Whispers of a Mourning Sky

DISCLAIMER: Only the plot is mine, since I don't think Terri Farley ever intended to write about one of her characters getting raped. All the rest belongs to her. Don't sue….please. :

AN: FINALLY! It's finally done and posted. I can't apologize enough for how long I've made you guys wait. I hope you like it.

PLEASE READ

I went back and changed a few details in the first two chapters to follow the books. Go back and reread them and let me know if I missed anything, please.

Thank you to all of my readers and a special 'thanks' to all of my reviewers. You guys gave me the motivation to finish this chapter.

3

Chapter 3: This Flesh a Tomb

"Excuse me, Miss?" Jake, still carrying the sleeping Samantha, approached the front desk of the E.R. and the woman sitting behind it quickly. Darrell followed silently. "Miss?"

The woman was tapping on the keyboard, eyes intent on the bright screen that cast its light over her face. Her gaze twitched to the two very tall young men at Jake's voice.

"Yes? Can I help you?" She'd stopped typing when her attention had been redirected, and now her fingers were poised above the keys. A faint static came from the device she wore in her ear.

"She needs a doctor," Jake glanced down at the unmoving Sam and back up to the receptionist, expecting immediate action.

The woman just blinked.

Darrell leaned towards her, an exasperated look on his face, "Are you seriously just sitting there? She needs a doctor," he jerked his head towards Sam but didn't take his eyes off of the stunned receptionist, "Last time I checked, those aren't exactly in short supply here. It is a hospital after all," Darrell's sarcasm didn't have much of an effect on the woman, but his next comments did. "You've gotta be kiddin—She was raped!" he broke off and whispered the last part furiously as he pointed sharply at the sleeping girl, "Aren't there tests that need to be done? A rape kit? Do your damn job woman!" He didn't bother to whisper the last sentence. His shout caused everyone in the lobby, including Jake, to stare at him. Sam jerked, but did not wake.

The receptionist jumped for the phone and quickly dialed a random and unidentifiable number, as Darrell turned his back to her, leaned up against the desk and scowled at everyone in the Waiting Room.

They hastily went back to whatever they had been doing before Darrell's outburst, all of them looking down and determinedly away from the young man.

Jake looked at his best friend tiredly.

"Thanks, man," relief was evident in his voice.

Darrell would not look at him, but clenched his jaw and said, "Anything for Sam, man."

Confused by his statement, Jake looked at him quizzically. It almost seemed like he had more to say. But he didn't get a chance to ask because, at that moment, the sound of footsteps approaching caused both young men to turn to their left, searching for the source.

A tall woman in a white coat walked briskly towards them, a clipboard in her hand, intelligent looking glasses perched on her nose and an even taller, fairly muscular male nurse pushing a bed on wheels following behind her.

Both came to a halt in front of Darrell and Jake.

The two teenagers stared blankly at her.

"My name is Dr. Morgan. Please, hand your friend to Mr. Dawson, here, and follow me," and with that, she turned, obviously expecting to be immediately obeyed.

After taking a few clacking steps, she realized that she was the only one who had moved.

She turned sharply, fixing Jake and Darrell with an intense gaze. "Yes?"

At the tone in her voice, Darrell jumped into action. Jake, though more sedate, moved immediately towards the very large Mr. Dawson and, with a last look at the sleeping girl's face, placed her in the big man's arms.

Turning to follow Darrell, who was following Dr. Morgan, Jake glanced over one shoulder in time to see the male nurse gently placing Sam on the rolling bed.

Dr. Morgan led the two teenagers to her office, which, thankfully, wasn't far away, because Jake was exhausted, and Darrell appeared to be in the same state.

The doctor took a seat behind a large, and slightly cluttered oak desk, and motioned for them to sit in two of the other chairs in the room.

Before he took his seat, Jake sighed, looked back at the closed door behind him, and rubbed the back of his neck.

Dr. Morgan sat, waiting expectantly for him to say what he obviously wanted to say.

Darrell, who had taken his seat in one of the offered chairs, looked from Jake to the doctor and back to Jake.

"With all do respect, ma'am," Jake took a step towards her and wrung his hands in front of him, "I just want to know that Sam's going to be okay."

