The Intern - SEQUEL to The Mentor

I'm Not Going Anywhere

Rey's POV

Tonight is the engagement party that the Solo's are hosting for us. All of their family and our friends have been invited and from what Leia said at coffee last week, she went all out. I'm just excited to get a chance to dress up and enjoy the night for a bit. My summer job at the local Parks department has kept me busy and by the time I get home, I'm usually too tired to even make dinner four of the seven days a week.

"You excited?" Gwen asks me as she finishes up curling my hair. Rose lays on mine and Ben's bed playing with Zori who has taken a liking to Rose over the rest of us.

"I'm so excited," I say grinning at her in the mirror.

She unplugs the curling iron and sets it on the dresser to cool and I spin in the chair so I can easily talk to both of them.

"Rose, is Alan meeting you there?" I ask her, resting my arms and chin on the back of my chair.

"No he's picking me up here, he should actually be here in a minute," Rose says as she flips Zori over who snips playfully at her in response.

"I should be going too," Gwen says as she gathers her stuff. "Ren will be home soon, right? Can' t have our VIPs being late."

"Yeah, he should be on his way home now." I check the time on the bedside clock.

"Ok good." She responds as she and Rose finish gathering all of their items and head out with hugs.

I walk aimlessly around the apartment, running my hand across everything I can find waiting for Ben to get home. Zori follows me curiously wanting attention, but I have a weird feeling I can't shake that something is wrong and it has me completely preoccupied. I look at the clock noticing that Ben is almost 15 minutes late getting home. That's weird, he tends to be late to things, but not that late.

I pick up my phone which was apparently on silent and has a couple of notifications on it. One, in particular, gets my attention and I feel my stomach lurch as I read it.

Emergency services have been called from Ben Solo's phone, click to view his current location.

I click to view his current location but it won't load and I can feel tears prickling at the back of my eyes. In a panic, I try to call his phone but it doesn't ring, just goes straight to voicemail. I hang up and try again, this time it rings, but there is no answer so I text him.

Rey: What's going on?

I move to the living room and sit on the couch, setting the phone in front of me on the coffee table and stare at it, willing it to ring. Zori comes to lay next to me, setting her head on my lap. I wonder if she can sense my stress as I watch the loading screen on 'find my friends' try to work and then inform me "location not available" over and over.

It feels like an eternity when in reality it has only been probably 30 minutes but the phone finally rings and Ben's contact photo appears. I grab it immediately and pick it up. "Ben, what's going on?"

"Hi Ma'am is this Rey?" It's a woman's voice and my stomach lurches again, this time more violently.

"Uh yes," I say quietly.

"Hi Rey, my name is Officer Mothma with the Canto police department. I'm contacting you because you are listed as an emergency contact in Benjamin Solo's phone." I stare at the wall in disbelief, my dinner from earlier threatening to come back up. "Mr.Solo was in a serious accident a little while ago and we are currently transporting him via ambulance to Canto Memorial Hospital. He is thankfully responsive but in a significant amount of pain. He did sustain some major injuries and will most likely require surgery due to his condition. I have already contacted his parents as they are also listed as emergency contacts and they are on their way to the hospital."