As soon as the shot went off, Ben pulled both of them to the ground.
He pulled them both up and went into the front hallway where Stefan and Chloe were. They ducked down behind a table. Ben got up to go back into the living room.
" Ben. No, you can't go. It's not safe in there."
" We can't just stay pinned down here."
" Where are the other guards?"
" They should've been her by now."
" Unless the other gunmen took them out first. You three, stay back here," Ben said as he went to the living room.
" No! Ben! Ben, Ciara said as she ran after him."
Stefan grabbed her and pulled her down.
More shots went off, and then Ben came back out.
" Oh, my God," Ciara said as she held on to Ben.
After the shooting, Ben returned to the living room to check on Chloe and Ciara. Ben told Chloe that Stefan was finishing up with the cops.
Chloe thanked Ben for keeping them safe.
" Yeah, that's my job."
Ben walked over to Ciara and said, " Hey. How are you doing?"
" Not so good."
" Oh, my God, if you hadn't been there to pull me down."
" Hey, don't think about that right now."
" Can you just take me home?"
" Of course."
Ben drove Ciara back to the loft. The ride there was pretty quiet. Ciara sat on a chair in the loft. Ben handed her a glass.
" Here."
" Thanks."
" You're welcome. Don't spill. It's ginger ale."
Ciara laughed as she whipped what she spilled on her skirt.
" Yeah."
" It always helped me feel better when I was a kid."
" You know, I'm pretty sure that's for the stomach flu," Ciara said as she took a sip.
" You kind of look like you might want to hurl."
" I'm fine."
" You don't have to do that."
" Do what?"
" You don't have to pretend that everything's okay. Ciara, you just went through a very traumatic experience today, and what you're feeling right now. It's nothing to be ashamed of."
" I just still can't believe it happened. One minute, we're in Stefan's living room, and the next, we're getting shot at?"
" It's because of me."
" What? Ben, no. No. Chloe said it herself. You heard her. They were after her."
" I meant you were there because of me. The only reason you were inside that house is because you wanted to see me, which just confirms my feelings that if we weren't together, you'd be a hell of a lot safer."
" Ben, you think I would be safer without you?" The only reason that I'm here is because of you. It's because of you. Because of your bravery, no one got hurt."
" I was just doing my job."
"Running into the middle of a gunfight seems pretty brave to me. Alright, you listen to me. You listen to me, Ben Weston, because I'm only going to say this once."
" We just got back together, okay? It's going to take a hell of a lot more than a hail of bullets to scare me away this time."
" Okay. Okay, yeah. Look, you are a lot tougher than you look."
" Ben."
" No, I told you, I got the message loud and clear."
" You're bleeding."
" It's fine, It's honestly, It's nothing. It's probably just a cut from the glass. It shattered the window."
" Shh. Just be still, okay?"
Ben let Ciara tend to his injured hand.
" Finally, I get to reciprocate at least a little bit for the way you took care of me in the cabin."
" You're way more gentle than I was."
" I didn't feel a thing."
They looked into each other's eyes before leaning into a kiss. They continued kissing until Ben pulled away.
" Ah-um, what are you doing, Ben?"
" Something that is against my better judgment."
" Yeah."
" Oh, my God, you know I'd love to stay. I should really get back to the mansion. Just to make sure that Stefan has everything under control. As long as you're okay."
" Trust me. I am more than okay," Ciara said as she ran her hand through Ben's hair.
She leaned in and kissed him again.
" Was that okay to you?"
" Yeah, it's pretty okay."
" Are you sure you can't stay?"
" Maybe I can stay a little longer," Ben said as he kissed her again.
The next day, Ciara went to the mansion to check on Ben.
" Ciara, You are not supposed to be here. The last time, you were almost killed."
" Well, that's because the guys with the guns thought I was Chloe. But I am in disguise right now, as you can see."
" Mm."
" Okay, I'll go. Fine. At least take this coffee. I know you've been up working all night."
" Thank you."
Ben took the coffee and almost dropped it.
" What's wrong?"
