Only You Chapter

The scene looks like it came straight out of a horror film. Meg was sprawled out on the floor. She had hit her head hard on the wall and was knocked unconscious. A few feet from her, Ben was lying across Hank and blood was seeping out of the upper left portion of his chest. Derek had fallen across the bed. His eyes were open, but they no longer could see.

Ben had managed to free Sara before his heroic dive to save Meg’s life and while everyone seemed rooted to the spot, Sara was ready for action. Pure adrenaline was pumping through her veins. All she knew was that her sister was hurt and Ben could be dying. She acted without thinking. She rushed over to Ben and realized that he was still breathing.

Sara: Ricardo, get me something to stop the bleeding. Spence, call 911. Casey, see if Meg’s okay. Maria, get Benjy out of here.

With Sara’s sharp commands, everyone sprang into action. Benjy had slept through the entire episode because Derek had given him a harmless sleep agent so that he wouldn’t have to see the unpleasant things his father had to do. Maria picked Benjy up from where Ben had laid him to keep him out of the line of fire and carried him outside. Ruiz took him and put him in the back of the patrol car.

Ruiz: I will watch him. Let Ricardo know I called 911. They should be here soon.

Ruiz and Maria hear distant sirens and Maria rushes back in to let everyone know what is happening.

Ricardo is bent over Ben holding the sheet from the bed to his chest, while Sara attended to Meg. Meg was very groggy, but she was slowly coming around. Hank was also attending Meg while Casey looked on.

Ricardo: You are lucky you aren’t sitting there dead. If I wasn’t a cop, I would probably kill you myself. Spence, untie her and read her rights and then put her out in the squad car.

Up to this point, Sara and Hank had managed to help keep Meg from noticing that Ben had been shot. She is still pretty groggy and her head is throbbing, but she realizes that something is wrong and she turns her head. The slightest movement sends a wave of pain through her head, but when she sees Ben and all the blood, she tries to go over to him. She barely makes it to her feet and then she collapses again.

The paramedics take first Ben and then Meg out of the adobe on a gurney. Maria wants to go with Ben, but Ricardo reminds her that she needs to stay back and be around when Benjy wakes up. Hank goes with Meg. Sara and Casey ride to the hospital with Ben.

Ruiz had also called the city coroner and the local police and just after the ambulances left, two PSPD squad cars pulled up. Ricardo, Spence, Ruiz, and Maria each give a statement and then Tess is taken into custody by the local police. Ricardo and Spence stay behind to aid the investigators, and Ruiz takes Maria and Benjy to the hospital.

The doctor examines Ben and realizes that the bullet just missed his heart. They need to go in and remove the bullet so that it will not cause anymore damage. While, the operating room is being prepared for emergency surgery, Maria arrives in time to sign the release papers for the surgery. Maria asks the nurse to look at Benjy because she is worried about him. He hasn’t woken up yet. They go back to a vacant room where Benjy continues to sleep.

While Ben was being wheeled into surgery, Meg was finally coming too. The doctor began examining Meg and realized that she had a severe concussion.

Doctor: Ms. Cummings has suffered a severe concussion. I cannot give her anything for the pain right now and you must try to keep her awake and calm. She needs to be admitted and I will have her sent to a private room.

Hank (looking at the doctor questioning): My Meggie is going to be allright, isn’t she?

Doctor: Trauma to the head can be tricky. I don’t think she will have any lingering problems, but just to be on the safe side, she needs to be kept awake, calm and she needs to be monitored.

Sara tries to keep Meg’s spirits up by telling jokes and reliving some of their childhood antics, but laughing sharpens the pain in her head, so they decide to talk quietly instead.

Once Benjy was thoroughly examined and Maria was reassured that he would be fine, she asked Ruiz to sit with Benjy while she went to check on Meg.

Maria walks into Meg’s room. Maria is still covered in blood from when she was trying to stop the flow from Ben’s chest. When Meg sees Maria, she has a flash of Ben lying in a pool of blood in the adobe. She begins to panic and starts crying out Ben’s name.

Meg (almost incoherently): Where’s Ben? My Ben! Where is he? Oh my god, he can’t be dead, he can’t be dead. Ben? Where are you Ben?

