Claiming What's His (24 page)

             
“Shhh, it’s okay, Sam.  I got you,” he said gently.

             
Finally, she managed to croak out, “W-what h-h-happened?”

             
Alex pulled slightly back to look down at her face, moving his hand up to shift the hair off her face.  “I walked up here a few minutes ago and found you and Brown on the floor.”

             
Her brows came together as she moved her eyes to his.  “Who’s Brown?”

             
“Bernie Brown, the night security guard.  He’s still unconscious.  I left him cuffed on the floor and called Chuck.  He said he’d be here as soon as possible and that he’ll get an ambulance here as well.”  He paused, pulling me away from his arm to look at me.  “Sam, do you remember what happened?”

             
“I-I think so.  I remember sitting in your office, going over the reports.  The lights cut off, thinking of only two possible reasons for that – power outage or someone cut them.  I had reached for my phone and stun gun and walked down.  I heard noises and footsteps.  I called out for anyone to answer, no one did.  I announced who I was, still nothing.  I got to the end, saw no one.  Then I think someone grabbed me from behind.  Tried to fight them off and I don’t remember what happened after that.”

             
“Looks like you managed to shock the shit out of your supposed attacker,” he murmured in approval.

             
So Bernie Brown, the night security guard was her alleged attacker. 

             
Why would he have attacked her?  What was his purpose?  It didn’t make any sense.  Sam had never met the man before and she hadn’t done anything to anyone (that she knew of).

             
“Sam!”

             
Sam lifted her head to her name as she saw               Nick running from the doorway, bending low once he reached her.  His hand reached up to stroke her head.  “Are you okay?  Who the hell did this to you?”

             
Sam hadn’t realized that her shaking had stopping.  It seemed that talking about the incident helped her beat the shakes, for now.

             
“I’m okay, Nick.” She turned back to Alex.  “But, why would he attack me?”

             
“He, who?  Who attacked you?” Nick asked, urgently curiously asking and Sam was sure he was asking for the sole purpose of later killing the man.

             
But at the moment, she didn’t care because he tried to kill her first.  It was fair game.

             
“Brown,” Alex answered.

             
“The security guard?”  Nick paused for half a second before he declared, “I’m gonna kill him.”

             
She was right.  But she couldn’t let him do that for her.  She didn’t want to have to visit him in the penitentiary.

             
“You may have to get in line, but we’ll find out what went on,” Alex told him.

             
Okay, she didn’t want to visit neither of them in jail.

             
“You guys are not killing anyone for me,” Sam state exasperatedly as she rolled her eyes.

*******

              From what she was told, the building was being taped off and no one was allowed inside the building without authorization, which meant that nosy employees and news reporters were off limits.

             
The police and ambulance arrived and the same questions that were asked and answered between Sam and Alex were being asked again.  Alex answered it all.  Sam couldn’t manage to speak again.  She was exhausted, physically and emotionally.  Fighting off a big heavy guy for your life nearly took all her strength and energy.

             
Sam sat at the back of the ambulance, clutching the blanket that covered her shoulders, as the EMT attached an oxygen mask to her face, even though she informed them she was fine.  Alex demanded it anyways, wanting to make sure she got as much of it could in her.  She grudgingly obliged.

             
Alex moved, standing about twenty-five feet away, talking to Chuck but keeping his eyes on her.  It looked as if they were in a deep conversation, very low-key, very secretive.  They finally parted and he stalked to her. 

             
Once he reached her, his worried eyes roamed her face.  She gave him a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. 

             
Sam lifted her hand to take the mask off, but he stopped her and muttered, “A few more minutes.”

             
He was still worried.  She nodded, not wanting him to worry and just listen to him (for once).

             
The EMT informed Sam that he was going to give her a shot to help her relax and it should take effect within a few minutes.   She nodded, hoping it would help her forget the events that lead to this moment.

             
Nick said that he was staying behind and diverting the news directly away from Sam.

             
As promised, she kept the mask on for ten more minutes when she took it off.  Alex was standing next to her as she slowly went to her feet, her legs wobbling making her lose her balance. 

             
Luckily, Alex scooped her up in his arms as if she weighed close to nothing and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, burying her face in his neck.

             
“Sam, can I ask you a few questions?” She heard somewhere behind Alex.  She squeezed her arms tighter and shoved her face in Alex’s neck as far as she could. 

             
Alex hugged her closer to his body, assuring her that no one would ask her anything else for the rest of the night.  “Josh, can it wait?  She’s been through a lot.”

             
That was Josh Booker, the new deputy trainee that was shadowing Chuck.  Sam had met him when she and Alex were out on their joyride after their run-in with Lynn.

             
“Of course.  Just give me a call when she’s ready.”

