Shapes and outlines of the world...

When I woke up, my eyes hurt and they felt sticky, like someone had poured glue into them. I finally managed to open them ever so slightly after a few painful blinks. Through the small gap between my lashes, the shapes and outlines of the world around me came into soft, blurry focus. Everything looked very white. Too white. I blinked a few times until my eyes finally adjusted.

I tried to sit up, but my head protested with a loud, angry drumming procession. I grabbed it and took a deep breath, willing the excruciating pain away. When the hard thumping finally subsided to a dull grind and my eyes fully adjusted to my surroundings, I noticed where I was: A big, white, bright hospital room-A private one with a lounge and a spare bed. I looked around the room feeling confused. I had no recollection of how I'd gotten here, or what had happened. And there was no one there to explain it to me.

But then it slowly came back to me. My dad. My sister. The fight. The textbook. I reached up and touched my forehead, feeling the rough stitches protruding. The second my fingers came into contact with them; I felt an unbearable, sharp pain that made me instantly nauseous. I closed my eyes again, shutting out all the other stimuli so I could concentrate exclusively on quelling the rising nausea and pushing away the pain rippling through my head and radiating down my neck.

With my eyes closed, more flashes of memory appeared: My mother lying on the floor after my father pushed her. My sister. And Ben. Ben hit my father. I suddenly felt a jolt of panic. Where was my sister? Was she okay? Ben? What had happened after I'd passed out?

I turned as I heard the door open. JJ and Ben walked in carrying coffees. They noticed that I was awake and both rushed over to my bedside looking relieved.

"Oh thank God." JJ said, taking my hand and kissing it. "I was so worried you were going to die."

"Die? What happened to me?" I screeched. I immediately wished I hadn't, because screeching pushed me over the pain threshold once again.

Ben jumped in quickly. "JJ doesn't mean die, die. You're fine, just a minor concussion." He sat down on the other side of the bed and took my hand, kissing it and holding it against his cheek. "You're okay. Everything is going to be okay." His voice was so soothing that I almost believed him. But I knew full well everything was not okay-Not by a long shot.

And then JJ burst into tears, loud wailing tears, "I kept thinking that if you died, you would die angry with me after the fight we had-" Not able to go on, he put his head in his hands dramatically.

"JJ, I'm not dying." I said, then patted him on the head until he looked up at me.

"Are you still angry with me?" he asked looking genuinely worried. "Please say you're not angry with me, or I don't know what I'll do!"

I shook my head, "I was at first. But I'm not anymore."

He sighed, "Thank God!"

"Where's Katie?" I asked when JJ's sniffing had finally stopped-after he'd gone through a handful of tissues.

"She's upstairs with your mother." Ben was stroking my hand and looking at me. He looked tired, like he had been up all night-He probably had.

"What's upstairs?"

"Psychiatric ward."

"What? How did she end up there?" There was clearly a lot I didn't know about last night.

"After your father hit you-"

"Bastard!" JJ quickly cut in. "If I had been there I swear I would have taken him down. Like last time."

I smiled slightly. The embellished story of his previous heroism was rearing its head.

Ben spoke again, "We thought your mother was having a heart attack, so we called the ambulance and you were both rushed here. But when the doctors saw her, they confirmed it was a panic attack."

"Her wrist is also broken from her fall," JJ said. "Bruce and I spoke to the psychiatrist and he gave us the name of a place where she can get help."

"Help for what?"

"Depression, anxiety, toxic codependency...take your pick, Sera."

JJ was right. I'd been hoping she would get help for that kind of stuff for years.

I sighed and shook my head. "She won't agree to go. I know her."

JJ squeezed my hand. "She has. Bruce and I had a long talk with her and she's going in next week once her wrist starts healing. I think the panic attack-she thought she was dying-and your father hitting you has her finally seeing the light. I think last night was a bit of a wake-up call for everyone."

"Where is this place? How much does it co---"

JJ cut me off quickly. "It's taken care of. Don't start. I don't want to fight with you again."

"But this room-" I looked around-A hospital room like this cost a fortune, and I didn't have medical aid.

This time Ben squeezed my hand. "Sorted," he said and kissed my open palm.

"My father?" I asked, my voice quivering-My father who had thrown a textbook at my head. Despite the pain in my head, my heart felt worse somehow. It was broken. Even though he didn't act like it, he was still my father.