The corner of the woman's mouth tilted upwards a fraction, the first hint of emotion that she'd shown.

"We won't know that until I get in there to examine her. Right now, they should be issuing the standard tests that they perform on victims of rape; a rape kit, if you will. But, I'll be taking a personal interest in this case, so I'll be doing her examination myself," she surveyed them over the top of her spectacles.

"But, please," she motioned for Jake to take a seat, "take a seat. I have some questions I'd like to ask you."

Jake hesitantly did as he was told.

Silence settled over the small room as both parties waited for the other to begin speaking. When neither of the boys obliged, Dr. Morgan rotated the ring on the fourth finger of her left hand restlessly. "I need to know what you know. I can get it from Samantha later, but I'd prefer to walk into that room knowing something."

Darrell didn't move, but Jake inhaled sharply and shifted in his chair.

Dr. Morgan held up her hand to keep him from speaking, signaling that she wasn't finished.

"I understand that it may be hard for you, and that's fine, but, I'd like to know all the same," something in her voice and the way she surveyed them from behind her spectacles reminded Jake strongly of Brynna, and he knew that he wouldn't be leaving this room without handing over his knowledge of the last couple of hours.

He reluctantly nodded and proceeded to tell her how he'd found Sam, the state in which he'd found her and the episode she'd had when he touched her hand. He told her of Darrell's arrival, the drive to the hospital and, finally, about the call to his mother. He decided to leave out Darrell's verbal abuse of the receptionist.

At the end of his speech the doctor smiled fully for the first time; it made her look softer, and somehow brighter.

"The very next question I was going to ask you was whether or not you'd contacted her family. You've taken care of everything, it seems. Very well," she paused, looking a little troubled, if the slight furrow in her brow was any indication, "I'd like to ask you more questions, but I need to see to your friend. You boys should head for the Waiting Room. I'll find you when we're all done. It shouldn't take long."

Jake and Darrell stood in unison and shook hands with the woman, thanking her quietly.

Then they showed themselves out.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The two teenage boys plopped down in the big, comfy chairs. Immediately and in perfect sync, they propped elbows on knees and let their heads fall into their hands.

After ten minutes of silence, Jake sighed and looked at his friend.

Darrell, sensing his friend's stare, muttered, "What?" without looking up.

Jake let the question hover between them for a few seconds and then croaked awkwardly, unable to form his thoughts into a coherent question.

Darrell finally looked at him quizzically, each line of his face showing just how much the events of the day had taken out of him, but he didn't say anything.

Under that gaze, Jake scrambled to organize his thoughts, and hastily decided to go in a completely different direction.

"What were you gonna say? You know, right after you scared the shit outta the receptionist?"

Darrell blinked, and looked away. He let out a heavy, gruff sigh and looked at his hands.

"You know, man. The next time I see that son of a bitch, I just might kill him."

Jake didn't say anything, because he agreed, but he hadn't known that Darrell had cared that much about Sam.

"I just…" he trailed off for a second, thinking deeply, then continued his sentence with renewed strength, "…One of the things I like most about Sam was her innocence. And that bastard took that away from her."

He sighed again, all strength gone and lifted a hand to run his fingers through his hair. Then he looked at Jake, and Jake could see the defeat in his friend's eyes.

"She'll never bee 'Sam' again," and that was the last thing either one of them said for a long time, leaving Jake to ponder just how accurate this statement was.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

They sat in silence. Jake didn't bother to look at the clock that steadily ticked away above their heads; he didn't care what time it was or how long they'd been sitting there. It didn't matter really. It felt like an eternity anyway.

As Jake sat and stared, the sun went down, but he didn't notice. People walked by, but Jake didn't care.

At one point, when his mind wasn't filled with thoughts of Sam and what was happening to her upstairs and how she was feeling, and his imagination wasn't going wild imagining all the horrible things she'd gone through, and what she was going to have to face, Jake thought back to why he'd decided to hate hospitals.

He shivered inwardly.

To him, this place meant needles and surgery and tall, faceless people in bland white coats poking him with cold metal instruments…

…And a lot of teasing from his brothers.

Not a pleasant memory in the bunch.

A bell chimed somewhere, reminding him briefly of the clock at River Bend Ranch.

