Losing It
While he was outside, Ciara started her sponge bath. Once she was clean, she put his shirt on. It was nice wearing clean clothes again.
Ciara tried to reach her feet but wasn't able to.
" Ben, you can come in now."
Ben slowly opened the door and popped his head in.
" I'm pretty much done. Just couldn't reach my feet. It hurt too bad."
" Okay. Well, I could help you. If that's okay with you."
" Uh, okay. Yeah, I, uh, I guess that'd be okay."
Ben hung her shirt over the end of the bed so it could dry.
" You can hang on to that if it makes you feel safer?"
Ben handed her the knife, and she took it.
Ben slowly started washing her feet, " Is that warm enough?"
" Yeah."
" Okay, this is officially bizarre. I can't believe I'm getting a sponge bath from..."
" The necktie killer?"
" If my mom saw this right now..."
" She would not be happy."
" No."
" At all."
They both started laughing.
" Is that funny?"
" No, no, I'm just really ticklish."
" Sorry."
Ciara started laughing again.
" Should I stop?"
" Mm-mm. No, I'm good."
" Okay."
" Yeah."
" I never actually thanked you for rescuing me off the side of the road. So thanks."
" Come on. You don't have to thank me."
Ciara started laughing and kicked Ben in the face and sent him flying.
" Oh, my God, Ben!"
" Oh, my God, Ben, are you okay? I'm so sorry."
"I'm fine."
" I didn't mean to kick you. It was just a reflex. I'm so sorry."
" You weren't kidding about being ticklish."
" No."
" I'm gonna quit while I have all my teeth."
" Okay."
" May I?"
" Yeah."
" Okay."
Ben grabbed the towel and dried her feet.
" You are all set."
"Thank you."
" You're welcome."
" Turns out you were the one who needed protection."
Ben just laughed.
" Maybe I don't need this knife anymore. I'm starting to think I can trust you."
" Well. I won't be offended if you want to hang onto it. After everything I've done, I know it's gonna be a while before anybody can trust me or anyone can even be around me without being completely terrified."
" I just hope it isn't that way forever."
Ciara looked at him and placed the knife on the bed behind her.
Ben poured the last pill from his prescription into his hand. He took it. And then picked up the plates and brought them over to the bed.
" Okay. I hope this is okay."
" Well, it looks great," Ciara said as she took one of the plates.
" Mm. But, you know, it is a little quiet in here. Do you mind if you play some music off your phone?"
" Yeah, good idea."
Ben pulled out his phone and started playing some music.
They started eating. Ciara blew on her stew, and Ben didn't; he burned his lip, which made Ciara laugh.
It had been a few days, and Ben hadn't taken his pills; he was starting to lose it. He imagined that his father was in the cabin with him, trying to get him to kill Ciara.
" Your father is not here right now!"
" Stop lying to me!"
" Ben, please. You're just hallucinating because you can't get your meds. Cylde is not real. He is just in your head!"
" I don't know what's real anymore."
" Me. I'm real. It's just you and me in this room together."
" Take my hand, Ben. You can feel it because it's real. Clyde can't say that because he's not."
" Ben, please, just trust me. Please."
Ben reached out and grabbed her hand.
" See? It's just you and me. No one else is here."
" I could've sworn my dad was right here. What the hell is wrong with me?"
" You have a chemical imbalance, and you need your meds to control it. Please, just go refill your prescription before the drugstore closes. Please, Ben."
Ben agreed to refill his prescription. Ben apologized for yelling and scaring her.
Ciara was just glad she was able to talk him down.
He thanked her again before leaving to get his meds.
While Ben was gone, Ciara fell asleep. When she woke up the cabin was on fire, and Ben was nowhere around. Ciara looked around for a way out. She tried to stand up but couldn't put any weight on her leg.
Ciara tripped, fell on the floor, and passed out.
Ben was coming back from the pharmacy; he could feel his pills kicking in and was finally thinking clearly again.
When he got to the cabin, he saw it was on fire; he ran in and found Ciara on the floor, passed out.
" Ciara! It's okay, I got you."
Ben picked her up and brought her outside. Ben started CPR on Ciara. She started coughing and sat up.
" Ciara, are you okay?"
" There was a fire I couldn't get out."
" When I got back. I saw it and ran in to find you."
" What happened?"
" I don't know. Maybe a loose wire."
"After you left, I tried to get some sleep. I don't know how long I was out for, but I woke up, and the cabin was on fire."
" I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left you."
" You had to get your meds."
" I know, but look what happened."
" Hey, I'm okay. You're okay. That's all that matters."
" Yeah," Ben said as he sat beside her.
" I'm glad you got back when you did."
" So am I."
They sat there a little longer before Hope and Rafe showed up. Hope accused Ben of trying to kill Ciara and had him arrested.
Ciara tried to tell her mom that Ben didn't do it, but Hope wouldn't listen to her.
Ciara watched as they took Ben away in handcuffs. Hope took Ciara to the hospital.
While she was recovering, all she could think about was seeing Ben and helping him out, just like he helped her.
She believed Ben was innocent, and she was going to find a way to prove it to everyone.