A New Beginning, pt 2

[Dannie IsNotHere]

* * *
Rebecca


Thomas was over when I noticed. We were recoered from his proposal and my reaction, and were spending a lot of time together again. I was in his arms and we were watching TV, and I realized I needed to go give Ashley her bottle. When I got to her room to check on her, she wasn’t there. I got so upset, I ran back to Thomas, and he began to get upset, too. I called Sam. He told me he’d be right over. Then I called the police. They also said they’d be right over. I was worried sick, and I was hysterical. The doorbell rang, and I ran to answer it and found Sam. He hugged me tightly, and I didn’t want to let go. He didn’t seem to want to either. Ashley may not have been Sam’s actual daughter, but he was an important par of her life. The doorbell rang again, but I refused to let go of Sam. Thomas went to the door and answered. The police rushed in, followed by a detective, holding out a shiny gold badge. It read “Detective Martinez.”
“Rebecca Santry?” said the detective.
“Yes, that’s me,” I replied, finally letting go of Sam.
“You just called about a missing child.”
“Yes, I did.” I began walking toward her room. “Follow me and I’ll show you to her- room.” I felt hot tears sting my eyes again.
Sam followed me, and Thomas followed him. The police were scattered, looking around the apartment.
“This is her crib, and her clothes are in this dresser...” I showed him what there was to be shown.
“Who is the father of this child?” Detective Martinez said, eyeing Sam and Thomas.
“Don Santry. We just divorced. Sam here,” I pointed to Sam, “is helping me raise her. We were going to be married... but we broke... up...” I stared at Sam and a weird feeling for him came over me. It was like I was in love with him again. He looked back at me with the same sort of look on his face. I quickly recovered. “And, uh, Thomas here is my current... bo- um, friend.” I looked at him, and couldn’t help but notice a little hurt in his eyes. I knew that he had wanted me to say yes when he propsed- what man doesn’t?- but something made me stop. It couldn’t have been because of Sam... right?
“Let’s see... Santry... Don...” said the detective. A police jumped in then.
“That’s the man who was giving us problems a few months ago. I remember. I think we’ll just go over to his house to check it out...”
“All right.” The policeman headed to the door.

A few hours later, they returned. Sam, Detective Martinez, Thomas, and I were seated on the couch.
“So?” I said, jumping up as the police walked through the door.
“At first there was little evidence that he has something to do with the disappearance of your child. But the final thing we spotted proved that he’s the criminal,”
“Yes...” I urged him.
“This,” he replied, holding out a piece of paper. I grabbed it from him and read it.

Rebecca (or whoever reads this),
By now I’m figuring that you’ve sent to police after me, so that’s why I’m not here. I’m not going to tell you where I’m at, but I will tell you that you’re daughter is probably dead right now. Do whatever you want to look for me, but you’ll never find me. Why? Because by the time you find me, Rebecca, you’ll be dead just like your daughter.
If your poor baby Ashley really is dead, her body will be resting in the park next to the “BEWARE: FLOWING RIVERS” sign. If you go there, it is certain that you, and anyone else who comes along with you, will be DEAD.
-Your ex-husband

I read the letter again. No tears came, but thoughts started running through my head. Where’s Don? Why would he want to kill our only daughter? How will I ever be able to get to Ashley to see if she’s safe?
But mostly:
What am I going to do?

[DianeChambers87]

wait.....WHAT?

[Dannie IsNotHere]

Originally posted by DianeChambers87
wait.....WHAT?

Did it not make sense? Or are you just saying that?

[DianeChambers87]

Originally posted by RebeccaHoweNo.2
Did it not make sense? Or are you just saying that?

it's my reaction to what happened....it was all really fast...and there was :shudders: sexual tension with the wrong people...and Don went psycho....it's great

[Dannie IsNotHere]

Originally posted by DianeChambers87
it's my reaction to what happened....it was all really fast...and there was :shudders: sexual tension with the wrong people...and Don went psycho....it's great

lol ok. I thought maybe I was the one going psycho. I'm about to post the next part

[Dannie IsNotHere]

