The Neighbor II

The Perfect Ending to A Shitty Week

One Week Later...

Ben laughed as he watched Michael hold his little sister against him, while he attempted to read Cat in the Hat. He was struggling with some words, but with the ones he knew, he tried to teach Jess. "It's going to take her a while to learn those words, Mikey," Ben said. 

Michael smiled and said, "I bow her, daddy!" Ben chuckled, "It's show, Mike." While Michael went back to reading, Cassie walked into the room with papers in her hand. "Alright, you're all set," she told him. "I signed all the papers and you are free to go home."

Ben let out a sigh of relief and said, "Thank God! Can we go now?" She nodded, then said, "But we have to get you dressed and remember, you have to have a wheelchair for at least a week." He rolled his eyes. Because the bullet got his hip, he was having trouble breathing and walking on his own. If he tried to do each on his own, it could cause internal bleeding. 

"If you want to live, you will not complain," she told him. "Now, let's get you dressed." She took the kids off the bed and sat them on the other side of the room. Ben slowly sat himself up, trying to hide the pain from his face. 

Cassie came over and helped him sit up all the way. She set his clothes on the bed, then untied his hospital gown. "This is humiliating," Ben muttered, as she started to help slip on his boxers. She smiled up at him and said, "No, it's not. You're hurt and I'm taking care of you, like you have many times before." 

She got his boxers and sweat pants on, then helped him with his shirt. "Thank you, love," he said. As she was helping him get on his jacket, he said, "I don't blame you, you know." She looked at him curiously. "Don't blame me for...what?" She asked. He took a long look at her, before saying, "Kissing Tom."

This caught her off guard. If she was being honest, she forgot all about it the moment she fired that gun. Now that he's reminded her...she feels guilty all over again. "Ben," she said, "that was...that..." He shook his head and took her hand. 

"That was what you did after he manipulated you. I know it was before our fight, but...fucking hell, I almost killed you. I was going to rape you, too because you kept saying how you didn't want me; I was going to make you want me. I don't blame you for kissing him. Did you...did you do anything else?"

She quickly shook her head and got down on her knees, saying, "No, no not at all. I promise." Ben ran a hand down her cheek, as she said, "I'm really messing up, aren't I?" He gave her a small smile and said, "No. Just promise me you won't do something like this--any of this--ever again." 

After sniffling and letting a few tears fall down, she said, "I promise. Till death do us part." He chuckled, then brought her in for a kiss. "Let's go home," he said against her lips. She nodded, then took his hands and helped him stand up. 

The doctor came in just in time with a wheelchair. Cassie helped Ben sit down in it, then thanked the doctor. "Come here, my loves," Ben said to Michael and Jess. Michael got up and went over to Ben, while Cassie picked up Jess and handed her to him. 

He had both kids comfortably in his lap as Cassie pushed him out of the room with a small smile. All the nurses waved goodbye to Michael, who happily waved back. While they did that, Cassie just so happened to look over into a room they were passing. 

Her eyes nearly came out of her head when she saw Sarah feeding Tom and her parents sitting in the room with them. 

**

"Open wide and...there we go," Sarah said, as she took the spoon out of Tom's mouth. Tom chewed his food, then painfully swallowed. Bloody hell, I wish she would just go away! He screamed in his head. My dry-erase board is on the other side of the room, thanks to her mum thinking it was in the way. Christ, I wish I could talk for the two seconds it would take to tell her off!

Sarah noticed the deadly glare she was getting from him and stopped feeding him. "Tom," she said, "I know this is hard, but I'm going to take care of you. But we should probably get us a new place. We don't need those two around you." 

She put the spoon up to his mouth, but he smacked it away, leaving her and her parents in shock. He was breathing heavily through his nose and staring at her like he could kill at any second. "Give him his board," Brian told Sarah. 

She quickly got up and grabbed it. When she handed it to him, he snagged it from her and started aggressively writing. He flipped it over when he was done and Sarah put her hand over her mouth. Brian got up from his seat and told him wife and daughter, "Let's go. Right now."

Tom's grip on the board tightened as Sarah stared at it more. The words "Go away" could not be more clear. Brian took Sarah's arm and started pulling her along. She sniffled and shook her head at Tom, before walking out of the room. 

Tom sighed in relief and set down the board on his lap. Finally alone, he said to himself, as he threw his head back against the pillows. Of course, as soon as he thought that, his door opened. He let out an exasperated sigh and looked over. 

It was Cassie.

"Hi," she said, as she shut the door. Tom looked down at his lap. She approached the bed, but kept a reasonable distance. She looked at the tube in his neck, that led to the machine that was helping him breathe. "I didn't want to shoot you," she told him. "But you made me. You were going to kill him."

Tom shook his head, then wiped off his board and wrote something. When he held it up she read it out loud; "I loved you." She smirked, then told him, "I know. But Ben is my husband. I love him and my children need him."

Again, he erased the board, then wrote on it. When he flipped it to her, she sighed. It read, "I could have been a better father." She shook her head and told him, "No. Ben is their father and nothing can compare to that." 

Tom sighed and put down his board. After a moment, he wrote on it again. "I can still save you." Cassie turned her head, where she could see outside into the hall. Ben was laughing and playing around with Michael as both kids sat on his lap in the wheelchair. "I don't need saving," she said. 

When she turned back around, his board said something else; "I'm never getting out of here. Help me. Please. He'll kill me for kissing you." She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry about your condition, Tom, but I love Ben. I love Ben." Tom grimaced, then tossed his board to the floor. 

Cassie took that as her cue to leave, but as soon as she turned to the door, Tom reached out and grabbed her hand. She looked at him, then gave his hand a small squeeze. "Goodbye, Tom." Her hand fell from his as she walked to the door. 

Goodbye, Cassie, he thought as he watched her out in the hall, leaning down and kissing Ben like nothing had ever happened. I will always love you. No matter what. I'll never forget you. As she started to push Ben down the hall, Ben looked into Tom's room and made eye contact with him. 

Ben, being the smug bastard, smiled at him and gave a small wave.

**

"Welcome home, daddy," Cassie said with a smile, as she pushed Ben into the apartment. "Wee ho, daddy!" Michael shouted. Ben chuckled and hugged his son close to his chest. Marshall came running out of one of the rooms with a furiously wagging tail. 

Ben scratched his head and rubbed his back. "What do you feel like doing tonight, hun?" Cassie asked. Ben took a deep breath, then started to hum. "I think," he said, before wrapping his arm around Michael and snuggling Jess close to him with his other, "I just want to order Italian and watch movies with my family." 

Cassie placed a sweet kiss on his lips. "Sounds like a plan. I'll get the menus and the kids can help you pick out the movies." He smiled and said, "I love you. Tonight is the night we start over. No more moving, no more running. We're going to stay here and we're going to be...normal." 

She pressed a kiss to his cheek, and then Michael's, and Jess'. "Go pick out the movies." She stood up and walked to the kitchen, while Ben carefully rolled himself and the kids into the living room. As she was looking over the living room, she could hear Ben and the kids' laughter, along with Marshall's excited barking. 

"No, no not too close there, that's where daddy's hurt," she heard him explain. She heard Michael apologize and Ben say, "Oh, it's alright, my boy. I love you, Mikey." Cassie couldn't help the smile on her face as she heard their son say, "I love you, daddy." 

It was the perfect ending to a shitty week.