Chapter 14

Despite the pep talk that Ashley gave Sam to lift her spirits, Sam had a very long and hard afternoon and evening in the restaurant.

Ashley and Brittany both finished their shift at 2:00. This left only Sam and Dana to run the place while Mrs. Moore did a few errands. Luckily for the two, the middle of the afternoon was quiet. But when the dinner rush hit just before 5:00, the place filled in a hurry. Mrs. Moore returned at 5:00 and waitressed with the girls to help serve the large amount of customers that came in for dinner.

The concert for "Good Charlotte" was due to start at 7:30, so Dana left the restaurant at 6:00 so she could get ready for it. This left Sam alone with the boss to help the hungry people who were coming in tonight. Sam and Tammy made it through the rush, but the stress took a toll on Sam's body. Sam was already tired from the day before that she was moving very gingerly the last couple of hours of her shift. There were times that she felt very sick, but she continued to push on. They closed the restaurant at 9:30, but it took nearly an hour and a half to get the place cleaned up so that they could go home.

Tonight would be a weird experience for Sam as she walked out of the restaurant. She was used to calling a cab to take her home, but she wouldn't be going back to her old place tonight. All her stuff was now in the new place just a few blocks down. Ashley's boyfriend Brian had come back to Paula's Place earlier in the afternoon and gave Sam back her keys so that she would be able to get into her place.

As Sam walked out of the doors to Paula's Place, she looked down the street to see her new place. It was only a few blocks away, but tonight, the walk seemed like a few miles. She staggered the entire way to the apartment. As she walked inside, she quickly walked over to her couch and sat down. She felt very weak as she sat looking at all the boxes and everything in her room that she would have to put away on her days off. After a few minutes of sitting down, she felt the need to use the restroom so she went into the small bathroom to go.

As she got up from the toilet she turned white when she saw that there was a little blood in the toilet. She began to tremble a bit, but she knew that stress wasn't good for the baby. She slowly walked out of the bathroom and into her bedroom. She plugged in her alarm clock, and set it for 5:30. Thank God I live close now so I can sleep in, Sam thought as she crawled into bed.

As happy as she had been to see Freddie, she was trying not to think about him so that she could fall asleep. It was the only thing keeping her awake. Eventually, her body overcame her thoughts, and she fell asleep.

Sam almost freaked the following morning when her alarm went off. She forgot for a second that she was in her new place. This was only the first time she had ever awoken in her new bedroom. Man this place is small, she commented to herself as she reached over to shut off her alarm clock. She slipped out of bed and nearly stumbled as she tried to make her way into the bathroom to shower. She was just as weak now as she had been when she went to bed about 6 hours ago.

She almost wanted to fall back asleep in the shower, but she hurried and got cleaned up and got out of the shower. She quickly dressed for work and got ready to go. She walked out the door, and made the short little walk to work.

Just as it seemed the night before, the walk to Paula's Place felt a lot longer than just a few blocks. She was walking very slowly when she approached the front doors. Brittany was opening with her this morning, and she had a concerned look on her face when she saw Sam gingerly make her way to the doors.

"Sam," Brittany said to her friend calmly, "Are you okay this morning?"

Sam nodded weakly, "I'm so tired Britt," she responded as she stood at the door next to her friend waiting for Mrs. Moore to arrive, "Thank goodness I only have to be here until noon today."

"Sam, you don't look well," Brittany stated, "maybe you should consider going back home and going back to bed."

Sam shook her head slowly, "It's only six hours. I can do it." She and Britt turned to see Mrs. Moore arrive to open the door. Tammy turned to look at Sam as she, her girls, and the cooks walked in.

"I appreciate all the hard work you did last night Sam," Mrs. Moore said to her, "but you don't look well this morning. Are you going to make it, or do you need to go home?"

"I'm fine," Sam replied bravely. She grabbed an apron, and helped Brittany get things ready to go so they could open the restaurant.

