Running on Insulin

Chapter 65

Tyler POV

Something Stanley said scared Samantha. Her face went white as he spoke to her. His smile at her was not a friendly smile. He didn't ask fir Samantha to come see him to say goodbye. He wanted one more chance to terrorize her.

I put my hand on her shoulder and she dropped the phone. She was scared again. He'd scared her.

I gave him a piece of my mind a d we got Samantha out of there.

Marie suggested stopping for lunch and Jenna agreed, since Samantha hadn't eaten since breakfast.

I looked back at Samantha, snuggled into Jenna, and smiled at her. She smiled just a little at me.

I told her she did really well. Tears sprang to her eyes and she buried her face in Jenna's shoulder.

Jenna told her she was okay and Samantha said that she wasn't. I didn't know what she meant by that.

Samantha wiped her eyes, and leaned on Jenna.

Marie pulled into a roadside restaurant and parked.

"It's not much but the food is amazing," she said.

"How would you come across a place like this?"

"I'm a social worker. I drive kids up to visit their parents all the time."

"That makes sense," Jenna said.

We got out of the car and Samantha stayed close to Jenna, but took my hand, too. That was a first. I took it to mean she trusted us both. But I felt it also meant she felt vulnerable. She hadn't said much since we left, other than that she was not alright. And I don't know what that means.

We sat down and looked at the menu.  I saw Samantha doing her calculations as she looked at the menu. I smiled, because I could see she was deciding on what to eat, and she clearly had an idea. I watched as she took out her insulin and tested her sugar. She took a deep breath while she looked at her insulin pen. Tears formed in her eyes as she looked at the pen. 

"I can't do it," she said, crying. "I can't do it."

"What's the matter, sweetheart?" Jenna asked her. 

"I can't do the right dose," Samantha said quietly. "I'm scared to."

"Why?" Jenna asked. "What happened?"

"Stanley, he, he said," and she broke down into tears. 

"Sweetheart. What did he say?" Jenna asked, kneeling beside Samantha, who threw her arms around Jenna, then winced with the pain from her broken ribs. 

"Samantha, what did he say to you?" I asked, kneeling beside my wife. 

Samantha was trying to get enough composure to talk. 

"Sweetheart, it's okay. Take your time. Just breathe.  Just relax. It's okay," Jenna said, rubbing Sam's arm. 

Samantha took a deep, shuddering breath. 

"He - he said he's always going to keep an eye out for me. He's going to keep looking out for me. He - he's not done with me," she said, crying.  

"Sweetheart, he's in prison. He can't get to you," Jenna said. 

"He said to remember he has friends," Samantha said. "I'm really scared."

"I know baby," Jenna said soothingly.  "I know. But you're safe. I promise. Tyler and I, we're going to keep you safe."

"I don't know if you can promise that," Samantha said, looking at the two of us. 

"Well, I know we can do the best we can to keep you safe.  We'll do whatever it takes. That, I can promise you," I said. 

"Do you think you can you try and take your insulin now?" Jenna asked. 

Samantha nodded, took a deep breath and dialed her insulin.  Marie watched the whole thing. 

"You guys are doing amazing," she said to us, as we returned to our seats. "I haven't actually seen you deal with an actual incident, and I have to say, I am impressed.  Samantha is in the right place."

We smiled, and then looked over to Samantha, who looked to both of us, and gave us a small smile while injecting her insulin.

We ordered our meals and chatted a little.  Marie had overheard what Samantha told us. 

"I'm concerned by what Stanley said to Samantha," I said to Marie. 

"He's a lot of talk.  Stanley knows the law.  He knows he can't do anything. You met the terms of his conditions, and there's nothing he can do  now. If something does come of it, he isn't looking at a boy scout award."

"Can we do anything about him threatening Sam?" Jenna asked.

"We can try," Marie said. "I'll look into it when I get back to the office. I'll give one of my friends at the police department a call."

Samantha listened to our conversation and dropped her head. 

"All good, baby girl?" Jenna asked her. 

"I'm more trouble than I'm worth," she said. 

"No, no you aren't.  Samantha, don't think like that. We love you. You are worth everything."

Samantha sighed. 

"No I'm not. I don't know why you guys want me. Stanley's never going to give up. And I don't want you guys to get hurt."

I sighed. I didn't want to go down this road again. We'd come so far. But Stanley had dragged us right back down that road again. 

I got up and went back over to Samantha and got her to look me in the eyes. 

"Samantha, I've been where you are. For different reasons, but I know where you are. And it's okay to not be okay. But you are not more trouble than you are worth. You are valuable. You are loved and you are a wonderful person. You are smart, and you are amazing. We are, we are proud to be your parents. We chose to be your parents. We knew what we were getting, to a point. And we want you to be our daughter. We love you. And we will help you through whatever we need to, however we need to. Because you have a forever home, and you are safe with us."

"But, Stanley. His friends."

"I have friends too. They might not be as, threatening as Stanley's, but, I promise you are safe with us. I will keep you safe."

Samantha threw her arms around me, and while she started crying, she also said "ow". 

"The ribs?"

She laughed a little. 

"Yeah. My ribs."