A/N – Heya peoples, I'm really sorry about the long wait for the chapter but school can sometimes get in the way of proper genius. So enough wait here is Chapter 3 of iMissed A Lot! Oh and a special shout out to Spelllesswonder29 for answering the question at the end of the last chapter correctly. ENJOY EVERYBODY and by the way, when the Flashback starts anything in italics is Freddie telling Sam the story.
Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own iCarly. Keep at it Dan!!!
Chapter 3
Sam's body went rigid after the words left Freddie's mouth. "How could my mom be dead?" thought Sam, "I mean I know that she acted like she didn't care but that doesn't mean that I'm going to want her gone." Freddie saw the blank look on Sam's face and began to worry. She stayed like that for a good 5 minutes, with each minute putting Freddie into a more worried state. Freddie finally walked over to her and touched her arm. Sam flinched at the touch and failed to prevent a tear from falling down her cheek.
"Sam" began Freddie, "Sam, say something, please." Try as hard as she could, Sam couldn't prevent herself from crying any longer. Her emotional dam finally came crashing down and all the information that she had received since she awoke from her comatose state came rushing back into her mind. It was all too much for her and so she burst out sobbing.
She felt a pair of arms wrap around her, and hold her close. As she took in the scent she realized that it was Freddie and began to cry even harder. Freddie began to whisper words of encouragement to her before looking at Spencer and his mother, silently asking them to leave the room and give Sam some time to herself to grieve. After the door closed Sam began to cry harder on to Freddie's chest completely soaking his shirt.
After a while, Sam regained control of her breathing and stopped the tears from continuing to come out. Freddie loosened his group and looked down at Sam, whose face was still pressed against his chest. As she backed away from his chest she refused to look up, for fear of looking at his face. She had never before shown Freddie any form of weakness before and after the past few moments she felt really ashamed of herself having let it all go in front of the love of her life.
Freddie reluctantly let her go and sat down on the side of the bed facing Sam. They remained in this silence for a few seconds before Sam finally spoke. "I'm sorry" she said. "Don't worry about it" replied Freddie. "This never leaves the room" continued Sam looking up and glaring at Freddie, "or else. Understood, Freddork?" Freddie nodded slowly, trying his hardest not to laugh at how quickly she went from being in distress to putting up the tough girl act again.
They remained in silence once again until Sam finally asked "Do you know how it happened?" Freddie remained still for a few moments, pondering the best way to answer her. "None of us were there when it happened," began Freddie, "we actually didn't find out until the morning after it happened. The last we saw of her was one month after your accident…"
Flashback
Carly, Spencer, and I were all sitting in your room paying our usual visit. We had been there for about an hour before she came in. "Has there been any change in her condition?" Ms. Puckett asked Spencer. "No, nothing yet" replied Spencer. Ms. Puckett walked over to her daughter's bed and began to gently run her hand through her hair. Something seemed a bit off with her that night, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Ms. Puckett stepped away from her daughter and looked over at Spencer, Carly and Freddie with a weird look in her eyes. "Alright then, call me If anything changes" said Ms. Puckett.
She walked out of the room and that was the last I saw of her. My mother was the one that told me the rest of the story. As Ms. Puckett began her drive home her she was having a hard time keeping the wheel steady. She was only a block from her home when she failed to notice the light turning red and the person coming in from her left. Ms. Puckett's car slid across the intersection and into the traffic light post.
My mom was leaving the hospital that night after having spent some time with you when she noticed your mom being pulled in on a stretcher. Ms. Benson was getting out of the elevator and walking towards the main lobby when she saw a stretcher being rushed through with Sam's mom on the bed. Immediately she sprung into action chasing after the stretcher and the doctors.
