Family is Forever (Sequel to Running on Insulin)

Chapter 32

Samantha continued to improve over the Christmas holidays. She had a couple of sessions with Doc at home, and by the second week we were able to go out for walks and even ventured to a restaurant for lunch the day Brendon and Sarah were due fo fly back to California.

Samantha was far more nervous and guarded in the restaurant than she had been previously, and startled easily. But, she made it through the meal easily.

She was not, however, comfortable with the idea of accompanying B and Sarah to the airport to say goodbye, so she said her goodbyes to them at home and stayed there with Jenna while Josh and I took them to the airport.

"You take care of yourself, okay?" Brendon said, hugging Sam close to him. "And you text or call any time you want or need to, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, uh, Uncle Brendon," Sam smiled. Brendon smiled back at her.

"I like that," he laughed. He was the one who wanted her to call him uncle.

Sarah pulled Samantha to her and hugged her as tightly as she could, without smothering her.

"I am so glad you're okay," Sarah said. "Same goes for me. Call or text any time you want to, okay?  We want to know all about what you get up to."

"I will. Thank you so much for everything. The Christmas gifts and for being here for Mom and Dad," Samantha said, hugging her back.

"It was our pleasure," Sarah smiled at her. She gave Sam a kiss on the head and hugged her again.  "Love you, Samantha Joseph."

"Love you too, Aunt Sarah," Samantha said.

"Tell your parents you need a trip to California really soon, okay?  We'll take you to the beach and the Santa Monica Pier and Disneyland."

Samantha nodded.

"Okay," they said. "We'll let you know when we get home."

They both gave Samantha hugs again and we headed out.

"She's going to be okay, Ty," Brendon said to me.

"A couple of weeks ago I'm not sure I would have believed you," I said. "But now, I think you're right. I don't think she'll be ready to go back to school right away, but I think she will be sooner than later. She's actually going to try to have her next appointment with Doc in his office."

"Good news!" Sarah said. "And she did pretty okay at the restaurant."

"She was nervous, but yeah. She did."

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Jenna POV

After Josh and Tyler left to take Brendon and Sarah to the airport, Samantha and I sat in the living room and turned on a movie.

"You did great today, sweetheart," I said, pulling her in for a hug and cuddling with her.

She was quiet.

"Sam?" I asked, looking down at her.

She looked up at me, there was sadness in her eyes.

"I was so scared," she said. "I thought Gillingham was there. I thought I saw him."

"Sweetie," I said, hugging her tighter. "He's in prison. But if it would make you feel better, do you want me to call Detective Alpert and ask him?"

"Could you?" She asked, her voice shaking.

"Of course," I said, pulling out my phone.

I dialled Jake's number and when he picked up it was clear he'd put my number in his phone, too.

"Good afternoon Jenna," he said. "Is everything okay? How's Samantha?"

"Hi Jake. She's okay. We went out for lunch today with her."

"Good news. To what do I owe the pleasure of your phone call?"

"Samantha was worried that Gillingham might still be around. She says she thought she saw him and I just wondered if you could let her know he's in prison."

"Of course. Hand her the phone."

I gave the phone to Samantha who took it and put it to her ear.

"Uh huh," she said. "I'm okay."

She listened for a minute and then said:

"Okay. Thanks. Bye."

She hung up and I looked at her.

"All good?" I asked.

She shrugged.

"I guess so," she said.

"I know, sweetheart. I know you're worried. And that you're scared this isn't over, but it is.  Stanley's gone, and it was Gillingham who got you out, even though it was him who took you in the first place,"

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"The night we got you back, when Gillingham shot Stanley, it was because he didn't want Stanley to continue doing what he was doing. When he agreed to kidnap you, he didn't know what Stanley was really planning on doing. He had told him that he just wanted to prove he was a good dad. And you know how persuasive he could be.

But when Gillingham saw what he was really doing, he couldn't take it and worked with the police to get you back to us."

Samantha went silent again. She leaned into me.

"So," she started.

Then she stopped again, and looked up at me.

"So even though he kidnapped me, he saved my life?"

"He did, my sweet girl."

She frowned.

"So, it wasn't a dream."

"What wasn't?"

"The last thing I remember hearing before I woke up in the hospital was someone saying 'this isn't right,' and 'I'm going to get you out of here'," Samantha said.

"Really? Well, yeah. That would have been Gillingham. Tyler, Dad and I are sort of conflicted. We want to be mad at him for taking you, but at the same time, it's because of him we have you back."

"Huh," Samantha said.

"I'm so sorry sweet girl," I said.

"For what?" She asked, looking up at me.

"For not protecting you better. We knew Stanley had escaped from jail but we didn't think he'd be able to find you. We thought you'd be safe at school. We didn't think he could get you from there. There was no way he could have known what school you were at."

Samantha was quiet.  Then she got up and went upstairs without saying a word.