Night had fallen while he'd been lost in thought, creeping up on him stealthily, silently, while he'd been thinking of something other than Sam.

Looking to his left, he saw that Darrell was in a similar state, and decided to leave him be.

He settled down to wait, and found himself swept away by his imagination again.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Darrell saw Dr. Morgan first, and launched himself from his chair towards her before Jake could even guess what was going on.

"How is she?" he asked anxiously, just barely remembering to keep his voice down in time.

Dr. Morgan nodded once in greeting to Jake, who'd arrived at the spot where she had stood waiting for them just two beats behind his friend, took a deep breath, and met Darrell's eyes, since it was he who'd asked the question, calmly, though it was clear she was a little shaken, "She's suffered from three broken fingers, a fractured wrist, four cracked ribs and severe bruising to her thighs, stomach, neck, shoulders, arms and face. She also received a minor gash to the head, a split lip and…" she trailed off, racking her brain for the right word, "…abrasions to her shoulders and breasts."

Jake and Darrell colored slightly upon hearing the last word, Darrell more noticeably so, both clearly uncomfortable with the topic of their friend's "unmentionables".

Unnoticed by the two embarrassed boys, the female doctor smirked slightly at their discomfort.

--Some things never change--

In hopes of raising their spirits a little, Dr. Morgan listed the last injury.

"There is one more," she said softly, dropping her cool, professional demeanor for the moment. Jake and Darrell, who had been sharing a distressed glance, jerked their attention back to her, clearly dreading what she was going to say.

"The knuckles of her right hand also sustained severe bruising and there was tissue under the nails of her left hand, which we collected in our rape kit," at the blank looks she received, she continued slowly, "…that means she fought back, and hard. I'm fairly sure that her attacker didn't escape unscathed, which will make him easier to identify and the tissue sample will help the case against him greatly."

Despite the severity of their situation, both Jake and Darrell nearly beamed with pride in the girl they both cared greatly for.

Timidly, Jake spoke, "Is that all?"

"Those are all the physical injuries she sustained, yes," her professional, unattached tone was back.

Jake nodded.

"Is she going to be alright, doctor?"

"Physically? …Yes, I believe she'll make a full recovery. We've treated all her cuts and scrapes and have cleaned and stitched the gash on her head. Her bruises will fade with time. But," she hurried to finish when the two boys looked relieved, "I believe that, like most victims of rape, she will suffer some psychological…problems."

"Like what?" Darrell looked cofused.

"Like paranoia. The inability to trust, particularly in men. Depression," she ticked them off one by one on her fingers, "Some of the most extreme cases also involve schizophrenia and, sometimes, suicide," Jake and Darrell looked alarmed. "It all depends on how strong she is when dealing with tragedies such as these. No two women react the same."

Silence met her words. Both young men seemed to have turned their thoughts inward.

"If you want," she continued unsteadily, "you both can go up and see her. As long as you're quiet."

Darrell adopted a comically overjoyed expression, and nodded his head wildly. The only reaction from Jake, who'd blanked out his expression, was a slight twitch of his mouth and nod of his head.

The woman nodded back and, without another word, turned on her heel and led them through the sliding double doors.

This time, they followed without hesitation.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Here we are," Dr. Morgan came to a halt in front of a plain door with the number 309 inscribed on its surface. She placed her hand on the handle, and paused, settling her gaze on the two young men who had followed her to this spot.

"Now," she said sternly, "I'm allowing you two to violate visiting hours and go in to see your friend. Please don't make me regret it," neither boy flinched under the stare she pegged them with. "If she is asleep, please respect that and don't wake her. If she happens to be awake, don't do anything to set her off. If she has another episode, she's likely to wake other patients, and it's possible she could injure herself or others. Keep your voices down, keep her calm and relaxed, and everything should be fine."

And then she left.

Jake and Darrell, stunned at her sudden departure, stared after her for a long minute. Jake came back to himself first.

Without a single word or glance at his friend, he put his hand on the door knob, turned it, and pushed.

The dim lighting of the room allowed Jake and Darrell's eyes to adjust quickly and focus on the bed in the middle of the room.

Memory shot through Jake like a bolt.

The last time he'd seen Sam in a hospital bed, he'd become aware of just how small she was. The bed dwarfed her immensely.

