"So you never told your dad she kept seeing Devyn?"

Samantha shook her head. "Not until this afternoon. I didn't want to get Taryn in trouble. I knew she was going to regret what she was doing. Taryn and I were always at odds with each other. I knew if I brought my father into the disagreement, I would only end up with both of them angry with me. My father would have found some way to blame me. His precious Taryn was never wrong. If I had known then what I know now…" Samantha bit her upper lip and took a deep breath before continuing on. "Taryn showed up at Devyn's one day a couple of months later in the middle of the day. Her class had been canceled so she thought she would go hang with him. She had a key to his apartment and she let herself in thinking she would surprise him." Samantha snorted. "She was the one who wound up being surprised. She found him in bed not only with another woman but with a member of his band as well. There were drugs involved. She didn't tell me the specifics until much later. Until it was too late. She definitely got a rude awakening that day. She claimed Devyn never did drugs when he was with her. She was so blinded by him and so naïve that I am not sure she would have known even if he were doing drugs when she was with him. Taryn didn't see Devyn again for over 2 years. She was interning at U.C.L.A. medical center when he was brought in to the emergency room. She was on call, working pediatrics when he was brought in. He had passed out while driving somewhere and hit a telephone pole. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt. He died shortly after arrival at the hospital."

"Did Taryn return to Stanford after that?"

Again Samantha shook her head. "Taryn finished her internship and graduated from med school. She went into practice with Christopher immediately. Shortly before her 24th birthday she started getting sick a lot. She went from one respiratory infection to another. She had the flu severely several times in less than 6 months. She lost a considerable amount of weight. She was more of a walking skeleton than I was at the time. She was hardly working at all because she was afraid of the kids might get what she had or she might catch something herself. My father finally came to Los Angeles and took her to a doctor himself. She kept insisting she was fine and she could treat herself. I will never forget the day a couple of weeks later when Christopher and Peter showed up at school unexpectedly. Christopher and Cindy would visit me on weekends once in awhile but for Christopher to come up midweek and more over for Peter to fly in from North Carolina, I knew something major was going on." Samantha paused, squeezing her eyes and lips tightly shut. "Christopher tries to protect me from the truth now but back then he was very straight forward. They picked me up after my shift at the hospital was over and drove me back to my apartment. They waited until we got there to tell me the reason behind their visit." Samantha tried to continue but a lump formed her throat as she momentarily lost her voice. "I had never seen my brothers cry before." She looked up at Howie. "They had come to tell me Taryn had full blown AIDS." Howie raised his head and met Samantha's gaze head on. There were no tears in her eyes this time. The only emotion he could make out was rage.

Memories of the dinner conversation he and Samantha had with Kevin, A.J., Brian and Caleigh while she was in Orlando visiting his family came flashing back to him. 'The bracelet with the initials.' He remembered. He glanced at Samantha's wrist and noticed she was wearing it now. 'Taryn is the reason for the bracelet.'

"I felt so guilty." Samantha whispered. "Like I was to blame for her getting sick because I didn't tell anyone when she kept seeing Devyn."

"Samantha, you can't blame yourself because Taryn wouldn't listen to you."

"I know that now." She replied softly.

"When did she pass away Sam?"

"Christopher and Peter packed her up and took her back to my parents' house that week. If she had gotten treatment sooner…" Samantha took a deep breath. "She lived a little over a year. She passed away a month after I graduated from medical school." She took another deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "My father didn't attend my graduation." She said wistfully. "He chose to stay with her while my mom, my brothers and Rachel came up. That really hurt me. I had worked so hard to accomplish what he wanted me to do and he blew me off. I understood Taryn was dying. She had a nurse though. He worked the majority of the day anyway. He could have spared a few hours to come to the ceremony. My mom and Rachel flew up and back in the same day. He could have come with them." Samantha stared up at the skylight, not wanting to meet Howie's eyes with her own.