Chapter 23- The Safest Place

Julian and Alexis still hadn't wakened up. Lucas offered to stay with them while Sam and Danny went to check on Kristina. Dante and Michael were at her side like glue. They said they'd already lost their dad and Morgan all over again, they weren't going to lose Kristina too. Bobbie was on babysitting duty, but Michael insisted she not let Carly be alone with Jonah because she lost his trust three years ago with regards to his son.

"Come on, Krissy," Sam said squeezing her hand. "You can do this. You have so much to live for."

Knock. Knock.

Danny whipped his head around to find Chase standing in the doorway, white in the face.

"I… I just heard about Kristina," Chase said.

Michael nodded at Sam. "He had a procedure done yesterday, he's good."

Sam rose from her chair next to Kristina's bed and patted it. "Give it a shot. But if she wakes up and says she doesn't want you here, then you need to leave."

Sam moved beside Danny and wrapped her arm around him as tears spilled down her cheeks.

Chase filled Sam's seat and lifted Kristina's hand. "Kristina, it's me. Chase. I'm so sorry I hurt you. I never would have… if it weren't for the mind-mapping… I wish I fought it. Please wake up. I love you."

Kristina stirred.

Sam placed a hand over her heart and looked up at Danny.

"Kristina?" Chase said.

"I—I love you too." Kristina slowly opened her eyes and smiled.

Chase leaned forward and kissed her.

"You gave us a scare there," Dante said.

Michael grinned. "But you're strong. I knew you'd pull through."

Sam walked over and kissed her forehead. "We love you, Krissy."

"Hey, how are you feeling Kristina?" Patrick asked as he walked in.

"I'm really tired," Kristina said.

"That's normal," Patrick said. "And good news, Nikky is recovering nicely."

"How about my dad?" Sam asked.

Patrick frowned. "I'm afraid he's slipped into a coma."

Sam buried her face in her hands and cried.

"Kristina, can you tell me anything about when you were in the sewer?" Patrick asked. "I'm sure there was a lot of strange smells, but anything garlicky?"

She shook her head. "It didn't smell at all down there."

Patrick sighed. "You probably just got so used to it. Did any of you touch the water?"

She shook her head again, but then nodded. "Wait… yeah… Lexie fell in the deeper water a few weeks ago and Julian jumped in and rescued her."

"Well, that makes sense," Patrick said. "That's probably why they had it the worst. The rest of you probably just inhaled it."

"My dad's going to wake up though, right?" Sam asked.

Patrick swallowed hard. "I'm sorry, but I don't know. I'm going back to check on him." He turned and left.

Sam pushed away some of her tears with her fingers and Danny followed her out to the hallway.

Sam exhaled deeply. "Okay, please tell me why your sister was upset?"

"She'll be fine," Danny said. "You have enough on your plate right now."

"Danny… I need to know. Don't sugar-coat it."

Danny sighed. "She got frustrated when Willow tried teaching her how to play chess. She threw the board and had a bit of a meltdown. She begged for her old bathroom."

Her eyes grew wide. "The one back in V-Town?"

"Yeah, she felt safe there because there were no cameras. We tried telling her she's safe here, but she thinks you and Dad are going to leave her again."

Sam rubbed her temples. "Because she was told for three years that we abandoned her."

Danny nodded. "I can go check on her if you want."

"Thank you, but I think this one's on me."

Danny tagged along anyway. Drew was kneeling next to Scout's bed, his head lowered.

"Come on, Princess," Drew said. "How about we go get come ice cream? A hot fudge sundae, how does that sound?"

"Noooo!" Scout screamed from under the bed. "I wanna go back to my bathroom!"

Sam sighed and crouched down on the other side of the bed. "Scout, sweetie, Mommy's here."

"No!" Scout cried. "Go away, I want my bathroom!"

Danny chewed on his fingernails.

"I know you felt safe in your bathroom," Sam said. "But you can feel safe here too."

"No, he's watching!"

"Princess, he's not watching," Drew said. "There's no cameras here."

"The Almighty V is everywhere except my bathroom!" Scout shouted. "And he'll be mad I'm not in the Children's District!"

"But you're not just out of the Children's District," Drew said.

"Your dad's right," Sam said. "You're completely out of V-Town and we won't let the V get to you."