* * *
Diane

A few hours after I got settled in my home, I received a phone call from Sam.
“Diane?” he said, when I picked up.
“Hi, Sam!” I said, instantly recognizing his voice,
“Diane, something terrible has happened.” His voice was filled with deep concern.
“Oh?” I sat up. “What is it?”
“Diane, Ashley might be... dead.”
“Oh my God.” Sam had told me all about Ashley. I didn’t care for the idea of him raising a child with another woman, even if it wasn’t his, but later I’d felt much better. “Do you want me to come see you?”
“I think I’d like that. I’m at Rebecca’s apartment right now...”
A few moments later, I was off to Rebecca’s place. When I got there, I had expected to see shocked, sorrowful faces flooded with tears. But I didn’t. What I saw were faces with no expressions at all. Rebecca was frantically making phone calls, sounding hysterical. Sam was sitting, just thinking. Another man, I assumed was Rebecca’s boyfriend, was just pacing. And the police were walking around the apartment, looking for any evidence of some sort. I walked to Sam and sat next to him. I gave him a hug and kissed him gently on the cheek. He smiled a very forced, soft smile. I returned with a sympathetic smile and kissed him again.
“Miss Howe?” said a policeman, walking back to where she was standing.
Rebecca slammed the receiver down, and looked up with a hopeful expression on her face.
“Miss Howe, please follow me.” The man had no expression to his face, so I couldn’t tell what was going on.
Rebecca got up and followed the officer. Sam and I looked at each other and wondered what was going on. All of a sudden, we heard a scream followed by a happy yet angry “OH MY GOD!!!”
“Rebecca?” Sam leaped up and ran into Ashley’s room. I suddenly heard a gasp. I slowly got up and walked toward the room, unsure if I should really be going in.
“Sam?” Sam turned around.
“Diane!” He ran to me and hugged me. Rebecca had tears in her eyes, and I realized why she had sounded so angry and happy at the same time when I finally saw Ashley. Ashley seemed fine, but was covered with bruises and a few cuts and scrapes. It was a truly horrifying sight, but Ashley was looking as content as ever.
“Is she going to be okay?” asked Rebecca, as another tear escaped from her eye.
“As long as we get her to the hospital right away,” replied the officer.
When the officer picked her up, I noticed a folded orange paper taped to Ashley’s shirt. “What’s that?” I asked, pointing to the paper.
Rebecca grabbed it and read it.
“Well... this is certainly shocking... Rebecca and others, After I got away from my house, I realized what I was doing. I also realized why. When I realized what I was doing to Ashley, it came to me that it was my drinking problem getting the best of me. So after you get this, it won’t be Ashley who’s dead, it will probably be me. Rebecca, I’m really sorry I hurt you. I love you very much. And I hope you can forgive me. Don.”
Rebecca looked up with more tears in her eyes. “I’ve always love him, too. I can’t believe he’s doing this to himself.”
“Rebecca, you can try to find him before it’s too late,” I pointed out.
“I could...” Rebecca started to walked toward the door. When she got to it, she stopped and turned around. “I don’t want to go alone.”
“We’ll go with you,” said Sam.
“Yes, we’d be happy to.”
I just wasn’t as sure as I felt.


* * *
Sam

We were off to find Don. We started out in the woods where he said Ashley would have been, but he wasn’t there. We decided to check his apartment one last time.
When we got there, there was no answer. We got inside anyway and spotted him sitting on his couch, holding a shiny silver gun.
“Don?” Rebecca walked closer.
“Rebecca?” Don replied, turning around.
“Don, what are you doing to yourself?”
“Rebecca, I’m making the right choice. I just can’t go on anymore. Ever since my fortune came, I’ve become another man. I need to let go of that, and this is the only way out.” He grabbed his wine glass and took a big gulp of whatever it was in there. “Before I go, can I have a kiss good-bye?”
Rebecca backed up. “Don, I think you should really get help.” You could see how scared she was.
“I don’t need no help, baby. I’m gonna be gone.” It was obvious that he was now officially drunk.
“Please, I beg you!” Rebecca was nearly in tears at this point.
“Don... you need to get help. Killing yourself isn’t the way out,” Diane jumped in.
“Oooh, who’s this pretty lady?” Don walked toward Diane.
“Hey, hey, hey!” I grabbed Diane’s wrist. “Hands off, she’s mine.”
“Oh yea?” Don grabbed Diane and kissed her, then turned to Rebecca to try to kiss her.
Diane leaned against me, obviously freaked out now. Rebecca was backing toward the wall with tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Don,” she whispered. “Don, please don’t do this.”
“I already told you- it’s the only way out.” He quickly leaned in to kiss her, and managed to do so. When the kiss ended, Rebecca reached for the gun to try to get it away from him, but somehow the trigger managed to get pulled, and- BAM!
Rebecca fell to the floor, clutching her bleeding stomach.
“Sam... get... help,” she choked.
I looked at Rebecca and ran to the phone. I dialed 911 and explained what happened. After giving out more information, they assured me an ambulence would be coming, and I hung up, running back to my bleeding ex-fiancee. Don was standing over her, sobbing and Diane was just looking on in shock. Rebecca was lying there, half consious and I was so scared for her.

