Freddie walked through his front door, exhausted from a long day at work. "Man, you wouldn't believe my day," Freddie said, hanging up his jacket. "I basically had to reset every computer in the office and-"

He stopped talking as he suddenly realized nobody was listening. He frowned. Normally Heather would've been running into his arms, the television would be turned on, or at least he'd have been greeted with some noise, not this stone silence.

"Sam?" he called out.

He headed into the kitchen only to find it empty like the living room had been. "Lauren? Heather? You guys home?"

Guess they headed out, Freddie figured. Well then I think I'm gonna take advantage of this peace and quiet to take a quick nap.

Just as Freddie was about to head up to his and Sam's bedroom, though, his phone rang in his pocket. Lauren's name flashed across his screen.

"Hey, Lauren," Freddie answered, pressing his phone to his ear. "Where are you guys? I just got home from work."

"Um, we-we're at the hospital," Lauren said slowly.

"The hospital?" Freddie exclaimed, his eyes widening. "What? Why? What happened? Who's hurt?"
"It's Sam," Lauren explained shakily. "I don't know what's wrong…but-but at home she needed me to drive her to the hospital. She was bleeding a lot…And when we got to the hospital she-she told the doctors she thought there was something wrong with the baby."

Freddie felt his blood run cold.

"Can you come here?" Lauren asked softly. "Heather and I are in the waiting room…they wouldn't let us go back with her."

"I-I'll be there in five minutes," Freddie said at once, already on his way out the door before he had even hung up the phone.

….

Freddie rushed into the hospital's waiting room, instantly spotting Lauren sitting in the far corner.

"Lauren…"
As soon as she spotted her father, Lauren got to her feet. As Freddie wrapped his arms around her, he noticed how terrified she looked.

"They still won't tell me anything," Lauren told Freddie. "They said they would only give you news. When they have it, that is…I still don't even know what's going on. I-I tried to get us all here as fast as I could and-"

"You did great, honey," Freddie assured her. "Thank-Thank you for taking care of Sam like that."
"Daddy!"
Freddie looked down to see Heather sitting in the chair next to the one Lauren had just vacated. She held up her arms for him. "Daddy, want mommy!"

"I know you do," Freddie said, picking her up and kissing the top of her head.

"Mommy sick?"

"Mommy-Mommy's going to be just fine," Freddie said slowly. He set Heather back down. "Lauren, I'm going to try and figure out what's happening here. Keep an eye on Heather, okay?"

Lauren nodded, still looking scared.

Freddie went over to the front desk, where a young nurse was sitting at the computer.

"Hi," Freddie said hurriedly. "Um, my-my wife was just brought in here by my daughter…Samantha Benson. I need someone to tell me what's wrong right now. She's pregnant and-"

"Ms. Benson is still in treatment," the nurse replied promptly. "She's in the middle of a blood transfusion right now."

"Blood transfusion?" Freddie repeated weakly. "But-But what happened?"

"I will have her doctor come and talk with you in a moment," the nurse told him. "If you'll just have a seat I'll tell him you're here."

"I'm not gonna sit around out here while my wife is back there!" Freddie said, his voice rising. "I want to at least know what's wrong with her and-"

"Is this Ms. Benson's husband?" a doctor asked, stepping out from the hallway behind the desk.

"Yes," the nurse nodded. "I was just about to get you."

"What's wrong with my wife?" Freddie demanded once again. "Please, can someone tell me something?"

"Step back here with me, Mr. Benson, and I'll take you to see your wife," the doctor replied simply.

"Can my daughters come too?" Freddie asked.

"No, I'm afraid we can't allow minors in to see her at this time," the doctor answered. "In a few hours they can come back and see they're mother."

"Girls, I'll be back," Freddie called over his shoulder as he followed the doctor out of the waiting room.

As the doctor led him into his office a few doors down the long hallway, Freddie jogged to keep up.

"So Sam's alright then?" he asked anxiously. "And the baby? Can you just-"

"Your wife is suffering from unusually strained kidneys, Mr. Benson," the doctor said, stepping into a small office.

"What?" Freddie frowned.

"Strained kidneys," the doctor repeated. "See, when a women is pregnant, all of her organs receive additional strain. That is normal. But your wife's kidneys weren't in an ideal state before her pregnancy."

"What do you mean?" Freddie said, confused. "Her kidneys were fine! She never-"

He suddenly fell silent. Sam never talked about it, but Freddie knew why Sam's kidneys would be less-than fully functioning. After Conner had died, he knew she had slipped into an alcoholic state. And despite the fact that in all their time together, Sam had never once had a drink, he realized there had to have been some lasting damage.

"But she carried our other daughter, Heather, with no problems," Freddie said weakly. "There-There were no problems then."

"Yes, well, we can't always predict these things," the doctor said heavily. "There are a number of factors that could be affecting your wife during this pregnancy that weren't in play during her last that could've caused the additional strain. It could've been anything from her diet to everyday stress."

"So-So is she going to need treatment then?" Freddie asked, panic coursing through his body. "A transplant? I'll do any test you want to see if I'm a match, just-"

"There's no need for that," the doctor said quickly. "True, your wife's kidneys are slightly less healthy than we would expect to find in an average person, but she's not in any grave danger from them under normal conditions. Most likely after this pregnancy her kidneys will cause her no more problems."

"So-So she's okay?" Freddie asked hesitantly. "Sam's okay?"

"Your wife is resting right now, but she's going to be okay," the doctor assured Freddie. "She arrived just in time for my team to give her a blood transfusion to account for the blood loss and prevent any further damage. She's lucky, though. Had she gotten here a bit later she might have suffered permanent issues."
"And-And our baby?" Freddie asked slowly. "Is the baby okay?"

"Fortunately, yes," the doctor nodded. "We were able to save this pregnancy."
"Thank God," Freddie breathed, feeling a weight lift from his chest.

"However," the doctor continued. "This incident is indicative that this pregnancy is most likely going to be a difficult one…"

"What do you mean?" Freddie asked, the worry flooding back into his veins. "You just said her and the baby were fine."

"Fine and an easy pregnancy are not synonymous, Mr. Benson," the doctor said. "Your wife is going to need to be on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy. Absolutely no moving around for the next two weeks, so she's going to have to stay here. After that she can go home, but she can have only minimal movement; basically the only reason she can leave bed is to use the bathroom. Also, I'm going to schedule her for a C-section; it's too risky for her deliver this child naturally."

"Okay," Freddie nodded. "That's all fine. As long as her and our baby are okay."

"Let me bring you up to your wife's room now," the doctor said, getting to his feet. "She's still quite out of it, but she's been asking for you. Or I'm assuming it's you she's asking for…she keeps mumbling 'bring me Frednub' while she's drifting in and out. She must mean Fredward, I'm guessing."
Freddie cracked a small smile. "No, she doesn't."