CHAPTER 16

Sam stepped out of the hospital looking back every few steps wondering if what he had planned was the right choice, not only for him, but for her as well. She was lying on a hospital bed and there was nothing he could do, well, 'nothing' wasn't the right word.

Outside the storm had given a small break letting him go back to his truck. Once inside he took his phone and stared at the screen choosing his next move. It wasn't something he wanted to do, but from where he stood he didn't see any other way. So he breathed deeply for a few minutes and made the call.

"Hey, Brother, I need your help. Are you at the station?" he asked Oliver.

"Yeah, I just finished giving my statement. They'll be by the hospital to get hers tomorrow morning, yours too if you're with her. What do you need?"

"Get Epstein to find where my dad is living. I need to pay him a small visit."

Sam waited for Oliver to agree or not, but there was no sound. He knew the call was still going since he heard the background noise, but Oliver just went all mute on him. He knew it was risky, but Oliver was also the only person he trusted with this.

"We don't know if it was him."

"Come on, it's obvious. He hates me and he threatened me, now he came through with that threat and I need to give him a message." Sam's frustration grew with every word he said and Oliver knew it.

"Let me come with you then."

"I'm sorry, Bro, but I'm not letting you get any deeper in this thing. It's between Jay and I, always has been, and Andy is the last one getting hurt in the middle of this." Sam said. "Send me a text once you get the address."

The waiting wasn't long for Sam since he stopped for gas and once he got back inside he had the address. He had moved since the trial and gone to a place on the outskirts of town. He knew the neighborhood, it wasn't friendly or welcoming to strangers so he must have friends looking out for him on the area.

Once he stopped the truck in a dark alley two houses down his old man's place he took his time walking up to the back door and checking to see if it was open. Knowing his dad always forgot to lock the doors he was hoping to get lucky and so he did.

Pushing the door open he saw the light on in the living room and the faint noise of the TV on. The house had a weird smell, like maybe it hadn't been cleaned in a few months. Sam moved closer to the living room and saw his dad lying unconscious on the couch. His face had a bruise forming on his right jawline and the one had Sam could see seemed to have been used a lot. Small cuts and bruises covered his knuckles and his suspicion was confirmed.

"You son of a bitch!" Sam screamed at his dad when he pulled the guy up from the couch by his jacket and pushed him against the wall punching him in the gut.

Sam took two steps back looking at a startled Jay.

"I thought you were done with me." Jay said with a sick smile as he tried to catch his breath.

"Not when you mess with my family."

"Family? Boy, those people aren't your family. You killed your family when you sent me away." Jay took step towards Sam so they were closer. "You're alone. Just like me." He smiled.

Sam wasn't here to hear whatever bullshit Jay had to say to him. He pulled his knee up hitting Jay's side and jumped on top of him when he fell and used his face as a punching bag. Jay slipped off pulling Sam by his throat and giving him three punches. Sam took Jay's head and slammed it against the coffee table taking the whisky bottle and hitting it over his head. The whisky bottle was intact and Jay unconscious again.

Sam took his time cleaning some of the mess since if they looked for his DNA they couldn't find. He pushed his dad to the couch and walked off towards the dark alley getting in his truck and going to Oliver's home to take a shower and change. He had to get early to the hospital so he'd pick up Andy and give his statement.

He got there, but it seemed that Oliver and Celery were already asleep, but when he got to his room Oliver was sitting on the bed watching TV.

"How did it go?" Oliver said.

"I didn't kill him."

"Never said you did… Was it really him?" he asked.

"Yeah, it was him." Sam said taking off his boots and coat and sitting next to his friend.

"Then I'm glad you did what you had to do. Now that I know you came home in one piece I'll go to bed. Night." Oliver waved to Sam as he walked off.

Sam pushed himself off the bed and walked towards the shower. He was so tired he thought maybe he'd fallen asleep for a few seconds. The room was so big without Andy being there with him. He couldn't sleep without her. They had fallen into a routine that was so natural to them he didn't know how to function out of it.

Lying down on the big bed by himself he let the recent events catch up to him and he cried for the first time in a while. He was crying and to anyone who ever saw him, he'd deny, but he was sobbing into the pillow she used. He was sobbing, but managed to keep it low. He blamed himself for everything that happened even if way down he knew it was just twisted damn fate that had done all of this.

Slowly sleep slipped in and gave him a break from all the mess that was going on around him. He felt like he was in the middle of a warzone trying to dodge the bullets fired his way and still try to protect the people around him, but eventually someone always gets hurt. He just hated that that person was Andy.