Because they could see she was sleeping, and both feared the wrath of Dr. Morgan, the approached the bed quietly and fought to stay silent when they witnessed the damage Ryan had done.

From head to toe, most of Sam's skin was mottled with bruises.

The area around her left eye had turned a pale, delicate purple that got darker the closer it got to the epicenter of where Ryan had hit her. The streak of blood that had graced her cheek had been washed off, but her lip was split in two places.

The bruising on her neck fanned out over her shoulders and down her arms.

At the junction where her neck and shoulders met were bruises that were even darker than those around them. They were shaped perfectly like purple handprints.

In the space between her neck and right shoulder were the "abrasions" that Dr. Morgan had spoken of. Only they weren't abrasions at all, they were teeth marks.

The bruising extended all down her arms. In addition to the discoloration, above both elbows was scored with deep scratches. Strangely, while there were five separate scratches on her left arm, there were only three on her right. With a jolt, Jake realized that this was because she'd inflicted the scratches on herself.

The last three fingers on her left hand were encased in a splint, separate from the powder blue cast around her left wrist and forearm.

Just like the doctor had mentioned, the knuckles on her right hand were bruised and scraped, all the blood cleaned away.

Her legs, the parts of them that weren't covered by the blankets anyway, were just as bad as her arms; with the bruising getting darker and denser the closer it got to her pelvic region.

The only damage to her feet was a scrape that ran over the top of her right foot.

The rest of her body was covered by the hospital gown she wore.

Ryan had beaten her thoroughly and Jake's mouth dropped open in plain mortification. He felt a mixture of sympathy and revulsion. As well as pure hatred for the bastard that had done this to Sam. His Sam.

Next to him, Darrell brought his hand to his mouth to cover it in his shock, and bit his finger to keep from crying out.

Distantly, Jake wondered how he'd managed to miss seeing all of this, especially considering all the time he'd spent at River Bend with her crying on his lap. But the reasonable part of his brain reminded him that the bruises hadn't had much time to develop fully and, even if they had, he'd been too much in shock to notice.

The same went for Darrell.

Though he tried valiantly, Jake was unable to keep his gaze from falling to the damage to her legs.

Finally, he was able to jerk his attention away as he looked to his right and whispered furiously to Darrell, "She calls this fine?!"

Darrell didn't respond. He seemed unable to stop staring at the beaten girl on the bed.

Sam twitched, as if she felt his gaze on her skin, and then she jerked awake.

Jake expected her to scream for them to get out, or start crying hysterically, or something that showed some sign of fear, but she didn't. She'd recognized them immediately, and her only reaction was to yawn and stretch lazily, as if they'd just caught her taking an afternoon nap instead. The only indication that felt the pain she'd so obviously been through was a wince when she accidentally jostled her cast while stretching.

"Hey guys," she mumbled tiredly as she came out of her yawn and she reached up to rub her eyes. She winced again when she put pressure on the bruise there, "Ouch."

Darrell stepped to her side immediately, asking if he could get her anything, if there was anything he could do at all.

Jake remained motionless and unable to speak at the foot of the bed.

Weakly, the corner of Sam's mouth rose a quarter of an inch in a sad, almost-smile at Darrell's fretting, and shook her head in response.

The purple around her eye seemed to darken as Jake looked at it. The cracks in her lip started to bleed. Blood spots decorated the gown and sheets around her thighs.

Noticing his stare, Sam self-consciously tucked her legs under the relatively white sheets. "They let me take a shower and cleaned me up a little, but the bleeding," her blush was harder to see on the half of her face that was bruised, "is normal."

Abruptly, words came to Jake, falling to the tip of his tongue effortlessly, and he blurted them out without thought, "Your family is on the way. They should be here any time.

Because he's expected this news to make her happy, which is perhaps the exact reason why he'd been so ready to blurt it out, something greatly against his character, he was surprised when she suddenly looked like she was going to cry again.

Sam looked down at her gown and plucked at it awkwardly. Then she asked quietly, "Dad's coming?" It was almost a whisper. Jake just barely caught it.

He nodded, but added when he realized she was still looking down, and couldn't see him, "Yeah. Brynna, Grace, Cody, and probably my mom, too."

