Chapter 15

About fifteen minutes after Mikaela returned from her bathroom, Judy and George walked into her room. After a few hugs and "good mornings", Judy got right down to business.

"Mikaela, the nurse told us that you could be released at around 12 after the doctor talks to you. I heard there were detectives in here earlier though. What did they want?" She asked Mikaela.

"Well they came to tell me that they arrested my dad and his girlfriend. He's going to go to court today to have his bail set and his court date decided. They also took pictures of my bruises because they said it would be good evidence for the trial. They asked me something else too." Mikaela told them.

"Well what was it?" George questioned her.

"They want me to testify against my dad in court. They said it would be the only way they knew they had done everything they could to give him the punishment he deserves." Judy's face changed suddenly.

"Well, what do you think you're going to do?" She asked her.

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to testify. I just want to talk to the detectives a little more about what exactly I have to do. I've changed my mind about my father. I want him to get the punishment he deserves. He needs to see how much damage he did." She told them.

"Mikaela, honey, we are so proud of you and your decision. We know it's going to be tough but we're going to stick by you. We'll help you through all of it." Mikaela stood up and hugged Judy tightly. George rubbed her shoulder gently.

The rest of the morning was spent with the three of them talking about things that would keep Mikaela's mind off of her dad. Judy and George shared stories about Sam when he was younger and most made Mikaela laugh so hard that she was crying. Time flew by and before they knew it, it was almost 12 o'clock and Mikaela's doctor was doing one more final check on her wrist and bruises. Luckily, Mikaela never suffered any more serious injuries from the bruises and the doctor approved of her checking out of the hospital right on time. Judy helped her collect her few belongings that she had brought to the hospital and they happily climbed into their car to drive home.

For the next couple of hours, Judy made Mikaela rest in her room even though Mikaela was really fine physically. Mikaela had found Sam's I-pod in his room and listened to it, laughing at some of the songs he had on it. Sam was speeding down the road eager to get home and see Mikaela. He pulled Bee up into the driveway and jumped out of the car as fast as he could.

He opened the door to the house and almost ran into his mother who was coming down the stairs.

"Sam! Slow down! I know you're in a hurry but you're going to kill someone or yourself!" Sam did slow down slightly but continued his rampage up the stairs and into Mikaela's room. He saw her on the bed listening to his I-pod. He jumped on top of the bed like a little kid waking up his parents on Christmas morning. Mikaela was surprised but happy to see him. She opened her mouth to say something but Sam cut her off with a long, overdue kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled at him as they pulled away from each other.

"I missed you way too much today Mikaela. I don't think I can be that long away from you at a time." He told her sincerely. She laughed lightly.

"I agree. Really, I don't ever want to be away from you for more than two minutes. Yeah, I think I can handle two minutes." She told him. He kissed her again and fell over next to her on the bed. She rested her head on top of his shoulder still holding the I-pod in her hand.

"What are you listening to?" He asked her.

"Never Say Never." She said. "I love this song." She closed her eyes and listened to the song with Sam.

"Yeah, it's a good one." He told her. They sat together for a while before Mikaela suddenly remembered that she wanted to tell Sam about the trial and her dad.

"Oh, Sam. I wanted to tell you something." She told him. He opened his eyes and looked warily at her. She almost laughed and brushed her hand across his cheek.

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad. Two detectives came into the hospital today and told me that they arrested my father. They want me to testify against him in court. I think I want to do it." She waited to see what his reaction was.

"Mikaela, whatever you decide, I will be behind you the entire way. It must have taken a lot of thought to come to that decision. I know you thought about it and I agree with you. It's going to be hard but I'll help you as much as I can. What did the detectives say to do?" He told her. She kissed him quickly before answering.

"They said to call them when I make a decision and that they'll go from there. I think I'll call them tomorrow, they said I had a little while to decide." She relaxed again into Sam's arms. Sam kissed the top of her head and they sat together for the rest of the afternoon. Judy finally called them down to dinner at around 6 o'clock. They walked down the stairs together, entered the kitchen and sat down at the table. Judy served them some spaghetti before they all sat down and began their meal. Ten minutes into it, there was a knock on the door. Everyone exchanged confused looks before George stood up and went to answer it. Standing on the door step were the two detectives that had talked to Mikaela that morning and the social worker, Melissa, who had talked to Sam when he was thought to be abusing Mikaela. Melissa spoke first.

"Good evening George. We're sorry to bother you at this hour, but we have some serious news we have to discuss with you and Mikaela." George blinked for a second but then stepped aside letting them enter the house.

"Mikaela!" George called. "You have a few visitors." A few seconds later Mikaela appeared followed closely by Sam and Judy.

"What's going on George?" Judy asked him. He shrugged his shoulders. They walked into the living room and took a seat before anyone started talking. Melissa started.

"Mikaela, you know that your father has officially been arrested. His bail has been set and he can not pay it, so he will be in jail until the court date which is in three months. Your father has been named your guardian until you reach age 18. Since you have just turned 17 two months ago, you are still under his guardianship. Unfortunately, because of the situation, he obviously can no longer be your guardian." Melissa started.

"Well that's not a problem. Mikaela is staying with us." Sam told her.

"Sam, I wish it were that easy. Mikaela's dad signed a paper today stating that he doesn't want Mikaela to live with you. He has that right since he is her father. He requested that Mikaela be put in foster care until after the court decision." All four of their mouth's dropped open, their eyes were wide.