"Hey… it's okay…"

Ian sighed and sat down on the dock beside where Sammy was standing, close to where he'd been sitting before. Sammy wrapped his arms around his neck, holding him tight, and it was pretty much self-defense that caused Ian to drag the boy down and put him in his lap, where he wouldn't be able to choke him. He looked to Ann for help, but the young woman was busy soothing her own campers – as were all the others – and Ian was on his own.

"Sammy, stop. Chance is fine."

"He could have drowned."

The words were stuttered and tear-sodden, but Ian could understand them well enough. He shook his head.

"He wasn't. That's what the lifeguards are for – and they pulled him out in plenty of time."

"But he-"

"He just panicked, that's all. He was doing fine before that."

Sammy shook his head, too, and Ian was beginning to wonder just how much snot the kid had in him, because it was smeared at least an inch thick across his chest where Sammy was sniveling, and was dribbling down his belly. But all he was doing now was sobbing, and that was better than the crying. Probably. But he wasn't going to be a human teddy bear any longer than necessary, and that meant getting the boy calmed down.

"Sammy, relax big guy. Chance is fine, and so are you, and swimming isn't so bad, really."

He might as well have saved his breath. Sammy didn't want reassurance. He wanted to be comforted, and that meant he was going to cling to Ian. And so he did. The other boys were calmed and back to their water fight – although most of them avoided going to the deeper water at first – and even the girls were soothed and back to playing – although they were even more timid than the boys when it came to the deeper water. And still Sammy clung to Ian, although his crying had stopped, now, and his breathing had leveled out again so he wasn't hiccupping every ten seconds as he tried to catch his breath.

Ann came over and sat down beside the two, reaching out and resting her hand lightly on Sammy's back, although she was looking at Ian.

"How is he?"

Ian rolled his eyes, making her smile. Yeah, he was holding Sammy, but he didn't want to be, she could tell. As far as she was concerned, though, the important thing was that he was doing it.

"He'll be okay," Ian said. "He's a tough guy."

Sammy didn't look like a tough guy just then, but he did turn to look at Ann, his tear-stained cheek resting against the bear claw scars on Ian's chest. Ann smiled at him, pushing his hair off his forehead.

"You-"

"Hey!"

A cry of excitement drew their attention to the rest of the campers, and they saw Chance come running down the small beach, the irrepressible smile plastered on his cheerful face once more. Behind him, trotting at a far slower pace was the lifeguard who had taken him to the nurse less than a half hour before.

The kids headed for the water's edge to meet him, yelling excitedly, but Chance didn't even hesitate as he ran back into the water to meet up with his cabin mates and counselors, and even when he stumbled and fell face forward, submerging himself completely, he simply righted himself and caught River's rough hug as the Californian swung him up into his strong arms, just as glad to see him as Chance was to be there.

Sammy was frozen in Ian's grasp, his eyes wide as he watched River drop Chance back into the water so the boy could talk to his excited friends – and the girls, who hung back a little, but were just as eager to see him.

Ian looked down at him. With the boy pressed so tightly against him there was no way he could miss the tenseness in his little body.

"You want to go say hi?" he asked.

Sammy shook his head, and put his cheek back against Ian's chest, although his eyes were still on Chance and the others.

Ian sighed.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Aren't you supposed to be sitting down somewhere?"

Sam sighed, and counted to ten. Slowly.

"I'm not going to fall apart, Jack. I can walk."

"But Doctor Fraiser said you weren't supposed to be on your feet."

"Too much," Sam said, still annoyed. "She said I wasn't supposed to be on my feet too much. That doesn't mean you're supposed to walk around behind me, waiting to pounce the minute I stand up."

"Your knee-"

"Isn't broken."

She was visibly annoyed, and not even trying to hide it. Jack – and his big black shadow Jaffer – had been driving her crazy the past day. Day! It felt like at least a week, the way Jack was acting. While she loved him more than life itself, she was about ready to strangle him – and if he tried to get her to rest once more, she was pretty sure she was going to scream.

"You shouldn't be on it," Jack said, stubbornly, coming up beside her when she started to limp off. It wasn't easy to move with the big brace she was wearing and the single crutch she was using, but it was better to be on her feet than allow him to have his way. If she did that, then he'd have her spending the next three days on her butt in her lab – or worse, in bed at home with the leg propped up.

"I'm fine."

Distracted as she was, Sam didn't see the Airman heading down the intersecting corridor. More importantly, he had his nose in the review he was supposed to be giving one of the others, and he didn't see her, either. Before Jack could catch her or yell a warning to the Airman, the two had crashed into each other, and Sam and the young man went down in a tangled heap with equally surprised yelps.

"Hey!" Jack and the Airman both scrambled for Sam, the younger man stammering an immediate apology and Jack practically jerking him off Sam, who was holding her right arm, wincing with pain. "Are you all right?"

"I got my hand tangled in the crutch handle…" she told him, feeling stupid and frustrated at the same time. This was all his fault, after all, but it was only going to make him think he'd been right. "I landed on it wrong."

Brown eyes dark with worry, Jack picked her up into his arms.

"Let's get you to Fraiser."

"I can walk."

"You're hurt."

Sam sighed again, and closed her eyes, wishing she'd just stayed in bed that morning. This was so unfair.