"What's going on here?" asked Ms. Benson. "I'm sorry miss, but you have to step away" replied one of the EMT's guiding the stretcher. "I know her though" stated Ms. Benson, "she's the mother of one my son's friends." "Oh," said one of the doctors, "then I'm going to need to you to contact the next of kin and inform them of what's happened."Ms. Benson's head fell slightly at the thought that the next of kin was also a patient in this particular hospital. Before she could respond to the doctor they had turned into another hallway and gone through some double doors. As Ms. Benson tried to follow, she was held back by a nurse. "I'm sorry miss, but you're not allowed in there" said the Nurse. Ms. Benson ran over to the window and saw as the doctors did everything they could to save the woman's life.
"Do you think you might be able to fill out some paperwork for the patient?" asked the nurse. Ms. Benson thought about it and realized that she was as good as anyone else to go ahead and take care of the papers. She took one last look into the room and then began to follow the nurse over to her station for forms she needed to fill out.
About an hour later a doctor came over to the patient waiting room asking for anyone waiting on Ms. Puckett. She rose from the chair, taking a moment to stretch quickly before rushing over towards the doctor. The doctor told her that they had done everything that they could but it was too late. The damage that she received was too grave and the only that they were able to do for her was make her a little bit comfortable for her last few moments but no matter what she would be dead within the hour.
"Can I see her?" asked Ms. Benson the doctor. He nodded his head and walked over to a room. Inside, Ms. Puckett was hooked up to a vast amount of contraption, each monitoring an individual part of her body. Ms. Benson walked forward and noticed all the cuts and bruises on the woman's face. She shed a few tears thinking about how unfair that Ms. Puckett's family had gone through so much tragedy. First the loss of Sam's father to the mugger, then the daughter went into a coma, and now the mother was going to lose her life. It was a very unfair fate for all of them.
There was a gasp from the woman lying on the bed as she looked around the room to find out where she was. She saw Ms. Benson and began to question where she was even more. Ms. Benson walked over to the side of Ms. Puckett's bed and looked down at the woman with sad eyes. Ms. Puckett saw her face and automatically knew that things were not in her favor. So instead of bothering to ask whether she was going live or not, she instead asked for a pen and paper. Ms. Benson looked at her with a confused face but reached into her bag and withdrew a pen and pad.
Ms. Puckett began to write something on the paper and then signed it at the bottom. She reached out to hand the pad back to Ms. Benson. As Ms. Benson reached for the pad and tried to take it she felt a strong tug as Ms. Puckett tried to grab her attention. "Take care of her… please" requested Ms. Puckett with a sad smile before her body went limp and the monitor let out a long drawn out beep.
End Flashback
"We didn't find out about it until the next night, my mother refused to tell us anything more than your mom being in the hospital." continued Freddie, "My mom helped to set up the funeral arrangements and we tried to push it back, hoping that you would wake up, but it never happened so we just went through with it." Sam was once again fighting the tears that were threatening to come out. "What did she write?" asked Sam.
Freddie wanted to hold off on giving her the letter so as to avoid another outburst from Sam but realized that this was Sam and she would do what she had to so that she could get what she wanted. He reluctantly got off the bed and walked towards the door. As he opened it, Ms. Benson and Spencer both walked in.
Ms. Benson reached into her purse and pulled out a faded piece of notepad paper. She walked towards Sam and held it out for her to take. Sam slowly reached for it, afraid that it would cause her immediate pain upon touching it. Once she had it in her hand she gingerly unfolded it and began to read it.
Dear Samantha,
I know I haven't exactly been a proper mother to you and for that I want to apologize. I know that it wasn't your fault for what happened to your father and I don't want you blaming yourself for it. I know after he was gone I never did anything to help you out and instead I made it worse by pushing you away, and for that I am really sorry. I'm sure that by the time this reaches you, you will undoubtedly know that I'm no longer with you. So before I go I want to tell you that I love you no matter what I have shown to you before and it is really sad that I had to come to realize when I was at the point where I was going to lose you. I also want to say to you enjoy your life and have lots of fun without regretting anything. Never stay mad because in the end it only leaves you bitter and alone. I've seen the way your friends look at you while you are asleep on the hospital bed, especially that Freddie boy, and they look as if they were about to lose one of their parents. They truly care for you and I want you to promise me that as my last wish you will do everything you can to keep them in your life. And now for the last thing, I Brenda Anne Puckett, of sound mind and stable health, do here by hand over custody of my daughter, Samantha Anne Puckett, to one Marissa Benson. I love you kid, so try to be good.
