Family is Forever (Sequel to Running on Insulin)

Chapter 13

Tyler POV

I flopped back down on the couch and put my face in my hands.

"What's the matter?" Josh asked.

"I fucked up already," I said, sighing.

"You can't have," Brendon said. "What happened?"

Sarah got up and went into the kitchen with Jenna and Sam.

"Jenna's making Sam macaroni and hot dogs. I asked her if she wants pizza, too. Jenna told me not to make it more complicated, because she's dosed for macaroni and hot dogs. I said she could probably cover a piece of pizza or add a couple more units. Then Sam started shaking. I put my hand on her and she jumped like I was going to, I don't know. Attack her? Hit her? Hurt her?"

"It's going to take time, man," Josh said. "She's probably going to have a hard time making decisions among other things. Until we have some idea what Stanley said to her, or what he did to her, we have no idea what's going on inside her head. We don't know the damage he's done."

"He's done so much fucking damage," I said. "If he wasn't already dead, I'd kill him myself. I'm so fucking mad at what he's done to Sam. She was starting to do so well."

The doorbell rang and Josh went to get the pizza from the front door.

"Samantha!" Jenna shouted from the kitchen. I got up and ran in there. I couldn't see Samantha anywhere.

"Where is she?" I asked. Jenna pointed to the table. I looked over and Samantha was under the table.

I bent down and saw she was curled up with her arms around her knees.

"Hey, hey," I said. Sam skittered further away from me with abject fear in her eyes.

"Here, let me try?" Sarah said coming up beside me. "Hey, Sam. It's just the pizza guy dropping off the pizza. You're okay. C'mon out from there, huh?"

She reached her hand out. Samantha shook her head no.

"Ty," Sarah said. "Could you give us some space?"

I couldn't even help my own daughter.

I stepped back and let Sarah talk to her.

"It's okay sweetheart. No one came in the house. It was just the pizza guy. You're alright. Come on out, hey?"

I watched from the other side of the kitchen. Sam very tentatively came out from under the table and took Sarah's hand. As soon as she came out, she ran over to Jenna and clung to her, staring between me and towards the front door. I sighed, shook my head and went back into the living room.

"What happened?" Josh asked, opening a beer.

"The doorbell scared her. She was hiding under the table."

"Shit," Brendon said. "It's gonna be rough, huh?"

"I think so," I said, dejectedly.

I took a piece of pizza and a beer. I'd lost my appetite if I was to be honest, but I needed something distracting.

I put down the pizza and went back out into kitchen. Samantha was back at the kitchen island with Sarah sitting right beside her, trying to encourage her to eat. She looked up and saw me coming into the kitchen with the beer in my hand. I heard her drop the spoon and looked over. Fear in her eyes again. I hadn't thought about the beer. Shit.

"What is it sweetie?" Sarah said, looking at her and then at me.

"It's me. My fault. I wasn't thinking and came in here with a beer. Stanley was a drinker," I said, putting the beer can into the sink. "Sam, I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking."

Sam jumped out of her chair and hid behind Sarah. Sarah put her arms around Sam, and pulled her close.

"Sam, it's okay. Tyler would never hurt you. You're safe here, sweet girl, I promise," she cooed.

"Sam, please," I pleaded. "Please believe me. I would never, ever hurt you."

Sam clung tighter to Sarah. I went back into the living room and sat down. I messed up. Again.

"She's going to fine," Josh said, looking at me, worriedly. "Ty, don't go down that road again. It's going to take time. She has to learn to trust again, and unfortunately you're a guy, and she needs to learn to trust men again. You didn't screw up. He did. You just have to pay the price."

"It's not fair," I said. "We worked so hard."

"It's not," Josh agreed. "I guess you're just going to have to be a lot more careful. Look, Doc's coming tomorrow, right? He'll talk to her. She trusts him, to some point. I mean, I'll bet she was reacting to the beer can, not you."

I sighed. I was not going to give up on Samantha, but I was so upset that the trust we'd built was mostly gone. And it was neither of our faults.

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Samantha POV

Tyler was drinking beer. Stanley drinks a lot of beer, and other stuff, and then hits me. When he came into the kitchen holding the can, I had to hide. Because beer equals beating. All the time.

Sarah was closest, so I hid behind her. Even with Jenna in the kitchen, I couldn't trust that Tyler wouldn't turn on me. People who drink beat people like me up.

Sarah told me he would never hurt me, and even Tyler said he'd never, ever hurt me, but I know that beer equals beatings. It's never been any different. Stanley would drink a lot of beer, and then he'd beat me up. Tyler is a lot smaller than Stanley is. It probably doesn't take as much beer before he gets to the point of beating me up.

Tyler looked sad, and left the room. I followed with my eyes, until I was sure it was safe for me to come back out from behind Sarah. Once he was gone, I got back in my chair and ate more of my lunch.

Sarah and Jenna didn't say anything more about it.

"Sam," Jenna said, getting my attention. "Just a couple things I want to talk to you about, okay? Nothing huge. I promise."

I nodded, looking at her, so she knew I was listening.

"First thing's first, we need to talk about school," she said. I shook my head. School isn't safe.

"No, I know. You're not ready to go back to school, but we thought, maybe after this week, we'll give you a break this week. Next week, maybe we'll get a tutor to come to the house and help you keep up?"

I shook my head.

"Would you be okay if it was a woman tutor?" Jenna asked. I thought and then shrugged. Maybe that would be okay.

"We also thought maybe you'd like Jill to come visit? She can bring some of what you missed last week and this week, and she can bring the homework while you're working with the tutor? Until you're ready to go back?"

I nodded. I'd like to see Jill again. I missed her.

"Great. I'll call her mom later. And Dr. Freud is going to come to the house three times a week to start, to talk with you, okay?"

I frowned.

"Just to help you process what happened," Jenna said, putting her hand on my arm. "Okay?"

I nodded and sighed.

"Why don't you go lie down for a little while?" Jenna suggested as I leaned onto Sarah. I was getting tired.

I shook my head. I didn't want to be alone.

"Do you want me or Sarah to come upstairs with you?" Jenna asked. I pointed at Jenna.

"Alright. Come on. Let's get you upstairs for a nap."