Hank: Maria, I think you need to leave now. Meg, honey, you need to settle down. Ben is going to be fine. They took him into surgery and they are removing the bullet. He is going to be fine. Don’t you worry.

Sara (escorting Maria out of Meg’s room): Maria, Meg doesn’t need to see you like this.

Sara (swallowing what she really wanted to say): The doctor says she will be fine. He is going to admit her for observation, but we need to keep her calm and awake.

Maria: I am going nuts waiting to find out about Ben. If there is anything you need, please let me know. I will be in the waiting room.

Maria walks back to the waiting room and is stunned to see Ricardo talking to Ruiz.

Ricardo (holding a book to his chest): Well, it is actually a very cut and dried case so there wasn’t anything to investigate. We found this book (he hands it to her) in Tess’s things. I think it belongs to Ben. Tess said she found it in his house.

Maria takes the book from Ricardo and sets it aside. She begins to pace back and forth while she waited for word on Ben. Looking around for something to occupy her mind, she sees the book Ricardo had given her. She notices the words "Dorothy" and "SB" in a handsome bold script on the front of the leather bound book and her curiosity gets the better of her. She picks up the book and begins reading the chats and emails that Ben and Meg wrote to each other when they met over the Internet.

Maria read the email letters and chats off the Internet that Ben had bound for Meg and given to her on their engagement night. When she read the last page, she hadn’t realized how much time had past and when she looked up she saw the doctor enter the waiting room.

Maria (jumping out of her chair and rushing to where the Doctor is standing): How is Ben? How is my husband?

Doctor: Your husband is tough and he is a fighter and he came through the surgery like a champ. I think he will be okay, but he needs a lot of rest and he needs to stay calm. As soon as he is brought down from recovery, you can go and sit with him.

Since Maria had a few minutes before she could go in and see Ben, she decided that she needed to go and tell Meg, Sara, and Hank that Ben was all right. She is about to walk out the door when Benjy starts to wake up. Ruiz is still sitting with him. She goes over to Benjy and explains to him where they are and why. She makes it clear that his Daddy is going to be okay. After she had said the words, she realized that Ben wasn’t his father, but she refused to tell him now. At that moment, Carmen and Antonio walk into the waiting area. They had been called by Ricardo while he was still at the Casita. Carmen, of course, takes charge of the situation and Maria is able to excuse herself to go tell Meg that Ben is okay.

Meg somewhat calmer was waiting anxiously for news of Ben. Her family explained to her what was going on and that Ben was in surgery. When Maria walked in the door, her face was tight and drawn and Meg knew that the news of Ben wasn’t good.

The silence began to stretch after Maria revealed the information of Ben’s status. Meg was at a loss for words and Maria was basically speechless after reading and understanding the depth of despair that Ben was in when he connected with Meg and she finally saw what Ben meant by Meg saving him. As the silence grew, both Meg and Maria became uncomfortable and Maria excused herself and left. Maria walked slowly back to the waiting area and ran into the doctor who took her to Ben’s room.

Ben was laying very still and looked almost ashen. The doctor began to reassure her that his vitals were good and that he will be fine.

Doctor: Your husband is strong Mrs. Evans. He will pull through this. He keeps asking for you, so talk to him and let him hear your voice. That is always the best medicine.

Maria became ecstatic at the prospect of Ben asking for her. After reading the emails and chats she thought that it really was over for them, but with this new development she had hope growing in her heart.

Doctor: I will leave you now. Remember talk to him. I will check back in a little while.

Maria sits by Ben’s bedside and pours her heart out to him. She tells him how much she wants to raise Benjy together as a family and how much she loves him. While she is talking, she realizes that Ben is saying something. At first, she can barely make it out, but as she moves closer to his lips, she hears his words and they are like a knife in her chest.

Ben: Meg . . . Have to get to Meg . . . Meg please be all right . . . Meg . . . Meg . . .

But Maria realizes that his eyes are closed and that he is still under the affects to the anesthetic.

