All Good Things

All Good Things

by: Dulcinea1969

Disclaimer: Quantum Leap and all related characters are owned by Belisarius Productions and Universal. No profit has been made off of the writing or distribution of this piece of fiction.

One of the main things Sam hated about when he initially leaped into another person’s life was how out of control he felt. This time as the leap effect faded, he realized just how true that feeling really was this time.

He was in the driver’s seat of a car that seemed to be headed off the road and down an embankment. He quickly ascertained two facts. The first was that there was nothing he could do to gain control of the vehicle. All he could do was hold on tight for what appeared to be a very bumpy ride.

The second fact he was immediately aware of was that whomever he’d leaped into had not put on his…her?...seatbelt. This fact was brought home with painful clarity when he was tossed to the left and painfully cracked his head on the window. That brought a third fact to light – the window was not rolled down.

Through the spots in his vision, Sam saw a branch, no more than an inch and a half in diameter come through the shattered windshield. He did his best to duck out of its path but was unable to get very far and felt the sharp, fiery pain as he was impaled through the right shoulder by it. “Oh b….,” he gasped before giving in to unconsciousness as the vehicle came to a stop.

QLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQL

It was taking far too long to lock in on Sam’s brainwaves. Al stood impatiently in the Imaging Chamber waiting for them to get the lock. Almost as fast as their current guest appeared in the Waiting Room, Ziggy had started to squeal that Sam was in some kind of danger. Al had gone running for the Imaging Chamber not caring about who was in the Waiting Room.

“Hurry it up, Gushie,” he called out just as Sam’s location snapped into view around him. He was in some brush at the bottom of a low embankment. The brush the whole way down the embankment gave the appearance of being recently disturbed by something large and heavy.

He didn’t see his friend anywhere but he did see a car that looked like it had gone over the edge. He ran to it and stopped at the driver’s door. “Sam!” he gasped out when he finally got a look at his friend.

Sam was sitting limply. Blood streaked down the side of his face from a jagged gash on the left side of his head. That wasn’t what shocked Al, though. It was the branch that had impaled Sam through the right shoulder pinning him to the seat much as a pin held a butterfly to the wall.

He reached a hand out to check his friend’s pulse forgetting for just a moment that he was a hologram. Uselessly, his hand passed through both the vehicle and his friend.

“Ziggy?” he yelled out wanting to know the situation of the man in front of him.

“Dr. Beckett has suffered a hairline skull fracture and has been impaled through the right shoulder by a branch,” the computer quickly responded. For once, she didn’t play any games with Al understanding the gravity of the situation.

“I can see that,” Al growled back. “How is he? Is he…is he going to…” He trailed off unable to finish the question.

“Dr. Beckett’s vital signs are somewhat erratic at the moment but they are starting to stabilize,” the computer replied. “As to the question you didn’t finish, yes, Dr. Beckett is going to expire.” The computer waited a beat before tagging on, “All humans expire at some point although I do not believe Dr. Beckett has reached that point yet.”

“Don’t start, Ziggy,” Al threatened in a low growl. He pushed a few buttons on the handlink and re-centered himself so it looked as if he were sitting in the passenger seat next to Sam.

“I am not ‘starting’ anything,” Ziggy responded in a miffed voice. “I merely provided the data you requested.”

“You don’t have to be so literal,” Al snarled. From this view, Sam looked no better than he had from outside the car. “Do you have any idea how long before he wakes up?”

“Negative, Admiral.” Sensing that her answer would not be considered satisfactory to the Admiral, Ziggy added, “I suggest you try calling to him or talk to him. That may hasten his return to a state of consciousness.”

“Thanks, Zig,” Al replied gratefully. He understood that as stubborn and literal as the computer could be, she was trying to give him information that might be helpful to the man she called father. “You find out everything you can about what’s going on here, you hear me. This is our top priority right now.”

He didn’t wait for a response. He put all thought of the parallel hybrid computer from his mind and, instead, concentrated solely on his friend. “Sam,” he called out with authority in his voice. “You need to wake up now and stop sleeping on the job.” He saw the smallest twitch of Sam’s cheek. He didn’t know if it was a response to his order or what but he kept calling out to the younger man.

Eventually, his patience was rewarded. Sam squeezed his eyes tightly shut before opening them and looking around slowly.

When his gaze fell on Al, the older man could see how glazed they were. He didn’t need any advanced neurology training to know that the fact that Sam’s pupils weren’t equal in size meant he must have a pretty bad head injury.

Sam looked in his direction for a few moments and blinked his eyes several times. Al wasn’t sure he would see him and fervently hoped the signal between them wasn’t that scrambled.

