Family is Forever (Sequel to Running on Insulin)

Chapter 8

The three of us sat with Samantha all night. Jenna dozed off at some point, but kept waking herself up from time to time. I think all told, the longest she stayed asleep was about a half an hour.  Josh had his feet up on the side of Sam's bed and slept pretty much all night. I couldn't sleep a wink. I sat beside her all night, holding her hand, rubbing her knuckles and singing quietly to her.  Nurses came in and out and checked on Sam, but Sam seemed completely unaware. 

Her blood sugar was coming down and was in a more normal range now. 104, which was good. But Sam was still unconscious.  The nurses didn't seem concerned right now, so, I tried to stay calm. 

Every time Jenna woke up, she startled, looked around, and then touched Samantha, as if to reassure herself that she was still here. She'd take Samantha's hand, kiss it and just hold her. 

At some point I must have fallen asleep, because I was woken up by a nurse coming into the room and saying.

"Oh, good morning young lady."

I opened my eyes, rubbed my face and looked over at Samantha.  Her eyes were open. 

"Samantha!" I cried. 

Jenna and Josh both sat up. 

Samantha didn't move. She didn't look at me, she didn't look at Jenna. She stared straight ahead of herself, which meant she was staring at the ceiling. 

"Samantha, sweetheart," I said. "It's me. It's Tyler. Can you  hear me? Can you  hear me baby girl?"

Samantha didn't move. She didn't blink. 

"There's something wrong," Jenna said. "Samantha?"

She stood up and looked into Samantha's eyes. Samantha didn't blink. Jenna's eyes filled with tears. 

"Tyler, what's wrong with her? Why isn't she reacting? Why isn't she speaking?"

"I don't know," I said. I turned to the nurse, who was looking over Samantha's chart from the night before. 

"Excuse me," I said. "Samantha, she, she's not, we, can she hear us?"

"I don't see why not," she said, coming over and looking at Samantha. "Good morning, Samantha. How are you feeling?" 

Samantha didn't move. Again, she didn't blink. 

"I'm not sure what's going on," the nurse said. "I'm going to call the doctor and have him take a look."

I looked worriedly at Samantha, lying on the bed, staring straight ahead. I kept holding her hand, stroking her hair, and singing to her. I squeezed her hand, hoping she'd squeeze back. She didn't. 

The doctor came in a little while later and looked at Samantha. He shone a light in her eyes, checked her reflexes, and pinched her finger with his pen. Samantha didn't move or make a noise. 

The doctor left the room without saying a word to us. Josh, Jenna and I looked around at each other. 

I sat up on Samantha's bed, right beside her, and picked up her hand. 

"Samantha, sweetheart. Come on. Please, baby. Squeeze my hand, blink. Something," I started crying. 

The doctor came back in with another doctor. Both doctors looked at Samantha, and the new doctor repeated a few of the things the first doctor had done. 

He cleared his throat and turned to us. 

"It would seem that your daughter is in a catatonic state," he said. 

"Is that like a coma?" I asked. 

"Not exactly.  In Samantha's case, based on what we know prior to her admission yesterday, it's likely that Samantha is experiencing a brief psychotic disorder, resulting in this catatonic state.  It's likely that however she was treated while she was with her abductors, well, she probably disassociated in order to separate herself from what was being done to her. To shield herself from the pain or from his words. Or both. It isn't uncommon for people, when faced with a severe trauma, to, sort of, retreat into themselves to protect themselves.  It's possible, and there has been evidence to suggest, that even though she's not reacting, or unable to react, she can hear you. So just keep talking to her, let her know she's safe, reassure her and the like. I understand she has a psychologist that was recommended through this hospital? Dr. Freud, no relation to Sigmund?" he smiled. 

"Yes. That's right," Jenna said. "She's been seeing him for about a month."

"Alright. I'll put a call in to his office and see if we can't get him to come by today or tomorrow. The good thing is, these states tend to be temporary. Not usually more than a day, maybe two.  But sometimes longer. She just needs encouragement and patience."

I nodded. 

The doctor smiled at us, shook my hand and left the room. 

I sat, dejected, on Samantha's bed. 

"Everything we've done," I said to Jenna. "All the work we put in, all the work she put in, he's undone it all."

Jenna came around the bed and sat beside me. She wrapped her arms around me and I felt her crying into my back. 

We sat there, holding Samantha's hands, talking to her, being gentle, careful, soothing. I have no idea how much time passed.  All that mattered was Samantha. 

I heard a knock at the door and looked up. Brendon and Sarah came in the room. 

"Hey guys," Brendon whispered. "How's she doing?"

I shook my head, tears still falling from my eyes. 

"What's the matter?" Brendon said, coming over and sitting beside me on the bed. "What's going on?"

"She's," I said. "The doctor thinks she's had a bit of a psychotic break. She's catatonic. He says whatever Deitz did to her, she's sort of, locked herself away."

Brendon looked around me at Samantha lying there, not moving. 

"Hey, kiddo," he whispered to her. "So nice to see you. We really missed you. Your mom and dad, they were beside themselves with worry. They did everything they could to find you. Sarah and I came back out here to be with them, and to see you when they found you. So here we are. And when you're better, we'll take you home and maybe play some Fortnite? What do you think? Of course, you gotta wake up for us."

Samantha didn't move.