Oh Ms Believer

9. Jenna

Sam fell asleep on Brendon as they sat on the couch. I felt so horrible for her. She'd lost a friend in a terrible way. And from what I could see, she was handling it appropriately.

But she was so drained. Emotionally, maybe physically. She needed the sleep. Brendon just sat there, comforting our daughter. He had the slightest smile on his face. It was cathartic to him.

We talked quietly and occasionally Rosie went over and looked at Sam, coming over to me and saying:

"Sammy still sleeping, Mama."

"I know, Peanut," I whispered. "Sammy is very tired."

Rosie would nod and go back to entertaining herself.  Then repeat about ten minutes later.

"Junie sleeping, Sammy sleeping. I'm bored!" Rosie said. We all laughed. Quietly.

All told, Samantha slept for a good three hours on Brendon's lap. He didn't complain once.

"Oh. Sorry Uncle B," she said when she woke up and realized how much time had passed.

"No problem, darlin'," he smiled at her. "My lap is your pillow."

Sam smiled up at him and sat up. He pulled her into a hug and kissed her head.

"How are you feeling?"

Sam sighed.

"Okay, I guess," she said.

"I guess that's okay," he smiled at her. She smiled back, just a little.

"Where's Rosie?" Sam asked.

I looked beside the couch I was on and saw Rosie curled up on the floor, fast asleep.  I smiled and pointed. Everyone laughed.

"I'm gonna go upstairs and take my leg off," Sam said.

"Okay, sweetheart. We were thinking of ordering in tonight. Want Chinese?"

"Okay," she said.

Sam came back downstairs about half an hour later. She'd changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt and came down on her crutches.

"Fortnite, Uncle B?" She asked, flopping onto the couch beside him.

"Sure," he said. Tyler was closer to the TV so he got out the controllers and turned the Xbox on.

Samantha and Brendon's voices got louder and louder until they woke Rosie.

"Sammy happy, Mama," she said crawling up on me.

"You're right. Sammy is happy," I smiled at her. It was nice to see Samantha smiling and laughing. She was letting herself have fun. She needed this.

We ordered dinner and the seven of us sat around the table, Junie was just being her baby self, Rosie was telling us stories and Sam. Sam was smiling and laughing. I could see a sadness in her eyes, but she was smiling and laughing still. She'd be okay. She'd have Doc to talk to. And us. And Brendon and Sarah whenever she wanted.

After dinner, we got everything cleaned up and got the little girls to bed. Sam had school in the morning, and Brendon and Sarah were leaving tomorrow, too, so I knew Sam was going to want time with them. I had the feeling their leaving was going to be particularly hard on her this time.

Sam sat and chatted with Brendon and Sarah. All of us sat in the living room, but Sam was on the sofa between Brendon and Sarah. She was showing them something on her phone.

As it started getting later, I gently reminded Sam she had to be up for school.

"Just a bit longer?"

"Sam," I said. "You know you need appropriate sleep. Come on, honey. Say goodnight and let's get you upstairs."

Tears formed in Sam's eyes. I knew this was going to be hard on her. I looked at her sympathetically. She wrapped her arms around Brendon and sobbed.

"I don't want you to leave tomorrow," she cried.

"I know, Darlin'," he said. "But I have to get back to work."

She moved over to Sarah and hugged her tight, too. Sarah patted her back.

"We're gonna miss you, but you know you can call, text or FaceTime anytime."

"It's not the same."

"No. It isn't. But, it is what it is. And we still get to see this beautiful face."

Sam blushed.

"I'm not beautiful," she said through a smile. Sam's self esteem was improving. She knew she was good looking. She just was very modest about it.

"What?! Of course you are!" Sarah said, hugging Sam close to her.

Sam shrugged.

She argued against going to bed a little more but finally acquiesced, said good night and crutched her way upstairs.

"She's doing a lot better on the crutches, hey?" Brendon asked.

"She is. She finally figured out her balance issues," Tyler said.

"And she adjusted to the prosthetic pretty quickly, too."

"Is she still seeing Doc?" Sarah asked.

"Every second week. She's doing amazing. She really is," I said. "She told me that she told Doc that all of this, if it had happened either with her birth father or in that first year and a bit, she didn't think she would have survived. The infection would have been convenient for him to just..."

I couldn't finish the sentence. Everyone knew what Stanley's feelings towards our daughter had been.  There wasn't a day I wasn't thankful he was no longer among the living.

We chatted a little more and then the four of us retired to our rooms. I knew Junie would be up soon for a feeding.

In the morning, after giving Junie her 6am feed, I went in to Sam's room where she was sprawled out across her bed, on her stomach, her hair every which way, a small trail of drool at the corner of her mouth and a slight snore. I loved seeing her sleeping. She looked so innocent and unbothered.

I sat on the bed and rubbed her back.

"Good morning, teenager," I said, smiling.

"Mmmm," Sam groaned.

"Come on. Time to get up."

"I don't feel good," Sam said. "I don't think I should go to school."

I checked the app we used to monitor Sam's diabetes. Her sugar was in range, but a bit higher than I'd expect in the morning. It wasn't that.

"Roll over," I told her. "What's wrong?"

I thought maybe she was sad still about Karen and didn't want to face her friends yet. I could understand that, but I wasn't going to let her stay home for that. 

Sam rolled over and I was shocked at how pale she looked. I felt her forehead. She had a fever. We were about to fight yet another infection. I hoped Sam had the strength.