A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long, so I decided to but 3 chapters together to make you a really long chapter. Enjoy!!! And thanks for the reviews!

Chapter 10: As If It Never Happened

"Ruthie, why does it matter if I told Ben I was married or not?" Mary asked having pulled a chair up to her little sister's bed to rest her tired, worn body.

"It wouldn't matter," Ruthie argued wisely, "if you had dated him, broken up, and that had been that. But because your sister married his brother, you two are linked forever. If you had just married Ben, life would be so less complicated for all of us."

Mary stared at her sister, speechless.

"Don't you like Carlos?" Mary asked after a long silence, sounding as if she really needed her little sister's approval.

"I do," Ruthie admitted honestly. "I really do like Carlos. He's a great guy, Mary, really."

Giving her a questioning look, Mary waited patiently for Ruthie to explain.

"But Ben's a great guy too," Ruthie emphasized, making it known her opinion of Mary's love life. Mary sighed, giving her sister a sympathetic smile.

"I know, but he's not my great guy; he's some other special girl's, and I hope he finds her someday soon. He only deserves the best," Mary reassured her, no question in her voice. Fiddling with the edge of her cotton sheets, Ruthie leaned back against the pillow resting behind her.

"Yeah, he does," Ruthie agreed. "Is he here?"

"Ben?" Mary asked. Ruthie nodded. "Yeah, he's in the waiting room. You want me to get him for you?" Again Ruthie just nodded.

"And Mary?" Ruthie said, her sister having already moved towards the door. Her fingers still laced over the doorknob, Mary turned slightly to face Ruthie. "Don't doubt me. I do like Carlos, but I also like Ben. I just feel for him, you know?"

Mary smiled slightly, understanding where Ruthie was coming from.

"I know Ruthie, but feeling sorry for people never gets them anywhere. Besides, I think Ben's liking the whole available bachelor spotlight." The sisters laughed as Mary opened the door, waved to Ruthie, and made her way to the waiting room. Spotting Ben across the room, Mary approached him silently and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey. Ruthie wants you," she said avoiding eye contact. Ben looked up and smiled awkwardly.

"Thanks," he replied setting down his coffee and breezing past her.

Mary sighed, her gaze following his paces as Ben exited the room. Creeping towards the couch, she slowly took a seat, resting her arm against a pillow. Eric and Matt glanced suspiciously at her, not saying a word. Giving them both death glares, Mary leaned her head back and allowed her drooping eyelids to close. Taking advantage of the silence in the room, she escaped into a world free of pain, problems, and regret.

~~~

"Ruthie?" Ben called after softly tapping the thin, oak door. "Hey," he smiled when she turned to face him, "how ya feelin', kid?"

"I've been better," Ruthie joked lightly. A grimace look spread across her face as she attempted to shift from the uncomfortable position she was in. "Maybe I'll just stay like this," she concluded. Ben looked at her uneasily, not wanting her to move anymore than she had.

"So what can I do for you, Ruthie?" he asked casually, approaching her bed.

"I just wanted to thank you for being there for me tonight. I really don't think Lucy could have caught me, with or without her hurt arm," she thanked him.

"Anytime, Ruthie," Ben laughed. Looking closely at her, he said suspicious, "There's more, isn't there?"

"Maybe," Ruthie replied innocently staring at Ben with her big, chocolate- brown eyes.

"C'mon, what?" Ben asked, resting her hand against the wall. "Bring it on!"

"Well, it's just, why are you here? It's not like you live here," Ruthie interrogated him. "You're not here to get Mary back, are you?"

"No! Can't a guy visit his brother, sister-in-law, and her family without being questioned?" Ruthie laughed.

"Since when has this family stopped asking questions?" she replied. "I just wanted to get to you first, before all the life was sucked out of you. Trust me, I'm doing you a favor."

"So," Ruthie continued before Ben could respond, "girlfriend?"

"No," he replied skittishly.

"House?"

"Apartment."

"Job?"

"Yes."

"Dog?"

"Why do you need to know if I have a dog?" Ben laughed. Noticing Ruthie's glare, he answered, "No."

"Go out there and find yourself a girl!" Ruthie instructed him. "No, go!" she replied when Ben was about to object. "You need someone to tell you to do it if you aren't going to go ahead and do it yourself. Now go!"

"Yes ma'am," Ben replied, defeated, as he turned to leave.

~~~

Ben, sick of waiting and the quiet, decided to wander the hospital halls. Soon he found himself in the maternity ward, but it was also silent.

"Aren't babies born at night too?" he wondered expecting to hear wailing mothers and crying infants.

"Yes, they are," a voice answered him. Ben, who hadn't even realized he had said anything aloud, glanced over at the window displaying the newborns. Resting her head against the glass, a young woman stood, her long, blonde hair rolling elegantly down her back. She was dressed casually, a pair of worn jeans, tennis shoes, and a light blue quarter-length top. She was slender and tall, Ben observed, taller than Lucy, but shorter than Kevin.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," Ben apologized.

"No, it was getting too quiet anyway," she answered, "and to answer your question, this little guy was born about an hour ago." Pointing towards a little bundle covered in a blue blanket, she smiled slightly.

"He's cute," Ben too smiled joining her at the window. "Is he yours?" he asked realizing that he might not want to flirt with a first-time mother.

"Oh, no," she answered immediately. "He's my sister's."

"Oh," Ben answered, slightly relieved.

"So what are you here for? Your wife pregnant?" she asked casually.

"No, I'm not married," he answered. The woman turned to face him, raised her eyebrows, and turned back to the glass. "My brother's family was in a house fire."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she turned to face him once again.

"Well, so far, everyone's okay," Ben replied. The two stood in silence, watching the babies.

"You do realize the maternity ward is not the best place to pick up women. Most are married and pregnant or nurses, and the nurses are always crabby," the woman said casually, not releasing her gaze off the babies. Ben just laughed.

"Pick-up women? What would make you think that?" he asked innocently. The woman glanced up at him, giving him a look.

"Let me just say I'm surprised you haven't asked for my name and number yet," she turned and leaned her shoulder against the glass, her arms crossed. Ben stared at her, astonished.

"Fine, okay," he stumbled over his words. Composing himself, he continued, "I'm Ben." He offered her his hand.

"Isabelle," she took her hand, shaking it. "But let me worn you, I'm not like other women you have dated. I'm not going to act stupid so you can feel superior. I know a great deal about sports, more baseball than anything else, and I have learned from past experiences to never give a guy my number so he can torture me by waiting 'til the last minute to call me. You give me your number or we make a date face-to-face."

Isabelle knew guys' tricks; so many had been played on her, but they had only made her stronger. She wondered if she had scared Ben off, but surprisingly, he didn't move.

"Okay," he replied simply. "We could go out to dinner and a movie."

"The promenade?"

"Seven-ish tomorrow night?"

"You got yourself a date, Ben," Isabelle smiled. "And I hope your family's okay."

She turned around and started walking down the long, narrow hallway, her hair waving freely behind her. Ben couldn't take his eyes off of her, almost enchanted. Her personality and attitude intrigued him, and she was beautiful. She was strong; a woman who knew her place in life was at the top of the totem pole.

A/N: Did you like? Hope so because I am going to go out of town and I am going to enjoy every minute of it. PLEASE REVIEW!! Love you all!!