I’m not sure how long it was- it seemed like forever- but the ambulance finally arrived. They ran in to get Rebecca and put her on a stretcher, running back out.
“Diane, I’m gonna sit in back with Rebecca. Is that okay?” I asked.
She seemed reluctant, but finally agreed. I climbed in back after Rebecca was as comfortable as she could get. I held her hand.
“W-Where’s Don?” she grunted through clenched teeth.
“He’s in another ambulance. He’s going to get help,” I replied.
“Oh, okay.” I wasn’t sure if she really knew what was going on. Her eyes began to close, and I was deperately hoping she was okay.
We arrived at the hospital, and I waited for a long time. I paced, sat, read, and just stared at the clock. Soon, the nurse came out.
“Mr. Malone?” she asked.
“Yep, that’s me,” I replied, getting up to my feet.
“Rebecca’s fine. She’s resting right now. Would you like to see her?”
“Yes, I would.”
The nurse gestured for me to follow her, and I did. When I got into a room, I saw Rebecca, eyes squinted shut, bandaged up around her waiste. Her right hand was placed over her wound. She looked like she was in much pain.
“Rebecca,” I whispered, grabbing her hand. “Oh, if only you were awake right now. I feel horrible about everything that’s happened between us. And even though I’m with Diane and I love her very much, I love you very much, too. I wish you were awake so you could hear this...”
“...I’m awake,” she answered groggily, opening her eyes. “And you mean it?”
“Y-Yes, I do.”
“I love you, too, Sam.”
I was afraid that I’d gotten myself into a big mess.
"Sam?"
"Yea?"
"Everything okay?"
"Well... maybe not... why?"
"You seem a little... weird..."
"Oh? I didn't lreaize it."
"Um... well, where's Ashley?"
"She's at home with Detective Martinez, remember?"
"Oh... right. Do me a favor. Go home and take care of her for awhile. I want to get to sleep."
"All right." I left the room.
Please get better soon, I added silently.

[DianeChambers87]

You just love twists don't you?

I just have one thing, when the officer refers to Rebecca he should call her "Ms. Howe" not "Rebecca" it gives it a more genuine feel...and where was ashley throughout all of this?? And Sam better not end up with rebecca lol.
On the Diane character, you're doing great as far as her vocabulary, but her character is not usually as lost as maybe you're portraying her.

Those were just a few pointers that if you want you can consider. Overall though it's great! Can't wait till the next chapter.

[Dannie IsNotHere]

I just changed it.

And yes, I do love twists. I've been sending this to a few of my friends, and they're all really enjoying it, too. They keep complaining to me about all these cliffhangers.

[Dannie IsNotHere]

This is the last part

* * *
Rebecca


I couldn’t believe that I, the one trying to help, was the one who got incredibly hurt- almost dead. I often realize how that is always the way it works out. Just thinking of it brought tears to my eyes. Along with that, there was Sam. I knew that he said he loved me, but after lots of thought, realized that I didn’t love him. I remembered what we’d been through together, and realized that I felt much more comfortable around him when we were friends.
I turned to my side and fell asleep. When I woke up about two hours later, I saw Don at my side.
“Don?” I asked, just to be sure.
As soon as I said his name his eyes became shiny. “Rebecca, I am so incredibly sorry. My selfishness got the one that I love nearly killed.”
I couldn’t argue with him. I looked at my hands. “Don, you’re right.” I looked him in the eye. “This is much worse than killing yourself, isn’t it?”
“I guess you’re right. Rebecca, because of you, I decided to get help.”
“Oh, Don!” We hugged each other.
“I really do love you, Rebecca. Even though we’re not together, I love you like you were a friend.”
I smiled. “I love you, too, Don.”
Don got up and left. After that, Sam walked in.
“Hello, Stranger,” I said as he walked close to me.
“Hey there. How ya doing?”
“Not bad. Have you spoken to anyone? I wanna get out of here!”
“I did. They said if you felt all right, you could go home tomorrow. But they did say you can’t drive for about a week.”
“Oh. Well, would you mind driving me home tomorrow?”
“It would be my pleasure.”
“Thanks, Sam.” I smiled again.
“No problem.” he replied, and left.