The first half of Sam's shift went by quietly, but a lot of people started coming in for breakfast around 9:00. Sam tried very hard to keep up with the demand of her customers. Brittany offered to help lighten Sam's load a bit by taking on a few extra tables, but Sam was still getting physically drained by the work.

By the time Ashley came in at 11:00, Sam was doing everything she could just to move, let alone tend to customer's needs. On a few occasions she had to stop and sit for a few minutes before moving on again. The lunch rush was beginning, and the place began to get packed. Sam continued to push her body forward. "Only minutes to go now," she kept whispering to herself, "and Freddie will be here soon."

Sure enough, at 11:45, Freddie walked into the restaurant. Unlike his counterpart, he was feeling very well on this day. He had spent the rest of his day Saturday doing more decorating in his apartment when he had returned home from seeing Sam. He had spent a nice evening at home watching a baseball game on TV. He made a call to Judy to see how George was doing. Judy told Freddie that George was doing really well, and that he would be leaving the hospital Monday morning. Freddie told Judy that he had found Sam and that they would be getting together on Sunday. Judy was excited for Freddie and promised to tell George. Freddie ended his call and continued to stay up until the ballgame ended. He also had a tough time going to sleep that evening. He was too excited about his "date" with Sam.

When Freddie saw Sam, he smiled at her. But when Freddie saw how tired and pale she was, he frowned and said to her, "Sam, you don't look well, are you all right?"

Sam smiled weakly at him, "I will be here in a few minutes," she replied as they walked over to find a table for Freddie to sit at, "Freddie, would you terribly mind if we just hung out at my place today?"

"Yeah," Freddie replied kindly. They reached an empty table. Freddie sat down and said, "Sam, sit down for a second, okay?"

She shook her head slowly, "Oh, no, Freddie, I only have a couple more minutes until I'm off for the day."

Freddie got back up and insisted that Sam sit for a few moments. Sam reluctantly did sit for a second.

"You look like you can barely stand," Freddie commented, "Can't you go ahead and leave right now?"

Sam checked her watch. She looked to Freddie and said, "All I have to do is take care of a few people's tabs; then I'll be ready to go." She continued to look at Freddie's worried expression. She got back up weakly. "Fredward, it's me. I can do anything." She smirked as she slowly made her way down the aisle.

Freddie watched as Sam slowly finished her shift for the day. He saw her go to three different tables and take care of the bills for each of them. Freddie didn't like how pale Sam looked as she moved about the aisle. He was glad that she was ending her day so that she could get off her feet and relax. As much as he had wanted to take her out today; he was perfectly cool with just chilling out with her at her new place. He saw Sam disappear into the kitchen when she was finished dealing with her customers. Freddie sat back in his booth and waited patiently for her.

A few minutes passed, and Freddie noticed that Sam hadn't reemerged from the kitchen yet. He was sort of wondering what was taking her so long. His watch beeped indicating that it was indeed twelve o'clock. He stared at the door to the kitchen. He knew that Sam was moving slowly right now, but he had a gut feeling that something wasn't right. I wonder what's taking her so long, Freddie thought uneasily.

Suddenly there was the sound of a metal pot falling to the floor coming from the kitchen area. It made a clanging noise loud enough to get the attention of most of the people in the restaurant. Brittany was near the door to the kitchen, and she walked back to the kitchen to see what was going on. She gasped at the sight in front of her. Sam had collapsed to the floor in the middle of the kitchen. She had blood seeping through the crotch area of her waitress uniform. Sam was in tears and moaning.

"Mrs. Moore!" Brittany yelled for her boss, "Hurry and call an ambulance! Sam has just collapsed!"

The second Freddie heard Sam's name associated with an ambulance, he bolted from his booth and hurried down the aisle to the kitchen. The other customers watched as he sprinted down the aisle in the dining area and ran into the kitchen.

When he opened the doors to the kitchen and saw Sam on the floor, he turned to Brittany, "Sam can't wait for an ambulance," he said firmly to her, "I need to get her to the hospital right away. I'll take her."

