Out Of Time

At Sea

It had been a week since they'd set off for Tahiti and Sam and Arthur didn't speak much.  They didn't even share a bed.  Sam opted to sleep with the girls rather than in her and Arthur's single assigned cabin, but after a week of horrible nightmares, the girls forced Sam to go to her own cabin.  Arthur obliged but moved his stuff over to one of the men's cabin.  He was still pretty sore over the way Sam kept pushing him away but there wasn't much he could do about it.  He just didn't understand why she was doing it.  He missed her terribly.  During the next week, he'd stop by her door to listen and some nights he'd hear her crying in her sleep, but he wouldn't be able to get into the room on account of the door being locked each night. 

During the third week, Sam still hadn't come around to talking to him.  Arthur was becoming anxious, wondering if their marriage was actually falling apart.  The mere thought of it killed him.  However, he'd been informed by Miss Grimshaw that she'd had her implant removed during the first week of their trip so that was a good sign.  He just had to give her time, but he was growing impatient.  They'd never gone this long without each other and Arthur hated being without her.  The girls tried talking to Sam, according to Tilly, but Sam just wasn't having it.  She absolutely refused to talk about her nightmares or the specific details of what Micah had done to her.  it was by luck that Arthur met a doctor, a man in his late forties with a full head of blonde hair, on the ship and when he explained everything that was going in with Sam, the doctor agreed to go see her.

Arthur and the doctor went to Sam's cabin and Arthur knocked on the door.  "Sam?  It's Arthur."

No response.

"Listen, sweetheart, I know you ain't been yourself but I have someone here who wants to speak to you.  He's a doctor."

Still no response.

Arthur hung his head and frowned.  Suddenly the door creaked open and Arthur raised his head to see a very tired, very pale looking Sam peeking through the slit of the door.  A lump formed in Arthur's throat.  She looked skinny, too.  Has she even been eating?

"...What do you want, Arthur?" she asked.

Arthur motioned his head to the doctor.  "This is Dr. Hughes.  He just wants to talk to you."

Sam paused for a few moments before opening the door more to let them in.  Arthur and Dr. Hughes walked in and Sam sat on the bed.  Arthur leaned against the door frame and the doctor pulled up a chair to sit across from Sam.

"So, Mrs. Morgan...how are you?"

Sam shrugged, her arms crossed over her chest defensively.  "I'm okay, I guess."

The doctor hummed and scooted closer.  "You don't look okay.  You look rather ill."

"I...haven't been sleeping well lately."

"So I see.  Any reason why?"

Sam looked between the two men and sighed.  "I've been having bad dreams, doctor."

"About?"

Sam started fidgeting.  "Shortly before our trip, I was kidnapped and beaten by a former member of our group.  I've been dreaming about that."

"Uh huh.  Care to go into more detail?"

"Not really, no."

"Hmm.  Anything else?"

"I've been having headaches, too.  Bad ones."

"Uh huh.  Any nausea?  Dizziness?  Change in mood?  Foggy thoughts?  Flashbacks of being beaten?"

Sam nodded softly.  "Yes."

"Hmm, I see.  And your headaches, where on your head do they usually occur?"