             
“Sure.”

             
He carried her the short distance to the car.  “I’ll drive.  Nick gave me her purse.  It’s in the front seat.” Sam heard Dean say.  She felt Alex nodded, but she didn’t lift her face.  He somehow managed to squeeze in the back of his Suburban with her still hugging him.  Within seconds, she fell asleep.

*******

              Sam didn’t know where they were.  She was in a bed.

             
Not her bed. 

             
A different bed.

             
This bed felt bigger, the sheets felt cooler and cozier in a different way. 

             
Her clothes were being pulled and lifted off her as her body remained limp. 

             
She was naked, she was tired, she was scared.

             
“Where am I?” Sam muttered without opening her eyes.  The effort into doing that task was too great for her to accomplish.

             
“My place,” Alex replied as she felt him pull a large tee shirt down her body and pulling her arms through the sleeve.

             
“My babies.” 

             
“Your dad picked them up a while ago and took them to his place. Just rest baby.  I’ll be right here.” 

             
He slid into bed beside her, rolling her so that their bodies were front to front with her head resting on his arms.  He grabbed her behind her knee and threw her leg over his hips, bringing her closer to him, pressing her intimate parts to his.  His hand went from behind her knee, up her leg to her hips, and across her back as he passed his warmth to her which helped her fall asleep within seconds.

*******

              Sam couldn’t breathe.

             
Someone was choking her. 

             
She opened her mouth to scream but she couldn’t.  She was quickly losing air.  Her head was swimming.  She reached around to grab something. 

             
Anything. 

             
She got a hold of it, pulling it, waiting for something to happen. 

             
Anything to happen.

             
But nothing happened.

             
Nothing.

             
She couldn’t breathe.

             
The pressure grew harder and harder and she felt her slowly losing her life. 

             
Her eyes fluttered.  She was losing consciousness.  Her eyes drifted close.

             
She wasn’t breathing.

             
She was dead.

*******

              Sam jerked up, gasping loudly, her body trembling like an earthquake.  Her chest rapidly heaved up and down, up and down as she tried calming her breath.

             
Warm hands gently wrapped around her, the warmth of a hard body soothing her.

             
“Sam.”

             
Alex.  His lips were at her ears and his warm breath tickled her.

             
“Baby, it’s okay.  It was just a bad dream.”

             
He lifted his hand and rubbed his chin.

             
“Why are you rubbing your chin?” she asked, taking in huge gulps of air.

             
“Your big head hit it when you jerked up,” he teased.

             
“Sorry,” she mumbled.

             
He slowly laid them back down in the same position when they fell asleep, only now his hold was tighter.  Much tighter.

             
It was a dream.  A bad dream.  A bad dream that felt so real.

             
She was still shaking in his arms.  It wouldn’t subside.  Even after ten minutes, it was still there.

             
“Tell me what the dream was about.”

             
Sam told him about the dream, just as if it happened again.  Every detail, every feeling. 

             
When she finished, he told her that it sounded like she was reliving the events that happened to her which he said was normal. 

             
“What was it that you grabbed?”

             
Sam shook her head.  “I don’t know.  I just remembered in the dream that I was hoping if I grabbed it, the choking would stop and I would be able to breathe again, like it was some kind of reset or mercy button.”

             
“It’s all over now.  No one’s going to hurt you.”

             
Something about that dream still bothered her.  She couldn’t shake it.  It felt as if it was vital information.  Maybe the dream was telling her something, perhaps that she may have grabbed something before she was unconscious.

             
“Alex?”

             
“Hmm,” she mumbled.

             
“When you found me tonight, did I have something in my hand?”

             
Alex sighed and gently rubbed his hand up and down her back.  “Yeah, you did.”

             
“Was it my stun gun?”

             
“No, I found your stun gun about ten feet away.  It probably flew out of your hands when he knocked you out.”  His arms tightened, holding her closer to him.

             
She tilted her face and kissed his jaw to silently tell him she was okay.  “What was it in my hand?”

             
“It was your keychain.”

             
Sam’s brow furrowed in confusion.  “My keychain?”

             
“Yeah.”

             
“Alex, I don’t have a keychain.  Well, actually I do, but my only keychain is the one with the Browning logo and that has my office and apartment key on kit.  And that was left in my purse.”

             
His hold loosened as he rolled her to her back while he came over her to his elbow.  Looking down at her, he muttered, “Are you sure?”

             
“Yeah, I’m positive.  Do you have that keychain with you?”

             
“Yeah, it’s in the living room.  I’ll go get it.”

             
He threw the covers off, turned on the lights and headed to the living room, giving her the usual great, albeit, blurry view of his glorious ass.  Even in the throes of her almost-demise, she still hadn’t lost her appreciation for his body.