Expert

"Daddy, you have to be the blue truck this time," three-year old Jason ordered his father as the two sat in the living room surrounded by Jason's toys.

"Aw man, but I really love this cool red one," Freddie pouted playfully.

"But I like the red one, daddy," Jason said. "It's my turn!"

"Alright, alright, I guess I can share with you, buddy," Freddie chuckled.

"I'm hungry," Jason announced as he picked up the red car.

"I know, but we should wait for mommy to eat dinner," Freddie said.

"When's mommy going to be home?" Jason asked.

"I don't know, I guess whenever she finishes up at the grocery store," Freddie said.

"But she's taking forever!" Jason groaned, exasperated, causing Freddie to let out a small laugh.

"Someone's impatient," Freddie said. "Although I guess mommy has been gone kind of a long time…I bet she got distracted going around the store swiping free samples. Well, I bet she won't mind if you have a small snack. You can go into the kitchen and get one graham cracker."

"Okay!" Jason said happily as he ran off.

"Hmm, Sam really should've been back by now," Freddie said, pulling out his phone. He pulled up Sam's number and pressed his phone to his ear. His call went straight to voicemail.

Maybe traffic's really backed up, Freddie thought to himself as he hung up. Still…she's been gone for three hours already. She never takes this long at the grocery store. I wonder what she could be-

Just then Freddie's phone rang again, and an unfamiliar number flashed across his screen.

"Hello?" Freddie answered.

"Hello, Freddie Benson?" a woman on the other end replied.

"Yes, who's this?" Freddie asked.

"I'm Nurse O'Malley from the Seattle Hospital," the woman replied. "I'm calling about your wife, Samantha-"

"Wait, what?" Freddie frowned, jumping to his feet. "Oh my God, is-is she okay? Did something happen? Is she-"

"Relax, Mr. Benson, your wife is okay," the nurse said quickly. "She was involved in a minor car accident; that's why she's in here. She has a broken wrist and a minor concussion, and she'll be very sore for a few days, but no permanent damage. She doesn't even have to stay over night."

"Oh…Oh, thank God," Freddie said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"We do need you to come into the hospital to take her home," the nurse continued. "She might not have much damage, but he car sure does. Will you be able to come right away?"

"I-Yes, of course," Freddie nodded. "I'll be right there. Thank you."

He hung up the phone and quickly grabbed his keys.

"Can we play cars some more daddy?" Jason asked, coming back out of the kitchen.

Aw chiz, Jason! Freddie thought to himself. Let's see, I need someone to come and watch him. But…ugh! Spencer and Carly are visiting their granddad, my mom's in Utah for a lice seminar, Sam's mom in Vegas…again...dang it! There's no one left. I guess…I guess I'll just have to bring him.

It wasn't the ideal situation; Freddie didn't want to scare Jason, even though Sam was okay. But he didn't have any other choice.

"Later, Jason," Freddie said, smiling. "But, um, we just have to go pick up mommy first."

"Mommy!" Jason said excitedly. "Yay!"

"That's right, so, um, let's go," Freddie said. "Let's go get mommy."

…..

Freddie pulled into the parking lot of the hospital.

"Daddy, this isn't the grocery store," Jason said at once. "It's the hospital."

Freddie sighed. "Er, that-that's right Jason."

"But why are we here? We have to get mommy," Jason said. "I want mommy, daddy!"

"Okay, Jason, I want you to stay calm," Freddie said slowly. "Mommy is here, in the hospital, but-"

"Why's mommy in the hospital?" Jason asked at once, his eyes widening. "You go to the hospital if you're hurt! I don't want mommy to be hurt!"

"Jason, Jason, listen to me," Freddie said as Jason began to cry. "Jason, mommy is okay. She got into a little car accident and she just hurt her wrist and her head-"

"Mommy is hurt!" Jason cried.

"No!" Freddie said. "No, I-Jason, she's okay!" Freddie said. "We're going to go see her now and she's going to come home with us! We just have to go inside and-"

"Mommy!" Jason cried. "I don't want mommy to be hurt! I wan mommy!"

