Ben Markham slowly opened his eyes.
The room was dark, except for a light coming from the doorway and the moonlight creeping through the window.
He could hear the faint beep, beep, beep coming from the machine he was hooked up to.
This place looked familiar somehow, but not like he'd been here before, more like it was a place he had heard of yet never experienced.
He was very groggy and still unsure of where he was.
Everything around him was foreign.
He looked out the doorway but all he could see was floor.
He turned his head to look out the window, but there was nothing familiar out there either.
It was then that he saw her, slouched in a chair, eyes closed, head resting on her own shoulder.
"Bron" he tried to say her name, but the word wouldn't come out.
He saw her hand resting next to his own.
He moved his fingertips so that they lightly touched hers and she snapped her eyes open.
In a second she had her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"Ben, oh god, your ok, thank god your ok" She cried.
He lifted a hand to run it through her hair, but he was too weak and it just dropped lightly on her head.
"Ben, I'm so sorry, for everything, for the gambling, for being such a selfish bitch. But the truth is you haven't lost me, I was just angry that you wouldn't listen to me when all I was trying to do was do the right thing" She cried tears streaming down her cheeks.
Ben didn't know what she was talking about, had she done something wrong, had he done something wrong?
"I don't remember" he managed to mumble.
"Don't remember what?" she asked resting her head on his chest.
"Anything, where I am, why, what your talking about?"
It was such an effort just to talk.
"It's ok, you've suffered a serious head injury, it's normal. You'll be able to remember everything once you've had a bit more sleep." She lifted her head and smiled, "You remember me though don't you?"
He slowly nodded, "sort of, I know that your Bron and you're my girlfriend and that I love you."
"I love you too" she cried and lightly kissed his lips, now you get some sleep, you'll feel better in the morning."
He closed his eyes and felt her kiss his forehead and then place her hand on top of his and squeeze it gently.
He returned the squeeze with his fingers before falling asleep.
I'm sorry - part 2
"Middle aged male, sustained serious head injuries, needs to get to theatre stat" Yelled a nurse from emergency as she wheeled him through the crash doors of ward 17.
"Vicki, page Luke get him to set up a theatre." Terri yelled running towards the patient.
"Bron, help me take him down to thea…." Terri stopped and stared in shock at the patient.
"Bron no…" She quickly yelled, but it wasn't quick enough.
"Ben" Bron screamed as she saw the man she loved lying there on the bed.
His neck was in a brace and she could see blood seeping from the bandage on his left temple.
His eyes were closed and she could tell that he was unconscious.
She dropped her chart and grabbed his hand.
"Oh my god, what happened?" she yelled as tears started running down her face.
" I don't know Bron," Terri tried to console her, " but we have to get him to theatre immediately.
She let Terri and Mitch take him to theatre, while she stood where she was in shock, tears still streaming down her face.
"Bron, Ben's going to be fine" Connor said putting his arm around her.
"How do you know, how do you know his going to be fine" She screamed and ran through the crash doors and out of all saints.
She kept running until she reached the edge of hospital grounds where she collapsed on the grass and cried.
"Bron" she heard a few minutes later.
She sat up and Scott sat down beside her, putting his arm around her shoulders.
"I guess you've heard?"
"What happened?" she asked
" I don't really know" he replied, " We got called out to a job, a stabbing. Appartently it was one of those gang warfare's. We had just pulled up when a brick came flying through the windshield hitting Ben in the left temple."
"Oh god" she gasped.
"He's going to be alright Bron I know, do you want to know how I know?"
"How?" she mumbled sick of people saying he was going to be alright, when it was likely he wouldn't.
"Because the last thing he said to me before he fell unconscious was, 'tell Bron I'm sorry, please tell her I'm sorry.' Now I know Ben, he won't leave until his sorted things out with you. He won't leave with you thinking he doesn't love you, because he does you know?"
"If he loves me, why wouldn't he give us a second chance? She asked angrily.
"Because he felt betrayed Bron, and hurt. But he did want to give it another go, he told me just before the accident that he wanted to give it another shot, but he didn't think you would forgive him."
"Oh god." She cried, "I don't care anymore, all I want is for him to be ok and for us to be together."
Scott smiled at her but she could tell he was hurting too.
"I'd better get back" She said getting up.
"Call me when you hear anything" Scott called out to her.
" Ok" She called back before heading back to ward 17.
"Bron, you ok?" Terri asked running to her as she came back through the crash doors.
"Yep, sorry, I overreacted a bit, I was just in shock"
"No Bron, that's understandable, your boyfriends just been in a terrible accident, you had every right to react the way you did."
Bron forced a smile at Terri; she always knew the right thing to say.
"The best thing for you at the moment is to go home and get some rest, but I know you're not going to do that so you just sit in the tearoom and ill tell you as soon as we know anything."
"Thanks Terri" She said as she made her way into the tearoom.
I'm sorry - part 3
Bron had been sitting in the tearoom for what felt like hours.
Surely the operation would be over by now.
She had tried to figure out what they would be doing in there, but it frightened her to think of Ben like that, lying there unconscious with Luke Forlano in charge of his life.
"Arrrrr' she screamed and through her Styrofoam cup towards the bin.
Connor came rushing in, "Bron, hey calm down"
"Why did this have to happen?" she yelled and started crying again.
"I don't know Bron, maybe it was a sign?"
"A sign, of what that Ben deserves to die!" She screamed at Connor.
"No", he snapped back, "a sign to stop all this stupidity going on between the two of you! Come on Bron, you love Ben, more than you've ever loved anyone before, trust me I know, and I also know that he feels the same. Look, Ben has a right to feel angry and deceived, but still that doesn't mean he can't listen to what you have to say, but Bron you can't give up on love that easily either, yeah maybe you are the one who has to take charge, but so what, use it to your advantage."
