The gunshot shattered the night and gave Leslie the chance to get away from the man who was pulling her back. He started yelling at the accomplice, but Leslie paid no attention to what they were saying. All she could focus on was Ben. Ben standing there. Ben rocking back. And then Ben lying on the cool grass.
There was blood, she would realize later, and lots of it, but it didn't register to her in the moment. She ran to Ben's side at the same time Chris got there and shouted at his friend. He called for an ambulance as Leslie knelt to the ground and looked worriedly into Ben's half-lidded eyes. He said her name and she responded quickly, trying not to allow him to expend precious energy right now.
Sirens wailed in the distance. Leslie told Ben to just stay awake a little longer, but his eyes closed. She and Chris both tried to get his eyes back open with their pleading shouts, but he wouldn't wake.
Paramedics flooded the scene and pulled Leslie back from Ben's side. In the blur of the moment, she fought them, but they managed to calm her down and take her off to the side so others could get to Ben. They talked to her and asked her questions, but the words didn't reach her ears. If she answered them, the words didn't register on her tongue. She was focused on watching the team get Ben onto a stretcher and take him to one of the waiting ambulances. As they boarded, she moved to follow, but a short brunette woman grabbed her arm.
"There's no room," she told her sadly. "But don't worry, they're going to take good care of him." Leslie just looked at her blankly, as though she spoke to her in another language entirely. The woman kept a firm, but not uncomfortable hold on Leslie's arm as she flagged down Chris who was talking with one of the men in bulletproof vests.
"Leslie Knope," Chris greeted in an unusually somber tone. He placed a hand on her shoulder and the paramedic wrapped a scratchy yellow blanket around her.
"I-" Leslie started, and then stopped. She had no words for what had just happened. It felt like everything was running at twice the normal speed and her brain was struggling to catch up. "Ben! We need to go to Ben."
"We will," Chris replied, leading her away to his car with two firm hands on her shoulder to guide her. "Can you tell me what happened before I got here?"
Leslie hesitated, suddenly forgetting how to say every word she knew. They got to the car and Chris helped her into the passenger's seat before he walked around to the other side. He turned the car on but didn't put it into drive. He was waiting for Leslie's answer.
"We went out," she finally told him. "He drove me home. There were these men and they grabbed me and Ben had a… A gun?" She didn't trust the image in her head of Ben's enraged face pointing a weapon at the man who held her. "He went after them, trying to get me free. And then there were all of these people…" She trailed off. The next event was the gunshot which she didn't want to think about or relive now. Instead, she turned to Chris and asked, "Is he going to be alright?"
Chris said nothing for a long moment while he put the car into drive. "I don't know," he replied as they pulled off the side of the street and started towards the hospital. "He was awake until the paramedics got to him. That's a good sign." To be fair, he didn't really know if that was the case, but he had to be positive, if not for himself, then definitely for Leslie.
Leslie was silent for a few minutes. She watched the streetlights pass her by as she struggled to feel normal in her own skin again. At the same time, she felt both heavy and as though she was floating. Maybe this was all a dream. She would like to wake up soon.
The hospital popped into view as Chris rounded a curve and Leslie knew in that moment this wasn't all a terrible dream. She felt the dried tears on her cheeks and the heavy scratchy blanket that was pulled around her arms. The cool car seat wrapped her in an uncomfortable hug, but she didn't want to get out quite yet. Stepping into the hospital would make all of this too real.
"We were dating," she whispered as they pulled into a parking spot.
"Were?" Chris asked.
"Are. I don't know. We had a fight or something. No yelling. Just a lot of serious talking. I don't know how it was going to end up." She looked at the man sitting next to her and realized he hadn't questioned their relationship. "You knew?" Chris nodded. "You never said anything? Isn't that against HR rules?"
"Ben is my best friend. I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize his career," Chris replied. "You make him happy. I've never seen him more relaxed than after he started dating you. I can't protect him if anyone else ever found out, but I certainly wasn't going to say anything."