Jake was caught wholly off-guard when she started to wail so loudly, both Jake and Darrell were certain they'd be kicked out and never let back in.

Darrell met his eyes in alarm.

"I don't want my dad to see me like this!"

Darrell began to try and verbally comfort her, but she didn't seem to hear a word he said.

Instead, she buried her face in her hands, which was rather difficult, because on of them was almost entirely encased in plaster, and cried, "He's gonna be so disappointed in me!"

Now Jake, too, went to her side. Darrell moved around to the other side of the bed.

"How can you say that? None of this is your fault. No matter what anyone says," she wouldn't look at him, but she did stop wailing loud enough to wake the dead. Deciding to risk the explosion it could cause, he placed a gentle finger under her chin and lifted her face to meet his eyes. She reluctantly obliged. "You understand? Wyatt ain't gonna think nothing bad about you. You hear me?"

Her large, chocolate brown eyes were fixed solely on his own.

"Mustang eyes"

Where his words had failed, his eyes succeeded.

Her world narrowed to just this moment, just this contact she was sharing with her best friend.

Her tears stopped completely. Her shallow breathing returned to normal slowly. The roaring in her ears stopped.

Jake gave her a minute, and then repeated his words slowly, to make sure they sunk in, "Your dad loves you to death, Samantha Ann. He's not going to blame you, or be disappointed in you. Do you understand me?"

Sam sniffed and nodded.

Darrell coughed. Both Jake and Sam looked at him, a little startled: they'd both forgotten he was there.

"I think we should go now, man," he shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded his head towards Sam, "You know, give her some time to rest before her dad and them gets here."

Jake nodded slowly, almost to himself, released Sam's chin and straightened with a deep sigh.

"Remember what I said, Sam," he muttered before moving towards the door.

When he touched the doorknob, he heard a noise and glanced over his shoulder at the red-headed girl he'd known practically his whole life, thinking she was about to respond, but she remained silent, staring after them.

The corner of his mouth lifted, offering her a rare smile.

And then he turned the knob, pulled open the door and stepped out, Darrell one step behind him.

As he walked down the hall towards the elevator, he tried to convince himself that he wasn't leaving her when she needed him the most.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Down in the lobby once again, Jake heard a commotion.

Jake's mom, Wyatt, Grace and Brynna, who had the 6 moth old baby Cody perched on her hip, stood at the receptionist's desk. The three women looked anxious and worried. Wyatt looked angry.

He stood in front of a cowering woman, back rigid, shoulders tense, hands palm-down and splayed flat before him on the marble smooth surface of the desk.

"What do you mean I can't see my daughter?" he bellowed.

"I'm sorry sir, but visiting hours are over," Jake half thought the woman would shrink into her skin with fright at having to face down a pissed off Wyatt Forster. Seeing that Wyatt was rapidly turning purple, he hurried at a jog down the corridor and through the doors towards the gathering.

"I'm her father, and I demand to see my daughter this instant!"

"I-I-I am very s-sorry, sir," she started to repeat, but Wyatt cut her off.

"Bring me the doctor who treated Samantha Forster! Right now!"

"Wyatt!" Jake called when he was close enough.

The Forsters and Maxine turned at Jake's voice to see him and Darrell jogging down the hall and through the sliding doors.

Saved, the poor woman wasted no time. She scrambled back behind her desk, picked up the phone, dialed, and started to rapidly speak into the mouth piece once again.

"Jake!" Mrs. Ely threw her arms around her son and hugged him furiously.

"Jake," Wyatt's voice was back to its normal volume, but now it was strained with worry. When Maxine let go of him and stepped aside, Wyatt stepped up to stand in front of him and placed his hand on the younger man's shoulder, gripping it tightly, "Where is she?"

Jake chose to ignore the pain that shot through his arm, "She's sleeping in room 309 on the third floor. Darrell and I just came from seeing her, but the doors will have been locked by now. Dr. Morgan let us in special."

Just as Wyatt was about to ask who the hell Dr. Morgan was, she walked through the sliding doors briskly, clipboard in hand. "You asked for me, sir?"

Wyatt jerked his attention from Jake to the doctor, and he released the death grip he had on Jake's shoulder.

