Sami and Austin - Part XIII

"NNOOOOOOOO!!!!", All eyes were on Sami as she stood up in her chair.

Carrie and Austin's attempted kiss was interrupted by Sami's scream. Austin rolled his eyes. "Sami..."

"Austin, you can't do this! You're my husband! Mine!", Sami let her tears flow.

"Sami, you and I both know this marriage is a sham. It was never real. I married you in Paris so we could get Will back and I only went along with this charade because I thought you had amnesia and finding out the truth would hurt you."

"Our marriage is real to me Austin. I love you! You have to realize we were meant to be together. You wouldn't have gone through all this for me if you didn't care for me too."

"Sami, I almost killed you. I went through all this because I felt guilty. I did it for my son, not because I had feelings for you."

"You're lying! You could love me. I know you could. We could be a real family for Will."

"Love you? Sami, I will never love you. I tolerate you because we have a son."

"No! It's not true! I...", Sami broke down in tears. Marlena went to her and hugged her. "Oh, mom. I can't go on without Austin. You know how I feel, don't you? I feel the same way about Austin as you do about John."

"Oh, Sami. You can go on. Let me help you get through this. I know it's hard, I've been there."

Sami didn't know what to think. She had expected her mother to lecture her. "How could you help me?"

"Come stay with John and me. You shouldn't be alone now."

"I can't do that. My home is with Austin and our son."

Austin was stunned at Sami's gall. "Sami, you can have the apartment if you want it. I'm moving out tonight."

Carrie spoke up. "Austin, what about Will? Sami isn't able to walk yet. She's going to need help."

Sami felt some hope. "Austin, you can't leave me. Will and I need you."

Austin sighed. "I know you aren't able to take care of Will on your own yet, Sami. I'll take him with me tonight and make arrangements for a nurse or a nanny to help you with him."

"No! You can't take my son from me too!"

"Sami, I'm only talking about tonight. I'll bring him back to you as soon as I find someone to help you take care of him."

Marlena held her daughter. "Are you sure you don't want to stay with John and me? I can help you with Will. I would love to spend more time with him, and you."

Sami looked at her mother. She just didn't know what to say. She hadn't expected support from Marlena. She had been sure her mother would be angry with her. "Mom, I... I don't know. I need some time to think about it."

Lucas finally got his voice back. "I can help Sami tonight."

Austin stared at him. "You know, you almost fooled me. I was starting to believe I could trust you. How could you do this to Carrie again? Not to mention Mike. I know you've always hated me, but I thought you were close to Mike."

Lucas looked at his feet. He didn't know what to say. "Austin, I can't change what I did. I will help Sami with Will tonight. Let Will stay with her."

Carrie squeezed Austin's hand. "That would work Austin. Lucas does love Will. He'll take good care of him."

"Alright. But only till I find a nanny."

Sami knew it was over. She had lost Austin. For now, she said to herself. She and Lucas would come up with another plan. "Austin..."

"Save it, Sami. I don't want to be around you, right now. Carrie, are you ready to leave?"

"Yes. I think that's a wonderful idea", Carrie wavered on her feet. She leaned on Austin till she got her balance back.

"Carrie, are you ok?", Austin was worried. She looked kind of pale.

"I'll be fine. I just got dizzy for a second. I guess it's all the excitement."

Mike came over to Carrie and Austin. "Are you sure? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine. I didn't eat much. Maybe that's it. I just want to go home right now."

Neither Austin or Mike was convinced but they decided to let it go for now. "I'm going to come by tomorrow to see if you're ok", Mike told her.

"I'm fine. Both of you stop it."

Sami held onto Marlena. At least she had her mother's support. "Thank you mom."

"Sami, you're my daughter. I'm going to love you no matter what you do. Do you want me to take you home?"

"That would be nice", Sami couldn't take her eyes off of Austin and Carrie. Marlena could tell she was already planning something. She had to find a way to help her understand that what she was doing was wrong.

Caroline came over to Marlena and Sami. She couldn't believe what Sami had done. "Sami, your grandfather and I will be there for you too." Marlena's going to need a lot of help, she thought to herself. Sami's not going to give up on Austin easily.

Kate decided it would be best to end her little party now. "I think Austin and Carrie have the right idea. Why don't we..."

Sami looked at Kate. She had never hated anyone as much as she hated Kate and Victor at this moment. "What's the matter Kate? Aren't you enjoying your victory? You live to make my life miserable. You should be proud of yourself, you succeeded."

"Sami, you can't build a relationship that's based on lies and deceit. All I did was make sure everyone knew the truth. You have to accept the fact that Austin doesn't love you." Kate looked at Lucas but he wouldn't look her in the eye. He's so angry with me, she thought. How can I make him understand?

Lucas couldn't believe his mother had done it to him again. Why couldn't she understand how much he loved Carrie? He had to get out of this room. "Sami, I'll go get Will ready to go."

"Thank you Lucas", Sami had sat back down in her chair and wheeled herself over to Kate and Victor. "This isn't the end. It's only the beginning", she said quietly.

Victor just smiled at Sami. There was nothing she could do to hurt him or Kate.

Austin went over to Mike. "I'm sorry for the way I've acted. I fell for Lucas and Sami's schemes. I'm sorry they involved you in this mess."

"You don't owe me any apologies Austin. I had my suspicions about Lucas but I could never figure out what he was up to. I knew you and Carrie would work things out."

Carrie said her goodbyes. Marlena came over to her. "I'm so happy for you and Austin."

"I know you are. You've been so wonderful through this whole thing. I really hope you can help Sami."

"I think I can. If she'll let me."