"Okay…" Freddie said, taking a deep breath as he picked up Jason from the backseat of the car. "It's okay, Jason. We're going to go see-"

"Mommy!" Jason cried, tears streaming down his face.

"Alright, we're going to see her," Freddie said soothingly as he walked towards the entrance of the hospital. "But you need to calm down."

But Jason just continued to wail, distressed.

As Freddie walked into the waiting area, Jason's cries caused many heads to turn. When Freddie approached the front desk, the nurse sitting there looked slightly startled by the three-year old's screams.

"Yes, hi, I'm here to see my wife," Freddie said, shifting Jason in his arms. "Her name is Samantha Benson."

The nurse typed the information into her computer. "Ah yes, she's just waiting to be discharged. She's up in room 303."

"Thanks," Freddie said quickly, still trying to soothe his son in his arms.

He headed up to Sam's room and opened the door. Sam was sitting on the hospital bed with a small cast on her right rest and a few bandages above her left eyebrow. There was a large bruise on her right shoulder too, but other than that she looked fine.

"Hey baby," Freddie said. "I'm so glad your-"

"Mommy!" Jason shrieked. "Mommy!"

"Jason, what's wrong?" Sam frowned, standing up at once.

"He-He's a little worried about you," Freddie said. "When he found out you were in an accident he sort of-"

"Mommy!" Jason cried, reaching out for his mother.

"Aw Jason, sweetie, it's okay," Sam said, taking her son from Freddie.

"Sam, are you sure you should be holding him?" Freddie asked.

"He's crying, of course I'm gonna hold him!" Sam said. "Besides, I'm fine. Just a broken wrist and some cuts and bruises. Dumb van swerved into my lane on my way home. The worst tragedy is that the ham I had just bought flew out of the car and got run over by a truck…saddest thing I've ever seen in my life."

"Mommy, you got hurt," Jason sniffed, looking down at Sam's cast.

"Oh no, honey, mommy's not hurt," Sam said. "I'm fine. I just had a little accident, that's all."

Jason simply hugged Sam tighter.

"Jason, you might want to-" Freddie started, but Sam glanced at him and shook her head, silencing her husband.

"Hey, sweetie, when we get home you can help me color and decorate my cast," Sam smiled at Jason. "Won't that be fun? It looks super boring right now."

Jason didn't respond.

"Of course that will be fun!" Freddie said brightly, rustling Jason's hair.

Sam kissed the top of Jason's head. "I'm alright, Jason. You don't need to worry."

"Okay, so until your car is fixed, I guess we'll just have to manage with one," Freddie said the next afternoon.

"That's gonna suck," Sam sighed. "I guess I can ask Carly if she can give me rides to work."

"My mom can help us out too," Freddie suggested.
"Not that desperate, baby," Sam smirked. "But hey, it's almost dinner time and since all the groceries I bought yesterday got destroyed in the accident, we have nothing to make. Give me your keys; I'll go pick up a pizza or something."

"Okay," Freddie agreed, handing over his keys. "Here you-"

"No!" Jason, who had been sitting nearby, coloring, suddenly shrieked. He jumped up and ran over to Sam and clung to her leg. "Don't go, mommy!"

"Jason, what are you doing?" Sam frowned.

"Don't go, you'll get hurt again," Jason pleaded.

Sam and Freddie exchanged worried glances.

"Don't go, mommy," Jason whimpered softly.

"Maybe I should go instead," Freddie whispered to Sam.

"Yeah, I think so," Sam nodded as she bent down and picked up Jason with her good arm. She handed the car keys back to Freddie.

"Jason," Sam said as Freddie headed out the front door. "Why don't you want me to go anywhere?"

"You'll get hurt," Jason sniffed. "Like yesterday. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Oh, sweetie, you shouldn't be afraid of me getting hurt like that again," Sam said. "Yesterday was just, well, it was an accident. It won't happen every single time I go out in the car."

"You can't get hurt, mommy," Jason said, hugging Sam tightly. "You're my mommy."