"Since when did you become a psychologist Connor?" Bron replied angrily.
"Come on Bron, face it, "he said getting up to leave, "if it hadn't been for this accident, neither of you would have done anything to repair the relationship, your both too pigheaded." He walked out leaving her alone again.
"Well why did it have to be such a bad one?" she said quietly to herself, if he died she'd never get the chance to fix the relationship.
She knew Connor was right, but it shouldn't have taken an accident to make her realize how much Ben really meant to her.
'Bron, their bringing Ben back' Vicki called through the tearoom door.
She jumped up and flew out the door towards Luke, Mitch and Ben.
"Mitch, Mitch, is he going to be ok?"
"He's going to be fine Bron, "Luke replied, "Lucky the brick just missed his left temple and we were able to stop the bleeding and repair the fracture. He's a bloody lucky man, he could have ended up with permanent brain damage or worse."
Bron breathed deeply as she took Bens hand, he came so close to dieing today and that made her feel sick in the stomach.
She didn't think she would be able to cope if he had, he was the one good thing in her screwed up life and with out him she'd have nothing to live for.
In fact if it wasn't for him, she wouldn't even be here, if she hadn't drowned in that warehouse she would have gambled her life away.
She owed him so much, yet he never asked for anything from her.
She had been so stupid to end it, he wasn't to blame, she didn't agree with his way of dealing with it, but she loved him and nothing else mattered.
'I'm sorry Bron, you'll have to wait until the morning to see him properly, he needs his rest" Luke said as they wheeled him into room 4, Bron still grasping his hand.
"No, Luke I need to sit with him, please, I almost lost him today and I need to have him close.'
"Ok", Luke grunted, 'but don't disturb him, he's still very weak"
They transferred Ben into the room and Bron pulled up a chair and sat next to him.
She took his hand and kissed it lightly.
"Oh Ben, you don't know how much you mean to me, I'm sorry"
She sat there watching him sleep for hours before finally falling asleep herself.
I'm sorry - part 4
Ben opened his eyes and was greeted by a beautiful smiling face.
"Hey you're awake", Bron said," How are you feeling this morning?" she asked gently stroking his face.
"Like I've been hit in the head by a brick" he groaned in reply.
His head was throbbing and he had no idea what he was doing in hospital.
Bron brought her hands to her mouth and started giggling.
"What?" he asked not impressed that she was laughing at him.
"Ben, you were hit in the head with a brick, it came through the windshield when you were at a job yesterday and just missed your left temple"
"Are you serious?" he asked not quite believing it.
"Yes, ask Scotty, ask Luke, ask Mitch, ask anybody" she said still laughing.
"Ok, ok, just stop laughing at me will you!"
"Ok, I'm sorry, I'm sorry"
"No Bron, I'm the one who's sorry" He replied suddenly.
"You were right you are always the one who has to take care of 'us' and I do judge you, but I don't mean to, it's just I've know you for such a long time and I've seen every side of you possible and I think that I know exactly what your going to do next, but I don't. Bron, I immediately thought that this was the start of another addiction and I had no right to make those accusations. If it really was a one off, then I was the biggest…arsehole in the world to walk out on you, because you are the most wonderful, vibrant and beautiful women that I've ever met. I love you Bron Craig."
She brought her head up to look at him and he saw tears forming in her eyes.
"Hey, don't cry" he said and raised a hand to wipe her eyes.
"All I've been doing since I saw you lying there on that bed is cry," She said as the tears started falling from her eyes.
Ben sat up, his head spun like crazy, but he ignored it and moved towards Bron.
He cupped her head in his hands and used his index fingers to wipe away the tears.
"You don't have to cry anymore, sweetheart, because I'm ok and 'we're' ok."
She just stared straight ahead, as if she was deep in thought.
Then he remembered their conversation in the ambulance depot yesterday.
She had called it off, so maybe she didn't want to 'call it back on'
" I mean only if you want to of course, I could never force you to…."
"Ben, of course I want to be with you, I love you too, I love you so much" She interrupted.
She put her hands on his hands and took them away from her face and put them in her own so that their fingers intertwined.
She squeezed his hand gently.
" I dreamed about you last night Bron." Ben said suddenly, the squeeze had triggered a memory.
"I dreamt that I woke up and you were beside me and you were the only thing that I knew and you told me that you loved me and that I hadn't lost you."
"That wasn't a dream Ben, it really happened and I really said those things and I really meant them.' she said smiling.
"Ben smiled too.
He hadn't ruined it after all, although it had taken a life threatening accident to make them both see the light and that there future was in it.
I'm sorry - part 5
"Ben, you need to lie back down and get some more rest," Bron said.
"Ok" he replied, "but not until I get a kiss"
She smiled, leant forward and gently kissed him.
He returned the kiss and it turned passionate, both of them letting out their relief and love for each other.
He pulled her down on the bed with him and his head hit the pillow hard, he groaned in pain.
"Ben, you've got to take it easy, you ok?' she asked checking his wound and bandage.
"Sorry, couldn't help myself" He replied smiling and pulled her down next to him.
She smiled back and snuggled close to him.
"Isn't it against the rules for a nurse to be in bed with her patients?" Ben said teasing her.
"Yes" she replied, "but I'm not on duty at the moment and besides technically you're not my patient."
She yawned and snuggled closer.
"You look tired, you should get some sleep"
" I could fall asleep right here" She replied happily.
"Go ahead, I'm not going anywhere"
She laughed and yawned again.
She fell asleep in the arms of the man she loved feeling like her life was just beginning.
Ben watched her sleep and realized just how close he had come to losing her, and that he was never going to let her get away again.
"I'm sorry," he whispered one last time.