Freddie quickly scooped Sam in his arms. "Is there a back way out?" He asked Brittany.

"Yes," she responded quickly and had Freddie follow her out the back door.

"I need you to open the passenger's side door to my car when we get to it," He told Brittany as he had her follow him to his car. Sam continued to sob and moan in his arms. "Don't worry Sam," he said to her softly as he hurried to his car, "I'm going to get you to a hospital as soon I can."

When they reached his car, Brittany quickly opened the passenger's side door for Freddie. Freddie quickly but carefully set Sam down in the seat. Freddie's vehicle was equipped with automatic seatbelts that would function when he started his vehicle. Brittany shut the door to the car while Freddie quickly raced around the car to get in on his side. "Where is the closest hospital from here?" He asked Brittany as he climbed into his car.

"Overlake Hospital in Bellevue," Brittany replied quickly, "It's about five miles north of here right off the I-405 freeway."

Freddie nodded, "Thanks for your help!" He yelled as he quickly backed out of the parking lot and sped out onto the street towards the freeway.

"Please Freddie, save my baby," Sam cried weakly from her seat to Freddie.

Making sure his left hand was firmly on the steering wheel, Freddie reached over with his right hand and grabbed Sam's left hand, "I'm going to get you to the hospital as quickly as I can go," He said firmly as he began weaving in and out of traffic on the main drive. "We're going to make it. But please Sam, just hang on, okay?"

Sam tried to hold onto Freddie's hand, but she was sitting very stiffly in her seat. She was so worn out, but she was very scared at the same time. She nodded to him and then turned to look down at her belly. "Oh God," she cried out, "please don't let me lose this one too."

Freddie took his eyes off the road for a second to look at her sadly, "Oh, Sam…" he said softly and sadly. Sam looked at him for a second; then she looked away. Freddie turned his attention back to getting Sam to the hospital as quickly as he could.

Sam looked down, and was sickened to see the blood that was coming from underneath her on the seat. "Oh Freddie," she cried, "I'm ruining your seat…"

"Sam," Freddie cried to her firmly as he got on the entrance ramp to the 405 freeway, "I could care less about my stupid car's seat at the moment." He accelerated quickly into the eight lanes of traffic that unfolded on him. "My only concern right now is for the baby."

Sam sadly turned to look out the front window. She continued to hold Freddie's hand even though she thought that maybe he ought to have both hands on the steering wheel while driving. Freddie continued to weave in and out of the lanes of traffic. He took the car up to about 75 mph while getting through the early Sunday afternoon traffic. After a few minutes, he saw the exit for the hospital and he quickly got off the freeway. Freddie then maneuvered his way into the hospital parking lot.

When he got to the front entrance, he jumped out of the car to race around and get Sam. As he was doing so, he saw that there were two doctors sitting outside the main doors having a smoke. Freddie yelled, "Quick, I have a woman here who's pregnant and may be risking a miscarriage."

One doctor quickly ran inside the door, while the other ran towards Freddie's car. This doctor helped Freddie get Sam from the car. As soon as she was out of the car, the first doctor returned with a wheel chair. Freddie and the second doctor helped Sam into the wheelchair, and the first doctor began to wheel Sam into the hospital.

The second doctor turned to Freddie as they quickly followed Sam into the hospital, "Are you the father sir?" He asked Freddie.

"No sir," Freddie replied without hesitation, "I'm one of her best friends."

As they approached the admitting desk, the first doctor continued pushing Sam down the hallway, but the second doctor halted Freddie. "Sir, I'll need you to wait out here for your friend."

"What?" Freddie asked flabbergasted, "Why…"

"Freddie!" Sam cried from her wheelchair as she turned back to look at him before the doctor pushed her wheelchair around the corner of the hallway.

"Sam!" He cried to her in return. "Sir," Freddie said to the doctor frantically, "why can't I go back with her?"

"Please sir," the doctor responded, "she's being taken to our specialist to be taken care of. We'll do everything we can to save her baby. Actually if you wouldn't mind, I would like you to fill out some paperwork for her." The doctor motioned to the worker at the admitting desk to hand Freddie some paperwork.