* * *
Sam

I went home after seeing Rebecca. Diane was waiting for me.
“Hey, Diane,” I said when I saw her.
“Hi!” she leaped up from where she was sitting and jumped into my arms. We kissed, and then walked to the couch. “So, what’s the news with Rebecca?”
“She’s great, and I’m taking her home tomorrow.”
“You know, Sam, when Rebecca leaves, she might not be able to cope very well on her own. Now, I know you may think that I’m weird for suggesting this, but perhaps Rebecca should stay with us for awhile.”
The thought never crossed my mind. But I didn’t know what would happen with the two girls whom I’d had relations with. “We’ll see,” I replied. “We’ll see.”
Diane and I chatted a little more, then decided to go grab some lunch. We made it to a restaraunt, and seated ourselves. While we waited to be served, Diane and I chatted some more.
“Diane, I’ve done a lot of thinking, and I’ve come to a decision.”
“Thinking about what?”
“Just some stuff. See, you know how I loved Rebecca before you came.”
“Right.”
“And then you came and I decided to see you.”
“Right.”
“Well... a-hem, Diane, will you marry me?” I asked, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a ring. “You’re the one I love. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Diane didn’t say anything at first. She got up and began to run out, but stopped short and turned around. “Sam, I will marry you.” She ran back and hugged me. I hugged her back, tightly.


* * *
Diane

I was absolutely flattered that Sam asked me to marry him. I was excited and nervous at the same time.
I admit that I felt a little reluctant to invite Rebecca to live with us, for she was Sam’s former girlfriend. But because of the proposal, I felt better. I knew that Sam was choosing me as the one he loved, and he wasn’t going to let anything happen to hurt me.
I went to visit Rebecca that day.
“Rebecca? How are you feeling?” I asked quietly as I walked in.
“Not bad,” she replied. She was sitting up watching T.V. She turned it off when she saw me.
“That’s good. Listen, Sam and I were talking and we wondered if you would like to stay with us for awhile, cinsidering your... condition.”
“Well... I honestly don’t know. I think that it might be best for me to be on my own and get used to my life like this.”
That made me assume that she and Thomas had broken up. “Rebecca, listen. I hope this doesn’t hurt you or anything, but I’m going to be Sam’s bride.”
“Oh.” I could sense a little surprise in her voice, although she tried not to show it. “Well, congratulations.”
“Thanks.” There was an awkward silence. “Well, I better head home. See you soon?”
“See you soon. Bye, Diane.”
“Good-bye, Rebecca.”


* * *
Rebecca

Well... that news was shocking. Sam getting married. I admit I was a little hurt, but I shook it off and realized Sam was better off with Diane anyway.
The next day, I’d be going home. I was really happy. Sam would pick me up, and I would officially let him go. I had butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it. We’d been through a lot together. It was amazing how much the time had gone by. At least tomorrow I’d be home with my Ashley. I could not wait to see her.

The next day came so fast. I said good-bye to my nurse as I got up from the wheelchair she’d helped me out in. Sam was waiting for me, and he helped me into his car. We rode silently for a few minutes, not knowing the right thing to say. I looked over at him.
Have you ever had a moment where you look at someone you once loved and think “How did I let them go?” That’s how I felt at that very moment. The feeling wore off and we finally got to my apartment. He walked me to the door, and we spoke.
“Sam. I know you’re marrying Diane, and I want to tell you how happy I am for you,” I started.
“Thanks, Rebecca,” he replied.
“Listen, I just wanted to tell you thanks. Thanks for making me feel loved. It means so much to me to have a great friend like you. And I still love you, but I love you as a friend.”
Sam was silent for a moment. Then he hugged me. “Thanks,” he said again.
“I’ll see you at Cheers tomorrow, right?”
“Of course.”
“Good-bye, Sam.”
“Good-bye, Rebecca.”
I watched as Sam walked to his car.
So it was official. I let him go. Everything was over, and I was back to my old life. Even though, I’d led that life before, it was a new beginning for me.
I sighed, thenturned around and went inside to see my baby.

THE END