A Life Debt Repaid

Quinn nodded, knowing that it was most important to take care of Marvin and Lindsay’s health at the moment. With both of them
being old, and Marvin recently suffering health issues himself, anything that happened to him now might turn out to be terrible.
“Let’s go to the hotel for now. Sam will stay here to keep an eye on Ryan,” Quinn quickly reasoned.
Lindsay eventually agreed to it thanks to Marvin’s insistence, though she told Sam again to immediately inform them if anything
happened.
“Don’t worry, Mom.” Sam nodded. “Come-I’ll walk you to the entrance.”
Sam watched as Marvin and Linsday got in, and then at Quinn, who was riding shotgun.
A million things crossed his mind, but he ultimately buried it and stayed quiet.
Quinn turned to look at Sam as well. There was a sense of an attachment in their gaze, but it ultimately went unsaid.
Sam hence watched as the car sped into the distance, its tail lights disappearing before he returned to the hospital.
He sat in the hallway outside the ICU, finally having the time and mood to check his phone.
Unsurprisingly, he had countless missed calls and texts.
He ignored most, tapping on the group chats with John and Cordy respectively.
Everyone was asking basically the same thing.
John: [What happened?]
Jay: [Sam, what is it? Why was Mr. Saunders’ birthday event suddenly canceled?]
Bob: [Say something, man. You’re killing us, not answering our calls! What could be so serious?]
Cordy: [What happened, Sam?]
Zoe: [Reply, Sam! What in the world happened?! You should look at your face-that and your parents’! It’s on the news?!]
Zoe: [Hey! Say something?!]
Zoe: [By the way, are we still going with the proposal?]

Zoe: [Probably not, with the birthday party canceled.]
Zoe: [Answer us, Sam! This is so frustrating—even Quinn isn’t answering calls! What the hell happened?!]
Zoe: [You’re killing me!]
Cordy: [Calm down, Zoe. Quinn and Sam must be really busy if both of them can’t answer. They’ll tell us once all of this is over.]
Zoe: [Fine, I’ll calm down...]
Sam stared at the messages, his fingers hovering over the screen.
He really had trouble telling them everything since he could hardly accept it, but it was reality and there were no miracles to be
expected here.
Eventually, he typed: [We received a call saying that Ryan was in a car accident this morning during that press conference. The
whole family rushed to the capital. It took some time for them to save Ryan, and they had to amputate his right leg. He’s in the
ICU, and the doctor said that his vitals are stable, but he’s not completely safe yet.]
Sam read it after typing it before sending it, after which he sighed heavily himself.
He could not imagine what would happen if Ryan found out he lost a leg, since he was always proud and unable to accept any
flaws in himself.
Both chat groups were stunned after they received Sam’s text.
Cordy sent a sad emoji, while the rest were asking questions.
Jay: [That’s terrible!]
Bob: [For real? Are you with Ryan now?]
Bob: [Should we come over to keep you company?]
Zoe: [Amputate? As in he lost his right leg?! Gosh! Can he take it?! He’s been spoiled and proud as a child!]