“Al?” Sam finally questioned. “Yer blurrrry.” His words were slow and slurred but at least he was able to see and, hopefully, hear Al.

“You hit that noggin’ of yours pretty hard, Buddy,” Al explained with a small smile of relief that Sam was awake and seemed to know who he was. “That’s probably why it’s fuzzy.”

“Oh,” Sam said softly. “Shoulda hurrtss.” As he gave voice to the pain he was in, his hand started to explore the area encountering the branch that impaled him. He wrapped his hand around it to pull it out.

“No!” Al called out in alarm when he saw what Sam intended to do. “Don’t touch that, Sam. Just leave it alone.”

Almost in echo to Al’s cry of alarm, the handlink started to beep and squeal shrilly in an attempt to get Al’s attention. He glanced down at it and the information displayed on it. What he saw sent a chill down his spine and he again insisted Sam leave the branch alone. “Just don’t touch it, Sammy.” He made sure to keep his words slow and direct so that his friend could understand. “You can’t pull it out. That’s what the guy you leaped into did in the original history. He pulled that branch out then he bled to death before help could get to him.”

“But hurts.”

“I know it does, Kid,” Al patiently replied but you need to leave it alone.” When it didn’t look like Sam was going to comply, Al decided to see if he could reason with him and reach the more practical side of his friend.

“Sam, Ziggy says that branch has nicked your brachial artery but as long as it stays there, it’s keeping the bleeding to a minimum. Think about it,” he implored. “What’ll happen if you pull it out?”

Sam squinted his eyes as he tried to solve the puzzle Al had set for him. “Bleed more,” he finally responded. “Too much.”

“Yeah, that’s right, Kid,” Al answered relieved and proud that Sam’s mind was still working. He’d stopped trying to pull the branch out although he still had his hand wrapped around it. “Now, I want you to put your hand down. Don’t touch the branch anymore. Ok?”

Slowly Sam lowered his hand and rested it in his lap. “That’s good, Sammy. Real good,” Al praised. “Now promise me you won’t touch it again,” he prompted.

“Promise,” Sam mumbled. He rubbed his free hand over his forehead and looked curiously at the blood that was on it. “Head hurts bad,” he slowly told his friend squinting in his general direction.

Al looked at the next bit of information Ziggy supplied and bit back a deep sigh. “Yeah. I know it hurts, Sam. You hit it really hard.” He didn’t think it was necessary to tell Sam that in addition to the branch impaling him and the skull fracture Ziggy had pointed out, she was now also telling him that Sam most likely was developing a subdural hematoma.

“Why’m I here?” The missing windshield caught Sam’s attention and he directed his question there.

Al debated how much he should tell Sam – how much the younger man could comprehend right now. Deciding it was probably best to keep Sam awake as long as possible, he started to tell him what they knew about the leap.

“Well, Sam, you leaped into Billy Torst and it’s March 8, 1987…not that the date really means anything to you right now. Seems a deer jumped out in front of Billy’s car and he swerved to miss it and went over the embankment.”

“Told ya deer was gonna be death o’me,” Sam joked remembering a time in the past, before he’d leaped, when deer kept appearing in front of his car.

“I know you did, Kid,” Al agreed gently before his voice turned firm. “This ain’t the one, though,” he stressed. “We’re not gonna let it be ‘cause we’re gonna do everything to make sure you come through this. You hear me?”

Sam nodded slightly in response to his friend. “So what gotta do?”

“Nothing, Sam,” Al quickly informed him. “All you have to do is sit there and do absolutely nothing. In about two hours another driver’s gonna go by and see where you went over and he’s gonna call for help. A little while after that, the cavalry’ll be here and they’ll take care of everything. You just need to sit tight and not do anything. Can you do that for me, Sam? Can you just sit and do nothing?”

“Mmm…hmmm…do nothin’,” Sam echoed. “Tha’s good…don’t feel like doin’ anythin’.”

The tone of Sam’s voice worried Al even more than he already was. In just a few minutes, Sam seemed to have disconnected from reality somewhat and he decided it was in Sam’s best interest to stay put with him. He’d no sooner come to that decision when he heard Gushie’s voice calling to him to come to Control. “I’m kinda busy right now,” he growled. “Can’t this wait?”

Receiving an answer in the negative, Al turned his attention to Sam. “I need to go for just a few minutes, Sam, but I’ll be right back. I promise. I want you just to sit there and don’t do anything. Ok?”

“‘K,” Sam breathed out. “You come back.”

“I will, Sam,” Al reassured. “It’s just gonna be a few minutes and remember, you promised not to touch that branch.” Seeing the small nod Sam gave in response, Al keyed open the Imaging Chamber door. With one backward glance at his friend, he walked out the door.