Sam came to with a jolt, as the truck sped down the road. She cried out in agony as a white-hot pain lanced down her leg and ankle. She tried to work out where she was, and then it all came flooding back to her in a rush. Desperately she tried to sit up, but the pain from her shattered leg prevented her and she fell back again, panting ( Read more... )

"Damn," Janet set the phone back in its cradle.

"Problem?" Sam asked from her seat on the couch.

"Not really," Janet replied. "I've got to change my shift at work tomorrow is all. Warner's got to leave early, so I'm doing 1030hrs to 1830hrs. I wanted to get out early so's we could all go swimming again."

"I can still take Cass," Sam said. She was ( Read more... )

Ella Kominsky decided she liked the two women across the road almost as soon as they moved in. The day after she saw them arrive, the blonde one came out of the house to get something from the car and saw her in her front yard, struggling vainly with a mower that just would not start, however many times she tried to persuade it. The young woman ( Read more... )

"I've run the tub for you honey," Janet told Sam as she came downstairs. "You go up, have a nice hot soak. I'll make dinner while Cass goes to Mrs Kominsky's to get Angus, okay Cass?"

( Read more... )

"What's a birthday?" Cassie asked in response to Sam's question.

"A birthday?" Sam was surprised she didn't know. "Well, a birthday is a celebration of the day you were born. Every year, on that day, you celebrate. People give you cards, and gifts, and make a fuss of you. Didn't you celebrate your birthday on Hanka?"

Cassie shook her head. "No," ( Read more... )

"I can't believe it's ours," Janet said, as the realtor drove away, having handed her the keys to their new house. "It's perfect, honey."

Sam smiled. "It sure is," she said. "Just like you."

( Read more... )

"Get out of the damned way!" Sam yelled at a slow-moving car in front of her. Expertly she maneuvered round it and sped along the highway.

"We're nearly there, Carter," O'Neill said in a calm voice. "It'll be okay."

"I hope you're right," Sam was thin-lipped with tension.

= = =
( Read more... )

"Ernie?" David Richmond sounded pissed. "Where the hell have you been? I've been trying to get through to you on the 'phone for days now."

"I told you it would take time," Ernie replied, barely concealing his impatience. "It's not like you've given me much to go on. Name, cellphone number and the fact that she's probably still in the air force ( Read more... )

"Mommy!" Mikey cried as he sat atop Sam's shoulders at the Monster Truck expo. "Look at what that truck's doing!"

Sharon smiled, and looked over at her lover. From the expression on Cora's face, if possible she was enjoying the spectacle even more than their son. She touched Janet's arm. "This was such a good idea," she said.

( Read more... )

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sam asked in a soft voice, mindful of not wanting to put any pressure on Janet.

Janet shook her head miserably. "Not now," she said in a tiny voice. "I will tell you. All of it. Just not now, huh? Right now I don't want to think about him. I just want to enjoy being in your arms. Feeling you. Feeling safe."

"You ( Read more... )