After that there was a signature of Sam's mother followed by two more signatures, one from Ms. Benson and then another from the doctor that was watching over Ms. Puckett. Sam looked up from the letter wiping furiously at the lone tear that had escaped. "So this means that" trailed off Sam. "Yeah" replied Ms. Benson, "you're going to be living with me and Freddie in our apartment. We brought over all your stuff and turned the attic into your new room."
"And of course" said Spencer, "you used to practically live at my house, so you can stay over whenever you like." Sam smiled a bit at Spencer's comment, slowly taking in how her life had changed from what seemed like one night to another. A nurse came in saying that visiting hours were over. Ms. Benson walked over to Sam and gave her a big hug to which Sam responded with equal force. "Thank you for taking care of me" said Sam to Ms. Benson. "It's nothing at all" replied Ms. Benson, "and you should really be thanking Freddie, he did most of the work in getting your stuff and preparing your room." Ms. Benson backed away and smiled at Sam before turning to walk out the door. Spencer walked over and said his good bye as well slipping out of the room to give Freddie and Sam some time alone.
Sam suddenly became interested in the bed sheets as she realized she was alone with the love of her life. She was trying to think up something to end the awkward silence but couldn't come up with anything. She felt something grab her hand and squeeze. She looked up and came face to face with Freddie. Their faces barely inches apart from each other, Sam was trying really hard, and losing, to keep herself under control and not kiss him.
"It's ok," said Freddie causing Sam to finally regain control and stop inching forward, "you don't have to thank me or anything. I did it because you're my best friend and I wanted you to be happy when you woke up, or as happy as possible with all that's happened." Sam leaned back a little and smiled at his comment. She brought up her other hand and lightly tapped Freddie on the cheek, "That's a good little dork" said Sam, "I'm glad to see that I've trained you well."
Freddie just chuckled at her response knowing that it was just her way of saying thank you. He began to walk away and let go of her hand. Sam reached out and grabbed his hand before he got too far away. She yanked his arm hard and pulled him towards her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. "Thank you" she whispered into his ear, "you've been here since I woke up and have done everything to help me, so thanks Freddie." She pulled her head away from his shoulder and gave him a small peck on the cheek.
Freddie began to blush but Sam didn't notice due to the low hospital lights. They both loosened their grip on each other reluctantly and Freddie began to back away. "I'll be back in a few" said Freddie as he walked towards the door. Sam just stared at the door frame as her eyes began to itch. She leaned back into her bed and began to rub her eyes. The day had been emotionally exhausting for Sam and she was starting to feel the repercussions. Then, before she noticed it was happening, she had fallen asleep.
Sam was shaken awake in the middle of her nightmare. She looked around the room and noticed Freddie sitting on the bed right next to her, holding her tight and rubbing her arm to calm her down. She latched onto his torso and began to sob into his chest for the second time in less than 24 hrs. "It was horrible" began Sam, "everyone had disappeared and I was left alone in the hospital. I couldn't get out and-." "Shh," soothed Freddie, "it was just a nightmare. I'm right here with you and I won't be going anywhere anytime soon." Sam ended her sobbing and began to calm down. As Freddie tried to get up she just pulled him back down onto the bed. "Please don't leave" pleaded Sam. "Ok ok, I'm still here, calm down" replied Freddie. He leaned back into the bed and so did Sam. She grabbed one of his arms and pulled it around her torso. Soon Freddie heard her breathing regularly noticing that she was asleep and he too let sleep over come him, thinking about how he loved the feeling of her body against his.
A/N – So this marks the end of the background to the story. From here on out the story should pick up more. Hope you like it a lot, and of course I'd love to hear what you think, so make with the clicky clicky of the review button... if you want that is, no pressure. Thanks in advance to all!!!