"Everywhere is V-Town," Scout said. "The whole world is V-Town and me and Danny and Willow and Violet and everybody will be flushed for leaving!"

"I know that's what you were told, but they were wrong," Sam said.

"The Almighty V isn't wrong! He saved us."

"Saved you from what?" Drew asked.

"From a bad bad world that Mommys and Daddys left us in."

"We didn't leave you," Drew said. "The V took us away from you and locked us up so he could control you."

"He said that Mommys and Daddys are liars," Scout said.

"Well, did he say I'm a liar?" Danny spoke up.

"No," Scout said.

"Because I'm telling you that Mom and Dad aren't lying to you," Danny said. "The V is the one who lied. He kept them from us."

"Do you remember when Nelle hit Willow across the face with her belt?" Sam asked. "It was in your classroom and you hid beneath your desk."

Danny lowered his gaze. She would have seen his beatings too.

"That lady helped create the telephone and discovered electricity," Scout said in a shaky voice.

"Well, she didn't…" Sam sighed. "But you hid under your desk, she made you scared right?"

Scout started crying. "She hurt Willow really bad."

"I know she did," Sam said. "And she was working with the V. The V hurt a lot of people too, including Mommy and Daddy. He kept us from you."

"I want Willow to take me to my bathroom." Scout whimpered.

"And I'm glad you feel safe with Willow and I'm glad you had each other," Sam said. "And if you want, I will get Willow when she's finished helping Grandma and Auntie Molly feel better. But you don't need your bathroom to feel safe anymore. Mommy and Daddy and Willow and Danny, we're all going to protect you. And do you know where your safest place is?"

"No…" Scout said.

"Right here in Mommy's arms."

"Really?"

"Really." Sam opened her arms wide. "Can you trust Mommy?"

Scout slowly crawled out and as her tears spilled down her cheeks, she reached up and Sam wrapped her arms around her.

"It's okay, Baby." Sam rubbed her back. "It's okay."

Drew smiled sadly at Danny and winked at him. "We're here for you, Princess. We're not going anywhere."

Scout sobbed into Sam's shoulder.

"It's okay," Sam repeated. "Mommy's not going anywhere. I'm right here."

Scout sniffled. "Is Grandma sick?"

"She is," Sam said. "Willow has gone to help her feel better."

"I want to help too."

Sam smiled a little and wiped away Scout's tears with her thumbs. "Do you want to go see her?"

Scout nodded.

"She and Grandpa are sleeping right now, but I bet if we went to see them it'll help."

"I want to help," Scout repeated.

"Okay, let's go then." Sam scooped up Scout in her arms and Drew and Danny followed them out the door.

Elizabeth set up a bag of blood to Alexis' IV. Lucas was still sitting next to Julian squeezing his hand. Willow sat up on the couch in their room and rubbed next to the cotton ball taped under her elbow, then she traced her finger along the bandage on her forearm where Nelle cut into her.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Sam shifted Scout into one arm and tucked some of Willow's hair behind her ear. Then she reached for the glass of juice and handed it to Willow.

"A little dizzy, but okay," Willow said taking a sip of the juice.

"Just take it easy," Sam said. "Okay, Scout, want to go see Grandma?"

Scout nodded.

Sam carried her over to the bed and sat her on the edge next to Alexis.

"Hey, Mom," Sam said. "Hey, Dad. I'm here. Lucas is here. Drew's here. Willow, Danny, and Scout are here. And Kristina and Lexie are recovering well and looks like Molly is too. We all need you."

Scout looked up at Sam.

"You can talk to her if you'd like," Sam said.

Scout turned back to Alexis. "I love you, Grandma."

Alexis' fingers moved and she opened her eyes. "Cookie."

Sam placed her hand over her mouth and Elizabeth patted her shoulder.

Scout smiled. "It's okay, Grandma. We can feel safe here in Mommy's arms."

Sam leaned forward and wrapped her arms around both of them.

Drew prodded Danny over to the couch with Willow. Drew sat between them and wrapped his arms around both of them.

Lucas smiled. "Welcome back, Lex. Now, it's your turn, Dad."

GHGH

A/N: I thought adding in Drew embracing Willow would be sweet after Sam spoke to him about including her.