" Nothing just slipped."
" Ben, that cut looks terrible."
" It's fine."
" It's infected. No, that's it. Let's go. We're going to the hospital."
" No, I'm not going anywhere."
" I appreciate the concern, but I can't just leave here. I have to watch Chloe and the kids."
" You won't be of much use to them if your hand falls off from gangrene."
" It isn't gangrene."
" Well, it could be. It could be if you don't get it checked out. Look, I really think that we should go to the hospital."
" Fine, let me call my team and let them know."
Ben pulled his phone out of his pocket and tried to dial.
" Could you just dial?"
" Yeah, just give me that," Ciara said as she took his phone.
Ben and Ciara sat in the room, waiting for the doctor.
" Oh, hey, Rex."
" Ciara, hi."
" What's up? I didn't know you were working here."
" Yeah, I decided to stick around Salem. Today's actually my first day at the hospital."
" Nice. Congratulations."
" So this is Ben. Ben, this is my cousin, Rex."
" Ben, nice to meet you," Rex said as he went to shake Ben's hand.
" Hey."
" Whoa, okay. What happened here?"
" Um, well, did you hear about the shooting over at the DiMera mansion?"
" Yes, so intense. That was the Mexican drug cartel going after Chloe. I read you two were there."
" Unfortunately, yes. Thank God no one was seriously hurt, but Ben worked security over there, and he cut his hand on some shattered glass, and I'm pretty sure it's infected. Pretty gross."
" Okay, yeah. Let's absolutely take a look at this. Let me see your hand, Ben."
Ciara gave Ben a look, and Ben gave his hand to Rex.
" Oh, yeah. That is definitely infected."
" Okay. Can you throw some cream on it, maybe prescribe me an antibiotic? I just got to get back to work."
" Ben, I'm sorry. I can't let you go. I suspect there might be some tiny glass shards deeply embedded in there. We got to get those out. Plus, I want to do some bloodwork and run your vitals."
" You guys hang out for a bit, and I'll be right back."
" No problem. Thanks, Rex."
" You got it."
Rex left the room and left them alone.
" Aren't you glad we came? I'm really glad we came," Ciara said as she rested her head on his shoulder.
" Oh, yeah. I'm thrilled."
Rex came back and asked Ben if he wanted something stronger, before working on his hand. Ben said it was fine; he just wanted to get it over with.
Rex told Ciara she could step out if she wanted to.
" No. I'm gonna stay right here, and I'm gonna hold Ben's other hand."
" You don't have to do that."
" I know. I want to."
Ben held Ciara's hand. He squeezed it when Rex hit a certain spot, which made Ciara say, " Ow."
" All right, Ben. You are all done. Good job. You're a rock star."
" Thanks, Rex. Can I go now?"
" I'm sorry. I'm still waiting for your blood test results. You also have a slight fever, and to avoid sepsis. To be on the safe side, I would like to run an antibiotic IV drip."
Ben groaned, and Ciara smiled and let out a laugh.
" I know; I'm sorry. And you're dehydrated. So you can use the fluids anyway."
" Great."
" I'm going to go order the IV. I'll be right back."
" I told ya."
" You said gangrene; he said sepsis."
" Well, gangrene can lead to sepsis."
" Okay, so you're the expert now. You're the gangrene queen."
" Well, I know a little more than you think. You know I used to work here as a candy striper."
" What?"
" I was just thinking how hot you must have looked in that uniform."
They looked at each other, smiled, and laughed.
Ben was sound asleep on the bed with an IV in his hand. Ciara held Ben's hand and kissed it. Ciara's phone rang, so she answered it.
" Hey, Mom. Yeah, I went over there a little while ago to check up on Ben. How did you know?"
" Really? The patrol cars? Seriously? Mom, don't the police have anything better to do than to follow me around all day?"
" Yeah, I know. I know that I said I would stay away from the DiMera mansion, but I had to make sure that Ben was okay. And thank God I did because he has a pretty serious infection in his hand from a cut that he got while trying to protect me."