"Will you at least keep me informed of what's going on with her?" Freddie asked firmly as he took the paperwork the desk worker gave him.

"Yes," the doctor replied, "I will have the doctor that will be working on her to come notify you of her status. Your name is…"

"Benson," Freddie replied, "Freddie Benson. And her name is Samantha Puckett."

"Thank you Mr. Benson," the doctor nodded as he was about to leave, "When you finish with the paperwork, the desk clerk will tell you where to meet up with your friend." With that, the doctor disappeared down the hallway.

Freddie walked over to a little bench that was near the desk and began to look over the paperwork. He sighed. I'm not going to be able to fill very much of this out, he thought, maybe they'll let me take it with me so that I can fill it out with Sam's help.

Freddie filled out what he could. He put her name, date of birth, and the city that she lived. He didn't know her actual address, nor did he know the address of the place that she worked. He barely remembered what the name of the restaurant was. He wasn't about to fill out any medical history information, nor was he going to put down anything about insurance. I hope she does have some medical insurance, he thought to himself as he finished filling out everything he could.

He returned to the admitting desk, and advised the clerk that he only knew so much information about his friend. The clerk told Freddie to keep the paperwork with him and return it later. The clerk told Freddie to go to the fourth floor, and wait in the east wing waiting room for his friend. Freddie quickly made his way through the hospital.

When Freddie reached the fourth floor east wing desk, he talked to the nurse at the station. She informed Freddie to sit and wait for a Dr. Hippen to come out to talk with him. Freddie took a seat and waited miserably.

After about an hour, Freddie turned to see a middle-aged doctor approach him. He stood up.

"Mr. Benson?" The doctor asked him.

"Yes sir," Freddie replied quietly.

"I'm Dr. Hippen," he replied, "I've been taking care of your friend Samantha Puckett."

"Yes," Freddie nodded, "How is she? Did the baby make it?"

Dr. Hippen frowned, "I'm sorry, despite all our best efforts, we were not able to save your friend's baby…"

Freddie bowed his head sadly and put his left hand on his forehead.

"…and," the doctor continued, "Your friend gave us a little scare as well. She's okay and resting right now. We'd like to keep her here overnight for observation, but she should be able to go home tomorrow."

Freddie raised his head back up to look at the doctor. He nodded to him indicating that he understood that the doctors did the best they could.

"You can go see her now," Dr. Hippen said to Freddie, "she's in room 420." Dr. Hippen then walked off down the hallway.

Freddie was sick to his stomach. He had no idea what to say to Sam when he saw her. He was so sad for her because he knew that Sam had faced this situation twice now. Sam is the strongest person I know, he thought, but how much can Sam even take.

He decided to go back down to the main floor and go into the gift shop to get some flowers for her. He was hoping that the flowers would be the best gesture to indicate how sorry he was that this happened to her. He came back up the elevator and made his way to room 420.

He opened the door to see Sam in a hospital bed with an IV hooked up to her. She was resting, so Freddie set the flowers down and took a seat in the chair next to the bed. He decided the best thing he could do for Sam right now was to be there for her.

Freddie sat in the chair and watched Sam while she slept.

Author's Note: I so hated to do this. I really didn't want to follow a happy chapter with a sad one. I think you guys see now why I didn't make Chapters 13 &14 one chapter now. This is the end of the sadness though. Sam and Freddie will be doing a little starting over of sorts, but their love for one another will win in the end. Nothing…Nothing, will ever break Seddie!

A/N/N: I don't totally know everything with hospital procedures, never really needing to go to the hospital for myself for much of anything, but I will tell you that my wife miscarried about 16 months ago, and at the moment she is about halfway through another pregnancy. She has had a few scares with this pregnancy as well, so I do take this pretty seriously. She's due in May, and right now we are taking this pregnancy one day at a time. Thanks always for your kindness. – kwags74