Chapter 4

"Please God….NO! Mom, John where are you? Don't leave me, I need you with me please don't go. NOOO!" screamed Sam as she sat up in her bed. Her breath hitching as she tried to slow it down.

"Sam, what's wrong? Open your door," yelled John as he pounded on her bedroom door. All of a sudden her door slid open and John ran to her bedside with Jeff right behind him. He had programmed each of the keypads with an emergency override code and had used it to get to Sam. He had heard her scream just as he was leaving Virgil's room. Even on Tracy Island he still felt the need to check on his children before turning in for the night himself.

As soon as John got to Sam's side she grabbed him in a tight hug and sobbed into his shoulder as the nightmare began to lose some of its potency. John held her close and gently rocked back and forth to help sooth her and to a degree himself. It had been awhile since Sam had a nightmare and this was the worst so far. Slowly, Sam's sobs began to lose the intensity that they had when John first got to her. When John eased her back off of his shoulder so that he could look at her he was surprised that she had cried herself back to sleep feeling safe in his arms.

"Dad, can I please sleep in here with Sam in case she has another nightmare?" pleaded John. He was upset and needed reassurance that Sam was okay and the only way was for him to be near her. Jeff looked from John to Sam and realized that it would be for the best to have John stay in her room.

"Alright Son, you can sleep in here. The couch in the sitting room opens into a bed or we can make a pallet on the floor next to the bed."

"Um, the pallet on the floor will be better. I don't want to be too far away from her," said John in a hushed tone so that he wouldn't wake Sam. Working together Jeff and John made place for him to sleep on the floor.

"Goodnight John," said Jeff quietly as he left the room. As soon as Jeff left the room John gently covered Sam up with a lightweight blanket and stroked the loose tendrils of hair out of her face. Leaning down he tenderly kissed his sister and best friend on the forehead. Grabbing his pillow and a light blanket he lay down on the bed near his sister. Watching her resting peacefully he slowly fell into a deep sleep.

"John, wake up. Come on John it's time to wake up," said Sam as she continued to gently shake his shoulder. "What are you doing in my room and why are you asleep in my bed?" asked Sam with a perplexed expression on her face. She didn't remember having the nightmare nor did she remember John and Jeff coming into her room.

"You had a bad dream and when Dad got the door open I ran to your side and you grabbed me and cried into my shoulder until you fell asleep. Don't you remember any of it?" asked John.

"But why were you lying in my bed?" asked Sam again. John stared at his hands as he pondered his answer.

"I wanted to be close to you Sam. Even though you don't remember your dream I heard what you were screaming and I needed reassurance that everything was okay," admitted John in a slightly embarrassed voice. "The way you screamed and then cried scared me and I just needed to be close to you. I'm sorry if I did anything to make you feel uncomfortable." With that John grabbed his blanket and pillow and went to the balcony door so that he could go to his own room. Once inside his room he placed the blanket and pillow on the bed. Looking around he knew that he couldn't go back to sleep. Quietly he slipped out of his balcony door and made his way downstairs to the lounge chairs that were next to the pool. He laid back on one of the chairs and stared out over the clear blue water and slowly drifted off to sleep.

"Heads up," someone yelled just as John realized that something had just run by him. Before he could fully open his eyes a huge splash of water hit him. He jumped up off the lounge chair and looked down into the pool where Gordon and Alan were staring up at him with an innocent expression on their faces.

"Johnny since you're already wet will you swim with us?" asked Gordon with his trademark cheeky grin. John just looked down at the Terrible Two with an incredulous expression on his face.

"Bite me you little brats," snarled John in a voice that clearly let Gordon and Alan know that they had really made him angry. Without another word or look John made his way back to the balcony so that he could enter his room without dripping water through the house. Once inside his room he locked the door and headed to his ensuite to take a hot shower. Ten minutes later he was dressed and heading downstairs for breakfast. Just as he was passing Scott's room he heard his name.

"John wait a second," begged Sam. "I know that I hurt your feelings this morning but I was confused as to why you were in my room much less my bed. It caught me off guard." She reached out to touch John on his arm and was surprised when he jerked away with a hurt look on his face.

"I would never do anything to you Sam. You are my sister, my fraternal twin sister. All of our lives I have felt a connection to you that I don't have with any of our other brothers and for you to even remotely think that I could or would do something like that to you hurts me more than what you will ever know. Now if we are finished talking I would like to go downstairs and eat breakfast," snapped John in a rough voice that he had never before used with Sam. Scott was just opening his door when he heard the exchange between John and Sam.

