Chapter 34: Hospitals
"So, you definitely haven't heard from Sam?" Freddie questioned as he and his group of friends walked out of the main school doors at the end of the school day.
"No, like I said I haven't seen her all day" Carly replied. "I just assumed that she was off sick when she didn't turn up to first period this morning" she told him once more.
"But she was in school first thing this morning" Freddie stressed. "Something's not right" he panicked.
"Freddie try to relax" Brad told him. "Maybe she felt sick after you tried to kiss her and decided to go home" he laughed slightly.
"This isn't funny" Freddie warned him, nudging him slightly. "Sam told me that she would see me at lunch and she clearly wasn't around" he reminded them.
"Then she must have went home. If she was still in school surely someone would have seen her by now" Carly guessed. "I'll call you if I hear from her" she assured him as she arrived at her car.
"Thanks" Freddie muttered as he continued walking off towards his car. "In the mean time I'm calling her mother" he added, dialling the number on his cell phone.
"Hi Freddie, what can I do for you?" Mrs Puckett questioned as she answered the phone.
"Hello Mrs Puckett, I'm sorry to bother you" Freddie apologised. "I was just wondering if you've seen or heard from Sam. She was in school first thing this morning but nobody has seen her since" he explained.
"No I haven't, I've been working at the office all day" Pam replied. "If anything she will be at home or at the dance studio. I'll start seeing if I can track her down and will let you know if I hear anything" she told him.
"Thank you, I'll do the same" Freddie responded as he hung up the phone and got into his car. He was going on a hunt for Sam.
...
*2 HOURS LATER*
Freddie walked into his apartment feeling extremely tired and worried. He had spent the last two hours driving around Seattle looking for Sam and seems he had no luck with finding her, he was now becoming more concerned than ever. He had checked her house, he had checked her dance studio, he had checked the duck pond and anywhere else that he could think of. He was now looking in the very final place that he could think of. It was his apartment, just maybe she was there waiting for him to get home from school. As soon as he walked through the door though, it was clear to him that she definitely wasn't there.
Suddenly he felt his phone buzz in his jacket pocket and hope ran through his veins, wishing that it would be Sam telling him that she was fine. It was Mrs Puckett calling him though and Freddie silently prayed that she had tracked Sam down and that all was okay.
"Hello, have you found her?" Freddie questioned as soon as he answered the phone.
"Yes I've found her" Mrs Puckett cried down the phone.
"Is she okay?" Freddie asked, voice immediately filled with concern. "Please tell me that she's okay" he begged.
"I'm at the hospital" Pam told him. "I got a call from the school. When the janitor showed up for work this afternoon he found her in the basement. She's been beaten pretty badly" she explained, sobbing down the phone.
"Can I see her?" Freddie immediately questioned.
"Please do" Pam begged, crying once more.
As soon as Freddie hung up the phone he felt like his heart was going to break. He knew that something wasn't right when nobody could find Sam at school today but everyone kept telling him that she was probably fine. The anger towards the person who did this soon kicked in but for some reason all he could do was blame himself. He had to see her, he knew he had to go to her. So he did.
...
"I'm here" Freddie called, running down the hospital hallway towards Mrs Puckett where a doctor had just finished talking to her.
"Thank you for coming" Mrs Puckett greeted, hugging him tightly.
"How is she?" Freddie questioned, turning to look through the pane of glass which showed the private room that Sam was currently in.
She was fast asleep, tucked up in a hospital bed, her right ankle was bandaged up and the left side of her face was all bruised and swollen.
"She's been given permission to sleep off her concussion" Mrs Puckett started. "She's got a bunch of injuries. Some include two broken ribs, a fractured ankle and a broken cheek bone. She may need surgery but we need to wait for some swelling to go down until we know for sure" she explained to him.
"Who did this to her?" he questioned, still continuing to stare at his broken Sam and wanting to do everything he can to help her.
"Valerie and some guy" Mrs Puckett spat out. "Were not sure who but were guessing someone from the baseball team" she added.
It was Valerie. As soon as Freddie heard her name he felt his heart snap some more. He was the one that made Valerie hate Sam. He was the one that made everyone hate Sam. This whole thing was his fault and he hated himself for it.
"Excuse me" Mrs Puckett announced as her phone began to ring. "It's the school. You can go in and see her" she told him.
Freddie quietly stepped into Sam's hospital room and immediately took a seat in the chair that was resting next to her bed. He stared up at her for a moment, looking at her facial injuries. She looked so broken but yet she was still so pretty. Gently, Freddie then placed his hand in hers and slowly leaned down to place a delicate kiss on her bruised wrist.
"What are you doing here?" Sam mumbled as she layed in her hospital bed with her eyes still shut tightly. "You shouldn't be here" she added.
"Of course I'm here" Freddie told her, holding onto her hand a little tighter. "I'm so sorry for what Valerie's done to you" he apologised.
"It's your fault" Sam snapped coldly, wincing at the pain in her cheek. "Your the reason why she's done this to me" she groaned.
"I know and trust me I've been blaming myself for this to" Freddie assured her as the guilt continued to fill up inside of him.
"I should've just stayed in London and never came back" Sam sighed. "I probably won't even go to London now! I may not be able to dance again! The one thing I love has been taken away" she stressed, voice starting to break. "I might not dance again" she repeated, bursting out into tears.
"Shhh" Freddie tried to sooth her as he let go of her hand and gently climbed up beside of her on her hospital bed. "Your going to dance again. That is something I'm going to make sure of" he told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"You can't promise that" she cried a little more, wincing at the pain in her ribs as she tried to turn and lean into Freddie. For someone who was all dosed up on pain relief she was still in agony.
"And plus if you had stayed in London then we wouldn't have got so close" Freddie continued carefully.
"Well nothings going to happen now" Sam told him, knowing what he was getting at. "Valerie's made sure of that" she added.
"Don't let her win, you need to stay strong Sam" Freddie told her. "I'm going to fix this. I'm going to make it right" he promised her.
"Okay" Sam cried, opening her eyes and looking up at him for the first time.
Freddie then silently gasped in shock at the sight of her left eye. The whole thing was blood red and all swollen.
"Sam, your eye" Freddie pointed out, voice filled with concern.
"I know. I've been beaten with a baseball bat" Sam reminded him. "I can't see. If my vision doesn't come back when the swelling goes down then I'm having surgery" she told him, crying some more.
Freddie didn't quite know what to say to that news. The anger inside him built up some more and he still felt incredibly guilty. Instead of talking, he just held her. He just held her tightly whilst she wept in pain and let out all of her tears onto his shoulder. As he kissed her gently on the forehead he felt a tear of his own roll down his cheek. He soon stopped the rest of his tears from flowing though. This wasn't the time for him to be crying, he was here to be there for Sam.
A/N: Wow! So many reviews on the last chapter, I loved reading them all! THANK YOU everyone! I'm also really pleased with my quick update here! The Freddie and Valerie drama will take place in the next chapter, I'm excited! Once again thank you all so much for your support, please continue! Thank you, Nadene.