Your reviews were so great! I'm really happy you like the story so far. Now let's see what happens next...
A nurse opens the door.
"The psychologist can see you now," she says to Sam.
Sam looks startled.
"Oh god, no," she groans, "That was not part of the deal. I don't think that is necessary."
"It's Dr. Grant, Eleanor. I thought you liked him. Hasn't he helped you before?"
Both Sam and Jack are taken aback when she is called by that name.
"Samantha," Sam corrects, "My real name is Samantha, Erica."
She is still standing in the middle of a flood of returning memories and the past seems much more real, much more "present" than Rosstown and the people she has known for the past four years. Right now that is a bit foggy.
She lifts her face up to Jack. His eyes are smiling into hers.
"I don't want to see Dr. Grant. I will talk to Dr. Harris, though, when I get back to New York," she says.
Jack laughs. It is a wonderful sound and Sam smiles at him:
"Yeah, you heard right."
"I never thought I'd hear you say that."
Erica starts to respond but then thinks better of it. The man and the woman she has known as Eleanor are starting to laugh at some private joke. Right now there is an intimacy between them that is oblivious about anything else in the world.
OOO
The uncomfortable chair has been pushed back against the wall. Sonia Allen perches on the edge of her desk looking worried. Sam is sitting in Sonia's chair. She is wearing a pair of pink sandals that Erica found for her at the hospital. She left the Carter's home barefooted. Sonia has offered to pack some of her belongings, but Sam does not want anything that belonged to "Eleanor". Jack is sitting beside her. Sonia wonders what is wrong with him. She expected him to be happy, excited, anything but the way he looks - pale and worn and tired. Not that she herself feels any different.
"We still don't know where he is. I have people posted in front of the house and on the roads leaving town. He is probably already gone."
She feels Jack's eyes on her and sighs deeply.
"This is a real mess. I do have the department and the chief of police behind me but most of the people in town are just plain furious."
She heaves another sigh.
"I have two rooms for you in the hotel across the street and I will have a police officer standing watch all night. You can leave in the morning. That all right with you?"
OOO
Sam's eyes are dropping when they reach the door of her hotel room. Jack looks around. The corridor is empty. He can hear the voice of the policeman who will watch over them, talking to the hotel-manager down in the lobby.
Sam wants to ask Jack to stay with her, but she hesitates. After all he has done for her maybe she should not bother him with her need.
"Will you be all right?" he asks, not touching her.
"Yes," she says.
"I'll be in the next room. If you need something knock on the wall. And the police officer will be outside in the corridor all night."
Sam nods.
"Okay then. I'll just check your room."
Jack goes through the room. He checks the closets and even the shower cabin. When he is finished Sam smiles. He smiles back.
"Better safe than sorry," he says.
"You checked the drawers. Last time I saw him Nick was still too big to fit in one of these."
"Sam, do you think that Nick might try to get to you?"
She thinks about that. After a while she says:
"I honestly don't know. But I kind of doubt he would be that crazy."
In spite of her words Jack wants to grab her, take her to the nearest car and just get the hell out of Dodge, but he can see she can do with a good nights sleep. There is a night clerk in the hotel lobby and a police officer in the corridor. They will be safe.
"Go, get some sleep," Sam says, touching his cheek briefly.
"You, too. And keep your door locked from the inside"
Jack leaves the room, closing the door behind him and leans against it for just a moment. Nodding at the police officer who has taken up his position he forces himself to go into his own room. He sits down on the bed to remove his shoes. After a while he becomes aware that he has been sitting like that for at least ten minutes, unmoving, listening for any sound from Sam's room. He tries to take his mind away from her, but the attempt is futile. After sitting there for another half hour he gives in, drawing an armchair to one side of the room, sitting down in it. He leans back and rests his head on the wall that separates them. He closes his eyes and tries to rest.
OOO
Jack is awakened by a muffled scream. He bolts up, confused, trying to get his bearing. It is dark in the room. Moonlight is filtering in through the curtains. Somewhere someone is knocking on a door, shouting:
"Ms Spade, Ms Spade, are you all right?"
Jack gets to his feet and pulls open the door. The police officer is still knocking on Sam's door, worry on his face.
"Ms Spade?"
"Who is it?" Sam's voice says, sounding scared.
Jack pushes the officer aside.
"It's me, Jack. Open the door, Sam."
"Jack?"
"Yeah, sweetheart, it's me. Please open the door."
He hears the patter of naked feet on the wooden floor. The door opens. Jack gently pushes it wider. Sam is standing there, wearing only a t-shirt. She looks sweaty and disheveled.
"I'm sorry," she says, "I must have had a bad dream. Jack?"
To see him stand there is like seeing a mirage. She can hardly comprehend that yesterday happened. She bursts into tears. Angrily she tries to wipe them away.
"I'm sorry. I'm such a baby."
Jack steps into the room, closes the door and takes her into his arms.
"No," he whispers into her hair, "you're not a baby. You just went through hell."
When the bout of weeping passes, he leads her to the bed and tucks her in. Then, with only a moments hesitation he lies down beside her, still fully clothed and draws her into his arms. She feels thin and frail. With a sigh she relaxes into him. A couple of minutes pass until he hears her even breaths. He shifts his head until his lips rest against her forehead, closing his eyes.
OOO
In the middle of the night he awakens and finds her gone. He reaches out for her but his hands only find the empty covers.
"Sam," he cries out, hearing the panic in his voice.
She answers him. Her voice is close.
"Jack? Jack, I'm here. I had to go to the bathroom."
She slips in beside him, resting her head on his shoulder as if it is the most natural thing in the world.
They fall into a deep sleep.
OOO
When Jack awakens a few hours later the first morning light fills the room. Sam is still asleep. Her back is pressed against him and his arms are around her. He slowly extracts himself from her. She groans in her sleep and curls up into a ball. When he looks at her a reluctant happiness rises in him. He hardly recognizes the feeling.
He bends over and touches her hair. She sleepily opens her eyes. A smile spreads across her face when she sees him. His heart almost stops.
"I'll go and take a shower," he says, "I'll be right back."
Jack is actually humming a tune while the water runs down his body. When he is finished he dries off and wraps the towel around his hips. He opens the bathroom door and stops dead.
A man is kneeling on the bed. One of his hands is tangled in Sam's hair, pulling her close to him. The other hand is pressing a gun to her throat.
TBC