" I'm at the hospital with Ben right now. And don't even try convincing me to leave because I will not. I will not go. I'm going to stay right here, right by his side."
" Okay, bye."
Ben woke up while Ciara was on the phone. When she turned around, she saw he was awake.
" Sorry, I woke you."
" No. It was nice. Hearing you stick up for me with your mom."
" I love her, but, as I'm sure you know by now, I make up my own mind."
" Mm. Yeah, that, I do know. I still can't wait to get out of here."
" No, not so fast. You're staying right here," Ciara said as she pushed him back onto the bed.
" You need to rest and recover, starting with taking your shoes and socks off so you can actually lay down in this bed."
Ciara grabbed his foot and undid his shoe.
" What, Ciara; you don't have to fuss over me like this."
" Oh, excuse me? Excuse me, okay. When I had my motorcycle accident, you set my leg. You make me the best pancakes I have ever had. And you washed my feet. So like it or not, Ben Weston, I'm gonna fuss."
" Ciara, I'm serious. You don't have to do this."
" No, stop it. No excuses. You took amazing, amazing care of me. Now it's my turn to take care of you."
They rested their foreheads together and waited for Rex to come back.
Ben was hoping when Rex came back, he would be able to leave. Instead, he wanted him to stay overnight.
" I can't believe this."
" What?"
" Me in this hospital gown, having to stay overnight, them wasting a room on me when I'm fine."
" Ben, you are not fine, or else they wouldn't have admitted you."
" We could watch TV. Or I could go down to the gift shop and get you something to read."
" No, I'm just lousy company. Why don't you just go home? You've been stuck here for hours."
" I'm fine. And I just thought of a really nice way to pass the time."
Ciara leaned in and kissed Ben. They continued kissing until Ciara pulled away and said, " Your fever might be breaking. You're perspiring a little bit."
" Oh. I'm sure that was a real treat for you to kiss me. I'm grungy from working all night. I'm sweaty as hell."
" Yeah, well, fortunately for you, I know how to fix that. Do you remember me telling you about my days as a candy striper?"
" Do I."
Ben watched as Ciara poured water into a tub and said, " What are you doing?"
" Untie the back of your hospital gown."
" What?"
" I am gonna give you a sponge bath."
" Sponge bath?"
" Mm-hmm. Don't worry. I'll be gentle."
" Ciara, I'm pretty disgusting right now. I feel like hell. I look like hell."
" Trust me. Even at your worst, you do not look that bad to me."
" I'm a sweaty mess in a nightgown that's open in the back."
" You can face a bullet, but you're afraid of a little sponge bath?"
" No, come on, you've done enough for me already. Seriously, I'm used to taking care of myself."
" See, that's exactly what I told you when I broke my leg, and you had to do everything for me. Let me do this for you."
Ben tried to untie his gown but struggled.
" Stop. I got it."
Ciara helped Ben. She took off his gown and then rubbed the cloth over his back.
" Okay. I admit it. This actually feels pretty damn good."
" Hmm. So you don't want me to stop?"
" No, I don't want you to stop."
Ciara rubbed the cloth over his chest. Up his neck and kissed his forehead.
" When you were out of it at the cabin, I used to wash your face and your arms."
" I remember."
" You do?"
" I wasn't that out of it."
" I think you were a lot more gentle than I was."
" Did you hear me complaining?"
Ben started to shiver, and Ciara noticed.
" Are you cold now?"
" Ah..A little bit."
" Yeah? I know how to fix that."
Ciara placed the cloth in the tub. And got on the bed with Ben and cuddled with him.
" How are you feeling?"
" Mm. You have amazing healing powers."
Ciara laughed and said, " I think it's the antibiotics."
" No, no, it's definitely you."
They leaned in to share a kiss. The kiss escalated, and Ciara was on Ben's lap. They continued kissing until Ben pulled away when his stomach started grumbling.
They shared a laugh before Ben said, "I'm sorry."
" It's okay. I'll go get us something to eat."
Ciara left to get them something to eat. While she was gone, Ben fell asleep.
