That night, Kate ended up sleeping in the hospital bed with Noah. She told Rick, when he came in with blankets from her apartment, that Noah wouldn't stay calm without her close by. It was partly true. She just wanted to be near her little boy and hold him. The monitors weren't enough for her to be calm about his breathing and heartbeat. She needed to see his chest steadily moving and hear the small breaths he made when asleep.

The second Rick left the room, she checked her watch to see what time it was. It read 11:38pm. She grabbed the folded up blanket at the foot of the bed and pulled it over herself and Noah. She gently tucked it under his sides before laying back down.

"Night, baby boy," she whispered as she kissed his nose. She heard a sigh-like sound escape his lips and she had to try not to cry from feeling like a horrible mother.

During the night, Noah woke up a few times, crying out from either nightmares or pain. The nurses believed that it was both, so they slightly raised the medication he was receiving through the IV.

When they left, Noah turned his head toward his mom. He let out painful whimpers as big tears started to flow out of his eyes.

"I'm right here, baby," Kate whispered as she carefully wiped his tears away. "You're okay now."

It took two hours for Noah to fall back asleep and when he did, Kate shortly followed.

…..

On the second day, Noah was more himself except he wasn't talking. Instead, he was making small noises like he did when he was younger. He would point to something and make a coo sound and right now he was pointing at the food on his tray.

Kate held a cup of red jello with one hand and a small spoon in the other. She got a small amount onto the spoon and brought it to Noah's mouth. He hesitantly opened because last time he took food from his mom, he thought it was disgusting and ended up spitting it out. But this time it was actually something he liked, so he swallowed it.

Now that her son was eating, Kate felt a huge wave of relief come over her. Yesterday, he wouldn't even take a sip of juice. She would let him feed himself, but every time he tried to reach or put his arms up, he cried because it hurt. She didn't mind feeding him. It was something she loved doing when he was younger; It made her feel more useful.

Kate was feeding Noah another spoonful of jello when Lanie came in the room with Esposito, Ryan and Liam.

Liam was energetic as always, but when he saw Noah in the hospital bed, hooked up to various machines, he went silent.

"How's it going?" Ryan and Esposito said at the same time, causing them both to laugh and do their fist pump.

"He's actually eating something," Kate said while she put the spoon in her son's mouth. "Is it possible for a car accident to make him regress?" she asked aloud.

"Not likely," Lanie answered. "Maybe if he becomes stressed."

"How will I know if he's stressed?"

"Phobias will come forth, sleep disturbances, withdrawals from either family or certain things, clinging, eating and speech problems and so on."

Kate frowned and looked at Noah. She gently ran her fingers through the waves at the top of his head. "I'll protect you," she whispered to herself.

Liam took this time to walk over to Kate. He kept looking between her and Noah, not sure what to think or do.

"You can come up here, buddy," Kate said, patting the spot next to her.

Liam hesitantly climbed onto the bed and sat by his friend's hand. He took his hat off, that was on backwards and gently put it on Noah's head. He leaned back and smiled. "Better," he said, which caused everyone to laugh at the adorableness. "Oh!" he exclaimed, taking out two figures from his coat pockets. "These are for you. Batman and The Joker," he said, placing Batman in Noah's hand. "He will make sure nothing bad happens."

Kate's eyes watered a little at how sweet Liam was being. She ended up pulling his head toward her and kissing the top of it. "Thank you, sweetie."

"You're welcome," Liam said with a smile before sliding off the bed. He ran over to his dad and took his coat off before handing it to him. "Can I have my DS?"

"Yeah," Ryan answered and opened the small Mario backpack he had in his hand. He retrieved the blue DSi and handed it to his son.

"Thanks," Liam said before running over to the hospital bed and climbing back on it. He sat directly next to Noah, so he could watch.

About ten minutes after they left, Rick and Alexis entered the room. They were both carrying a bag of McDonald's. Alexis was holding a Happy Meal and she headed right over to the table to eat it.

Rick pulled out a cheeseburger for Kate and handed it to her. "Thought you'd like to eat."

Kate eyed the wrapped up cheeseburger in her hand. She wasn't hungry. She hasn't been hungry in two days nor did she want to eat.

"Come on, Kate. You have to eat," Rick coaxed until she unwrapped the burger and bit into it.

"This is against my diet, but thank you."

"Like you need a diet?"

Kate rolled her eyes at him before looking back over at Noah who was intently watching the TV. She followed his gaze to find that he was watching Spongebob, one of his favorite shows.

"So how has he been doing?" Rick asked, sitting in the chair by the bed.

"Decent. He ate jello for me," Kate answered with her mouth full of food.

"When do you think he can go home?"

