The Chase by Amber Riel (books to read for self improvement TXT) 📖

my mind before I worked my way over to the bed when I heard a noise.  It sounded like---

          “Louis!” Sam’s voice boomed into my ear from the next room and without taking another moment I hurried out of my room and into Sam and Lainie’s room.  Sam sat up in the bed, shaken and worried.

          My heart had dropped and I feared the worse.  I checked around the room but everything was normal.

          Lainie woke up and just stared at Sam with confusion.

          “What’s wrong, Sam?” I asked.

          “I’m sorry,” she answered as she realized it was only a nightmare.  “I had a nightmare.  You guys can go back to bed.  I’m sorry.”

          “It’s not a problem…. Nightmares happen in this kind of situation.”  I shook my head and walked over to the bed as I sat don’t next to Sam.  “Don’t feel bad.”

          “Who’s in here?  What’s going on?” Carmen asked as she rushed into the room with a wooden baseball bat ready to beat the crap out of anyone who was dangerous.  She worked her way around the room and checked both the window and the closet.

          I sighed as I stared at my dear lovable sister.  “Everything’s fine, Carmen, Sam just had a night mare.”

          “Oh….” Carmen replied with a sigh as relief took over and she looked over at us, kind of smiling.

          I realized what Carmen had running through her mind and jumped to my feet and slowly backed away from the bed.  I couldn’t help but notice as Sam blushed.

          “What was the bad dream about?” Lainie asked with her eyes still locked onto Sam.

          “Nothing that concerns you…. Just go back to sleep…. Okay,” Sam whispered to the child.

          Lainie nodded as she laid back and fell asleep again.

          Sam turned her attention toward Carmen.  “I’m sorry you came rushing in here for nothing and I’m really sorry for waking the both of you up.”

          “I already told you, Sam, it’s not a problem,” I answered.

          “Yea, you had a nightmare and after what the three of you been through it’s not surprising so don’t be sorry,” Carmen agreed.

          Sam nodded.  “Can I have some coffee or something?  I don’t think that I’ll be able to go back to sleep for the rest of the night.”

          “Of course…. How many cups do you want?”

          “One will be fine, thank you.”

          “I’ll fix it,” I replied.  “Carmen, go ahead and go back to bed.  I’ll stay up with Sam.”

          Carmen raised an eyebrow as she looked at me and a worrisome grin grew on her face.  “Okay.”

 

          I had Sam relax on the couch in the living room.  I figured that I’d stay up with her so she wouldn’t fill alone, especially having a nightmare.  There was no telling the dream she had but I knew she didn’t need to be alone.  I had the lamp on which brought some dim light but it was better than nothing.  I hurried out of the room and into the kitchen where the coffee had finished brewing.  I walked over to the cabinet with the cups, opened it, and pulled out two coffee mugs.  I placed the mugs on the counter as I closed the door to the cabinet and walked over to the coffee pot and fix the coffee the way I figured Sam would want hers.

 

          I walked back into the living room, holding the two cups of hot coffee and sat next to Sam as I handed her the cup of coffee she would want.

          “Thank you,” she whispered.  Her voice was soft and had lost the fear from the dream.

          “No problem.”  I sat my cup of coffee down on the coffee table to cool down for a couple of moments.  “Tell me about your dream…. What happened?” I figured it would help her to talk about it even though I wasn’t exactly a talker.

          “That taxi driver was in it,” she answered as she leaned forward with the cup in both hands as she took a sip.

          I figured it was best to let her talk so I kept my mouth shut as I listened.

          “He went to go kiss me but I turned my head away as soon as possible afraid of what he might do…. He got angry at me…. I woke up before he could do anything else though.”

          “You’re safe here.”

          Sam’s eyes locked with mine and I wanted so badly to kiss her but decided that it wasn’t the right moment.  I watched as she looked away but I didn’t know if it was because of me or if something else was bothering her.  “I know,” she responded as tears began to work their way down her cheeks.

          “What’s wrong now?” I asked with concern in my tone.

          “It’s just what if he comes back…. What if he kidnaps me or Lainie or something?”

          I wrapped my arms around Sam to let her know that everything was going to be alright.  I knew that he wouldn’t come back because where my coworkers were bringing him but Sam didn’t and she needed someone to comfort her.  I held her close to my chest tightly and then I lifted my head and rested it on top of hers.  That was my way of letting her know that I’d do anything to keep her safe.  “I won’t let him do that,” I told her.  “I won’t let him take Lainie…. Or you.”

