Family is Forever (Sequel to Running on Insulin)

Chapter 6

Tears flowed down our faces. Jenna sank to the ground, screaming into her sleeves. Sarah and Brendon were staring at the radio. Josh poked me in the shoulder.  Someone in the neighbourhood was livestreaming what was going on from outside the house. 

"Don't shoot!" we heard. "We're coming out!"

Who? Deitz and this Gillingham guy? Were they just going to leave Samantha's body?

I watched on Josh's phone. Jenna was still  on the ground, Sarah had sunk down beside her and was hugging her while the two of them cried. 

The front door to the house opened and a tall man came out, carrying a body. It was the body of a smaller... a girl. It was Samantha! I could see the sweatshirt she'd been wearing that Monday morning, and her jeans and Converse sneakers. Her body was limp, and there was blood on her face. Tears blurred my vision again. 

I watched as medics and officers ran over to the man. The medics took Samantha's body and laid her on a stretcher. The police arrested the man. But where was Deitz? I watched as more police went into the house, then the camera panned over to where the paramedics were working on Samantha. They'd put an oxygen mask on her face, and were starting an IV. Wait, you don't start an IV on a body. 

"They started an IV," I said. "Jenna, I think she's alive."

"What?" Jenna said shakily.  

"They started an IV on her, and put an oxygen mask on her face. I could see  them doing that if they didn't want anyone watching to see she's dead, but, you don't start an IV on someone who's dead, do you?"

Jake was on his phone, listening intently to the person on the other end. 

"Okay, I see. I see. Yeah, okay. I'll tell them. Okay, thanks. I'll see you there."

He hung up the phone. 

"Samantha is alive. She's unconscious, but she's alive. I was just talking to my guy on scene. They don't have all the details yet, but he can confirm that Samantha is alive. They're taking her to Nationwide Children's. I'll take you there."

"Jenna, she's alive," I cried, sinking to my knees in front of my wife. "She's alive!"

Jenna and I hugged each other and cried in each other's arms. 

"Come on. Let's go with Jake. He's going to take us to see her."

"I'll follow you guys in your car," Josh said. 

"We'll stay here," Brendon said. "Call us as soon as you know anything. Please."

I nodded and then Jenna and I grabbed our jackets and followed Jake outside. We got into his car and got through the crush of reporters gathered at the end of the driveway. I was glad we had a gate there. 

"She's really alive?" Jenna asked me. 

"She is," I smiled and kissed her hand. "She's really alive."

We pulled up to the hospital's emergency department and as soon as Jake unlocked the doors, Jenna and I flew out of the car. 

We ran in the doors and started trying to find where Samantha was. We ran up to the information desk. 

"We're here for our daughter. Samantha Joseph, no Deitz. We haven't changed her name yet.  She was just brought in? Probably with some police?" 

"Of course," the clerk said. "Just have a seat and someone will be out to speak with you shortly."

"Please. She's been missing for a week. We just want to see our daughter," Jenna pleaded. 

"They're assessing her now. As soon as we know more, we can bring you back to see her."

Jenna sat down hard in a chair and started to cry. 

"She's going to be okay, Jen."

"Tyler, they won't let us see her. If they won't let us see her, doesn't that mean...?"

"It doesn't mean anything. It only means that they want to check her over and make sure she's okay."

I held her while she cried. 

Josh came running in a few minutes later. 

"How is she? Where is she? Why are you guys here? Why aren't you with her?"

"They won't let us back with her until they've had a chance to 'assess her', so they say," I said. 

"That doesn't sound... good," Josh said. 

"It's fine. She's fine," I said, not sure if I was trying to convince Josh or myself.

Josh sat down beside me and I continued to hold Jenna, who was still crying, although she was slowing down. I continued to rub her back. 

A little while later, a doctor came out and looked for us. 

"Mr. and Mrs. Joseph?" he said. I stood up. Jenna stood up with me. 

"Samantha?" she asked. 

"Hi, I'm Dr. Peterson," 

"How is she? How's Samantha?" I asked. 

He looked away, and Jenna started to cry harder again. 

"Is she...?" I couldn't finish the sentence. 

"No," he said. "No, she's alive. She's unconscious, but she's very much alive."

"Can we see her? What's wrong with her?"

"Well, she came in with a blood glucose level of 620 for starters."

"Six twenty!?" I exclaimed. 

"She has also been pretty severely beaten. Black eyes, several contusions on her abdomen. Two broken ribs, but those look like they're healing already."

"She got into a fight at school and had two ribs broken then," I said. 

"Okay, that explains why it looks like they're more healed. We're treating her with an insulin drip, and we have her on oxygen. We've also got an IV going to help her rehydrate. She is, as I mentioned, unconscious, probably due to the extremely high blood glucose level. She's probably going to be unconscious for a while.  I'm admitting her now."

"Can we see  her? Please, please let us see her." 

"Of course.  Come on back. I'll take you to her."

We got up and followed the doctor. 

"I'm sorry, family only," he said to Josh. 

"I'm her uncle," he said. 

"Okay, fine then. Come on back."

We continued to the back with the doctor. He led us to a room where, when we walked in, we were not quite prepared for the sight.  Samantha was lying on the stretcher, her bruised and blackened eyes closed, an oxygen mask on her slack face. I ran over to her and picked up her hand. 

"Samantha. Baby girl, it's us. It's Jenna and Tyler. We're here, baby, we're here. Open your eyes my sweet girl.  Come on, open your eyes," I cried. 

Jenna came to her other side and with tears in her eyes took her hand and spoke soothingly to our unconscious daughter.