Chapter Four

Walking out of her third trauma of the day, Sam slowly retreated to the Lounge to fill a much needed caffeine fix. After filling the small cup with the hot liquid, Sam slowly brought it to her nose, letting the steam warm the tip. After hearing the door shut loudly behind her, Sam narrowly avoided spilling the coffee on her top.

Sam turned around to see Carter smiling sheepishly. "Sorry. I didn't mean to make you jump."

Sam laughed and shook it off. "It's okay. I needed something to wake me up anyways. A good spill of hot coffee would sure do the trick."

Carter laughed and moved next to Sam to pour himself a cup of coffee. "I see you've already become addicted to the coffee here."

Sam smiled and moved to the side so that Carter could reach the coffee. "Yeah well I've sort of gotten used to the strange aftertaste. But all in all, it's not bad. Way better than the other hospitals I've been at."

Carter looked at her confused and asked, "How many other hospitals have you worked at?"

Sam brought the coffee to her lips while she tried to calculate how many hospitals she's actually work for. After taking the coffee away from her mouth she answered, "About five, maybe six."

Sam saw Carter's eyes widen slightly so she added, "I've never been one to stay in one place for long."

Carter placed the pot of coffee back down after his cup was filled and started to pour in the cream. "Ah, I see. Why's that?"

Sam hesitated and uncomfortably shifted onto each foot, trying to find a way to avoid the conversation. Carter saw her hesitation and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Sam forced a smile. "It's okay. I just … don't want to think about it. And I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear about my dark past."

"We all have our secrets. I didn't mean to pry into yours."

"Nah, It's not that you pried, it's just … It's my first day. I don't want to lay all my cards on the table just yet." She said with a small seductive smile, which Carter found to be charming.

"So you're saying there's hope that I may learn all about you just yet?"

Sam was walking towards the door when she said, "Maybe." With a mischievous smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

After that, she walked out of the Lounge, leaving Carter wondering what secrets she carried.

Hours later, Sam was home. After closing the door to her undersized hotel room, she gradually made her way to the bed and crashed onto it. She took out her cell-phone and opened her voice mail. She saw that she had two messages.

The first one was from one of her co-workers from the last hospital she worked at, asking her why she left and to give her a call once she got this message. Sam erased it and went on the next message. The voice on the other end sent chills down her spine. "Hey Sammy, you know who this is. Why'd you run again? You know I'll find you again Sammy, I always do. You always run, but I always end up finding you. Why don't you make it easier and just give up? Call me at 548-…" Sam hung up the phone and threw it to the other side of her bed.

A small twinge of fear rose and she had a feeling that it wouldn't be long before Steve found her. Sam still didn't know how he seemed to find her anywhere she went. She knew she must have left tracks the first few times she ran, but lately she had made sure she was careful in not leaving any hint as to where she was going.

A million questions ran throughout Sam's head and she hated it. 'Where am I supposed to go now? Where am I going to live? I barely have enough money to last me until tomorrow … what am I supposed to do?' Sam's breathing became increased and she found it hard not to break down right then. She tried to keep herself composed.

Sam wanted to kill the bastard for making her feel this way. Weak, fearful, timid … Sam thought about ending it many times. She had nothing to live for. Every chance she got she found some way to screw her life up even more than it was. Steve made it easy for her to end up hating herself.

Sam rose from the bed and dragged herself to the bathroom and started herself a bath. The water started out cold, then grew hotter as steam started to fog the slanted mirror hanging above the sink. Only taking off her shoes, Sam crept into the bath with her clothes on. She hugged her knees and cried as the water continued to flood the tub.