Leslie looked down at her lap. "Thank you," she whispered. Chris reached over and pat her on the back kindly.
"Let's head inside."
When they got into the emergency room, Chris walked right up to the nurse's desk. Leslie hung back near a chair but didn't quite move to sit down in it. She just watched the hospital activity going on around her. Everyone seemed so calm, as though a man with a gunshot wound to the chest hadn't just come barreling through the doors. The office was reset for when Chris and Leslie came in.
"He's stable," Chris said as he came back into the waiting area where Leslie was standing. "He's in the OR."
"They told you that?" Leslie asked. It took forever just to get a room number out of the nurses when Andy was sick during flu season a few years back.
"I'm his emergency contact," Chris lied. Truthfully, he had just shown his badge and gave his ID number. They looked it up and told him everything he needed to know. He also let them know that Leslie was a very special friend and should be told as much as possible about Ben's condition.
"They're also sending out a nurse for you," he continued. Leslie looked confused.
"Why?" she asked. Chris moved forward and parted the blanket she still clung to. She followed his gaze to her upper right arm, which was bleeding lightly and had a few other red scratches. "I didn't even notice."
"You're in shock," Chris explained. "I think you're starting to come out of it. You're going to feel like hell soon, so I thought you could use a checkup."
Leslie opened her mouth to protest. She didn't feel like she needed anyone to look her over when they could be helping Ben. Before she could get a word out, Ann rounded the corner and all but ran to her friend.
"Leslie! Oh my God!" she said in a breathy whisper as she wrapped her friend up in a huge hug. Leslie finally relaxed to the touch and put her hands on Ann's upper back, pulling her friend as close as humanly possible. Her muscles screamed and ached now that she was finally relaxing, but she didn't care. She was just so happy to see Ann.
"You're alright," Ann told her. "Thank God, you're alright."
"How's Ben?" Leslie asked. "Do you know?" Ann shook her head as she pulled out of the hug, but kept both her hands on Leslie's arms.
"No, I don't. I'm not working the OR tonight. I didn't even see him come in." She moved a hand to Leslie's back. "Come on, let's check you over and then I'll wait right here with you until more news comes in."
"Your shift-" Leslie started as they walked towards the back offices.
"Is over," Ann finished. "Was over. About a half hour ago, actually, but then I heard we had a gunshot victim and they had everyone stay in case they needed more hands. And then when I saw who it was, well, I knew you would be in shortly." They walked into a room and Ann shut the door.
"Everything hurts," Leslie said, sitting on the table with the crinkly paper.
"I know," Ann said as she gently removed the blanket from Leslie's shoulders and started putting disinfectant on the scrapes and scratches that littered her arms. The solution stung and Leslie flinched, but aside from the initial bite, she held herself still. "You're going to ache for a while. You probably tensed up when everything happened and now you're finally starting to relax a little. That's not going to feel too great."
Leslie just nodded, uncharacteristically quiet. When Ann was done, she sat up next to Leslie and pulled her into another long hug. Leslie laid her head on Ann's shoulders and for the first time that night actually started to cry. Her tears had spilled when Ben was first shot, but she didn't even register it then. Now she just felt anguish. Ann wrapped her arms around her friend and stroked her hair quietly, allowing her friend the moment she needed.
"We managed to remove the bullet and close the wound." An older doctor with a clipboard stood before Leslie, Chris, and Ann in the waiting room. "He was lucky, really. One more inch to the left and it would have pierced his heart."
"Is he going to be okay?" Leslie asked. It was the only question on her mind since the doctor confirmed that Ben was alive.
"He's in serious condition, but he's doing well as far as we can tell," he replied. "You're welcome to go and visit, but I can't promise he'll be awake tonight or even tomorrow. While he got lucky, this is no small issue and it's going to take a while to recover. He lost a lot of blood and he was already recovering from another wound. This will take a toll."
Leslie looked confused at the mention of another wound but said nothing. She was too focused on being led to Ben's hospital room. She walked the long halls, trailed by Ann and Chris who let her take the lead.
