Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter!!! Sorry for the late update…I had a crazy-busy weekend! But I hope to make it up to you all this week! Enjoy!

Come Back to Me

Come Back to Me – song and lyrics by David Cook

"I'll let you go, I'll set you free, and when you see what you need to see, when you find you, come back to me, and I hope that you find everything that you need, I'll be right here waiting to see, when you find you, come back to me, And I can't get close when you're not here, I can't get inside if there's no soul there, I can't fix you, I can't save you, that's something you'll have to do, so I'll let you go ,I'll set you free, and when you see what you need to see, when you find you, come back to me…"

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Amber sat down on the sand and stared out at the ocean. She sighed sadly as she watched the sun slowly sink beneath the horizon. She felt absolutely miserable. Part of her missed Sig terribly, but the other part of her was relieved that she had escaped this doomed relationship. Every time a man had yelled at her it ended badly…and often very badly for her.

Just then the sliding glass door to the small beach house opened and a young woman stepped outside. She was about the same age as Amber but had auburn colored hair and walked with confidence. As Amber watched her sister walk over to her she found herself wishing desperately she had been more like Emily.

"How you doin'?" asked Emily as she handed Amber a glass of iced tea and sat down next to her in the sand.

Amber sighed and ran a hand through her wind-blown hair, "I'm okay I guess. Just glad to be here…where it's safe."

Emily frowned slightly at that, "Amber, you're going to be just fine. And of course you're safe! You're with me! Your big, tough, older sister…no one messes with me and no one messes with my little sister!"

Amber smiled slightly. Her sister was quite the spit-fire that was for sure. The sun finally finished its descent below the horizon and Amber yawned and stretched as she slowly stood up.

"Well I think I'm going to go on and get some sleep," she murmured, "Lord knows I need it."

Emily nodded in agreement, "Yeah, you go get some rest. I'll be in in a few minutes."

Emily watched as her younger sister walked back inside. She sighed and shook her head as she thought about all that her sister had been through…

Their dad had been a deadbeat from day one. He often came home drunk, cussing and threatening the family. Their mom put up with it for a long time, until he started to become violent. He started to beat their mom when he was drunk and angry. The two young girls could do nothing but put their pillows over their heads and try to block out the screams. Finally their mom had enough and in the middle of the night she decided to leave. She took Amber and Emily with her and they ran away. They found an apartment that was affordable but not really all that great. It was rundown and something new seemed to break every day. The girls didn't complain because now they didn't have to worry about their dad coming home to hurt their mom and that's all they really wanted. But soon enough their mom started dating again and the men she brought home were no better than their dad and many of them were much, much worse.

One man in particular found himself rather attracted to the young, fourteen year old Amber. One night when he was over he snuck into the girl's room and woke Amber up. He told her that he needed to show her something and that it was very important. Amber followed him out of the room and into the bathroom. The man immediately shut the door and gagged Amber. It was the worse night of Amber's life and the night that had continued to affect her even today. All of her relationships with men ended the same way. They'd yell at her, curse at her, threaten her or even hurt her and she would run back to Emily. Her older sister…the only one that made her feel safe again…

Emily shook her head, trying to scatter the dark thoughts away as she stood up and turned to go back inside. The one thing that was different about Amber's return was that she seemed so depressed. The other times she had simply been scared or angry but never depressed or upset. This man must have really meant a lot to her. That made Emily's blood boil. A man had found his way into her little sister's heart and broke it.

"That man better pray he never meets me," she muttered darkly as she closed the sliding glass door behind her and retreated to her bedroom.

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"Okay, so what's the game plan?" asked Maggie as she and the other nurses and Sig sat outside on the veranda of Sig's rather lavish home. The ocean roared behind them as they sat, sipping on coffee and trying to figure out what to do next.

"Well I say we call relatives," suggested Sig as he shot Sasha a look, "Parents, siblings, anyone she may have run off too."

"Well her parents are no longer in the picture," said Sasha as she pulled her long, dark brown hair into a ponytail, "Dad ran off a long time ago and Amber and her sister left their mom's place the second they turned eighteen."

"Sister?" asked Jenny.

Sig's face lit up with excitement at that. He looked at Sasha hopefully.

"Yeah she has a sister named Emily," said Sasha as her face brightened suddenly, "And you know what? I think I have her number in my phone from when Amber went to go visit her last year!"

Maggie and Jenny shared excited looks while Sig sat quietly, wringing his hands nervously as he waited for Sasha to scroll through her contacts in her cell phone. After a moment Sasha stopped and looked up at them with a smile on her face.

"Got it."

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It was in the middle of the night and Amber and Emily were both sound asleep with the phone rang.

Emily cursed irritably as she tripped over something in the hallway. Amber was already in the kitchen and reached up to grab the phone.

"I got it, Em," she murmured tiredly, "Go on back to bed."

Emily grumbled and grabbed a glass from the cabinet, "After I get a drink of water."

"Hello?" asked Amber into the cordless phone.

"Amber? Amber is that you?" exclaimed Sasha excitedly.

Sig looked like he was going to jump out of the chair and grab the phone out of her hands. Maggie shot the captain a warning look. Sig frowned irritably at her but it was enough to keep him at bay.

"Sasha?" asked Amber in surprise, "Oh hey, what's up?"

"What's up?!" exclaimed Sasha with a laugh, "Oh gee I dunno, just that my best friend ran out on me and her boat out of nowhere and didn't tell anyone where she was going that's all!"

"Oh, Sasha I'm sorry about that," began Amber as she rubbed her tired eyes, "I just had to get out of there fast."

"Yeah I know he told us."

"He? Us? Who told who what?" asked Amber in confusion.

"Sig…Sig told me and the other nurses what happened. We went looking for you after you left so quickly that night."

"Oh," muttered Amber.

"Look, Amber I know he hurt your feelings yelling at you like that but I assure you he is desperately sorry. He wants to see you again."

Amber grew very quiet as she contemplated that, "And…and how do you know this?"

"Because me, Maggie and Jenny are all sitting with him on the veranda of his rather nice house."

Amber froze, "What? Wait, what? Why?"

"Amber calm down…we all want to find you. We miss you and I guarantee you Sig misses you more than anyone."

Amber shook her head, "No…no Sasha I can't do this."

"Amber…"

"I'm sorry, I can't."

Amber hung up the phone and put her head in her hands. Emily immediately moved over to her and put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

"Sasha and the other nurses are at Sig's house," she sobbed, "She says he misses me and that they're trying to find me."

Amber felt her older sister stiffen with anger at that, "He has some nerve! I bet he tricked your friends into helping him find you. Look don't you worry. He won't find you and if he does I'll take care of him. Don't worry Amber I'll keep you safe. No one is going to hurt you ever again."

Amber smiled gratefully up at her sister, "Thanks, Em."

"Now you better go and try to get some more rest," said Emily as she led Amber back to her room, "And don't worry about Sig Hansen. He won't even come close to you while I'm around."

Amber gave her sister a hug before she went back into her room and closed the door behind her. She sank onto the bed and curled up with her pillow and cried herself to sleep…

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Song and lyrics by David Cook

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