Family is Forever (Sequel to Running on Insulin)

Chapter 41

The doctors released Samantha the next day, and Jake, who had come to the hospital that first day, both to check on Samantha and see what was what, drove us back home to Columbus.  I sat up front with Jake, while Samantha sat in the back with Jenna, who would not let go of our daughter. 

About two hours into the trip, Jake pulled off the highway and into a McDonald's so that we could have a bite to eat. It was lunch time, and Samantha hadn't eaten since the hospital. I looked back and saw that Samantha was fast asleep on Jenna's shoulder. Jenna smiled at me. 

"Hey there, baby," Jenna said, shaking Samantha a little. "We're going to have some lunch. Are you hungry?" 

Samantha sat up and looked around through sleepy eyes.

"Where are we?" she asked. 

"Somewhere in Indiana called 'Harrison Township'. We stopped at a McDonald's," Jake said. "How're you doing, Samantha?" 

"I'm okay," she said. 

"Hungry?" Jenna asked her.  Sam nodded. 

"Yeah. A little," she smiled. 

The four of us got out of the car and went into the McDonald's.  Samantha checked the menu and took one of the nutritional information pamphlets on the wall.  She made some calculations, and told Jenna what she wanted.  While Jenna ordered our meals, Sam stepped over to the side and cleaned her finger, checked her blood sugar and double checked the nutritional information. I watched as she pulled out the insulin pen, which we'd brought with when we'd left the house with Jake two days ago, and calculated again. She rolled her dosage and gave herself her insulin. She looked up and saw me watching her, and gave me a sheepish smile.  I pulled her over to me and gave her a hug, and a kiss on the head. 

"Proper full dose?" I asked. 

"Proper full dose," she said. 

"Alright. Let's eat," I said, as Jake and Jenna came over with the trays loaded down with food. 

"Thank Jake for lunch. He insisted on paying," Jenna said. 

"Thank you, Jake," Samantha said, through a mouthful of cheeseburger. 

"Samantha!" I laughed. "Not with your mouth full!"

She looked over at me sheepishly, but smiled.  She swallowed and smiled again. 

"Thank you, Jake," she said again. 

"You're welcome," he said, smiling. "I'm really glad you're okay, Samantha." 

The four of us chatted and ate. Samantha was animated. It was so nice to have her back. We knew there would still be work to do when we returned to Columbus, continuing to rebuild Samantha's trust in us, but we were more than willing to do the work. And it seemed like Samantha was, too. 

Once we'd all finished eating, we threw away our garbage, and replaced the trays, went back out to the car, and continued our journey home. 

I texted with Josh the entire way, pretty much.  We'd been talking since we'd taken off for Terre Haute, so he knew everything that had been going on. He'd exchanged his ticket back to California for after we got home with Samantha. He'd kept an eye on the house for us, and had helped keep our friends up to date, so that we could focus on getting to Samantha. It was only Brendon who had called. We appreciated that Josh had taken the reins on that for us. 

Samantha was quiet the closer we got to home. She didn't seem out of sorts, or upset, just... quiet. 

When we pulled into the driveway, Samantha looked around. I turned around and smiled at her. 

"We're home, sweetheart," I said. "You're home."

She looked around warily, as if she expected someone to jump out of the bushes or something. 

We got out of Jake's car, and Samantha picked up her backpack and put it over her shoulder. I put my arm around her and we walked up to the house. Jake said his goodbyes and headed home himself. 

Josh threw the door open as we walked up the walkway, came outside and pulled Samantha into the tightest hug he dared. 

"Don't you ever do that to us again!" he said, tears streaming down his face. "I was so worried about you.  Your mom and dad were so worried about you.  Your friend was worried about you, and her family.  And all our friends were worried about you."

Samantha started crying again. 

"I'm sorry, Uncle Josh," she said, hugging Josh back. "I'm sorry."

He kissed the top of her head and pulled away from her and looked into her face. 

"You're just trying to keep me from going back to California, aren't you?" he joked. Samantha smiled slightly. 

"Sure. I guess," she said. 

"Thought so.  Now, come on you guys.  Let's get inside. It's cold out here." 

The four of us went into the house, where Josh took Samantha's coat and back pack and picked her up and carried her into the living room. 

"I can walk, you know," she frowned at him. 

"I know. I'm not letting you go right now. You think your parents were worried? I was out of my mind, because they took off out of here when they found out where you were and I was left here to keep our friends up to date, but I could  only tell them what your parents could tell me when they could. So I sat here, in the dark, wondering what was going on."

"You could have turned on a light, you know," Samantha said, sitting on the couch next to Josh, who had his arms around her. 

"Smartass," he said to her. 

"You know," I said to Samantha. "We are going to have to talk about everything that's happened.  Between the three of us, or four, should Josh want to be a part of this. Plus, you're going to have to talk to Dr. Freud about this, too."

Samantha looked away, and looked down. 

"I said I was sorry," she said. 

"I know you did. And we know you are. But we have to come up with a way for you to deal with things without running away. We need to find healthy ways to deal with things. And, we need to decide what we should do about you running away to begin with," I said. 

"What do you mean? Like," she swallowed hard. "Like a punishment?"

I hated that word. Especially in relation to her. For her, a punishment was a physical punishment. Stanley would beat her or berate her. Or both. Usually both, from what we could gather.

"Not exactly. I think your life has had enough punishment. But there needs to be some consequences for running away. We're your parents. We love you. We want you. You came into our lives for one reason or another. We intend to keep you healthy and safe - though I admit we didn't do a great job and underestimated Stanley. And that's on us. But at the end of the day, we are your parents, and it's our job to keep you safe. When you something happens that we can, or should be able to control, and you're not safe, like running away, there need to be consequences. Because you need to know just how serious running away is."