"Nurses think in a week or sooner because he's recovering quickly. He just doesn't talk…"

"Must be his way of coping," Rick guessed, biting into a french fry.

"Who knows," Kate frowned, looking at her son again. This time his eyes were on her. "You okay, buddy?"

Noah pointed to the fries Rick was holding and scrunched up his nose.

"Want one?" Rick asked as he set one in Noah's hand. He watched the boy bring it to his mouth and bite down on it. "He can have the rest," he said, handing the fries over to his girlfriend.

Alexis finished all she could of her meal and slid off the chair. She grabbed a book out of the bag her dad brought and climbed onto the bed next to Noah. She opened the cover and slowly flipped through the pages, so they could see the pictures.

Noah ended up falling asleep when Alexis made up stories to go along with the pictures because she couldn't read yet. When she was done, she looked up to find both Kate and her dad smiling at her.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"You're a good kid," Kate reached over and ruffled Alexis' bangs, creating small giggles.

…..

It was finally the day that Noah was released.

Kate was gathering everything they brought and packing it into two bags her dad let her borrow. She just finished putting Noah's toys into one bag when she heard small whimpers coming from behind her. She spun around to see her son at the edge of the bed, looking down like he was debating on trying to slide down or not.

"Hey," Kate said, walking over to him and bending down, so they were eye level with each other. "I know you want to leave, but you have to sit tight, okay? I still have to get you dressed," she kissed his forehead before going back to the bags.

When she finished, she grabbed Noah's clothes, diaper and wipes and brought them over to the hospital bed where she set them down. She untied his hospital gown and draped it over the bed rail.

"Can you put your arms up?" she questioned, not wanting to hurt him.

Noah hesitantly lifted his arms, hoping the pain near his stomach wouldn't come and when it didn't, he extended them so they were completely straight.

Kate pulled the black t-shirt with the Batman logo on it over his head and gently fished his arms through the sleeves. "Lay down, buddy," she said, watching her son slowly lay down. She quickly changed his diaper and slid his blue jeans on. When they were buttoned, she put his socks on followed by his dinosaur Vans. Next came his coat and hat. She was so scared she was going to hit his scar on his head, so she let him pull it down over his ears. "Ready?" she smiled.

Noah put his arms up to be held. Kate carefully placed her hands under his armpits and lifted him into her arms. "Perfect timing," she said when she saw Rick come through the door with Alexis.

Rick picked up the bags and smiled at Noah. "Ready, Chief?"

Once outside, Rick placed the bags in the trunk and helped Alexis into her carseat. Noah was busy watching the nurses wave to him since they escorted everyone out. When he turned toward the car and saw his mom opening the door, he did a high pitched scream and squirmed to get down.

Kate had to wrestle with her son, so she wouldn't drop him. Even after she thought she wasn't going to, he tried to climb up and over her shoulder, making her lose her grip. Luckily, Rick was by her side and he took Noah just as he was about to fall.

Noah was crying hysterically now. He was fighting to get away from the car, but nobody was doing what he wanted. He was gripping onto Rick's shirt as he tried to climb up him.

Kate ended up taking Noah into her arms again and away from the car. She sat on the bench outside the hospital and made him sit in her lap, facing her.

"We don't have to take the car," she said with a shaky voice. "We can take the subway, okay?" she questioned, trying to keep her anxiety from showing.

Noah clung onto his mom and laid his head on her shoulder. Small whimpers were escaping from him as he rubbed his eyes.

"Rick, we're going to take the subway," Kate said, getting off the bench. Since Rick was standing by the back door, checking to see what Alexis was doing every few seconds, she walked up to him. "Here," she handed him her extra key to the apartment. "Just in case you get there before me, okay?"

Rick nodded because he didn't know what to say. After hearing and seeing Noah react the way he did, his own nerves were on end.

"It's okay," Kate placed her gloved hand on his cheek.

He nodded before walking over to the driver's side and getting in the car. His hands were shaking when he started the engine. In fact, his hands were always shaking whenever he drove lately, but he ignored it. Maybe this was his own anxiety from the car accident. He shook his head to get those thoughts out of his mind and drove away.

Kate turned back toward the hospital to see worried stares from the nurses. "Do you know the quickest way to the subway?"

Nurse Jamie stepped forward and gave her directions.

When they were walking down the stairs to the subway train, Noah's head perked up from Kate's shoulder. He was very alert because he rarely road on the subway and when he did, it intrigued him so much.

Once they passed the gate and got onto the subway train, that pulled up within five minutes, Kate picked a seat furthest from the doors. She knew Noah probably wouldn't try to run right now, but she could never be too careful.

"You okay now, big guy?" she questioned when she sat Noah next to her.