"John that is enough, you have no right to talk to anyone in our family in that tone," said Scott in a low and threatening tone. "Now apologize to Sam for being nasty when she was just trying to talk to you."

"Forget it Scott I am not going to apologize for anything," countered John in an equally low and dangerous tone. Scott went to put a restraining hand on John's shoulder when all of the hurt and anger that had been building in John erupted. With a cry of anger he swung his fist into Scott's abdomen forcing his breath out. Not expecting to be hit Scott was not prepared for the attack and simply slid to the floor as he tried to catch his breath. With a temper to match her twin's, Sam balled up her fist and punched John in his face. The blow caught him in the nose and all three of them thought that Sam had broken John's nose. Now it was John's turn to slide to the floor. He held his face in his hands moaning in pain. He had blood pouring from his nose and had nothing to catch it but his hands.

"What in the Hell is going on in here?" thundered a very angry Jeff. Never had he seen his children attack each other in the manner in which he had just witnessed. He was used to them roughhousing but never had any of them struck the other in anger. Scott and John looked up at their dad from the floor while Sam looked at him from where she still stood with her hand still in a tight fist.

"I I I didn't mean to hit him Dad. I did it after he hit Scott hard enough to knock the wind out of him and knock him to the floor," Sam tried to explain in a voice that quivered in shock. She couldn't believe that she had hit her twin hard enough that she had broken his nose. Scott was still trying to get his breath back and stand up to give his version.

"Dad, Sam only hit John in my defense. I heard them talking in the hallway as I was leaving my room when all of a sudden John got nasty with Sam. I tried to make him apologize when all of a sudden he hit me in the stomach. He knocked the wind out of me and I slid to the floor. Sam retaliated by punching John in the face. I think that she might have broken his nose," said Scott in a shocked voice.

"John, move your hands so I can see your nose," ordered Jeff. As John's hands were lowered the blood poured from his hands and into his lap. His eyes were watering so bad that he could barely see. Reaching down Jeff helped John stand up and ordered all of them to follow him. Going down to the hallway by the lounge Jeff opened the door at the end of the hall. Once they went through that door they found themselves in another hallway. After passing two doors on their right side Jeff opened the third door. Sitting at a small desk in the corner was a man that Scott, John, and Sam had never met before.

"Brains, can you help me? I think John may have a broken nose," asked Jeff.

"S SSu yes I can hhelp yyou," stuttered the man that Jeff called Brains. Quickly going into a storage room Brains returned with some wet cloths and an ice pack. Together Jeff and Brains cleaned John's face and carefully felt his nose. They were able to confirm that the nose was not broken just bloody and sore.

"Well, John, looks like you are going to have a couple of black eyes for awhile. Hopefully it will be a reminder of why you should not fight," admonished Jeff as he looked at all three of his children. "All three of you are grounded for the rest of the day to your rooms. Tomorrow all of you will be required to stay together the whole day. If you can manage that then I will lift your punishment. Do something stupid like this again and you'll be a lot more than grounded. Do you understand?" demanded Jeff in a tone that he had not used since he was in the Air Force.

"Yes Sir," replied the three Tracy children in trouble. Knowing that they were dismissed they all headed back to their respective rooms without a word.

"Thanks Brains for helping me. I thought for sure that John's nose was broken," admitted Jeff in amazement. He knew his children were fit because of the sports they played but he didn't realize that how much physical strength they had.

Once they were out of their dad's sight and hearing Sam tried to apologize to John. "John, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to hit you please say that you will forgive me?" begged Sam in a small voice. John just looked at her and walked faster until he reached his bedroom door. Without a word to Sam or Scott he keyed in his code and walked into his room and locked the door behind him. As he headed to his ensuite he grabbed a clean t-shirt, shorts, and boxers out of his dresser. After adjusting the shower to just the right temperature he finally let his emotions loose. He softly began to cry for the guilt he felt for arguing with Sam. His cries got harder as the guilt he felt for hitting Scott washed over him. By the time that the shock of Sam hitting him got to him he was sitting on the floor of the shower sobbing. Not since his mother died had he felt so sad and alone. Standing up and turning off the water John stepped out of the shower and quickly dried himself off and got dressed. With nothing else to do he decided to lie down on his bed and read a book.

In the next room Sam was dealing with her own mixed emotions. She felt an overwhelming sense of shame for hitting John. How could she hit her best friend and brother hard enough to give him two black eyes? Worse than that would he ever forgive her? Would she ever forgive herself? Lying on her bed she rocked herself to sleep as the tears poured down her face.

