The Baker, Part 2: Sous Chef

Chapter 22

"Oh my God," Ben breathed when he saw Cassie on the bathroom floor; her body unmoving, eyes open and foam at her mouth. "Cassie, no!" He got down and scooped up her limp body in his arms. He brushed away her hair from her face and said, "Come on, baby, come on! Wake up!"

Hunter's barks just seemed to get louder once he saw Cassie. "Hunter, shut up!" Ben shouted. He reached for his phone and quickly dialed the police. "I need an ambulance, my wife, she...she...fuck, I don't know if she's alive!" 

As he gave them the address to the house, he checked her pulse and felt that it was very faint. He looked around for what could have caused this...and then he saw the bottle of her pills. It was empty. Completely gone. 

"No," he breathed. "No, no, no not again! Fuck!" He threw the bottle, then leaned down to where his face was against hers. "Baby wake up, wake up for me. Don't you dare leave us, you understand? Don't you dare leave me!" 

He started crying, as he held her as close as he could. "I'm so sorry," he cried. "I shouldn't have left you, I shouldn't have!" He could hear the ambulance coming from down the street. He checked her pulse again, but barely felt anything. 

"No, you stay with me," he said, as he brought her eyes to look at him. "You look at me and you stay with me!" There was a pounding sound at the door, but then it was followed by a bang and a crash. 

The next thing Ben knew, Cassie was being taken from his arms and put on a gurney. The wheeled her outside, as he quickly followed. "Shit, my son," he said, as he stopped in front of the ambulance. 

An officer told him they'd bring Liam down to the hospital for him. With that assurance, he got into the ambulance with Cassie. "She's barely with us, I need the I.V. and the oxygen!" They hooked Cassie up to an I.V. and put an oxygen mask on her mouth, as they said, "Mrs. Cumberbatch...Mrs. Cumberbatch, can you hear me?"

Cassie's eyes moved very slowly over to the paramedic, causing Ben's heart to leap. "Mrs. Cumberbatch, I have your husband here." Her eyes made their way over to Ben, who quickly took her hand and said, "Baby, it's me; I'm right here."

He squeezed her hand and looked in her eyes. A stray tear fell down her cheek, but he wiped it away and said, "Don't cry, love. It's going to be alright." He kissed her hand and wrist and held on to her for the rest of the ride. 

When they got out, they wheeled her into the hospital. "We need you to stay here," a doctor told Ben, as he stopped him from following the gurney. "We're going to pump her stomach and clean out any harmful chemicals we can. We'll keep you posted."

Ben watched as the doctor rushed into the room they rolled Cassie into. He stood there, completely stunned. What did he do now? His wife just tried to kill herself. How does he deal with that?

He sat himself down in a chair before he could fall over and called his mother. "Mum...I...Cass, she..." He couldn't seem to say it. He managed to tell her that he was in the hospital, but then started crying. Needless to say, she and Tim were on there way. 

Julie was next on his list, but that just seemed even more difficult because that was his wife's mother. After crying and apologizing, he told her what had happened. She was determined to get on the next flight out, but everything was booked until the next week. He told her that he would keep her updated on everything. 

After that, he buried his face in his hands and started sobbing. Mixed with his own cries, he heard a baby's that sounded very familiar. He quickly looked up and saw an officer carrying Liam towards Ben. 

Ben shot up and ran over to his son. He held him and thanked the officer, before sitting down and trying to remain calm for Liam's sake. "She's going to be alright, buddy, she'll be okay," he promised, more to himself. 

**

Hours and hours passed. Ben was a pacing mess in the waiting room, while Wanda and Tim tried to calm their son and their son's son down. He couldn't calm down because they hadn't given him any news yet! 

Just as he was about to storm up to someone and demand they tell him something, a doctor walked in and went up to him. "Mr. Cumberbatch? Your wife is now stable. We pumped her stomach and had to do some deep cleaning in her system, but she should be okay."

Ben let out the biggest breath. "Can I see her?" He nodded and led him into her room. Ben made a b-line to her when he saw her eyes open. He took her and said, "Cass. Hey, you. There's my girl." He brushed her hair back with his fingers and kissed her hand. 

"Bloody hell, don't you ever do that to me again," he cried. She squeezed his hand and let some tears fall down her face. "I'm sorry," she croaked. He kissed her head, then rested his forehead against hers. "We had a deal," he cried. "You would talk to me, remember? You would talk to me."

He kissed her firmly on the lips, then pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I am not disappointed and I am certainly not fucking better off without you. I am nothing without you. What would I have done? What did you think I would do? Take Liam, marry a model and live happily ever after?"

The look in her eyes gave him the answer he didn't want. "Cassie, if you...if you died, I...I wouldn't be able to take care of Liam. I wouldn't be able to play the role of mother and father, I wouldn't be able to look at him without seeing you. I think I would probably drink my life away because that would be the only way to ease the pain of you being taken from me and the quickest way I could get to you."

He brushed his thumbs under her eyes to wipe away her tears. "I can't imagine a life without you," he continued, "but I had to when I saw you lying on the floor and, baby, I wouldn't have been able to do it."

He watched as her lip trembled, her eyes flooded with tears, and her face turn into complete guilt. "I am so sorry, Ben," she cried. She started sobbing and he quickly shushed her, while bringing her in for a hug. 

"I'm right here," he told her. "I'm not going anywhere and neither are you." After a few minutes, he lay her down and got in the bed with her. He held her close to him and nuzzled their faces together. "I love you," he told her. "I love you. I love you. I love you." 

He peppered kisses on her cheek and neck. "I love you so much," he said against her skin.

*******

For the love of all that is holy, pleaseeeee talk to someone if you are dealing with depression. As someone who has gone through it, I know what it's like and I know it only gets better. I am happy and living life to the fullest after going to see someone. 

1-800-273-8255 (U.S.)

08457 90 90 90 (UK)