Chapter 2
Sami woke an hour later to Bailey and Sami's sons chattering away about her new life she was about to embark on. To tell the truth, she was more than scared about this transition. What if she didn't like Alaska? The place could be quite cold in the winter. She was 13 years older than Bailey. Bailey could handle it; she could handle just about anything. She was strong, much stronger than Sami could ever wish to be. She had lived with abuse from her husband for over 20 years and that had made her weak. Every time someone was angry with her, she would withdraw. Bailey would often try to draw her out to no avail. Bailey was good for that. When she was your friend, she couldn't stand for you to be sad or mad. She would do anything for you. That is why Sami loved her. She always thought of someone else before she thought of herself.
Sami adjusted in the bed and caught the attention of her visitors. She grimaced in pain and in disappointment that she had drawn attention to herself, yet she kept her eyes closed. She knew better than to make a noise with these three. They would jump like jackals and she would have no peace then. All she wanted, craved even was peace. A nice place to call hers and to do what she wanted. She had put up with Colt and his moods for over 20 years. His verbal jabs at her had cut her to the quick. He tried to keep her away from Bailey, which hurt both her and Sami. For three years, he kept Bailey away. For three years he had abused Sami verbally and mentally. Now that it had become physical, she couldn't stay any longer. He would kill her next time. She just knew it.
Sami heard Bailey suggest that the three of them go take care of some business and let Sami rest. She heard two sets of feet leave. Sami risked a peek and saw Bailey watching her, smiling. Bailey winked and walked out of the room. Sami smiled and shook her head. Bailey knew her too well.
2
Sig paced in his room as June packed to leave. His mind was reeling with the thought of her leaving forever. He couldn't imagine life without her. She was his soul mate, his lover, and the mother of his children! He lit a cigarette to keep from crying in front of her. He didn't want to look like a pussy. If he cried, she would laugh at him and never come back.
"Would you stop pacing Sig!" June shouted at him.
Sig stopped in his tracks and stared at her. He wondered why she hated him so much. Why did she want to leave so badly? A thought that he had suppressed came rushing to the front of his mind. She had someone else. That was it, some other man!
"It's someone else isn't it?" Sig asked as he sunk to the bed and hung his head while taking a drag from his cigarette. The smoke burned at the lump forming in his throat. He swallowed hard to try to make it go away. That didn't work, as soon as he swallowed tears formed in his eyes. He jumped up and moved to the window by the bed trying to keep her from seeing him getting emotional.
"No, I told you. When I called to say my sister had died and you didn't offer to come home for me and left me to deal with this on my own, that was the end of us. I am tired of being second to the Bering Sea! The damn ocean is your wife and I am only your mistress. I am tired. I am going home to Norway, and I am taking the kids. You can see them when you aren't too busy sitting in that stupid captains chair." June huffed, picked up her bags, and walked out the door.
Sig listened as she walked down the stairs and exited the house. She was gone. He felt empty inside. Almost like a hole had been torn in his heart. He snubbed out the cigarette in his ashtray by the bed and lay down. That night, Sig cried himself to sleep.
Sig awoke the next morning to sunshine. "Fucking sun…" Sig muttered as he rolled out of bed. He didn't bother to shower or shave like normal. He merely trudged downstairs for some coffee. As he reached for the carafe, he realized there was no coffee made.
"June!" Sig yelled, still half asleep. "There's no coffee made!"
The silence that followed hit Sig hard. The memories of yesterday came rushing back like a Mac truck. It hit him in the heart like a sledgehammer. He frowned and growled in anger and hurt and threw the carafe across the kitchen, shattering it to a million pieces. He couldn't help but think, "Just like my heart." Sig sighed and changed his mind on the coffee and grabbed a bottle of vodka and a sprite out of the fridge. For the rest of the day, Sig drank the hurt away.
3
Bailey woke to her cell phone ringing. It was John calling from his Seattle home. They had taken to living in Seattle for the summer and traveling together from time to time. Bailey had gotten a summer teaching job for an online college teaching English to help with the summer lull. They still didn't want to marry, but they were acting as if they were. She rolled over and grabbed the phone.
"Hello, captain! How's my old man?" Bailey greeted him in her usual way.
John chuckled as usual. "I would be better if I could reach Sig. We had plans today and now I can't find him. He's not answering his phone, and he doesn't seem to be home. I checked with Ed, but he hadn't heard from him in a couple days."
"Well, maybe he and June are out doing something. You know how she can make him forget about anything." Bailey suggested.
"Maybe. But this doesn't feel right." John mused.
"You keep looking for him. He will pop up somewhere. He always does. Listen, I have to go get Sami. She is being released today and we will be heading that way tomorrow. I think we will be spending a few more weeks in Seattle with you to get her healed physically at least. She has been having nightmares. She wakes up screaming, so the doctor put her on sedatives to keep her from opening stitches. But she wakes up the next morning looking trapped and having panic attacks. I'm worried about her John. She is showing the same symptoms I did after I left my parents house and even after Nick and Gia kidnapped us."
