Saving Sami

Chapter 18 Come Back To Me



SAMI- Darkness wrapped around her like a warm blanket. Too warm. Heavy.
She couldn’t move. Couldn’t see. Couldn’t speak.


But she wasn’t alone.
Voices filtered in and out of the black. Muffled. Distant. One of them was hers—crying out, begging someone not to touch her. Screaming.


The other was his.
At first, it didn’t sound real. It was rough and broken, somewhere above her—frantic, shaking, trying to pull her back.
Her heart hurt. Her chest ached. She felt… disconnected.
Then came the sharp tug—pain, sudden and bright.
It dragged her, inch by inch, toward the surface.
The first breath she took was jagged, wet, like breathing through broken glass.
She flinched. Her body screamed in protest. Her side was on fire. Her throat was raw. Her skin felt like it had been peeled back and sewn up all wrong.
But she was breathing.
And she wasn’t alone.
There was warmth beside her. 
A weight pressing lightly against her fingers. Someone holding her hand like it was the last tether keeping her on Earth.
Her lashes fluttered.
Light hit her eyes. Soft. Orange glow.
She blinked—once. Then again.
And saw him.


ACE- He hadn’t moved in almost twelve hours.


The others tried to make him leave—Grimm, Reaper, even the doc—but he wouldn’t go. Not while she lay there, still and pale, hooked up to IVs and bleeding into bandages.
Ace had seen death.
He’d seen brothers die in the dirt, holding their insides in. He’d seen kids OD in the alley behind the bar they owned. He’d seen it all.
But nothing… nothing ever made him feel like this.
Like his soul had been cut out and left on that cold table beside her.
He held her hand gently, watching for any twitch, any sign. His other hand was wrapped in gauze from punching the wall. He barely noticed.
“You don’t get to leave me,” he whispered, voice barely audible.
Her fingers were so small in his.
He brought them to his lips, kissed each one like they were sacred.
“You said you were strong,” he whispered again. “Prove it.”


SAMI- Her vision cleared slowly.
Everything felt distant—like she was looking through water.
The ceiling above her swam in and out of focus. Old, cracked drywall. Faded paint. Familiar shadows on the wall—she’d seen them once, when she snuck off to Ace’s room.
A breath hitched in her chest.
She was alive. Alive, but in pain.
Her eyes rolled to the side, and there he was—Ace, curled into her side like he might fall apart if he let go.
“…Ace?” Her voice cracked, thin and fragile.
His head shot up so fast it startled her.
“Sami?” he breathed.
She saw it all in his face.


The bloodshot eyes. The bruise on his jaw. His busted knuckles. The cuts on his lip. His hair was matted, shirt wrinkled and stained with her blood.
He looked like hell. But in that moment, he looked beautiful.
She smiled—barely. “You look like shit.”
He gave a wet, choked laugh and dropped his forehead to her hand. His shoulders shook once.
“You’re awake,” he whispered. “You’re really here.”
“I think so,” she rasped.
He lifted his head slowly, looking at her like she might vanish. “You scared me.”
“I scared me.”
His hand cupped her cheek, thumb brushing away a tear she didn’t know she’d shed. “You almost didn’t make it. You lost so much blood, Sami. You—God, you were dying.”
“I remember… trying to run.”
“You got out,” he said softly. “You made it all the way to the clearing. I saw you. I saw you fall.”
Her eyes filled with tears again. “He caught me.”
Ace nodded slowly. “I know.”
Her hand drifted weakly to her side. She winced. “He stabbed me.”
“I saw that too.”
Sami looked at him. Really looked.
His expression—there was guilt, yes. But more than that… there was fear. And something deeper.
“I wanted to make it to you,” she whispered.
“You did.”
“No, I wanted to make it before… he… before that.”
Ace’s voice broke. “You did everything you could. You were so damn brave, Red. You fought harder than anyone I’ve ever known.”
A single tear slipped down her cheek. “I thought I was going to die.”
He pressed his forehead to hers. “So did I.”


They Stayed Like That
Time stretched out in silence. Just the quiet hum of the machines, the IV drip, the steady beep of her monitor.


Ace never let go of her
Sami studied him through half-lidded eyes, exhausted but present. “Are we safe now?”
“We are. For now.”
“Where’s Ghost?”
Ace’s jaw ticked. “Alive. Barely. Reaper’s keeping him breathing long enough to get answers.”
“Why?”


Ace’s voice was low. Dangerous. “Because I wanted to kill him. And Reaper wouldn’t let me. Said it wasn’t enough to just end him. We needed to understand why.”
“Because of me?” she asked, barely a whisper.
“No,” Ace said softly. “Because of us.”


SAMI- Tears rolled freely now.
She felt broken. But not empty. He was still here.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I tried to stay strong.”


“You were strong.” He brushed his lips against her knuckles. “You were the strongest person in that whole compound.”
“I was scared.”
“So was I.”
She let out a tiny laugh through her tears. “You cry like a baby when you’re scared?”
Ace smirked through wet lashes. “Only when I think I’m about to lose the only girl who’s ever made me want to be better.”
Her breath hitched.
“I meant what I said, Sami. I’d tear the world apart for you. I almost did.”
She stared at him for a long time. Then, quietly:
“I don’t want to be anyone’s weakness.”
“You’re not,” he said. “You’re my reason.”