Joey said she'd meet Sam, but she'd gotten held up, having run out of herbs and figuring it was worthless to meet him with nothing to offer. He was already heading that way and she'd gathered that he and Gretel were friends, so Joey figured he could keep her company and make sure that she hadn't hurt herself or fainted in the mean time while she dashed up the stairs to the fifth floor to grab a pillowcase full of an assortment of herbs in the hopes that one of them, at least, would be useful to help Gretel.
By the time she got back down to the second floor, she'd lost about five minutes, give or take, and she was winded. I'm out of shape, I need to fix that... she thought to herself as she moved down the hall, trying to catch her breath.
She didn't expect to see Sam sitting outside the apartment and the way he was sitting made her concerned immediately that she'd taken too much time and, God forbid, was too late. With wide eyes, Joey rushed forward. "Sam? What's wrong? What happened with her?" Her eyes moved to the door before looking back at him. "...am I too late...?" she croaked.