"Yes ma'am. If you're the doctor who saw to my daughter."

"I am. Can I help you?" She scribbled something on her clipboard and crossed something else out.

"Can I see her, doctor?"

There was a moment of silence, in which Wyatt's question hung in the air between him and Dr. Morgan, and then she looked up at him and smiled kindly, "If you're family, I believe we can break the rules just this once," she turned and took a few steps, then stopped and looked over her shoulder at the group, all of whom had started forward to follow, "Only three at a time, please."

Wyatt and Grace continued to follow her down the hall, but Brynna hesitated and looked down at the smiling and laughing Cody in her arms.

"I'll take him, Brynna," Maxine held out her arms and plucked Cody from Brynna's, "You go on and see to Samantha now."

Brynna smiled gratefully at the other woman and hugged her. Then she kissed her son's nose affectionately and followed her husband and mother-in-law as they followed the doctor.

Cody giggled happily and bounced in Maxine's arms, unaware of the situation and the heavy weight that settled in the air as the doors slid closed behind Brynna with a hiss.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Wyatt and Grace did not return to the lobby once during the rest of the night. Brynna, however, had to return regularly to feed Cody and coax him to sleep.

When the sun rose, it shed its soft light on Mrs. Ely, Jake and Darrell, all asleep in their chairs.

Darrell held the sleeping Cody in his arms. He'd taken him from Maxine after she'd fallen unexpectedly asleep. Jake had suggested waking her, but Darrell insisted he could handle it. Remembering that Darrell often took care of his younger cousin, Jake conceded.

Cody was the first to wake, and, upon finding no one to feed him, started to cry.

Darrell jerked awake with a loud snort, looking a little lost, but he stood, taking Cody with him, and started to bounce up and down and side to side in a rhythm that hypnotized most infants. He moved almost mechanically, as if he was doing it out of habit, and hadn't quite registered that it wasn't his cousin he was trying to persuade to go back to sleep.

But Cody was hungry, and wouldn't calm down until his demands were met. He started to wail.

Darrell tried desperately to sooth him with words, "Ssh, baby. You're okay. Go back to sleep. It's all going to be okay…Please, go back to sleep," he almost whined the last, but Cody was having none of it.

By this time, both Jake and Mrs. Ely were awake as well, and stirring groggily in their chairs. No one else was in the lobby with them.

Just then, almost as if she was sent down from heaven as Darrell's own personal savior, Brynna strode through the doors.

Seeing her, Maxine sprang to her feet.

"Hey, little man. Are you hungry? Here, let me take him. Thanks Darrell," she held out her arms and took her son from the still slightly confused young man, then she reached into the bag she's brought with her, pulled out a bottle, and began to feed Cody.

"Brynna," Maxine began tiredly, "how is she?"

"She looks like someone beat the crap out of her," Brynna responded bluntly, and Jake and Darrell both agreed silently.

Maxine looked stunned, but did her best to offer consolation, "I know it's a cliché, but everything is going to be okay," she folded her hands behind her back and looked down at the exhausted woman carefully.

"Thank you, Maxine. But, I'm not the one who needs hearing it. Wyatt's the one who's threatening to commit violent crimes against the entire Slocum family."

"He'll have to get in line," Darrell muttered from behind Maxine.

Brynna glanced at him, but said nothing as she continued to feed her son.

Mrs. Ely, however, spun around and fixed him with a shocked look. "Darrell!" she cried, "I can't believe you just said that."

"Sorry ma'am," he said, but he didn't sound the least bit apologetic.

Maxine didn't pursue it, too tired to scold him. If she allowed herself to admit it, she didn't even think he deserved scolding for stating what everybody was thinking. She turned back to Brynna.

"How long are they going to keep her here?"

"Dr. Morgan said she'd like to keep her here till they get the blood work and the results from all the tests they did to check for STDs back," Maxine, Darrell, and Jake all looked horrified at the idea of Sam catching Chlamydia, or Syphilis or worse, HIV, after all she's already been through. Brynna continued, "She told Wyatt that they gave Sam the Morning After drug, so she wouldn't get pregnant and Wyatt looked about ready to pass out."

A few minutes passed before anyone realized that she hadn't actually answered the question.

"So that's, how long? A week, or so?" Darrell inquired.

