Family is Forever (Sequel to Running on Insulin)

Chapter 16

I woke up Saturday morning and tried to figure out what was so different. I felt... rested. I figured I might have actually slept through one of Samantha's nightmares. It wouldn't surprise me. I had been so exhausted. 

I got out of bed, showered and dressed and went downstairs to start breakfast.  Samantha and Jenna were already downstairs, and Samantha was setting the table. I must be dreaming. For the past week, Samantha has basically been a ghost.  She had walked through her days as if she wasn't really participating in them. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. 

"Am I dreaming?" I asked Jenna as I walked into the kitchen. "I must be. Because I feel like I got a full night's sleep."

"You did," she smiled at me. "Samantha had one small nightmare last night, and woke me up before she got to the point of screaming. She didn't even really wake up. I just told her she was okay, and she settled."

"Good morning Samantha," I smiled at her. She turned and waved. Still no smile. 

"Samantha and I decided on pancakes for breakfast today. And bacon, right sweetie?" Jenna said. She nodded. 

Josh came into the kitchen just then. 

"Does anyone else feel weird?" he asked. 

"Weird how?" I asked. 

"Like they slept through the whole night?" 

I shushed him and nodded. 

"Samantha didn't have too bad a nightmare last night, and Jenna was able to catch her before she started screaming. Don't make a big deal about it, k?" I whispered to him. 

"Gotcha. Hey Sam," he said. "How's things this am?" 

She looked over and gave a thumbs up. 

Not too much longer after, Brendon and Sarah appeared.  Brendon beelined for the coffee machine and poured himself a cup of coffee. Once he'd had a sip he looked around the room and smiled. 

"I think I had the best sleep in a dog's age," he said. 

"Yep, me too," Sarah said, pouring herself coffee. 

Samantha looked over at them, then went back to what she was doing, but kept her eyes averted from everyone. 

"Hey, Sam," Jenna said. "Want to grab the syrups and the plate of pancakes?" 

Sam moved slower than she had been and took out the syrups, put them on the table, and then took the plate of pancakes and put them down on the table, too. Everyone sat down, but no one noticed that Sam, silent as she had been, was, if possible, even quieter. 

Jenna was sitting beside her, and had put her insulin and test kit in front of Sam, but Sam just sat. 

I watched as Jenna talked quietly to Samantha, who was shaking her head slowly, side to side. I wanted to go over and see what was wrong, but it looked like Jenna had it in hand. After a few minutes, Jenna picked up the insulin pen, the test kit and took Samantha by the hand. 

"We'll be right back," she said. "Make sure you save us some pancakes and bacon, hey?"

"Everything okay?" Brendon asked, looking up from taking pancakes off the platter. 

"Yep. All good," Jenna said, and they went into the other room. 

"What's going on?" Brendon asked, looking over at me. I shrugged. 

"No clue. But I'm not getting involved.  Sam is just starting to trust me again. I'm  letting her come to me, and letting her know I'm available, but I'm not stepping in when Jenna's got her."

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Jenna POV

Everyone was sitting at the table taking pancakes and bacon, chatting happily, and just enjoying each other's company.  The night hadn't been too bad.  Samantha's nightmares hadn't been as bad as the previous nights. I'd actually been woken up by her moaning before she got to the point where she was screaming, and was able to calm her down.  We'd both actually slept pretty well. 

Once we were all seated, I noticed Samantha wasn't looking up, and hadn't tested her sugar. 

"Hey sweet girl," I said. "You  have to test before you can eat."

Samantha shook her head. Something had upset her. 

I picked up her insulin and test kit and took her hand.

"Come on. Let's go into the other room, and talk, okay?" 

She got up with me and let everyone know we'd be back in a minute. 

I sat Samantha down on the couch and took her chin in my hand and gently had her look up at me. 

"What's the matter, baby girl?" 

There were tears threatening behind her eyes. 

Samantha shrugged, and blinked. 

"Hmm. Let me think," I said, thinking about what was discussed while we were getting ready for breakfast. 

"Is it the comments about how people feel they slept well last night? Are you upset that your nightmares woke people up before?"

Samantha nodded as tears fell from her eyes. 

I wrapped her in my arms. 

"Oh sweetheart," I said. "No one was saying that in any way against you. They all understand that things are hard for you right now, and that you're having nightmares because of what happened.  But last night you didn't have as bad a nightmare.  Do you remember having a nightmare at all?" 

She looked at me quizzically and shook her head. 

"You started having one. You were moaning, and you woke me up, so I held you and told you you were safe and okay, and you went straight back to sleep. So you didn't even get to the point where you were screaming.  And I got right back to sleep, so I even got a really good night's sleep. And I can tell you did, too, because you look so much better today. No bags under your eyes."

She looked at me. Her eyes were such a piercing blue, they shocked me every time. I smiled at her. 

"Everyone's just happy we all got a good night's sleep.  No one is making fun of you, though I know it might seem that way, huh?"

She nodded. 

"I understand,  honey.  You  still have a lot of things to work out, and Dr. Freud will  help you with that.  And Tyler and I, too, okay? We know there's a lot of work to do, and we're going to be there the whole way, okay? We're not afraid of a little hard work. We just want you to be happy, and healthy, and hopefully eventually, you'll see you're safe here.  But I know you're still scared Stanley could get you. I know you're having a hard time believing that he's gone. When you're ready, we'll show you what proof we can, okay?"

She nodded again, and reached for her test kit. 

"Ready to test, are you? Those pancakes smell wonderful," I smiled. I could swear I saw just a hint of a smile on Samantha's face. Just for a fleeting moment, and then it was gone, but I swore I saw it. 

Samantha tested, I watched as her fingers flew while she calculated what she planned on eating, then she held up nine fingers indicating nine units of insulin. I handed her her pen. She got to five units, stopped, trembled a little, and then put in the four remaining units and gave herself her injection. I smiled at her, gave her a hug and told her I was so proud of her. 

We went back to the table, and everyone asked if we were all good. I said yes, Samantha nodded and started eating her breakfast. She still wasn't talking, but I had a feeling we weren't too far off from it.