The nurse opened the door to Ben's room and Leslie took a step inside. It looked nearly identical to the room she stayed in when she had food poisoning, but it was filled with far more machines and beeping. The lights were dimmed since it was late and moonlight struggled to poke into the room at all.
There was just enough light for Leslie to make out every inch of Ben's sleeping form. Wires ran all over him, from the backs of his hands to the tubes under his nose. His lips were slightly parted as he breathed softly, his chest rising and falling in a rhythm acceptable to the many machines he was connected to. Leslie also noted just how pale he appeared and deep purple bags lined his eyes. He wore a hospital gown, but Leslie could see just the top part of bandages she assumed covered the wound in his chest. A blanket was pulled up just under his chest and one hand gripped it gently, while the other rested at his side.
"Is he in pain?" Leslie asked, whispering to the nurse who had brought her to the room.
"No," the older woman replied. "He shouldn't be at least. I'm sure he'll feel it soon, but for now, he should be resting as comfortably as he can given the circumstances."
That made Leslie smile a little and the nurse left so that she, Ann, and Chris could make their way into the room. Chris immediately offered her the chair by the bed and she accepted while Ann lingered behind her. Chris stood to the other side of the bed, looking at the machines as if he knew what they all meant. Leslie reached over and slipped her fingers into the hand that rested by his side.
They stayed there for a long while, just watching Ben sleep peacefully. Finally, Ann reached over and squeezed Leslie's shoulder. "You need to go home and sleep. You've been through a lot tonight." Leslie looked at her in shock, as though that was the most ridiculous suggestion she had ever heard before in her life. "It's two in the morning, Leslie," Ann frowned. "You're not doing anyone any good just sitting here. Ben's doing just fine. Now you need to take care of yourself."
"She's right," Chris chimed in. "Go get a few hours and come back in the morning. There will be a few people here who will want to talk to you about tonight."
Leslie glanced at Chris and Ann, as though one would relent and let her stay, but neither did. "Fine," she sighed, looking back at Ben.
"How about you come crash at my place?" Ann suggested. "I'll take you back here first thing in the morning."
Leslie liked that idea a lot better than going home to her empty house and waiting for it to finally be light outside. Ann also felt better because then she could be sure Leslie got some sleep.
The two women stood and Leslie bent over to place a kiss on Ben's forehead. She lingered over him for a minute, watching as he slept somewhat peacefully. His brows were furrowed and she could see deep stress lines, but he didn't seem to be wincing.
She wished Ben was awake so he could explain the many questions she had that constantly ran through her mind. Who were those men? Why did he have a gun? Did someone call him an agent? She wanted to try to piece everything together, but she was far too exhausted to even pursue some basic questions.
Leslie looked over at Chris. "I don't understand everything that happened tonight," she told him. "I don't really know where to begin honestly. But I have a lot of questions and I know you have the answers."
"I know," he replied, not even bothering to hide that there was something more going on. "But I think these are things you should hear from Ben when he wakes up. Plus, it's late. Get some sleep, be patient."
"Can I ask you just one thing?" Leslie asked though Ann tugged on her arm. Chris nodded slowly, a little hesitant to indulge out of fear it would spiral into an hours-long conversation.
"Ben has always been really private," Leslie started. "And I know there's something, well, probably a lot of things he's been hiding from me. But as far as you know, was all of this, was us, our relationship… was it real? Or just part of whatever you guys are doing here?"
Chris couldn't help but allow himself to smile at her question. "If there's any part of this whole thing that's real," he replied, "It's your relationship. I've never seen Ben happier than when he comes back from seeing you. We've been partners for a long time, Leslie Knope, and you're the first person who's ever made such an impact on him."
She smiled back at him and opened her mouth to ask more questions, but Ann was already steering her out of the room. She looked back at Ben one more time and watched as Chris sat next to him in her place. At least, she figured, he wouldn't be alone in the cold hospital.
Happy update day and thanks as always for reading!