Noah looked up at his mom with his big blue eyes. He gave her a giant smile and clapped. "Tain!"

"Yes, train," Kate smiled back and kissed his forehead. "You like the train, huh?"

"Tain fast."

"Super fast," she gently tickled his sides, creating giggles.

In that moment, the car accident was forgotten because she heard her son's adorable laughter, something she missed hearing while in the hospital. When she stopped tickling him and put her hands back on her lap, he eyed her like she was going to do it again. Instead, she pulled his hat off and ruffled his hair.

"What do you want to do when we get home besides take a bath?"

"Wheeler," Noah nodded super fast.

"Wheeler?" Kate cocked one of her eyebrows up in confusion.

"Drive fast!"

Kate pulled her phone out and texted Rick, asking what a wheeler was. Hopefully he would understand and be able to tell her. She hated not being able to comprehend what Noah was trying to tell her. And his small lisp didn't help much.

It took a few minutes, but she got a photo reply. She opened it to see two toddler quads, one was Dora and the other Toy Story.

"Did Rick buy you this?" Kate asked, holding her phone in front of Noah.

"Mine!"

"I guess so…" Kate furrowed her brow and pursed her lips. She wondered how much that must have cost. But it didn't bother her too much since she saw it more as a welcome home gift than a randomly bought toy. "You can ride it after you take a bath."

"No baf," Noah shook his head really fast, making his wavy hair fling side to side.

"Too bad," Kate smiled and held his head still to kiss his face. "You need a real bath."

Noah slid off the seat just as the subway stopped at the next stop and people started to pour in. "No baf!" he yelled, looking at his mom then eyeing the door.

"Noah, don't you dare," she said with narrowed eyes, but she was too late. He was already making his way through the people and to the open door.

Kate quickly got up, ignoring the stares she got from the new people entering the train. She nearly knocked over some guy who was too busy on his phone to see her. Her son was only a few inches from her. She reached down to grab his arm and when she got a good grip, she pulled him out of the crowd and back to their seat.

"No baf. No baf. No baf," Noah kept saying when he was placed back on the seat.

"You're not going to play on your little four wheeler now," Kate said, sitting down next to him.

"No nice!"

"You need to stop yelling," Kate said as she put her hand over his mouth. "Inside voices," she commanded and couldn't help but crack a smile when she could still hear his muffled voice. She slowly pulled her hand away from his mouth.

Noah stood up on the seat and placed one of his hands on his mom's shoulder. His other hand went over her mouth. "No lell," he said with the meanest voice he could conjure.

Kate smiled before licking his hand. The look of astonishment she received made her go into a laughing fit. It took her several long moments to recollect herself and when she did, she noticed that they weren't far from their stop.

"We will be home soon, buddy," she said, looking over at her son who was staring out the window. She placed her hand on his hip furthest from her. The last thing she wanted was for him to fall off the seat. And with the jerky movements the subway gave, it was highly likely he would. "And you are getting a bath," she said into his ear.

…..

The moment Kate walked into her apartment with Noah on her hip, Rick came over to greet them. He gently took Noah from her and helped get the boy out of his snow gear before letting him run off.

"I kind of didn't want him to go play yet," Kate said while taking her coat and shoes off.

"Why not? He's home. I bet he wants to play," Rick replied, a little taken aback by what she just said.

"I wanted to give him a bath first," she basically growled, already irritated.

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Whatever," she replied, taking off to find Noah. When she entered the living room, Alexis was looking at the unorganized book shelf and Noah was trying to climb onto his Toy Story quad that was parked near the couch. "There's no room to ride it around in here, buddy."

"Drive fast," Noah smiled big and patted the seat.

"Ask your mommy if she will push the furniture back," Rick said as he walked over to his daughter and grabbed the book she was trying to get. He handed it to her and turned around to face Kate.

"Drive fast?" Noah questioned his mom.

"Okay, fine. But you are going to take a bath tonight, got it?"

"Drive fast," Noah cheered and clapped his hands together.

Rick and Kate both pushed the couch against the wall and the coffee table in front of the couch. When they were sure there was enough room, Rick bent down by Noah.

He lifted the boy up and set him on the quad. "This is how you ride it," he said, pressing down on the red button on the right side. It went forward a little and Noah's eyes went as wide as they could.

"Me do. Me do!" Noah shouted, pushing Rick's hand away from the button. He pressed it down with his thumb and went forward. It didn't take him long to figure out how to turn and when he did, he ended up going in a circle.

"Try going straight, buddy," Kate laughed, taking a seat on the arm of the couch.

It took a few attempts, but Noah was able to get the handles straight. As he was moving forward, he was trying to look at the wheels. This resulted him in crashing into the coffee table.