          Sam didn’t respond.  She just sat there in silence.  I had no clue what was going on in her mind.

          “You don’t have to worry…. No one will take you…. Or hurt you…. So you don’t have to cry…. God brought you here for a reason and I know that He’s not going to let anything happen to you.”  I gently kissed her forehead because it was the only thing to do.  I didn’t want to go any further than that.  If we were to kiss, it’d have to be at a better time than that.

          “Thank you for that,” she barely spoke.  “I needed that reassurance…. It’s just after everything that happened recently…. I don’t know how to handle it.”  Her eyes locked with mine again.

          My thoughts were filled with fear and sadness at losing her but I wasn’t quite ready to let her know that.  “You’ve never had to deal with this situation before…. I have experience because my job is to protect innocent lives for reasons such as these…. I was angry at you when you had naively believed that you and Lainie were safe at the hotel when I knew you weren’t…. That wasn’t your fault because you never knew that stuff was possible…. I mean you knew it but you never had to go through it so of course naively you thought that you were fine…. I should have stayed in the room or at least on the other side of the door to keep the man out but I didn’t…. We’re both at fault for that but I should have most of the blame…. I would have never forgiven myself if I didn’t get to you and Lainie in time.”  I looked down at Sam for a brief moment.  “How far did that guy get anyways before I came?”

          Sam’s muscles tensed up as I asked the question which meant that something almost happened or did happen.  That was either a good thing or a bad thing.  “He tried to kiss me at first then he placed his hand on my thigh and was going to slide his hand up under my shirt but you came in as his fingers where just moving under my shirt,” she answered as she kind of showed me.

          I sighed, sort of relieved.  “He shouldn’t have been able to even try that…. If I had known what he had managed to do then I would have killed him.”  I pulled away from Sam as I turned my attention toward the blank television screen.  Anger began to build up inside of me as I thought of how horrible that man was.  “No man would even have that thought…. Not a real man…. A real man is more respectable to a woman….. That guy was a creep…. He’s the kind of man who wouldn’t even think twice before harming a woman…. I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”

          I felt Sam’s gaze on me as I kept my attention toward the television.

Letting Sam In

          I looked at Sam as she placed the cup on the table and curled up.  She shook as if she was sitting one ice.  “I’ll go get a blanket.  I’ll be right back.”

          She nodded as I left the room.  It hadn’t taken me long to grab the blanket and return into the living room and wrapped the blanket around her and myself.  I pulled her closer so she could rest her head on my shoulder and my body heat helped keep her warm.  “Thank you,” she said as she kind of yawned.  I noticed her eyes were closed and figured it wouldn’t be long before she was sleeping.  A few moments later she was breathing slightly and I figured she was lost in dreamland.  She was so beautiful and I loved watching her sleep.

          “Good night, Sam,” I whispered and let myself get lost in the land of dreams as well.

 

 

          My eyes slowly opened as I realized that I was on the couch covered up and I figured that I must have fallen asleep talking to Sam.  I noticed that our coffee cups we had used were gone and figured that Carmen probably…. Oh no, Carmen’s going to have a lot of comments and questions now.  I stood up and stretched my arms and legs in the process of waking up.  I have nothing to explain…. I was just helping Sam.  She needed it.  That is all.  Knowing Carmen, she was going to read in between the lines with something that wasn’t even there to begin with so I had to explain myself to no one.

 

 

          I worked my way into the kitchen, stretching and released a yawn as I opened my mouth slightly.  “Good morning, ladies,” I spoke to the three girls and sat down at the table next to the youngest of them.

          Sam didn’t look at me and I was wondering if it had to deal with the night before.  I let my eyes work their way around the room so she wouldn’t realize that I was staring at her.

          “Good morning, Uncle Louis,” Lainie told me.  “I helped Auntie Carmen with the pancakes.”

          I couldn’t resist a smile.  “Well, then I bet they’re extra special then, huh?”

          “Yep,” Lainie answered, returning the biggest smile she ever had.

          “She did a good job too.”  My sister had laid a plate of about four or five pancakes in front of me.

          “I’ll bet.”  I moved my eyes over toward Sam then quickly moved them back toward the plate.  Awkwardness began to stir inside as I thought about the night before.  My emotions were beginning to fight each other as I