Here is the next part. Thanks SOOOOO much to everyone who reviewed :D you made me smile...and update quicker! so keep it up :D :D

Samantha Taggart.34. Currently residing at 24 Walnut Drive, Rochester, Minnesota.

Treated on 26th October last year for a fracture to 3 ribs on the left, then on the 3rd of November for a collapsed lung, 29th November for bruising to the lungs, then 3rd January for 3 fractured fingers. The list goes on. I can't bear to look at most of them, though I do scan for any major problems and find none.

The latest entry was the 23rd of August-last Thursday. She was treated as an outpatient for superficial burns to the right upper arm. Significant bruising was noted to the chest, back and jaw. Resistance was shown to questioning about where the injuries came from.

That is so Sam.

Alex is splayed out on the bed, reading a magazine and listening to music, whilst I absorb the charts. I rang Abby a few minutes ago, to check on the kids and tell her the updates. Apparently Meri is a bit upset but I spoke to her and she seemed to cheer up. Abby told me to take as much time as I need-not to rush back, she's handling them fine.

"Wanna grab a bite to eat?" I ask Alex. He looks over and nods, a slight smile on his lips. We both change our shirts and go in search of a pizza place, succeeding in finding Mr Joe's Pizza emporium.

"I swore never to enter a shop with the word emporium at the end." Alex says sarcastically. I laugh and lay a hand on his shoulder, surprised when he doesn't shrug it off. We find a seat quickly and order.

----

I spoon the mashed up food into a plastic dish and set it on the table, then sit Indy in her chair and me on a stool in front of her. She pats her hands in the mess and licks them then decides she likes it and attempts to use her cutlery.

"Come on bubba." I hold out the spoon, with a little pie on and she grins and opens her mouth. We carry on this way, me alternating feeding her and me until Steve comes down. I smile and zap his dinner in the microwave then place it front of him and start cleaning up.

"The baby is dirty."

"Yeah, I'll wash up and then take her for a bath." He seems satisfied at that and opens the newspaper. I take her out of the chair and sit her on the floor with a dummy. She stands up and wobbles over to me.

"Mama, dink?" Indy leans on my leg and smiles at me. I laugh and pick her up, popping a beaker of juice in her chubby hands. Steve shovels chicken pie into his mouth with such a speed I wonder how he doesn't choke.

"You're too skinny." He suddenly exclaims, passing a judgmental eye down my physique. I know I've lost weight over the last few weeks but I wouldn't say I was skinny. "Eat something, god damn it."

"I do. I've just eaten some pie."

"Whatever. You're lucky you have me, you wouldn't be able to get a man looking like that."

I turn away and carry on washing up with Indy's eyes on me the whole time.

------------------

"Hello...what the..." She frowns, hand gripping the door.

"Sam. You're so thin." I gape at her almost skeletal frame.

"What are you doing here Luka?"

"I found you." I can't help but smile.

"Duh, answer my question."

"I came to find you. We all miss you." I chew on my lip.

"Have you been..." Her question hangs unfinished, her eyes glancing past me frantically.

"Looking for you all this time? Yes."

"But why? After what happened I thought you'd thank god I left." She looks at me steadily.

"Why would I do that?"

"My past caused too much trouble. I couldn't deal with it then and I can't deal with it now. I left for your own good."

"Don't try and make it sound like we asked you to leave. We're falling apart back home."

"And you think I can stop that? I'll make it worse!" her voice raises sharply, and she looks around.

"How? How do you think you could make it worse-your children are without a mother for crying out loud! They ask for you Ievery day/I without fail. And everyday I have to try in vain to explain why you're probably not coming back."

"If they knew how much danger I was putting them in everyday I stayed there..."

"Shut up. Just shut up; stop being so self righteous." I can't stand it anymore; she's making it sound like we made her go.

"Every day I wish there was another way, I wish Steve wasn't so good at finding me, I wish...I wish I could just come home. But wishes don't come true. If I came home he'd follow me. He'd find me, and you, and the kids. He didn't succeed at hurting you last time, but he'd succeed this time. I don't want to put my family through that. If I stay here all of us will stay alive." Tears make her eyes glisten and she looks down at her socked feet.

"Is it fair to deprive your kids of a mother because of one man? Call the cops; he'd be away so fast...what was that?" I attempt to peer in the door, a small sound making my ears prick. She waves me in and disappears up the stairs.

"Wait a minute..." I hear her mumble something upstairs and my stomach flips. As she comes back down I see a small child in her arms.

"Sam? Who's...?"

"Erm, this is my daughter India...I'm sorry Luka, I didn't know." The little girl peers at me and I shiver. It's like looking at Meredith, but smaller.

"But you couldn't tell me? Was the phone broken? The mailman disappeared? Email gone?" My anger flairs up, but decreases as they both peer at me. India clings to her mother, a look of fear on her face and it dawns on me- she's seen it all.

"I couldn't Luka. If I had told you, I know what you would have done." She sounds desperate that I understand. "I'm sorry."

"...so am I."

-----------------------