Alexis jumped really bad from the loud noise. She stood up on the couch, and ran into Kate's side. Kate looked down at the little girl and put her arm around her small body.

"It's okay," she said. "It was only Noah."

Rick helped Noah navigate away from the coffee table before sitting on the couch by his daughter. He patted the spot next to him, but she wanted to stay clung to Kate. He was starting to feel like both of the kids didn't like him anymore and it all had to do with the car accident.

The look on Rick's face was easy for Kate to read. Guilt. "Don't even think like that," she said to him, but only got a sad frown in return. "Go hug your daddy," she whispered into Alexis' ear. "He's scared too."

Alexis looked up at Kate then at her dad. She ran over to him, climbed in his lap, and hugged him. "It's okay, Daddy," she said before kissing his cheek.

"Thanks, Pumpkin," Rick replied, hugging his little girl tight. "I really needed a hug and yours are the best."

Kate smiled at the little moment the two of them were having before she looked back over to where her son was, but he wasn't in the spot he was just in. In fact he wasn't anywhere in the living room. She decided to get up and go down the hall to see if he made his way down there. And when she saw his little quad in her way, she knew he went into his room. Just as she was about to walk through his doorway, he came barreling into her legs.

The collision made him fall backwards and onto his butt. His bottom lip started to quiver, so she quickly scooped him into her arms. It wasn't until the loud wails escaped from him that the tears started to flow.

"You need to be careful," she said into his ear. "You're still pretty banged up, tough guy."

Alexis came running into the hall. When Noah's loud cries hit her, she placed her hands over her ears. "What happened?" she shouted above the wailing.

"He collided into my legs and fell down," Kate answered, walking out of the hall and into the living room with Alexis right behind her. She went into the kitchen and to the fridge. She opened the freezer and pulled out two popsicles from the box. Alexis happily took the popsicle and brought it over to her dad. And Kate unwrapped the other one in her hand and held it out to her son. "Here," she said as she kissed his forehead.

Noah stopped crying for a second to see what his mom was holding. He rubbed his eyes and nose with the back of his hand. Once he got a good hold on the popsicle, he took it and put it in his mouth. "Mm," he said with a small smile.

Kate brought him back into the living room. Rick pushed the coffee table away from the couch, so she would have enough space to get onto the cushion. When she sat down next to him, he turned toward Noah with a smile.

"Is it good?" he asked the toddler who was trying to bite the tip of the popsicle off.

Noah turned his head away from Rick with a grunt. He trained his eyes on Alexis who was looking at her Dora quad with her popsicle in her good hand. He got squirmy until his mom released him. When his feet touched the floor, he instantly ran over to Alexis.

"What doing?" he asked.

"How?" Alexis asked and pointed to the quad.

"Pess," Noah answered and went over to the red button. When he pressed down, it jolted forward a little, causing the two of them to giggle.

Kate smiled at the kids before looking over at Rick. He had sad eyes and if she wasn't mistaken, he was trying to fight back tears.

"What's up?" she asked, placing her hand on his knee.

"They are really afraid of me now, aren't they?" he nearly whispered the question.

"Can't blame them."

"That's not fair, Kate," he replied with a hint of anger.

"I mean, if you were in a little kid in a car accident, wouldn't you blame the driver? They don't completely understand road rules."

"So you're saying this is my fault?" he snarled before standing up. "You're blaming me for this!"

Kate bit down on her lip, trying to analyze what was going on in Rick's head, but nothing came to mind, so she stood up too. She placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side a little. "Did I say I was blaming you? No. But they might be doing that," she motioned her hand toward the kids.

"You are blaming me, Kate. I can hear it in your voice," Rick replied with a blank stare. "Come on, Alexis. We're leaving. We aren't wanted here," he murmured the last part.

Alexis came running over to her dad who was walking to the door. He quickly put her coat, hat, shoes, and gloves on.

"Rick…" Kate called out when he walked out the door and slammed it shut. She turned around to find her son watching with a look of confusion. If he wasn't in the room right now, she would probably be crying, but since he was, she simply took his hand and walked him to his room. "Let's take that bath now," she said, trying to fight back her tears.

"No sad, Mommy," Noah said when he looked up at her and saw the tear making it's way down her cheek.

Kate quickly wiped it away and bent down in front of her son. "I'm not sad, buddy."

He could still sense that she was upset, so he threw his arms around as much of her body as he could, and hugged her. "No sad."

"Thanks, baby," Kate replied as fresh tears escaped her eyes. She gently hugged him back, not wanting to hurt him, and kissed the top of his head. As much as her heart hurt from the way Rick walked out of the apartment like he never wanted to see her again, this small action of her son's made everything seem okay.

For now.

AN: Tell me what you think? :D