After a rare night that Tom had spent alone - he and Sam did occasionally stay at their own flats - Tom arrived at work expecting Sam to already be working her way through the workload, however she was no where to be seen. It was odd, because usually she was usually ten minutes early for her shift, if not earlier but he supposed that everyone had their off days so he got changed into his scrubs.

But as minutes late, turned into hours late, it got to midday and Tom was worried. He had been frequently checking his phone yet there was nothing from her, not even a text. Tom had considered that maybe she was ill, however he would've thought that she would've told him considering they were going out. It wasn't until he saw the clinical lead come down the stairs by reception that he thought to ask her if his girlfriend had the day off.
"Zoe, do you know why Sam's not in?" Tom asked curiously.
"Yeah, she rang in sick this morning. She thinks it's food poisoning so she's taking the rest of the week off." Zoe stated as she grabbed a patient's file from Louise at the reception desk and made her way through to cubicles with Tom in tow. "Didn't she tell you?" Zoe asked curiously.
"Um... No. But I know what she's like, she's probably just embarrassed." Tom concluded as he tried not to look like an idiot in front of his boss, though he found it annoying that she knew more about his girlfriend than she did...

5:15pm
Finally, after a long, boring day at work without his partner in crime to keep him company, Tom arrived at Sam's flat in the hope that he would be able to comfort her, at at the very least hold her hair back whilst she vomited because he was more than used to vomiting as a doctor. He knocked on the door and waited for a full minute, and after no sound of movement, he knocked again.
"Sam, it's me." Tom announced and after another long minute, he heard the door click and it opened, but only by a little way. She poked her head around the door a little, she appeared pale and her eyes were puffy and red. "Have you been crying?" Tom asked softly.
"Didn't Zoe tell you? I'm ill Tom, go home. I don't want you to get it." Sam lied through her teeth, though she did sound very convincing.
"Zoe told me you have food poisoning, and that's not contagious." Tom stated cleverly and Sam closed her eyes, she just wanted to be alone. Or at least, she though that's what she wanted. "C'mon, tell me. What's wrong?" Tom asked.
"Look, I just had some bad news Tom, go home." She ordered.
"What bad news?" He asked and Sam huffed in annoyance. She knew he was a stubborn person, not unlike herself, and that he wouldn't give up until he got an answer that he believed.

"My mum died, just leave it Tom." Sam said quickly as she tried to close the door but Tom put his foot in the way.
"Oh Sam, I'm so sorry." He whispered and Sam just gave in as she let him open the door completely and give her a comforting hug. He kept her in his arms and rested his chin on the top of her head as though he was guarding her, when he realised that she had began to cry again; her breathing was shallow and disjointed and he felt an area of his shirt beginning to cling to his skin as it began dampened from her tears.

He carefully used his foot to close the door behind him, and used one arm to put the latch across so that they would be safe to settle down for the night.
"I'm sorry." She croaked as she suddenly pulled away from him and tried to wiped her tears away - what on earth was she doing? Sam Nicholls never cried, let alone go into full on sobbing mode. But she still couldn't help it as she felt more tears escape her eyes - she really missed her mum.
"Don't be sorry, you have to grieve, you wouldn't be human if you didn't." Tom whispered as he wrapped his arms around her once more and began to stroke her tussled and wavy, yet beautifully long and thick hair. "Do you mind me asking how?" Tom asked. "Just say no if you don't want to." He added.

"Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy." Sam replied eventually. "She hadn't been diagnosed with it until the postmortem this morning showed that that was most likely the cause of death. Her neighbours hadn't seen her in a few days so after they'd knocked on the door, they broke it down and found her stone cold in her bed... At least it was a peaceful passing... She was just sleeping and never woke up." Sam explained slowly. "Tom she was my only family I had left." Sam mumbled into his chest.
"Hey, you've got me now, and I'm never gonna leave you." Tom whispered. "And we might even make our own family in the future." He stated as he rubbed her tensed back.

