some strength, and after doing so, Sam shut them down again.

She moved her throat, and it felt painfully dry, nothing compared to the shoulder, though. Samantha opened her eyes again. The place seemed bright, she blinked three times. The white ceiling with quadrangular yellowy lights above her gave a black spot to her vision as she stared at them a moment too long.

She shifted her gaze to the right side. People walked past the glassful wall of the room. Sam turned her head to the left side, noticing the black-haired top of the head. Soon she slowly withdrew her hand from his grip as she recognized the owner of that head.

He raised his head, looking at the edge of the room. "Jen, she is awake," a familiar voice said.

Samantha followed his sight and noticed her mother standing at the end of the bed. Jennifer looked sharp, as usual. Her short hair was styled and subtle makeup beautified her appearance. Jen walked to the right side of the bed, her high heels tapping almost overshadowing the beeping sound in Sam's right ear.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" Noticeable worry emerged in Jen's voice as she knitted her slim black eyebrows.

"What," Sam gulped. "What happened?" Her voice sounded painfully throaty.

Jennifer shifted her hazel eyes to the left side of the room, looking at him. "You don't remember honey?" She turned her sight back to Sam, studying her daughter's face.

Sam opened her mouth in an attempt to say 'No', but then everything hit her. She remembered taking a flight from New York to LA and getting a cab from LAX to her apartment. She came back to Los Angeles to meet with Ray.

Raymond.

The thought of him forced her heart to beat faster. Her chest jumped as the beeping sound advanced. Samantha tried to think about what else had occurred. Scott showed up at her apartment with a gun. They argued and he admitted he was in love with her. And Ray came to the apartment as well. Sam squinted her eyes as she attempted to put the puzzle of her memory together.

He shot me. Scott shot me.

She looked at her right arm. The hand felt attached to her stomach as her shoulder had a blue fabric splint on it. Samantha put her left hand on her forehead, sharp discomfort appeared on the inside of her elbow. She lowered her arm, placing it back on the bed. She couldn't remember anything else because all her thoughts swirled about Ray. What happened after she got shot?

She looked around, hoping to see Raymond somewhere in the room. The place seemed clean and mostly surrounded by white and light blue colors. At the end of the bed, she noticed a white plastic door. Just two other people were present in the room and none of them were Ray.

"Where is Ray?" Sam demanded as her eyes began to tear up.

"He is outside, honey." Jen motioned to the glass wall.

Sam looked at the appointed place but couldn't see anything since half of the wall seemed tinted in a light blue shade.

"Why is he not here?" she asked, looking at her mother.

"The doctor said just family could be in the room," Jennifer explained.

Sam looked at Tom. He had been silent since she woke up. He had blackish circles underneath his green eyes. Two lines appeared on his forehead as he studied her blue orbs. The black stubbles on his cheeks hid his dimples. He opened his thin lips, but no sound came out as Sam spoke first.

"Raymond is my family, mom." Samantha peered at her mother as Jen's eyes widened. "I want you to invite him in."

"You talking nonsense, Samantha," Jennifer said in a stern tone that made Sam stretch her eyes.

Sam witnessed Tom angling his head down with the corner of her eye, resting it on the white sheet of the bed. His hand still remained on the left side of the mattress. Sam stared at her mother. Jennifer's white blouse moved quickly as she took deep breaths. She bent her head down, running her hand through the blue lady suit, straightening the invisible wrinkles.

"Mom!" Sam raised her voice, the action felt painful.

"Alright, alright." Jennifer lifted her hands in the air. "As you wish, sweetheart." She shook her head as she turned her back to Sam.

Jennifer's black heels tapped five times against the marble floor just before she opened the glass door. The silent chatters in the corridor sounded hectic as people passed by the open doorway.

"You can come in, now." She poked her head outside, standing on her left leg and slightly lifting the right one in the air.

The foreign sounds from the corridor decreased as Ray's squeaky Doc Martens came into the room. His black hair looked messy, not in the usual way. He looked tired, and his brown eyes seemed nearly black. He held at the doorway for a moment as his right knee visibly twitched two times.

"Raymond," Samantha whispered as she fully took in his appearance through her teary eyes.

His black-and-white striped t-shirt had blood and a hole on the left side of his stomach, and the bottom also held red stains. His naked knee peeked from his ripped black jeans as he stepped further into the place. Ray glanced toward Tom as he lifted his head from the bed. Raymond stopped at the right side of the bed, Sam stretched out her left arm and he intertwined their fingers half to her reach. He bent down, kissing Sam's cheek.

"How are you feeling, love?" he whispered after his plump lips moved from her left cheek to her ear.

"Kinda shitty." Sam half-smiled, gazing at him as he slightly moved away from her.

"Samantha!" Jennifer yelled. Sam forgot that she was in the room.

"Can both of you leave?" Samantha looked at her mother and then at Tom. "I want to talk to Ray."

Jen sighed loudly. "Fine. Come on, Tom. We can go to look for Richard and tell him that Samantha woke up."

At that moment, Sam wondered where her dad was, she suspected somewhere nearby since her mother decided to look for him. Tom gawked at Raymond intently, not moving from his seat. He rubbed the back of his neck with his left palm and glanced at Samantha.

"Tom," Sam said in a pleading tone.

The chair screeched against the floor as Tom stood up from the creamy-colored stool. Chair nearly hit the windowsill as he fled the room in quick steps. He walked through the door, leaving the doorway open and turning to the left side of the corridor. He glanced at Samantha through the glass wall and disappeared from sight. Jennifer soon followed Tom, leaving Ray and Sam alone in the hospital room.

As soon as they left the chamber, Ray moved to the left side of the bed. He dragged the chair from the window and sat down. Occupying the seat, which Tom left empty just moments ago. He took Sam's left palm again, held it for a moment, and kissed the top of the hand.

"I thought I lost you." His lips moved against the skin of her knuckles as he spoke in a hushed tone.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

He lifted his sight, meeting her eyes. "You don't remember?"

"I do, but not everything. It's a blur at the moment." She gulped. "Why does my throat feel so painful?"

"They had to intubate you," he explained, drawing circles on her hand. "After you got out of the surgery, the doctor took out the tube."

Sam looked at Raymond, her eyes seemed dry and her cheeks held a stretchy feeling. Everything appeared so eerie. He met her parents without her being present and she wanted to ask him how the meeting was. Ray met Tom too, she wondered how that went. The guys shared 'killing' stares just before Tom left. Her life somehow became messier in one day.

Scott.

"Ray, where is Scott?" Sam questioned, staring into Ray's vast eyes.