Falling - Benny and Nina - An Adapted In The Heights Roleplay (COMPLETE)

10 - Falling Down

Nina heard the door to the living room open and she pulled away immediately. Standing in the doorway was Abuela, a look of calm shock on her face. Nina started to breathe progressively quicker, her face turning red. She felt more lightheaded than she had before and there was a visible black rim on her vision.

Benny was also very panicked suddenly. He could feel Nina's breathing gradually get faster and she suddenly felt a lot warmer. He lifted Nina off his lap, so she was sat next to him and placed the back of his hand on her forehead.

Having ignored Abuela initially in embarrassment he suddenly called her over towards them, not making eye contact with her. "She's overheating, and her breathing is suddenly really fast." He quickly said in a very panicked tone. He was completely in the dark, he had no idea what to do.

Nina started to become delirious, crying and squinting, heaving and fighting against the darkness that was coming closer to the center of her vision. She sobbed, throwing her arm out toward Benny, trying to clutch onto his shirt, wanting to hold onto something to keep her in reality. Her eyes welled up as she fought for the smallest amount of vision. She whimpered, the last bit of her vision diminishing, as she fell unconscious and her grip went limp. Her body fell onto Benny's side her head limp on his shoulder.

Benny gasped out in panic, worry and terror. "Nina!" He called out, no response. He tried shaking her a little, nothing. Tears spilled from his eyes, no idea what to do. He grabbed onto her hands holding them in both of his. "I Love You Nina, don't ever forget" he whispered but was loud enough that Abuela heard. He carefully laid her down, so her head was now resting on his lap. 

Abuela held her hand out onto Nina's heart, in doing so Benny tears spilled like waterfalls from his eyes, down his cheeks and onto her cheeks. He moved one hand to her heart, and Abuela placed hers over Benny's squeezing tight, knowing that this was impeccably hard for him. He felt her heart beat, it had slowed down dramatically from what it was before, he was just glad it was beating at all.

His thoughts rushed to her father. He couldn't bear to face him though, he 'wasn't with Nina anymore', he'd 'left her with Abuela and went home'. If Kevin knew he had been with Nina all evening, he would hate him even more than he already did. He dreaded having to face him in the morning. 

With all the strength and will power Benny had, he shuffled out from under Nina's head, left her lying there on the couch and ran over to grab his phone from the table. He dialed the first person who came to his mind besides her father, Usnavi, he'd know what to do!

Usnavi picked up and said, "Yo, what's up? I thought you were supposed to be with Nina?"

"I, I am...I, I, I need you, you, to come to Abuela's n,n, now'. He said through the sobs.

Upon hearing the sobs coming out of the phone, he knew that something horrible had happened. Benny. Never. Cries. Usnavi, in a panicked voice, said, "Oh, um, sure, Benny, I'll be right over," and hung up the phone. He ran out of the bodega, yelling at Sonny, who was outside, to run it while he was gone. Before Sonny even had a chance to complain, Usnavi had already run across the street and burst into Abuela's house, following Benny's sobs. He walked into Abuela's living room to see Benny crying over who could only be Nina, Abuela holding his hand. Usnavi rushed over and kneeled next to her, looking at Benny. "Is she- she?" he said, unable to finish the sentence, tears wreaking havoc on his voice, cracking on every word.

"No, don't say it, don't you dare even think about it" Benny paused to take a deep breath, trying to control his tears. "Her heart it still beating and she's still breathing, just not responding to voice, or movement. I didn't know what to do, so I called you." And then after holding in all his tears for 15 seconds somewhat successfully he let them all out again crying into Nina's shirt

Usnavi let out a sigh of relief and then said, "Benny, I've got this. If you could back up? You're radiating heat, and that's the last thing she needs right now. And Abuela, can you go get a small baggie of ice? She needs to cool down." Usnavi picked her up off the couch, bridal style and laid her on the ground, pulling her hair off to the side, so it wasn't laying near her. He pulled her pant legs up as far as they'd roll up and then pulled up her shirt to the bottom line of her bra, to air out what could be aired out appropriately. Abuela left the room, and entered back a moment later with an ice pack, folded in paper towels, still in a blatant state of panic. Benny cried off to the side, often muttering Nina's name, or Usnavi's. Usnavi took the ice pack from Abuela, setting it on her forehead and shaking her, trying to wake her up. He said, "Abuela, do you have any mini fans? She needs to cool down." He continued shaking her, until her eyes fluttered open. He gasped in relief.

When Benny heard Usnavi gasp, he turned around to face him. That's when he saw Nina's eyes open. He ran up to her and wanted to pull her in tight so badly, but he realized that was not the smartest idea as she was still really hot.

Instead he ran over, bent down beside her, lifted her back up with one hand and cupped her face with the other and pulled her into a kiss. Tears of both joy and relief streamed down his face. Everything was going to be okay. All was going to work out in the end.