Brynna nodded, "She'll stay about a week."

Silence reigned for a few minutes; the only sound was Cody sucking on his bottle.

Then, Jake abruptly broke it, "Wyatt's not thinking about sending her back to San Francisco, is he?"

Darrell and Mrs. Ely looked at him, alarmed, but Brynna only glanced up at him for a second before returning her attention back to her baby, "He mentioned it, but Dr. Morgan talked him out of it before I could," Jake hid his relief from everybody, "Besides," Brynna continued, "I don't think he was serious. He knows, without having to be told by a doctor, that separating Sam from her family and friends at a time like this could only lead to disaster," she paused as Cody stopped drinking to burp and then latched his mouth back on to the nipple of the bottle, "I think he was just scared."

Everybody was quiet again for a few more minutes, watching Cody.

Then the silence was broken again, this time by Darrell, "You're going to press charges, right?"

That startled Brynna. "Of course we are. We won't let him get away with this, Darrell," she sighed, "We won't know anything until the rape kit comes back, but Sam insisted that she didn't shower until they'd gotten all that they needed. So there should be plenty of evidence against Ryan."

Darrell nodded.

After a moment's thought, Brynna added, "Dr. Morgan told us that she would call the Sheriff first thing in the morning," then she looked out the window at the rising sun, "If she did, Heck should be here at anytime. When he comes, could you direct him to Sam's room, please?" she spoke to all of them, but she looked at Maxine when she said it.

"Of course, Brynna, you don't even need to ask," Maxine hurried to assure her friend.

But Jake was still troubled about something, and it showed clearly on his face.

"Jake?" Brynna looked at him with a furrowed brow.

Jake hesitated for a second, then rushed to say everything he was thinking before he lost his nerve, "you said Wyatt was threatening to hurt Ryan," it wasn't a question, but Brynna responded anyway.

"He wasn't serious, Jake. He knows he can't touch Ryan if we want every chance we can get to put him away with his father."

Jake nodded, wishing she hadn't said anything, because it made it that much harder for him to continue speaking, but he did his best, "Yeah, but…" he searched for the right way to phrase it, "…My brothers aren't as reasonable, and they see Sam as the little sister they never had. There's no telling what they'll do once they get back from the cattle drive."

Maxine didn't seem the least bit shocked at the statement that her sons got into fights to settle their problems with others.

"We'll just have to find a way to keep them away from Ryan. We can't take the chance that Ryan's lawyers will convince the judge to use any injury your brothers give him to postpone the trial, or drop it altogether."

Everyone nodded at Brynna's words. She turned a pointed gaze to Darrell and said sternly, "That means you, too."

Darrell nodded reluctantly, looking disappointed.

Brynna looked at Maxine, "I know you'll do your best to keep them away from him, Maxine, but I think we should let Sheriff Ballard know that Sam's case is in danger when he gets here. He'll know what to do."

People started to trickle in through the front doors of the hospital. Seeing them, Brynna was reminded that her step-daughter was upstairs and she needed to get back to her.

"I'd better go. Grace and I have to try and convince Wyatt to go home and get some proper sleep, even though we both know he'll never agree to it. I'm pretty sure none of us will be able to get a good night's sleep for weeks, but Grace and I need to go back to River Bend anyway," she handed Cody back to Maxine, who looked at her quizzically, but took the baby anyway. Seeing the look she was getting from the other woman, Brynna elaborated, "The police need to get in the house to gather evidence, and then we need to clean it all up before Sam goes back there."

She stretched and started to walk back through the sliding doors. Suddenly, she stopped, turned and ran back to the three surprised people, hugging each one of them furiously in turn.

"Thank you," she sniffed, "for all you've done. I speak for me, Wyatt, Grace, and Sam."

Then she turned from them again and started the trek back up to Sam's room.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So…I finally finished it. I was just reading through it again for the 5th time, and it seemd a little rushed to me. Sorry :/ Anyway, if there's anything wrong with it, any errors that I looked over, please, don't hesitate to let me know. Please remember that I'm still trying to get my feet back underneath me with regards to my writing. It's hard to produce a quality chapter when you're just finding your muse again. Aside from that, how about you push that little button and give me some feedback, yeah: