The Mistakes We Made

Breathe

When the ambulance arrived at the hospital they rushed Ben up to get a head CT to rule out any major head injuries. Miranda ran up to CT and tried to go in, but was stopped by Richard. "You can't go in there." Richard saying walking her back out in the hall.
Miranda sighed as she stared at Richard. "How is he?" She asked breaking the silence.
"He's ok Miranda. They're just trying to rule out any major injuries. It could be just a concussion." Richard paused, "how are you doing?"
"I'm fine, but the two most important people in my life are not. That's what matters right now."
"We got Ben, go be with your daughter."Richard saying as he started to walk back into the CT room.
Miranda wanted to walk into the CT room but she knew that wouldn't do any good, so she went back down to Danis room and stood in the doorway looking at the sleeping child. Miranda smiled as she walked closer to the bed, and started rubbing Danis head.
"Mama." Dani said as she stared to wake up a little.
"Hi baby." Miranda said smiling.
As Miranda continued to run Danis head Dr.Hayes walked in with Danis scans in his hands.
"How is she?" Miranda asked as she looked into the doctors eye.
"Everything looks good. Her scans are clear. She did have a lot of smoke inhalation, so we're just going to keep her over night."
"Thank you." Miranda slightly smiled at Dr.Hayes then looked back down at Dani.

"Scans are up." Amelia said as Bens CT results came up on the screen, "everything looks good on my end. Do you want to take a look?"
Richard steppe closer to the computer screen to get a better look. "Thank God. I didn't leo the have for worry Bailey anymore then she already is."Richard said as he sighed.
"Yeah she's had enough trauma for one night." Amelia said agreeing.
"Thank you." Richard said as he walked out of the CT room. He didn't know exactly why he was thanking her, but if felt necessary. Richard made his way to Danis room and softly knocked on the door. Miranda got up and opened the door letting Richard in.
"Did he's scans come back yet?" Miranda asked as she crossed her arms.
"Yes and they are clear. There was no major brain damage, but he does have a minor concussion." Richard explained.
Miranda let out a long sigh that she had been holding in since she made it to the hospital."Can I see his scans?"
"What for? There is nothing major wrong."
"I just want to see for myself." Miranda almost made it to the door, but Richard stood in front of her before she could get out.
"Do we give patients their loved ones scans? No we don't because that's no their job to worry about that. That's not your job right now, right now you need to stop thinking like a doctor and start thinking like a mother and wife. Let us take care of everything else."
"Fine." Miranda rolled her eyes and made her way back to the chair she was sitting in next to Danis bed.

A few minutes went by and the room door opened and Ben was being wheeled in by a nurse. "Thank you." Ben told the nurse as she pushed him closer to Danis bed.
"How are you feeling?" Miranda asked Ben.
"I'm fine my head hurts, but I guess that's what a concussion does to you." Ben chuckled but stopped because it hurt his head even more, "i'm glad you guys are ok."
"I'm glad you're ok too." Miranda and Ben crawled into the bed with Dani with both of them on each side of her. Ben wrapped his arm around her and kissed her on the forehead. They all cuddled together until eventually they drifted off to sleep.
Ben was awoken out of his sleep from someone screaming, but we he looked around Miranda and Dani were still sound asleep. Ben didn't realize that he was we sweating and out of breathe. "What the hell?" Ben thought to himself trying to figure out what had happened.
Ben laid there for a few minutes and tried to go back to sleep but he couldn't. So instead he stared at Miranda and Dani as they were peacefully sleeping. Eventually Ben fell back to sleep, but it wouldn't last long...

A week after the fire Ben, Miranda, and Dani where staying in a hotel until they found a permanent place to stay. As they continued to look for houses Tuck stayed with his father. Miranda saw that something was off about Ben, but she didn't know exactly. Tonight she was going to find out.
"Ok Dani it's time for bed." Miranda said as she dressed Dani in her Pj's."
"Mama can you read a bed time story please!" Dani begged as she crawled into bed.
"I'm sorry baby I don't have any books with me. We lost them all in the fire." Miranda saw Danis face turn from excitement to disappointment. "how about tomorrow we get you more books. You can pick out anyone you want."
"Ok!" Dani said with excitement, "good night mama."
"Good night baby." Miranda tucked Dani in bed and kissed her on her forehead.
Miranda sat on her bed waiting for Ben so that they could talk.
"Is she sleep?" Ben asked Miranda as he asked out of the bathroom.
"Yeah I just put her down." Miranda responded as she walked towards him, "can we talk?"
"Sure what's up?"
Ben and Miranda both sat on the bed next to each other.
"Are you ok?"
"Yea i'm fine." Ben chucked but quickly stopped when he realized that Miranda was joking.
"Ben i'm serious." Miranda said hitting his chest.
"Miranda I promise i'm fine."
Miranda sighed "Ben i'm here for you. You can tell me anything, and I don't need you lying to me. I know your not fine, so I need you to tell me what's going on."
"Ok." Be paused, "ever since last week after the fire i've been having these dreams, well more like nightmares. I'm back in the house sitting on the floor with Dani holding on to me. Each night our screams get louder, but they never find us. I always wake up right before the roof collapses."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I-I didn't want to burden you with it."
"You should have told me." Miranda stood up and walked to her side of the bed.
"Miranda i'm fine. I'm dealing with it." Ben said standing up.
"You need to get help, or at least talk to someone about the nightmares."
"See Miranda this is why I didn't tell you. I'm fine. I am handling it. They'll stop at some point."
"Ok Ben." Miranda turned over and clicked off the light.
Ben stayed up for a while staring and Miranda and Dani who were peacefully sleeping, but eventually he drifted off the sleep.

The next morning Miranda woke up to Ben gone and Dani snuggled up in her back. She chuckled to herself then got up and went into the bathroom. Miranda quickly hopped into the shower. She felt relaxed, and alone until she heard Dani calling for her.
"Mama!" Dani yelled out from the room
"Dammit." Miranda thought before getting out the shower and slipping on her robe.
"Good morning baby." Miranda picked Dani up and kisses her on her cheek.
"Good morning mama!" Dani said as she hugged Miranda neck.
Miranda turned the TV on to keep Dani occupied while she got herself ready "I'll be right back.
She rushed into the bathroom, but kept the door open so she could keep an eye on Dani.
When Miranda was finished getting herself ready she went to go get Dani ready as well.

They were both dressed sitting on the couch looking at the TV when Ben rushed through the door with bags in his hands. Miranda gave him a confused look. "Where have you been?" Miranda stood up from where she was sitting and walked towards him.
"Oh I just went to the store and picked up a few things." Ben hugged Miranda and gave her a passionate kiss that she wasn't expecting.
"Benjamin! Stop it." Miranda said pulling away, but deep down she didn't want to.
Ben laughed and shook his head as he picked up Dani. "Hey baby girl."
"Hi daddy!" Dani giggled as he tickled her stomach.
"I'm about to run to the store so Dani can pick out some books." Miranda said grabbing her purse.
"Oh ok." Ben put Dani on the floor, and she ran towards Miranda.
"Next time leave a note when you go out early." Miranda said as she opened the door.
"Yeah i'm sorry I forgot." Ben looked down at the ground.
Miranda's eyes locked with Bens as she closed the door. Ben smiled and sat down on the couch. It wasn't to long before he had drifted to sleep. Ben really needed to get those nightmares under control because they were getting worse each night, and it was starting to effect him physically. He didn't want to bother Miranda again because he wanted to help himself. But in reality he knew that he needed someone to help him cope with it.
Once again Ben was awoken by screams and fire, but only this time he saw the roof collapsed. That never happened before. He would always woke up before the roof gave in, but this time was different. This time it frightened him.  "How long where there dreams going to last? How bad would they get?" Ben thought to himself before pulling out his phone and calling Miranda. "Hey Ben." Miranda said cheerfully.
"Miranda." Bens voice sounded shaky which alarmed Miranda.
"Ben what going on? Are you ok?"
"T-The dreams are getting worse and I don't know what to do. I know I said I'd get them under control but it's not working. I need help." Ben rambled into the phone.
"Hey it's ok. Keep breathing and drink some water. I'm on my way back now."
"Thank you. I love you."
" I love you too."
Ben hung up the phone and laid on the bed staring at the TV trying to stop himself from falling asleep.
Eventually Miranda came opening the hotel door with Dani on her hip. She sat Dani on the ground, and walked towards Ben. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine, but i'm scared to fall back to sleep." Ben responded honestly.
"It's ok. The dreams will get worse before they get better."
"You've had these dreams before too?" Ben asked surprised.
"Yeah after the shooting I got them all the time. Mine got really bad, but eventually they got better. I don't get them anymore, but sometimes they sneak up on me."
"I'm sorry Miranda."
"For what? It's not your fault."
"I know but last night I was rude, and i'm sorry." Ben got closer to Miranda and kissed her.
"It's ok. Well hey through this together."
Their fingers intertwined together, but was interrupted when Dani crawled in between them. "Hey!" Ben said jokingly which made Dani laugh.
"I love you." Miranda whispered to Ben.
"I love you too." Ben whispered back. ❤️