Emma's Treasures by Rebecca Joyce

for Denver to take care of a personal matter. She wasn’t happy when we stopped her. We brought her back here, and she went straight to my room,” Tate offered.
    “That’s not entirely true, bro. Don’t forget what Tabitha said. She said that she was afraid the bad man was going to hurt Emma again.”
    “Who is Tabitha?” Doc immediately asked.
    “Shit, doc, we’re sorry. With so much going on around here, nobody knows, do they? Emma has a daughter, our daughter. Her name is Tabitha.” Tate explained.
    “Well, that clarifies that.” The doc smiled at the happy news. “So, what about this bad man?”
    “We don’t know and neither does Tabitha,” Tucker said.
    “Well, whatever happened, it opened the door. I don’t know how she will respond when she wakes. She will either act as if nothing happened, and in my opinion that is really bad, because she will have repressed that memory again, or she will remember, which means she will need me, so I am not leaving until she wakes up. Better go get the coffee on, boys, it’s going to be a long night.”
     
    * * * *
     
     
    Emma walked into the kitchen to find all the boys sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. They each looked at her with concern. She noticed Doc standing against the counter, watching as she entered the room.
    “Morning,” Emma said as she made her way to the coffeemaker. Everyone held their breaths as Emma poured a cup of coffee and soon began making breakfast.
    The kitchen was so quiet that it was giving Emma the creeps. She turned to find them all looking at her. “What?” she asked, perturbed to be gawked at like some freak show.
    “How are you feeling this morning, Emma?” Doc began.
    “Fine. Why are you here, Doc? Oh my God, did something happen to Tabitha?” Emma said franticly as she quickly moved to get to her daughter, only to be stopped by Tucker. “She’s fine, baby, sleeping peacefully. I checked on her no more than an hour ago.”
    Emma sighed in relief. “Then what is going on?” she asked, looking nervously at everyone.
    “Emma,” the doc began, “what was the last thing you remember from yesterday?”
    Emma looked from the boys to the doc, slowly sitting down. Tucker and Tate were there instantly, supporting her in any way she needed. “It’s okay, sweetheart, just tell the doc what you remember,” Tate said, gently rubbing her leg.
    Something was up. Emma knew it. Her gut was screaming at her, but what? She couldn’t think of anything. She remembered everything from yesterday, from her leaving to how angry she was that Tate came to bring her back home. She remembered the quiet drive, and walking directly into the bedroom. She never came out for dinner, just showered and went to bed. That was it. Nothing had happened.
    Emma told them as such, but by the looks on their faces, it wasn’t what they wanted to hear. They were hiding something, something big, and quite frankly, it was beginning to freak her out.
    “Someone better tell me what the hell is going on. You’re scaring me.”
    “Emma, the boys called me last night because you had a nightmare.”
    “They called you for a nightmare?” Emma questioned with a hint of amusement. “I can’t wait to see how you boys will react when Tabitha scrapes her knee. What’s that gonna warrant, a trip to the emergency room?” she said, laughing. Getting up, Emma was still laughing when she patted the doc on his shoulder. “Sorry, Doc. This is so funny.”
    “Emma, you scared the shit out of us last night,” Travis said, getting angry.
    “Well, I’m sorry my nightmare scared you, Travis, but it was just a nightmare.”
    “It wasn’t just a nightmare! You screamed our names over and over again. Then you began fighting so hard, it took me and Tucker and Tate to control you. You wouldn’t wake up, Emma…You didn’t wake up!” Travis said, grabbing a hold of her.
    “Travis, let her go,” Tate said in an eerily vicious tone behind him.
    The sound of