Family is Forever (Sequel to Running on Insulin)

Chapter 18

The rest of the weekend was actually an improvement. Samantha didn't have a nightmare Saturday or Sunday night. At least not one that woke me up. She still wanted me in her room, and I was happy to oblige if it made her feel safe.

Monday morning she was up before me and showed me her glucose monitor showing me she'd already tested her blood and it was 82.

"Nice!" I said. "I'm just going to go get dressed and we'll have breakfast, okay? Your tutor is coming at eleven."

She nodded and went into her bathroom.  I heard her wash her face and brush her teeth.

Tyler was lying in bed, his eyes open.

"Morning handsome husband," I said.

"Morning," he said flatly.

"You okay?" I asked. 

He sighed. 

"Yeah," he said, and sat up on the side of the bed. 

"No you aren't. What's up?"

"I'm just," he started. "I'm having a hard time."

"I know, baby," I said.  "We all are."

"I don't know what to do. I feel like she's still scared of me. She barely comes near me."

"Ty, she's scared of practically everyone," I said. "She won't stay in the room with Brendon or Josh, if I'm not there. Or if Sarah isn't. It's not you, and you know that."

He sighed again. 

"I do. I just feel so helpless. I want to help her and I want her to feel better, but obviously, it's going to take time. It just hurts me so much to know she's hurting, but she can't tell us how or why."

I sat down beside him and wrapped him in a hug.

"Tyler, she's doing so much better. She's working so hard. I've seen her trying, but whatever Stanley did, she's just not there. Not yet. But she will be. Now, you have a busy day ahead of you, so get moving."

"I do?"

"Yes. You and Josh and Brendon need to go find the perfect Christmas tree for us to decorate after dinner."

"Christmas? With everything going on, you want to celebrate Christmas?"

"Of course. Especially with everything going on. We have so much to celebrate. We're a family, and our daughter is home, and healthy, if not quite whole, just yet. And this is Brendon and Sarah's first without Jess, so they want to stay and celebrate with us, and not be home alone."

"Okay. Mission accepted. The perfect Christmas tree."

I smiled at him and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, do my hair and then got dressed. 

Samantha was already downstairs when I got down there. She was looking out the window into the back yard. She didn't look scared, so I went over to see what she was looking at. 

"Oh! Look at that. The first snowfall of the season," I said, putting my arm around her thin shoulders. "It's pretty, isn't it?"

I looked down at her and she looked up at me and nodded. Her eyes smiled, even if her mouth didn't. Those beautiful blue eyes were sparkling. 

"I can see those eyes, my beautiful girl. I know you're smiling," I hugged her close to me. "We'll get you back yet."

We turned and went about getting breakfast ready. Samantha pulled out a box of cereal.

"That's it? Just cereal?" I asked her. She shrugged and nodded. I watched as she calculated her carbs and pulled out her insulin.  She took a deep breath, and set the dial. I looked over. She'd set it to about what I expected. I smiled at her. Her eyes sparkled back at me.