Angela’s heartbreak was utterly devastating.

While she supported her sister, Sam was overcome with rage. Someone had done this to him, to them, and she was going to find out who as soon as she possibly could. She would make them pay for taking Spencer from his wife and children. The need for justice for Spencer and Angela was so intense, Sam had to fight it back so she could be there for her sister in her time of need.

Sam and Tracy never left Angela’s side during that long, hellish day, physically holding her up more than once as it sank in that Spencer was gone and not coming back.

“What will I do?” Angela asked between sobs as she paced the ICU waiting room while the doctors tended to him. The room had been closed to everyone else by the Secret Service, who stood watch outside the door. “I don’t know what to do.”

Sam couldn’t think of a single thing to say in response to that as she paced along with Angela, wanting to stay close to her. What would she do with three little kids and no husband? Spencer was also the primary breadwinner for their family, and his loss would be a huge economic blow on top of the emotional one. So many thoughts ran through Sam’s head that she was nearly dizzy from the spiral.

“You need to sit for a minute,” Nick said at one point.

“I don’t want to.”

“Sam, your hip is still healing. You should get off your feet for a bit.”

“Angela needs me.”

“You’re right here for her. Come sit with me. Just for a minute.”

Sam felt almost guilty taking comfort from her husband while Angela was losing hers. It felt wrong to have Nick’s arm around her when Spencer could never again put his arm around Angela. He would miss the birth of their third child and everything else with their kids. It was beyond belief. “How can this be happening?”

“I keep asking myself that,” Nick said. “He was fine last night, and now… I feel sick that they felt they had to keep this from us because of me.”

“That was their choice. You can’t take that on.”

“Still…”

“Yeah. I don’t know what’s more shocking—what happened today or that this had been going on right in front of us and we had no idea. I mean, I knew he hurt his back playing football, but not the rest.”

Dr. Anderson entered the room. “I came in when I heard something was up with your family. Can I help?”

“I wish you could,” Sam said. “But thank you for coming.”

“Do you know what happened?”

“We just found out he was battling a pain med addiction and had turned to acquiring them illegally.”

“Ah, damn. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve seen that in the ER lately.”

“It’s happening a lot?”

“Huge uptick in recent months.”

That information made Sam only more determined to find out who was dealing poisonous pills and get them off the streets before this tragedy happened to another family. And why in the hell hadn’t the Narcotics squad sounded an alarm about a surge in overdose deaths? She’d be asking that question as soon as possible.