Sam could feel her heart actually breaking in two as she hugged him back.

"Thanks again for driving me all week," Sam said as her and Carly entered the Benson's home. "I should have my car back by this weekend."

"It's no problem," Carly said. "So where's Freddie?"

"Picking up Jason from his mom's," Sam replied.

"Oh, we could've swung by there on our way here," Carly said. "It's out of the way for Freddie."

"Trust me, it's better for Jason to not see me in a car," Sam said. "Ever since the accident he's been really scared about me getting hurt again. Every time I try to go anywhere he throws a fit!"

"Oh no, that's not good," Carly frowned.

"I thought it was just a phase, but I'm starting to get concerned," Sam sighed.

"Maybe you should talk to him," Carly suggested.

"Yeah, I'm going to sit down with him tonight," Sam nodded. "I just don't understand…"

"Well he's scared," Carly said. "I know you were in a pretty minor car accident and you were never in any real danger, but to Jason, all he understands is that his mommy had to go to the hospital."

"I know," Sam said. "I just…I just wish I could get him to realize that he can't be so afraid…"

….

"Hey, sweetie," Sam said later that evening as she stepped into Jason's room, where the three-year old was sitting in his bed, waiting to be tucked in for the night.

"Can we ready the monkey book again?" Jason asked as Sam sat down on the corner of his bed.

"Sure," Sam nodded. "But first…I want to have a little talk with you."

"Am I in trouble?"

"No, no you're not in trouble," Sam said quickly.

"Okay," Jason nodded.

"Jason, why don't you want me to go out anywhere?" Sam asked.

"Because," Jason said simply. "You'll get hurt again. Like last time."

"Right," Sam sighed. "But Jason…I have to go out sometimes. I have to go to work and pick you up and go shopping-"

"No, you don't," Jason said firmly.

"Yes, honey, I do," Sam said gently.

"But you're going to go to the hospital again!" Jason said, his eyes beginning to tear up.

"Listen, I know that scared you the other day, but you have to believe me, Jason; I'm fine," Sam said. "Besides, do you know how many times I've been in the car before I got into an accident? A lot."

"Twenty times?" Jason sniffed.

"Way more, sweetie," Sam chuckled. "But think of all those times I've went out and nothing has happened to me."

Jason didn't reply.

Sam gave him a small smile. "I have a present for you…"

Jason's face perked up. "A present?"

Sam nodded as she reached behind her back and revealed a small, worn teddy bear.

"He's kind of beat up, but that's because this little guy used to be mine," Sam said.

"Yours?" Jason repeated.

"That's right," Sam said. "See, sometimes when I was little just like you, I worried about my mom, Grandma Puckett. She um, she'd sometimes be gone for awhile and I'd get scared that something would happen to her. So I used to talk to this bear. It sounds kind of silly, but it used to get my mind off of being worried about my mom."
"What did you talk to the bear about?" Jason asked.

"Oh, lots of things," Sam grinned. "Like how I wanted to be an invisible ninja when I grew up and how I thought your Aunt Melanie was bossy and how much I loved bacon."
Jason laughed at that last one.

"Anyway, I was thinking maybe this bear could be yours now," Sam continued. "And maybe if you talk with him when I go out, it would help you be less worried. Because sweetie, I have to go out. But I don't want you worrying so much when I do; I hate seeing you so upset."

Jason thought for a moment.

"What's the bear's name?" he finally asked.

"Well what do you want to call him?" Sam asked.

"Hmmm," Jason said slowly. "I know! Lou! Like Lou Groundrunner from Galaxy Wars!"

"Oh…daddy's been showing you those movies again, has he?" Sam sighed. "Well, you know what? I like that name for your bear a lot." She pulled Jason up onto her lap.

"So do you think you'll be okay if mommy goes out tomorrow if you have Lou to talk to?"

"Well…maybe," Jason said.

"That's a start," Sam smiled as she kissed the top of Jason's head. "And I'm proud of you for that. Now where's that monkey book of yours?"