If the confusion and guilt that John and Sam felt was strong it was nothing compared to Scott. How could he ever get over watching Sam punch John hard enough to knock him down and bloody his nose? He was supposed to protect his younger brother and sister and instead all he had been able to do was watch one of them hit the other.

"I'm sorry Mom. I didn't do what I promised you that I would do," whispered John, Scott, and Sam. Each was in their own rooms and each had remembered their promise to their mother that they would look after each other and to never hurt one another. All three felt that they had broken their promise.

"Dad, where are John, Sam, and Scott?" asked Virgil as the family sat down to lunch. "I haven't seen them at all today and none of them will answer us when we knock on their bedroom door."

Jeff looked at Virgil, Gordon, and Alan and shook his head. "Your older brothers and sister are grounded to their rooms for the rest of the day. They will be out tomorrow but as part of their punishment they have to stay together all day."

"That doesn't sound like much of a punishment, Dad," remarked Gordon. To him it sounded like what they all did everyday. He didn't know about the fight or its aftermath. Not one to dwell on things Gordon looked out to the pool. "Can I go swimming again? Alan and I were playing a game of Marco Polo even though it would be more fun with more people."

"Go ahead but be careful. By the way I want you to meet someone," added Jeff as he saw Brains walking towards them. "Gordon, Alan, and Virgil, this is Brains. He will be living on the island with us. You will treat him with courtesy and respect, understand?

"Yes Dad," replied his boys as they were excused to leave the table.

A few hours later Grandma was standing outside of Scott's door with a small picnic hamper that had his dinner in it. "Scott, sweetie open your door and take this hamper so you can eat dinner." After a few moments the door slid open and she handed Scott his hamper. Next she went to John's room and repeated the scenario again. Finally reaching Sam's door she unloaded the last hamper onto her only granddaughter.

"Jeff, what happened today with John, Sam, and Scott? When I took them their dinner it was quite evident that all of them had been crying and all of them complained about having a headache."

"Mom, from what they told me and from what I witnessed John punched Scott in the abdomen and knocked the wind out of him and in retaliation Sam punched John in the face," replied Jeff. He was still dumbfounded about the whole episode.

"Have you given John and Sam a chance to talk?" asked his mother worriedly.

"No I grounded them to their rooms for the rest of the day. They can talk tomorrow due to the fact that they must spend the whole day together with no fighting," answered Jeff in response to his mother's question.

"Son, you don't understand those two are hurting worse than what you and I will ever comprehend. Let them talk to each other before lights out," implored his mother on behalf of John and Sam.

"Ok if you think that it's that important," said Jeff in surrender. He didn't feel like going up against his mother when he knew that she would win anyway.

"John, Sam, your grandmother asked me to let you to have a chance to talk before lights out. I am giving you 15 minutes to talk in private," said Jeff in a tired voice.

Neither of them moved or said anything for a few minutes when suddenly Sam broke down and started crying. "John I am so sorry for hurting you. I am sorry for hitting you and I am sorry I hurt your feelings when I asked why you were asleep in my bed. I know that you would never do anything to hurt me and I have hurt you so much I don't see how you will ever forgive me. I am afraid that because of today I have lost my best friend." With nothing else to say Sam sat down on the floor and brought her knees up and rested her head on them quietly crying for all the guilt that she felt.

Suddenly a stifled cry echoed in the empty room and before she had a chance to look up John had thrown himself on the floor next to her and grabbed her in an emotional hug. "Sam, I am sorry for acting the way I did today. I don't want you to think that I would ever do anything to hurt you. I love you more than you will ever know and you will always be my best friend. Will you forgive me?"

"There is nothing to forgive John. You didn't do anything I am the one that should be begging forgiveness. Can you forgive me for the black eyes that you have, not to mention the bloody nose and the unfounded insinuations?"

"Let's just forgive each other and call it even, ok?" countered John. Grinning at each other they shook hands on it and called it even.

"Alright you two your time is up. Now get to your rooms," said Jeff in a voice that hid his relief that his twins had worked things out between themselves. He slipped a piece of paper into John's hand and one into Sam's hand. When they reached their bedroom doors they looked at the paper in their hand.

John's read: John this is the emergency code to Sam's room—0502.

Sam's read: Sam this is the emergency code to John's room—0501.

It would be another eight years before those codes would show their significance.

Author's Note: Sorry that this chapter revolved around John and Sam but I had to set something up so that I could introduce Brains to the family.