Chapter 22

Once Sammy sees Kelly in the foyer of the house he runs to her for a huge hug and Kelly squats down to embrace him.

Sammy is quiet has he hugs her. "Hey sweetie, I missed you," Kelly says into his ear.

Sammy remains silent and as Kelly tries to stand up Sammy tightens his hold, so she fully picks him up instead and he rests his head on her shoulder.

"Well, I guess we should be going he seems pretty tried," Kelly says to Cindy, Jim, and Brandon giving him a sympathizing look.

Cindy gives Sammy a kiss goodbye, "sleep well, bye."

As well as Jim, "goodnight buddy, see you later."

Brandon opens the door for Kelly and walks out to the car with them. After Kelly sets Sammy down in his booster seat she turns around to hug Brandon and gives him a kiss on the cheek as Sammy is watching.

"What was that for," Brandon asks smiling back.

"For the note at lunch and for being patient with me today; thank you," Kelly explains with a small tear threatening to escape.

"You're welcome," Brandon as he wipes his thumb underneath her eye, "remember, I'm here when you're ready. I'm not going anywhere." Kelly pulls him in for a tight hug. Brandon gently rubs his hands smoothly about her back as she closes her eyes wanting to ingrain the feeling of Brandon wrapping himself around her body once again making her feel safe.

Brandon sees Sammy stare at them and gives him a small smile. He steps away from Kelly, "You should get this one in bed. Bye Sammy, I love you." Sammy waves goodbye and then Kelly closes the door, gets in herself and drives home. She turns the radio on only slightly to give Sammy a chance to have some quiet time.

When they get home Kelly tells him, "Go brush your teeth and get ready for bed, I'll be there in a couple of minutes to tuck you in."

Kelly goes ahead and heats up some water for tea and tries to decide what she should eat. She didn't have dinner even though she's not really hungry she knows she should eat something.

After she decides, she goes upstairs to find Sammy already in bed, wanting for her. "Hey sweetie, would you like a story tonight?" Kelly asks.

Sammy just shakes his head no.

"Ok, thank you for your note this afternoon. It really meant a lot to me," Kelly tells him as she moves the curly blonde hair out of his face.

"You're welcome, mommy," Sammy says shyly.

"Goodnight sweetheart, I love you," Kelly says as she kisses his forehead and turns off the lamp on the nightstand.


That night Kelly tries to watch old movies again to avoid going to sleep, but she eventually falls sleep and starts to dream again that she is going to meet Dylan in the late evening because he asked her to come. Her dream continues to relive Joe Patch holding a knife to her throat raping her in the dark alley. While she is dreaming she is tossing and turning in her bed, starting to sweat, and screaming softly, "no" over and over again. Her dream jumps forward to her in the bouquet store, when her rapist walks into the store and locks the door when he recognizes who she is. He pulls out the same knife he used the week before and starts to move towards her. But before he could advance any further Kelly pulls out the gun that Dylan gave her and fires shots at him, killing him. Kelly wakes up from the sound of the gun ringing in her ears in a complete sweat, screaming, and terribly frighten.

Sammy wakes up again in the middle of the night, hearing the same noises he heard the night before. Unlike the previous night he decides to get out of bed. When he reaches the hallway, he realized the noises were coming from his mother's room.

When he reaches the room, he opens the door and says, "Mommy," as he turns on the lights.

It took a moment for Kelly to realize that she is now awake and that Sammy turned on the lights, "oh my goodness, sweetie, are you okay?" Kelly says as one hand is on her chest, feeling her heart pound heavily.

"Yeah, mommy, why were you screaming? Are you okay?" he asks.

"Come here honey," Kelly says. Once Sammy reaches her bed, she pulls him up for a hug, "I'm sorry that I woke you. I was just having a bad dream."

"What kind of bad dream," Sammy bravely asks.

"One with a really bad man that tries to hurt me, but it's nothing for you to worry about okay," Kelly explains holding him tight.

"I won't let anyone hurt you okay Mommy and I know either will Daddy." Sammy says.

"You're so sweet, thank you honey. You just made me feel a lot better," Kelly says as she kisses the top of her sons forehead and holds him a few seconds longer, "You think you can go back to sleep?"

"Yeah, I love you, Mommy," Sammy says while giving her another hug.

"I love you too," Kelly says and then goes to tuck Sammy back into bed. After she tucks him back into bed, she goes to make some coffee and is determined to keep herself busy like she did the morning before.