Part Two

Dr. Marlena Evans was just leaving her daughter Sami's hospital room,
when a wiry, sunbleached tornado otherwise known as William R Roberts
whirled into her, sending the chart, the clutch, and everything else
she was holding, flying in all directions.

"Hey sorry, DocMom!" the nine year old yelped, "But Dad promised we
wouldn't be late comin' to see Mom, and it's already nearly quarter
after, and visitor hours are over at 6. I saw it on the sign, on the
door coming in from the garage!"

Marlena laughed, shaking her head at the youngster, whose impatience
was pure Sami. "Visiting hours are posted on the entry as a
guideline, Will, because when most people are in the hospital, they
need extra rest. But it's been a long time since SUMC put that kind
of restriction on family members. Do you know what restriction means?"

"Yeah, well, its like ... rules or limits, you know like term limits?
Yeah, we read about those right before school got out." Will grinned,
while he bent down to pick up the chart. "Hey, this is Mom's chart!
Can I look at it?"

"Will!" Lucas Roberts called out impatiently, rushing after his
son. "First of all, didn't you forget to apologize for almost
knocking Dr. Evans off her feet? And second of all, did you already
forget that we talked about not calling people nicknames while
they're at work? That goes for my mom, for your great Gran, and that
goes for Dr. Evans, too. And third, of all, what makes you think
you're allowed to read patient's charts here, or that you'd
understand them if you did? Sorry, Dr. Evans. He got away from me
when I stopped at the gift shop cos Will said he had to bring Sami
something pretty. I should have known it was a scam! Will, Dr Evans
and I are waiting for your apology, and you're not stepping foot in
your mom's room until we hear it."
"Dad! I did too already say I'm sorry." Will protested. "The elevator
was so totally slow, I shoulda come up the stairs! And you promised
Mom we'd be here at quarter after, and its quarter after now!
Besides, I was looking at a med term site last night, its not so
hard, once you get the roots down. Is it D... Dr Evans?"

"Well, I don't know, Will." Marlena grinned at her grandson. "It was
awfully hard for me, at first. Like learning another language. But
then Sam, my sister, was the really bright one in the family. I told
you something about my twin, didn't I? Roman and I named your mom
after her."

"Yeah. And Ro... Captain Brady showed me her picture once" Will
agreed, trying hard not to jitter from one foot to the other.

"That's fine. Why don't you go ahead and take that present into Sami
now. I want to ask your dad something. Okay, Will?"

Almost tearing the balloon basket out of his father's hands, Will was
through the door of Sami's room almost before Lucas or Marlena could
blink.

"Lucas, I think its time you signed that bright boy up for Harvard
Medical, or Johns Hopkins." Marlena said, half seriously. "He's
growing up so fast!"

Lucas smiled, "Yeah, well you'll have to argue that point with Uncle
Mickey, he wants Will locked into Yale Law School, as of yesterday,
or worse, Oxford! I mean, I'm not going to lie, the kids' smart as a
whip, and he didn't get it from me. He's all Sami's, in that way. I
used to say he got his good manners from me, but those seem to have
gone out the window, lately. Is Will's schooling what you wanted to
talk about?"

"No, no, you're doing fine with Will, and I wouldn't say so if I
didn't mean it. It's Sami I'm still concerned about and I know you've
been visiting a lot. No, Lucas, I don't have a problem with that at
all, and Sami doesn't seem to either." the psychiatrist reassured
him. " But she's having trouble sleeping, all her nurses, and her
resident have told me. Have you noticed it?"

"Yeah. Yeah, several times, when I've been visiting late. If I
understand what Sami wrote me, she's having pretty scarey dreams. But
she doesn't remember them, what happens in them, when she wakes up
again. Only the fear. I suppose in a way that's good, cos they seem
pretty bad. And then, she's afraid to go back to sleep. What do you
think we can do about it, Dr Evans? I don't want anything more to
happen to Sami then she's already gone through, honest. She's Will's
mother and he just adores her."

"Well, that answer does help, Lucas. And Will visiting her today is
going to help a great deal. She's missed him so much. Does he
understand about her injury?"

"Yeah, we went all through that last night and again this morning.
The other thing he got on the way here was another whiteboard. His
idea was that they could write back and forth, so that Sami would see
he's not weirded out by all this, even though he is. Well, so am I!"

"Aren't we all." Marlena heard herself saying before she could stop
the words.
"Lucas, there's something more I want to say to you. I know that
Roman gave you a really hard time the day of Sami's accident. I only
know because he told me later how ashamed he was of how over the top
he'd been, then and earlier that same day. I doubt he'd ever say the
same to you, but its true. That day, that awful day, we all let Sami
down, just terribly.
And believe me, anyone who hurts my girl is in big trouble with me. I
told Roman and Tony that, and when I get a chance, you may believe
I'll tell Brandon Walker! I can't believe he hasn't even bothered to
call. I know his sister called him. And I'm going to have a word or
two with the person who engineered all that trouble, Lexie!. I can't
believe we used to be such friends! It just makes me furious to think
I liked and supported her!
But I've been watching you, Lucas. I know it may seem like I'm
prying, but I'm a mother, after all. I know you've been trying to
make amends, to make some kind of peace with my sweet girl, and I'm
very glad. It will be the best thing you could do for Will, and Sami
and yourself. So ... thanks."

Then Marlena stunned Lucas by reaching out and hugging him close, for
just a moment. When she pulled back, he still didn't know what to
say. So, for safety's sake, he went back to their mutual
interest. "Do you think Sami can get over this, Dr. Evans? I know how
strong she is and just exactly how stubborn she can be. But whatever
is scaring her so badly... "

"Well, maybe having a psychiatrist for a mother will help Sami, this
time. Go ahead and have some time with your family." Marlena
suggested, surprising Lucas for the second time in less than a
minute. "I'll talk to Sami later about these dreams. They are kind of
in my line of work. Thanks again, Lucas."