John sighed, "I know how hard that was. You know how to help her though. I just hope you aren't getting in over your head."
"Me too. Oh, one more thing before I go. Paul said I can get the girls for the rest of the summer, so how about one last trip of the season?" Bailey asked.
"I will start planning!" John said now excited. He loved the kids as much as he loved their mother. So this trip may be all for them. "Maybe a trip to Disney." John thought.
"Ok, see you soon." Bailey said as she closed her phone.
A few hours later, Bailey had picked up Sami and they were headed to the hotel for a night before they were to make the trek to Seattle. As they got settled in, Sami remained quiet. Bailey filled the silence with chatter, but Sami barely heard her. The only thing Sami heard was that Giovanni was staying with his older brother for the rest of the summer and that she would be staying in Seattle for two weeks.
4
Sig paced around the house non-stop for three days. June wouldn't answer his calls and her mom wouldn't let him speak to her. He was going insane not hearing her voice and speaking to the kids. He had to do something. He stopped at the bay window looking out at the garden. He saw the flowers and bushes June had planted there ever so lovingly and carefully. Something within Sig snapped. He marched to the garage and pulled out the hedge trimmers, ax and the mower. For the next hour, he worked out his anger and frustration on the garden. When he was done, not a bush or flower was standing.
Sig sat soaked with sweat when the phone rang in the house. He jumped up to grab it when he saw the caller id. It was just Johnathan for the millionth time. He didn't feel like bashing marriage with Johnathan today. He decided to let the answering machine answer it. When the machine picked up, it was June's voice asking for him to leave a message. He choked back tears of hurt and sorrow at the sound of her voice. The machine finally beeped for Johnathan to leave a message.
"Hey, buddy! You missed our weekly night out. I am starting to get a little worried about you. Give me a call when you get this. See you later!" The machine beeped as Johnathan hung up.
Sig sat on the bar stool by the phone and ran his fingers through his hair. He didn't know what he was going to do to get June back, but he knew he couldn't hide in his house forever. Sig sighed and went up stairs to shower. After his shower, he grabbed his cell and called Johnathan. He had to get out and calling Johnathan was guaranteed to keep his mind off of June for a while.
5
The following day, Sami and Bailey left for Seattle. The night had been a long one. Like Bailey a few months ago, Sami woke several times in the night screaming and throwing up. Now Sami was aloof and withdrawn. Bailey looked worried for her friend but strangely confident in Sami's future. Sami wasn't so sure. During the flight, Sami had somehow fallen asleep. The next thing she knew, she was reliving the horrible night all over again. The scene was black and white. She felt horror as she saw the dream coming from the back of her mind.
"Sami heard Cord yelling and Giovanni crying. That was strange, Giovanni never cries and when he cries, something is terribly wrong. Sami walked in to Giovanni's room to see Cord standing over Giovanni about to punch him in the face. From the looks of it, this wouldn't be the first time. Something inside Sami snapped. He can do that to her all day long, but to her child? No.
Sami screamed a primal mom scream and punched Cord hard in the kidneys. Cord grunted and went down to his knees. "GO! RUN!" Sami screamed at Giovanni.
Giovanni ran past his dad and out to the neighbors house. Sami growled and kicked at Cord while he was down. Cord reached for her leg and pulled her down to the floor. He reached for her arm as she tried to struggle away. She wasn't strong enough or fast enough to get away. Cord climbed quickly to his knees and started punching her in the face and body. Sami screamed in pain and fear. She prayed for help and no help came. She prayed for him to stop and all went black."
She woke screaming and thrashing in her seat. People were touching her and making her thrash harder. She heard Bailey yell at those people to let her go. She heard Bailey explain to them that she was suffering from PTSD from an ordeal she just went through. Then Sami felt it, she was going to throw up. Someone held something to her mouth and she lost her breakfast. She regained full consciousness a while later. Bailey was rubbing Sami's back and people were staring.
"It happened again didn't it?" Sami asked Bailey.
"Yep, hon. it did." Bailey said in a soothing voice.
The remainder of the flight, Sami stayed awake and stared in to space. She had to get control of herself, she kept reminding herself. The rest of the flight was hell. When they landed, she grabbed her things and walked with Bailey to the baggage claim. She startled every time a tall blonde man would walk past, shrinking back behind Bailey and almost hyperventilating. Bailey would grab her and walk by her side with an arm around Sami's shoulders. As they grabbed their bags, she saw Bailey's boyfriend. He was tall and thankfully dark haired. She barely heard them as she was introduced to this man. His name started with a J though. That much she knew.
They walked to Johnathan and Bailey's car and loaded her stuff in. Sami slid in to the back seat and sat quietly the whole ride. Everything was a blur. Nothing made sense. The next thing she knew, it was time for bed and Bailey was handing her some pills. "These will help you sleep better. Maybe not see so much in your head." Bailey said as Sami swallowed the pills. She hoped Bailey was right, because the dreams were killing her.
