CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Title: "Forever and Always: For Eternity"

Author: Michelle Heath

Rating: MA for adult situations and language

Summary: Story #6 in the Salvation, Forever and Always Series. The honor of your presence is requested at the wedding of Lana Palea and Chin Ho Kelly.

Disclaimer: I so do not own Hawaii Five-0; unfortunately! All original characters are the sole property of the author!

Date Written: June 6, 2011

(Taking the damp paper towels from her mother's hand, Sam take over the task of gently dabbing at the blood oozing from Chin's knuckles. She offers him a small smile when she looks up and finds him looking at her with a sheepish expression on his face. Deciding it's now or never, Sam quietly begins talking.)

"How much do you know about how my biological parents died, Chin?"

"Just that they died in an accident. Steve said you were seventeen when it happened."

"My father was thinking about retiring from the Navy and he and my mother had decided that they wanted to live in Virginia after he retired. They had driven down to the southern part of the state to look at some property they were interested in and were supposed to spend the night. Caroline and I were in our first year at the Naval Academy and it was about two weeks before we were going to be home for the Christmas break, so my parents were going to spend the night at a country inn my mother had found on the internet. Sort of a romantic getaway for them before the holidays came around and their seventeen year-old daughter was in the house for awhile and, well, I think you get the idea. I'll never know why they decided to drive back to Washington that night, but they did. It was dark and raining, and they were on a two-lane country road. . .

(Sam's eyes are getting misty and Chin realizes that what she's about to tell him is going to cost her; dearly. Neither of them notice Steve and Danny slip back into the room and the attention of everyone else present is riveted on Sam and Chin, but they don't notice them, either)

"Sam, you don't have to. .."

"Yes, I do, Chin. I've been right where you are now. I really do understand what you're going through. Please, let me finish. . . They were hit head-on by a drunk driver. He was an aide to a sitting United States Senator and had just left a party at the Senator's country home. His blood alcohol level was over twice the legal limit, but he walked away from the accident without so much as a scratch. He was so drunk that he couldn't find his cellular phone in the wreckage, and stumbled around for awhile before finally finding his way to a house. The people who lived there testified that he was so drunk he was actually laughing when he told them he thought he'd 'had a little accident'. They called the Sheriff's Department and the Highway Patrol and, well, by the time they got to the scene, it was too late; my parents were both dead. If that bastard had of been able to get his hands on his phone or gone straight to the house where he finally ended up, which was only half a mile from the scene of the accident, and given them directions sooner, my parents my have survived. I found out later that it took my mother over an hour to die, and my father died about half an hour after she did. My father was still holding my mother in his arms when they found them."

(By now, tears are steadily streaming, unchecked, down Sam's face as well as Libby's, and Caroline and Kono aren't far behind. Mike is wiping his eyes and Danny, Tony, and the other SEALS are looking very grim. Steve, his heart breaking for what Sam's going through right now, wisely stays back and lets her finish. He is very grateful for his mother-in-law's arm which slides around his waist, and, as he puts an arm around her shoulders, he's not sure who's comforting who.)

"Because my father was an active duty Naval officer, NCIS became a part of the investigation. By the time they got involved, it was very early the next morning. They called the Pentagon where my Dad was working, but found out that I was their only living relative and was at the Naval Academy so they called the Thrashers after someone in my father's office told them they were on my father's emergency contact list. Mike was out of the country TDY, but Libby was home so she went to Bethesda to. . To identify their bodies. After that, she drove up to Annapolis to tell me herself and then brought me and Caroline back to D.C. She got a call from the NCIS agent assigned to the case who demanded that she bring me to the hospital to identify my parents' bodies as the next of kin even though she'd already done so; he said he didn't want the man accused of hitting them to have any possibility of getting off on a technicality because proper procedures weren't followed. So, we went to Bethesda and down to the morgue, and . . ."

(And this time it's Steve who steps forward and puts his hand on Sam's shoulder.)

"Sam, Baby, you really don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do, Steve! I've never. . . I've never been able to talk about this before, and . . . I have to do this, Steve! I have to get this out!"

(And although it nearly kills him to do so, he steps back and lets her finish. Turning back to Chin, Sam is not the least bit surprised to find that, instead of her taking care of Chin's skinned knuckles, he is now gripping both of her hands in his tightly.)

"There had been a horrible pile up on the Beltway that morning and the Emergency Room was overflowing with patients so the hospital staff hadn't been able to. . wipe off the blood or do much of anything except move my parents' bodies to the morgue and cover them with sheets. When we got down there, they just . . Pulled the sheets back and . . There they were. They both had deep gashes all over their faces and upper bodies, and they were so gray and cold and stiff. . . I formally identified them and then. . . I'm ashamed to say I fainted on the spot like some weak, little girl."

"You were only seventeen, Sam! My God, how could anyone in their right mind make a seventeen year-old girl do something like that?"

"The man was just doing his job, Chin. You have to do things you don't really want to sometimes; we all do. Anyway, I wanted you to know that I really do understand exactly what you're feeling right now; the anger, the rage that you're feeling toward the man who hit Lana, the sense of complete helplessness because there was nothing, nothing you could have done to prevent the accident, the fear that's eating away at you because you don't have the slightest clue what to do next. . . So here's what you need to know. First, unlike my parents, Lana's alive. She's young and strong, and she's a fighter. She's going to need you, need your strength in the coming days and weeks, and she needs to see you with a smile on your face and a positive attitude. No matter what happens, you have to be strong for her. Secondly, you have a lot of people, including every, single person in this room, who cares deeply about you; you are not alone in this. Don't shut yourself off, Chin, don't be hesitant to reach out and talk to someone, anyone at any time. Believe me, I know, you need to let us in, you need to let us help you because you can't help Lana if you don't allow us to help you. So, let us, okay?"

(Nodding his head slightly, Chin embraces Sam and hugs her tightly for a moment.)

"Thank you, Sam. I know that wasn't easy for you, but thank you for telling me. You're right, I do need to be strong for Lana, and . . I do know that you're all here for me."

"Call me. Anytime, Chin, day or night, and I mean that."

"I know you do, Sam."