"Bruce is booking him into rehab as we speak." JJ replied.

"What?" I sat up straight and grabbed my head when it thumped again. That couldn't be right.

"Easy," Ben said then helped me back down and adjusted the pillow behind me. "Don't make any sudden moves."

"How?" I finally asked when the loud throbbing in my head had calmed down. "Are you forcing him in?"

"No, actually," Ben said. "He fell to pieces after you passed out. Didn't you hear him?"

I shook my head. I hadn't heard a thing.

"He was the one that called the ambulance," Ben explained. "He even rode in the back with you. Of course I accompanied him, but he wouldn't leave your side. He was crying and apologizing over and over again. He didn't stop."

"He always apologizes." I teared up and grabbed my stomach as if it were in pain-It was. An invisible knife was stabbing me. I closed my eyes and thought I could hear him promising, over and over again, that he would get help. I thought I remembered him holding my hand. Telling me he loved me. That he was sorry. That he wanted to be a better father.

JJ leaned in and put his hand on my shoulder. "He offered to turn himself over to the police, he was go distraught. Bruce arranged for him to go into rehab instead. We thought you would want it that way."

I nodded and closed my eyes.

"The guy loves you, Sera," JJ added. "He's just totally messed up. In a way, last night was good for him. As Oprah says, I think he had an ah-ha moment."

There was so much to take in. In one night, everything had come to a loud angry head. The chaos that was my life had exploded, leaving behind a huge ugly mess. A mess that had splattered all over Ben. I wondered what he thought of me now. Would he really still want to date me-especially with a small daughter-if this was what my life was like? I didn't know if I could be so accepting.

"Sera," Ben whispered in my ear as he leaned in. "It's all going to be okay." He kissed me softly on the side of my face. "I'm here for you. We all are. It's time you see that."

I felt a soft hand on my leg and heard the legs of a chair scrape across the floor. "I'm going to give you two love birds some time," JJ said before leaning in and kissing my forehead.

I lay in silence for a while, listening to the sound of Ben breathing next to me. "I'm sorry," I finally said.

"What are you sorry for?"

"Everything. How you've been dragged into this mess and-"

"Stop it. I told you, I want to be a part of your life. Even the bad bits."

I managed a small smile-Who was this guy? This unlikely man who had become my hero?

"I've wanted to be a part of your life since the first time I saw you," he added. Then he looked down at his feet like he was struggling to tell me something. "I have another confession to make."

"Oh God! What? Please, I don't think I can handle anymore bombs being thrown at me."

Ben shook his head, "Do you remember that night when you went out with JJ and Bruce. It was your birthday."

"Yes." I replied tentatively, unsure of where this was going and whether I would like it.

"Do you remember the guy that came up to you and wanted to buy you a drink? The one you totally slaughtered, and told there was nothing he could ever do to make you date him?"

I thought back to that night and suddenly puzzle pieces started clicking into place.

"That was you?"

Ben nodded.

"But I didn't recognize you. You didn't have facial fur."

"Nope. Shaven and smooth like a baby's bottom."

"I remember that. You were flirting shamelessly with a girl on the dance floor. I was watching you because I thought you looked like such a player. And then you came up to me and wanted to buy me a drink, just after you were having a good flirt with someone else."

Ben chuckled, "Yup. When I caught you watching me, for some reason I suddenly lost interest in every other woman in the entire room."

"And you came over and tied to smooth talk me into a drink and a dance." It was all becoming totally clear to me.

"And you rejected me like no one had ever rejected me before. So I decided that you were unlike any woman I'd ever met. And then, I just kept seeing you, and I thought it must be fate. I thought, maybe I was being given a second chance to get to know you."

I looked at Ben. At the way he looked at me. I thought of how he looked at me that first night. Like he knew me. In a way he did. Right from the start. He was right under my nose, even though I hadn't realized it.

"You're a flirt." I said.

"I used to be. Until I met you, Sera." He smiled up and me. "And now I'm totally in love with you."

I closed my eyes when they started welling up with tears. "I love you too."

With my eyes still closed, I felt him stroke my hand. "Sera Morgan, hey?" he said.

I opened them again and looked at him, a smile plastered across his face. I still didn't know whether to take him seriously half the time, but I suspected he was being serious, despite the smile.

"Whatever!" I quipped.

"We'll see. We'll see," he said, coming up and softly kissing my forehead.