As Carrie and Austin prepared to leave Lucas came running into the room. "Mike, you gotta come upstairs. Something's wrong with Will."

Mike sent Lucas out to his car to get his medical bag and rushed up the stairs with Austin and Carrie behind him. Marlena took Sami to the elevator. "Not Will, God please let him be alright", Sami kept saying over and over.

"Sami, calm down. You can't help Will if you're hysterical. Mike's a good doctor", Marlena knew exactly what Sami was going through, she had been in this position herself.

Philip's nanny was in a panic. "I don't know what happened! He just stopped breathing!"

Carrie took her out of the room so Mike could check Will out. "He is breathing but just barely. He's having a lot of difficulty. There's already some cyanosis."

Austin was having trouble breathing himself. "What does that mean?"

"The lack of oxygen gives the skin a bluish appearance. It's most prominent under the nails", Mike showed them the blue under Will's fingernails to help them understand.

Sami couldn't believe this was happening. "Not my baby! Mike, you gotta help him!"

"I will do everything I can Sami. We've got to get him to the hospital."

The ride to the hospital seemed to take forever. Mike rode with Austin and Carrie so he could monitor Will's breathing. He rushed Will into the ER shouting orders as he went. After Will had been taken into a trauma room to be examined he turned to the family. "I need you all to stay out here while I examine him."

"Please help my baby Mike", Sami was crying hysterically. She reached out to Austin but he turned to Carrie for comfort. Marlena took her hand instead. "Mom, I can't lose Will too!"

"You won't honey. Mike will find out what is wrong. We have to think positive."

Austin felt like he had been punched in the stomach. "I can' believe this. First I find out that Sami has been lying and manipulating me again and now my son can't breathe."

Carrie hugged him tight. "I know Austin. It's just too much to take in. Mike will help him. I know he will."

They waited for what seemed like an eternity while Mike examined Will. Finally he came out of the trauma room. "Ok, I don't have much news yet but I want you to know he's breathing better now. We had to put him on oxygen. I don't know what's wrong yet but I've ordered some tests. I'll let you know as soon as we find out anything."

"Can we see him?", Sami had never been so afraid in her life. She had to see for herself that her son was ok.

"I'll let you and Austin in to see him. We've started an IV as well as the oxygen so don't be alarmed by the tubes. Will needs you both to be calm."

"Austin, he looks so helpless", Sami wanted to pick him up but she knew she couldn't.

Austin couldn't say anything to Sami. He just looked at his son. "Hey there big guy. Your daddy's here. You're going to be ok."

Sami wanted Austin to comfort her, she needed him to but he wouldn't even look at her. "Austin, he'll be ok, won't he?"

"He'll be fine Sami. Mike will find out what's wrong."

They left the trauma room so the tech could draw the blood for the tests. Sami suddenly realized what was happening. Oh no!, she thought to herself. What if they discover the difference in blood type? She knew there was nothing she could do but pray that Will didn't need blood. They had to wait for the test results. Mike kept them informed on Will's condition as they waited. The oxygen was helping him breathe and his condition was stable. Finally someone brought the test results to Mike. He took a minute to study them and returned to the trauma room to examine Will again. Everybody was tense until he came back out.

Sami couldn't take the suspense. "Mike, what's wrong with my baby? Can you help him?"

"I think the problem may be a congenital heart defect. I've ordered an EKG and a sonogram to be sure."

Austin was confused. "His heart? Why is he having trouble breathing?"

"In these cases the heart isn't pumping the oxygenated blood to the body. There are different causes of this and I'm not sure exactly what the cause is here. I'll know more after the sonogram."

Marlena held Sami's hand. "You go get the tests done Mike. I can answer their questions."

"Thanks Marlena. The sooner we know what we're dealing with the sooner we can do something about it."

"Mom, do you know what causes this sort of thing?"

"No, it hasn't been determined. Right now, it is believed that both environmental and genetic risk factors are involved. He was probably born with the defect. He's actually lucky we caught it this early. Sometimes these things don't show up until the child becomes an adult."

Austin still couldn't believe what was happening. "Marlena, how do they treat this?"

"It depends on how serious the defect is. It might be enough to use oxygen combined with drug therapy. If it's more serious he could need surgery."

Austin hugged Carrie. "I'm so glad you're here with me."

"I wouldn't be anywhere else."

Sami couldn't help feeling anger watching them. Austin is my husband, she thought, and Will is our son. He should be comforting me. She thought about what Marlena had said. She prayed Will wouldn't need surgery.

They waited in silence for Mike to come back with the results of the sonogram and EKG. Carrie finally managed to get Austin to sit down. Sami was wheeling herself around the chairs. Lucas couldn't sit. He felt so close to his nephew. He prayed everything would be alright. Marlena stopped Sami and held her hand. The minutes ticked away on the clock. Sami couldn't help thinking how ironic it was. She had spent most of this night watching a clock. First waiting for Victor to drop the ax and now waiting for Mike to drop the ax. If Will needed surgery it would all be over. She looked up anxiously as Mike came back.

"I was right. There is a defect that's preventing the blood from being pumped properly."

Austin tried to stay calm. "What do you need to do to help my son Mike?"

"I had hoped this wouldn't be necessary but we're going to have to do surgery."

"Is it complicated?"

"I won't lie to you. There's always a risk involved in surgery. But this is a fairly simple procedure. We've caught the problem early and that's always good. I do need you to sign a consent form."

"No problem. I know my son is in good hands."

"I also need you all to donate blood. We'll need it during the surgery."

Marlena's voice interrupted them. "Sami!"