Family is Forever (Sequel to Running on Insulin)

Chapter 14

Jenna POV

After an eventful lunch, between Samantha being afraid of the doorbell and then Tyler coming in going on about pizza, and then coming in with a beer, and scaring Samantha again, I could see Samantha needed a break. Probably a nap, and so I suggested it. But she wouldn't go upstairs to sleep herself. 

I walked upstairs with her and tucked her into her bed. 

"Will you be okay if I stay until you fall asleep, and then I might go downstairs?"

She grabbed on to my arm. 

"Okay, okay," I purred. "Move over. I'll stay with you while you nap."

She relaxed and moved over a little bit. 

I wrapped my arms around her and she snuggled into me. As much as I loved the snuggles, I was heartbroken that she was so insecure right now. 

I lay back on the pillow, while Samantha clung to me. Eventually her breathing evened out and I saw that she was asleep. I wouldn't betray her trust by leaving now that she was asleep. We had a lot of work to do and starting out with a tiny betrayal would be a very bad idea. 

I must have dozed off as well, because I was woken up by a piercing scream. Samantha was sitting straight up in bed, and screaming. I sat up and put my arms around her. 

"Samantha, shh, shhh, you're okay," I said, trying to get her attention. She was breathing hard, but had stopped screaming. 

I could hear feet running up the stairs and in a second, Josh, Brendon, Sarah and Tyler were in the doorway. 

"What happened? Is Sam okay?" Tyler asked. 

"Nightmare," I said, as Samantha buried her face into my shoulder and cried. I stroked her hair and rubbed her back, comforting her as she cried. 

"It's okay, sweetheart. It was just a nightmare.  You're okay," I said. "You're safe, and you're home. Safe in your bed, with Tyler and me here, and our friends visiting."

Her sobbing slowed, and she loosened her grip on me. But she didn't raise her head. 

Sarah came in and sat on the bed with us and rubbed Samantha's arm. 

"Hey there," she said. "Hey, you're okay." 

Samantha turned her head just enough so she could see Sarah as well. 

"You know," Sarah said. "I never noticed how blue your eyes are."

Samantha pointed at Sarah's eyes. 

"You're right. We both have blue eyes. But I think yours are much more beautiful."

I felt Samantha shake her head no. 

"Well, that's my opinion," Sarah smiled. 

"Sam?" Tyler said from the doorway. "How are you doing, baby girl? Feeling a bit better?" 

I felt her turn her head towards the door and nod at Tyler. 

"Can I come sit with you, too?" he asked. 

Samantha stiffened for a second. 

"Tyler will never hurt you," I whispered to her. I felt her nod at Tyler. He smiled and came in. Josh and Brendon also came into the room, but they stayed closer to the door and sat on the floor.

Tyler came and sat on my other side on the bed. I could tell he wanted to reach out and hug her, or touch her, but that he was also scared of setting her off. There were some new boundaries we were all going to have to learn. I felt Samantha turn her head and towards Tyler. I watched as he smiled at her. She was mostly behind me, so I couldn't tell whether or not she was smiling, too. 

We all sat like that for a while. Brendon started whistling, and then Josh started drumming on his knees. The three of them started singing a quietly together, to Samantha. 

"Okay, Sam," I said. "I'm in a very uncomfortable position.  Can we move a bit? Maybe go downstairs?" 

Samantha nodded and the six of us got up and headed downstairs. She stayed close to me and Sarah.

"Hey, Sam," Brendon said. "Want to play Fortnite?" 

Samantha shook her head. 

"Okay, cool. How about a movie?"

Samantha shrugged. 

"Sounds like a good idea," I said. "Let's put on a movie, and just relax for a while, huh?"

Samantha shrugged again. So we had a few ways of communicating now. I could give her two choices and she could pick from 'one' or 'two', she'd nod yes or shake her head no, or shrug, which seemed to be a 'sure, whatever' type answer as opposed to outright apathy. It seemed to cover everything else without being a direct yes or no. I couldn't wait until she was able to talk again. But I knew we couldn't force it. 

I sat on the couch and Sam sat right beside me, practically on top of me. 

"Can I sit beside you?" Tyler asked her. He so wanted to regain her trust. She looked at him, was about to shrug, then nodded.  Tyler smiled. "Thank you, baby girl."

I turned on the TV and we found something we could all agree on. At some point, Samantha shifted and was leaning on Tyler. I looked over and smiled at them.  Tyler smiled at me as he put his arm around Samantha. 

I noticed halfway through the movie, Samantha fell asleep. Poor kid was so exhausted.  She hadn't had a full night's sleep since waking up in the hospital. Nightmares plagued her sleep. 

I watched as her brow started to furrow and she started to make noise. 

"Ty, wake her up. She's having a nightmare," I said, rubbing Samantha's foot. 

"Hey, hey, baby girl," Tyler said, shaking Samantha's shoulder.  She sleepily opened her eyes and sat bolt upright, looked around, and then relaxed.  

"You were having a nightmare," I said as she looked over at me. She basically lunged back over to me, wrapped me in a hug and started crying again.  

"It's okay," I cooed. "It's okay, baby girl. We're going to get through this together."

Sarah, Brendon and Josh looked on with sympathy. 

We watched the rest of the movie, my arms protectively around my daughter. I loved that I could call her that, and whether she believed it or not, the one person who had threatened that no longer existed. She was our daughter. Forever.