Worst Summer Ever... (Book 7 of Adopted by Jenna and Tyler Joseph)

20. Tyler

Samantha looked almost skeletal. The amount of weight she'd lost in six weeks was incredible. And not the good kind.

Samantha's eyes were closed, an oxygen mask was on her face. She looked asleep.

Jenna and I sat at her bedside and each of us picked up her hand and held her.

"Hi, sweetie," Jenna whispered to Samantha.  "It's Mom and Dad. We're here, honey. You're safe. You're going to fight to get better and then we can take you home. Rosie and Junie missed you so much. We all missed you so much.  You just rest now, okay? You rest so you can heal."

I saw her eyelids flutter when Jenna started talking to Samantha. She was sedated. She wasn't in a coma. She was basically sleeping, with a little extra help from the medications.

I checked the time and picked up my phone.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end said.

"Hey, Doc," I said.

"Tyler! Where are you? How's Samantha? I saw the news last night!"

"We're here with her in Nebraska," I said. "All things considered, Sam's going to be okay from a physical standpoint. But she's been without her medications for six weeks. And we haven't been able to talk to her yet because she's septic and they have her sedated. But, Doc, when we come home, I think she's going to need you."

"No doubt. She's going to have a lot to work through again, I think. You know I'll be there for her. And you. Let me know when you're bringing her home, and we'll set something up."

"Great. Thanks, Doc," I said.

"Anytime. You know that," he said.

"I do. We'll be in touch," I said.

We hung up and I picked Samantha's hand back up again.

I just sat and stared at my daughter. She was so pale, so thin, she looked so fragile.

Time passed. Samantha wasn't likely to wake up today, as they were keeping her sedated at least until they could bring her blood sugar down and her fever. But she was here. Tangible. I was holding the hand of my daughter.  A lot of my anxiety and fear drained away as I watched my daughter sleep.

At some point I must have dozed off because my phone started ringing and woke me up. It was a FaceTime call from Josh. I hoped everything at home was okay.

I pressed 'Accept' and waited for the video to connect. I saw Josh holding Rosie and Rosie looked like she'd been crying.

"Someone woke up this morning and wanted to know where her Mama and Daddy were," Josh said. "I told her that you went to maybe get a surprise. I didn't want to say too much in case it wasn't... good. Is it good?"

I smiled.

"Well, it's not bad," I replied. "Rosie, you look sad."

"Daddy? Where are you and Mama?  I waked up and Josh is here but you not."

"Well, my adorable Rosie, Mama and I had to get on an airplane and fly alllllll the way to somewhere called Nebraska."

"Why?" Rosie asked.

"Well, because someone called the police here to tell them that we had to come pick up your sister."

"Sammy?" Rosie brightened up. I smiled.

"Yea, baby," tears came to my eyes. "We got Sammy back. But she's very sick right now and it's going to take a few days before we bring her home. But we will be bringing Sammy home."

"I can see Sammy?"

"I can show you her, but she's sleeping. And the doctors gave her some medicine to help her sleep because she's sick and needs the rest."

"You tell Sammy to be not sick," Rosie said.

I smiled.

"When Sammy wakes up, I will definitely tell her. Better yet, I'll call home and you can tell her, okay?"

"Okay!" Rosie said, excited by the possibility of speaking to her sister, who she'd missed so much.

"Uncle Josh and Aunt Debby will stay with you and Junie until Mama and Daddy can come home, okay? And grandma and grandpa and maybe Uncle Zack."

"Okay, Daddy!" Rosie said, clearly happier now that she knew we'd only left so we could bring Samantha home. Rosie had been through enough hospitalizations for Samantha that she knew we would be here a few days at least. But knowing Samantha would be coming home, Rosie would be patient.

"Daddy?" Rosie asked.

"Yes, pumpkin?"

"I draw pictures for Sammy for when she comes home!" She said.

"That sounds like a great idea," I smiled.

"And I gonna ask Aunt Debby we can make cookies for Sammy?"

"I bet Sammy would love that when we come home," I said, smiling. I didn't know what state of mind Samantha was going to be in when we brought her home, but if anyone could help her heal, it'll be Rosie.

"Okay, Daddy. Hi Mama!" She said as Jenna came behind me.

"Hello my precious. Are you listening to Uncle Josh and Aunt Debby?"

"She's being a perfect angel as always," Debby said, poking her head into the frame.

"I be angel!" Rosie smiled. It was so nice to see her smile. She'd been so sad all summer while Samantha was gone.

"Mama?" Rosie said.

"Yes my sweet?"

"Me an' Junie gonna make pictures for Sammy, okay?"

"Okay sweetheart. I can't wait to see them."

"We be good. Tell Sammy to be better fast."

"Okay my sweet girl. We will. I love you."

"Love you, Mama! Love you Daddy!"

"Love you too. We'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"Okay!" Rosie said.

Josh came into the frame and looked behind him for a second.

"So, what's the word? How bad is it?"

"It's not actually that bad," I said. "Her blood sugar is high and she's septic from an infection on her stump. They said it looks like a pressure sore or a sore from her stump sock rubbing funny. We haven't seen it yet. She's got a fever and she's lost a lot of weight. They have her sedated right now so she can rest and heal. I don't know what her mental state is going to be when she wakes up, but we'll handle it. I've already called Doc and we'll set something when we know when we can bring her home."

"Good. That you called Doc. Not so much the other stuff.  Tell her we love her and we can't wait to see her when she comes home."

"Will do," I said before hanging up.

Jenna and I returned to our positions beside Samantha, and held her hand, whispered to her that we were here and that she was safe and okay.

She slept on throughout the day, courtesy of the sedation.

"He cut her hair," Jenna said, sitting on Samantha's bed and running her finger's through Samantha's hair. He'd cut it right to the nape of her neck.

It was the only thing he did that I didn't want to kill him for. Hair grows back. But trust, that takes so much longer to rebuild. I just hoped that Samantha would still trust us. I hoped she'd know we did everything we could to find her again.

But first, she needed to heal, physically. She needed to wake up.