Benielle: It's Complicated

Thirteen

*All day, Ben worries sick about Danielle, especially since she's pregnant; he hesitantly decides to stop by the hospital later that night*

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Michael: "Ben, you came. She's fully awake now, doing alright, just mildly concussed from the fall. Tim's in there with her."

*Ben lets out a sigh of relief*

Michael: "Look... I don't mean to intrude or anything, but... why didn't she want you to come? I swear you guys are two peas in a pod."

*Ben tries to shrug it off*  "Maybe she was embarrassed. Didn't want me to see her like that."

Michael: "Hmm, maybe. Hopefully she'll be happy to see you now."

Ben: "I don't know about that, but I just want to talk to her."

*Tim comes out of the room*

Tim: "Oh hey Ben. Nice to see you again buddy. I was just about to take a break, maybe grab a coffee. Want to come along?"

Ben: "Hey thanks for the offer, but I'm probably going to pop in and see Danielle for a bit. You and Michael go ahead though."

*They head off and Ben cracks open Danielle's hospital room door then knocks*

Ben: "Knock, knock. Cory's here to see you."

*Danielle looks over at him and smirks*

*He takes that as an invite in and sits on the chair beside the bed*

Ben: "I'm sorry, if you don't want me here. I've just been so worried about you."

Danielle: "I'm fine, or I will be eventually."

Ben: "What does that mean? All the vomiting, doctor's appointments, weird eating patterns... are you...?"

Danielle: "Oh god. God damn it."

Ben: "I'm sorry."

Danielle: "I'm not pregnant, Ben, if that's what you're alluding to."

Ben: "Oh. Um. That's good. I mean, because that fall would have been bad, if you were. But you're not."

*Danielle closes her eyes and sighs deeply*

Ben: "Danielle, what's going on? Are you sick?"

Danielle: "It's you, Ben."

*Ben is a little taken aback*

Danielle: "I had a panic attack."

*Ben's mouth drops, his heart skips a beat, and he's speechless*

Danielle: "Every time I'm around you, I get this feeling of fire, and the room is spinning, and my eyes are blurry and I can't hear anything. And when it gets too much, I throw up. That's why I don't eat, because I don't want to throw up, because I know I'll get that feeling every time we are near each other."

*A tear forms in Ben's eye*  Ben: "Danielle, I..."

Danielle: "It started after the kiss. The guilt is killing me. The anxiety has taken over. I guess we really should have talked earlier."

Ben: "Then let's talk right now. Unless I'm giving you that feeling again, which I don't want to do. God damn it Danielle! Why didn't you tell me earlier?! Tell me to fuck off and stay away from you?"

*Danielle's voice cracks into high pitch*  Danielle: "Please don't yell at me."

Ben: "I'm sorry. I just feel like this is all my fault."

Danielle: "I asked you, Ben. I asked you to kiss me. You wanted it so you did it, but I told you to do it."

*Tim walks in the room with coffees*

Danielle: "Hey babe, can you just give us another minute?"

Tim: "Oh, yeah sure, sorry. We'll be by the nurse's desk." *Tim leaves and closes the door again*

Danielle: "I've been seeing a therapist since the anxiety started. Tim knows about the anxiety but not the reason. My therapist begs that I work it out with you. She thinks it would be helpful if you sat in on a session with me. So... I'm not sure if that's something you'd – "

Ben: "Yeah. We're going to work this out. Just promise me you're going to open up and talk. I can't take seeing this beast of anxiety hurt the strongest person I know."

Danielle: "Yeah, my heart and head seem to be a little uncoordinated."

*She smiles at Ben as he looks down and twiddles his thumbs*