Ben continued calling out for Meg in his sleep the rest of the night. His dreams seemed to be scattered between the night Meg left him and last night’s trouble. Maria realizing that it was really over sits in the chair over by the window and has a good cry. When the doctor came into the room to check on Ben, she asks him a question praying that he would give her the only answer that would salvage her hopes of reuniting with Ben.

Maria: Doctor, when Ben was rambling in his sleep, what name was he calling out?

Doctor (taken aback by her question, stares at her and then slowly answers): He was saying Meg. I assumed that was your name.

Maria (with her eyes watering): Thank you, for your honesty and my name is Maria.

The doctor left the room and Maria went back to her vigil at Ben’s bedside. She couldn’t bring herself to leave Ben’s side because she hoped that he might say something about Maria in his ramblings. Ricardo and Antonio came in and tried to talk her into going to a hotel room they rented where Carmen and Benjy were resting, but Maria refused and remained at his side.

Meg had been put in a private room and had been kept awake all night. The doctor’s finally told her that she could go to sleep and gave her something for the pain.

Sara decided to go out and find out how Ben was doing while Meg slept. Ben was in a room in another wing of the hospital on the same floor, but he wasn’t too difficult to find. When she walked up she found the door open and she could hear Maria talking to Ben. She pushed the door open farther to make out what was being said and then she heard Ben calling out for Meg in his sleep. With a smile of satisfaction, Sara left the room and went back to Meg’s room.

Maria was very disappointed when Ben’s ramblings continued to be about his love for Meg. Finally, Ben stilled and appeared to have fallen into a deep sleep.

Meg was finally awake and the doctor told her that her family could take her home. Meg was still feeling a little dizzy, but she refused to leave without seeing Ben.

Hank: He is going to be fine Meg. He has been nothing but trouble to you almost getting you killed. You need to leave him and never look back.

Sara: Dad, he also saved her life. Ben wouldn’t be in that hospital bed recovering from a gunshot wound had he not pushed her out of the way. It would be Meg instead.

Joan (who had joined them during the night): She’s right honey. Ben has proven he loves Meg over and over. Can’t you give the guy a break and realize that he and Meg belong together.

Hank (grudgingly): Well he did save her life. That doesn’t mean I like him yet, but I will take Meg to see him.

Ben starts to slowly open his eyes. He sees a person’s face swimming in front of him, but can’t see it clearly.

Ben starts to see the awful scene in the adobe play out in his mind and starts to panic.

Maria: Calm down Ben. She bumped her head and has a concussion, but the doctor’s say she will be fine.

Meg is pushed up to the door in a wheelchair and is very nervous about what she will find upon entering Ben’s room. She is encouraged by her mother and sister, but still she holds back. Ben was always so full of life, she knew it would be hard to see him like this. Finally she screwed up her courage and pushed the door open.

Ben saw the movement of the door and his eyes lit up when he saw Meg being pushed in his room. Maria sees Ben’s eyes and turns in the direction he is looking and opens the door.

Ben has tears in his eyes as he sees Meg being pushed by her father farther into the room. Maria steps back and moves the chair so that Meg could be pushed to his bedside.

Ben: When I saw Derek pointing that gun at you, I knew that my life wouldn’t be worth living if anything ever happened to you. I told you in the adobe that I love you Meg. That I love only you and I meant it with all my heart.

Maria, seeing the tender moment and hearing the words that closed the door to any lingering hope that she might have had for a reconciliation with Ben, grabs her pocketbook and leaves the room. She shuts the door behind her and leans against the wall beside the door, tears spilling quietly down her cheek.

Sara, Hank, and Joan back out of the room to let Ben and Meg talk. Outside the door, they see Maria walking down the hall toward the elevator.

Sara: Maybe someone should go talk to her and see how she is doing. This couldn’t be easy for her.

Joan: I will go see how she is doing. Sara with your track record, you will start World War III.

Joan approaches Maria and asks her if there is anything that she can do for her.

Maria: Thank you for offering, but there isn’t anything anyone can do.

Joan: Would you like me to call your mother or one of your brothers?

Maria: No thank you. Ricardo said he would wait for me in the lobby. He will take me to my mother.

Joan: Okay, if you are sure.

Joan turned to walk away, but Maria put her hand on her arm to stop her.