"I know you told me go home, but do you want me to stay with you tonight?" Tom asked quietly, though he had no intention of leaving her, he was just being polite. He felt her nod into his chest. "Okay." Tom smiled to himself as he rested his hands on her hips. "Right, I'm gonna take a guess and say that you probably haven't eaten much all day and neither of us can be bothered to cook so shall I order a takeaway?" He suggested.
"I'm not hungry." Sam muttered.
"I know Sam, but you know that you need to eat otherwise you'll get ill." Tom stated softly. "C'mon, what do you want? and I'll order for us." Tom asked as he quickly grabbed the pile of menus that he knew were in the first draw in Sam's kitchen.
"Just get what we usually have from there." Sam muttered as she took the first menu off of the pile which happened to be a kebab shop where Sam usually got a small chicken shish kebab with all the salad, and Tom usually had a medium lamb donor kebab with the salad except the onion and red cabbage.

"Alright, go on, go and sit down." He smiled and Sam slowly padded into the living room. He entered the kitchen and leant against the side as he made the phone call to the fast food place, when he noticed in the sink was two upside down bottles of wine where she had obviously poured them away to prevent her from using alcohol to solve her problems like her ex husband had done so many times that he had made himself ill at one point. Tom was proud of her for doing that, but he knew if he said that to her, she'd just get embarrassed.

Tom had just sat down with his and Sam's dinner in the paper wrapped packages whilst the news was on on the TV. He knew that Sam hadn't being paying attention to it at all, it had just been a welcomed distraction for her whilst Tom was busy collecting their dinner. He watched as she opened the parcel, looked around the kebab and eventually and reluctantly put a small piece of chicken in her mouth.

He knew that she had obviously lost her appetite - and she had reason to - however she was making an effort for him, and he appreciated it as she slowly made her way through about half of the kebab before she placed it on the table in front of her and then gave a sorry look to Tom, as though she was a school child who had been naughty.
"It's alright, you've eaten more than I thought you would." Tom smiled as he placed the final bit of his kebab in his mouth and then placed his empty wrappings on top of her package.

He sat back on the sofa and was about to begin to focus on the TV once more, when he felt Sam move across the sofa. She climbed on top of him, clenched some of his tshirt in her fists for comfort and closed her eyes. Her cheeks had flushed red a little because she felt stupid at doing such an action, but she wanted nothing more than for her boyfriend to hold her whilst she began to contemplate the thought of her life without her mother anymore and she was certainly a stubborn woman so she was going to get what she wanted.

Tom smiled as he pulled the throw that was laid over the sofa, down from the back of it and over himself and Sam to keep them warm, before he tucked a bit of hair behind Sam's ear. He was enjoying having Sam in his arms, but he felt heartbroken as he realised that she was beginning to sob again with her face purposely hidden under his chin.
"Let it out... Don't hold back, it's okay to cry Sam." Tom said softly because he knew that she was trying to muffle her cries. "I won't tell anyone, I promise." He added, and with that, Sam's expression of sadness became louder.

Tom couldn't believe what he was actually witnessing before his eyes. Of course, he had expected her to cry - her mother had died after all - however, he really didn't think that she would've actually let herself go like she had done.

It took so long for Sam to calm herself down that Tom had barely noticed when she had cried herself to sleep. Her sobs had subsided to small hiccups before she finally slipped into a deep slumber because she hadn't slept well the night before and tiredness had had to overcome her at some point or another. She was breathing through her mouth because her nose was blocked from crying and it had made her lightly snore every now and then.

"Let's get you to bed." Tom whispered as he gently and very slowly managed to pick Sam up and balance her on his hip as though he was picking a child up. He carried her to her bedroom where he found her duvet all scrunched up and plenty of screwed up tissues on her bedside table where she must've stayed in bed most of the day alone, crying. All whilst he had even had the nerve to get a little bit angry at her for not contacting him which he really regretted then. He laid her in bed under the duvet, climbed into bed besides her and cuddled her, so that if she did wake up in the night, she wouldn't be alone.

And he wasn't going to let her be alone ever again until she was ready. He knew that grieving for a loved family member could take months, maybe even a couple of years, but he was going to be there every step of the way because Sam was a strong woman, and she deserved to be looked after and given help when she needed it.
"I love you." Tom whispered, and he realised that it was the very first time in his life that he had said that to someone and meant it because all of his foster families had never really been close, and all of his previous 'girlfriends' or 'conquests' had purely been about their physical relationship, not actual love.

Thanks for reading my first casualty oneshot. Sorry it's a bit crap but I'm only just getting to grips with writing so any constructive criticism is welcomed with open arms! I think I'm going to start writing a multi chapter fic for Sam and Tom soon if people are still interested in them. Please review :)