Maria: I know things haven’t always been easy, but you have always been very compassionate and I want you to know how much I have appreciated it.

[Ben’s Room]

Ben was lying in the bed staring at the woman he loves. He just can’t get over the fact that she is here in his hospital room and that she still loves him despite everything that has happened to them in the last 2 and a half years. Holding hands, they begin to talk.

Ben: I can’t believe that you are really here.

Meg: Believe it Ben because I am never going away again.

Ben: Words just don’t seem to be enough to express to you how I am feeling at this moment. I feel like I could climb the highest mountain and swim the English Channel right now.

Meg: I think your climbing and swimming days will have to be put on hold for a while Mr. Evans until you are out of this hospital bed.

Ben: Alright, alright, no climbing or swimming. How about kissing? Do I have to put that on hold too?

Meg (smiling): Absolutely not.

Meg leans toward Ben to receive his kiss. She has to stand up in order to reach him, but she gets dizzy and has to sit back down.

Ben (worried): Meg are you alright?

Meg: I’m fine, just got dizzy there for a minute.

Ben: Are you sure you are alright? I don’t want to take any chances here. I just got you back. I don’t want to lose you again. Should I call a doctor?

Meg: Ben, I’m fine. I just moved to fast, that’s all. It was the excitement of kissing a certain handsome British gentleman I know. The doctor’s have released me. Don’t worry about me you just concentrate on getting well.

Ben: Very well Dr. Meg.

Meg: Now how about that kiss?

[The Hospital Lobby]

Maria walked up and joined Ricardo in the main lobby of the hospital.

Maria: Ricardo, please take me to Benjy and Momma.

Ricardo: Okay, let’s go.

Maria: Let me make sure that I haven’t left anything.

Maria begins to rummage around in her large bag and comes across the email book that belongs to Ben and Meg. She realizes that she needs some closure to her relationship with Ben and asks Ricardo to wait for her a few more minutes and takes off toward the elevator.

[Ben’s Room]

The Doctor walked in and saw Meg and Ben kissing passionately. He clears his throat to gain their attention and Meg pulls away from Ben, both of their faces a little red.

Doctor: Mr. Evans, you need to take it easy and no extra curricular activities for a little while. You gave us a scare, but you will be just fine. Just remember to take it easy.

The Doctor looks pointedly at Meg as he made his final remarks.

Doctor: I assume that you are the Meg that he has been calling for in his sleep.

At Meg’s confirmation, the Doctor continued.

Doctor: You need to see that he takes it easy for a few days.

Meg (smiling at Ben): I will watch him like a hawk Doctor, you can count on me!

Doctor (looking at Ben): Mr. Evans, I have spoken with a Tyus Robinson at South Bay General Hospital in Sunset Beach and he is arranging a transport for you to so that you can continue your re-cooperation there. You will leave first thing in the morning.

Ben: Thank you Doctor.

The Doctor quietly left the room and Ben and Meg picked up where they left off. A few minutes later, they heard another clearing of the throat and turned to see Sara standing in the doorway.

Sara (smiling): Careful there Meg, you don’t want him to have a relapse do you.

Meg looks at Sara with a very guilty look on her face, but smiles unrepentently.

Ben: Hi Sara

Sara: Hi Ben. Meg, sorry to interrupt, but Mom and Dad want to get you home. The doctor did say you needed your rest.

Meg started to protest leaving Ben, but Ben stopped her.

Ben: Meg, you’ve already had a dizzy spell and I think it would be better if you left with your parents.

Meg looked like she would still argue, but Ben stopped her again.

Ben: I will be at SBGH tomorrow, Sara will bring you to see me. Go home with your parents now, you need your rest.

Meg (still looking unsure): Ben, I don’t want to leave you.

Ben: I will be able to rest easier knowing that you are safe in Sunset Beach and not trying to sleep here in a chair. You do have a nasty knot on your head.

Meg: Okay Ben, but only because you asked me too. I love you.

Ben: I love you too Meg. Now go home and dream about me!

Meg kisses Ben bye and Sara pushes her wheelchair toward the elevators. They get on the next elevator going down. As the doors shut, the other elevator stops on that floor. The doors open and Maria walks out.