A Shepherd Afield Pt. 01

He flushed then sagged against the bowl, sitting on the bathroom floor. A gentle hand rested on his head and fingers ran through his hair. He took comfort from the touch and knew it was Gabriella's without looking.

"Promise me."

"What, Ben?"

"Promise me you won't abandon your dream just because of me. I don't think I'd survive that. Everything else can be fixed but not that," he said quietly.

Tears were running down her cheeks as she stroked his head. "How can I be away from you when you need me?" she whispered.

"I'll always need you. Your moving to Milan doesn't mean I'm giving you up. I'm never going to do that. You know that, right? I'll get help. I have a support group here and I will visit you as often as I can when your busy schedule allows. Please Gabriella. Please!"

She was silent for a short time but he knew he had won. Then she spoke again. "It's kind of moot anyway. They needed me to be there tomorrow to sign the papers but there's no way I can get a flight now," she said with a shrug.

"Silly woman. Have you forgotten how you arrived last time? Is it just for the day again?" Ben asked.

"Four days."

He pulled out his cell and dialed his friend with the jet service. He explained the emergency and was assured they had a plane available that could get her there by the morning hours tomorrow in Milan. It would be waiting for Gabriella at the airport and would bring her back in four days.

Ben looked up at Gabriella whose beautiful green eyes were welling with tears. "No more tears. There is no more unhappiness. Uh, can you give me a minute in here?"

Gabriella smiled and moved back to close the door. She heard the water running and Ben spitting into the sink. Then a little mouthwash and he was done.

"Sorry about that," he said opening the door. She hooked her arm in his and walked him back out to the living room.

Trish and Rochelle had shed some tears and jumped to their feet to hug Gabriella and congratulate her. Catherine had filled them in on the news. Gabriella still looked a little shaky. He wanted her to be as comfortable with this as possible. Catherine sat beside her and held her hand and an idea popped into his head.

"Gabriella, why don't you take Catherine with you? Catherine can you take four days to visit Milan and keep Gabriella company?"

Both women looked at Ben in surprise then Gabriella looked beseechingly at her best friend. Catherine just grinned and nodded.

"When do we leave?" Catherine asked.

Ben looked at the clock. "In about three hours."

"WHAT?!?" Catherine screeched and jumped to her feet. Gabriella laughed and stood up to show her what to pack.

"Do you have any large designer sunglasses that make you look mysterious and alluring?" she asked the blonde who nodded with a puzzled expression. "It's all about the first impression." She dragged Catherine upstairs.

"What about you Ben?" Tina asked quietly, her dark eyes looking up at him through her bangs. She would not allow herself to be distracted from her mission by the diversion.

He looked at her and nodded somberly. "I promised Gabriella I would get help. I will."

Tina gave him a small nod and a smile.

Gabriella and Catherine came back downstairs and the blonde jumped up against Ben's chest and gave him a deep kiss. She dropped to her feet and dashed out to get packed while Ben wobbled on his feet. Gabriella put her hand on his arm to stabilize him.

When he got his wits back Ben called his friend with the Jet and let him know there would be a second passenger. That done he turned to Gabriella and the others.

"While I have you all here could I ask you something?"

Gabriella nodded and everyone sat.

"Rochelle is aware of this situation and suggested I speak with you as well. The other day a reporter stopped by in front of my place and suggested that she and her company may be able to diffuse some of the media's attention on me if I did an interview with them to 'eliminate some of the mystery'. Rochelle knows the reporter from her college days."

"Know only too well. She slept with every boyfriend I had during college!"

"Fuck! How many boyfriends can you have in four years?" Trish laughed.

Rochelle gave her a sour look. "I had five and each one ended up in her bed. She claims now she had poor self-esteem issues and apologized for it but she's a reporter now for one of those pop culture magazines."

"So you wouldn't recommend her or her magazine," Gabriella asked.

"...No. I guess I wouldn't," Rochelle said looking at Ben.

"Well, I won't sleep with her either," Ben said and Trish howled with laughter. Even Rochelle thought that was funny though she gave Ben's arm a slap anyway.

"What about the idea of giving a single interview? I'd rather not tell anyone anything but she may have a point about giving an exclusive and defusing the public interest," Ben asked.

"If you don't want to give any information then don't give any. Eventually someone else will catch the public's fancy and you will slip back into obscurity. It may mean you have to deal with the harassment in the short term but persevere. Interest in your story may surface again in the future but I think you're making the best decision for yourself right now," Gabriella said.

Ben nodded and stood up to give each of the women a hug and kiss. He looked at Tina who was still seated due to her cast. "You walked over here on your own with those didn't you," he said pointing to the crutches.

She looked up at him under her bangs again and nodded.

"I'll carry you home."

Ben moved to scoop her in his arms and hissed as he bumped his hand on the couch.

"Hang on Ben. Let me look at that," Gabriella said.

She undid the wrappings and saw his middle knuckle was badly swollen. "Ben! This could be broken! Did you go to the hospital to have them look at it?"

He shook his head.

"I'll take him over now," Rochelle offered.

"Let me get Tina home first!" Ben complained.

"I can-" Tina began but a look from Ben and she waited to be picked up.

Ben was more careful this time and managed to scoop her up without hurting himself. He gave Gabriella an awkward kiss over Tina and carried his injured fiancé home. Rochelle was waiting for him when he came back out and walked with him back to her place. They stopped to speak with Dominic on the way and he took one look at the knuckle and shooed Ben away. Jayden looked a little ill seeing the swollen joint.

"THIS is why I'm not much into fighting," Ben said and Jayden nodded.

Ben and Rochelle got into her car and she drove him to the hospital. Just as they were finishing up with the registration process he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"I thought you might come by today."

He turned and saw Hannah standing behind him with her arms crossed. Her expression was stern and she looked professional as always. He lifted his hand.

"Have you come to kiss my booboo?"

Hannah couldn't stop the snort from escaping and her intake worker gaped at her. She quickly got control her herself again.

"I ought to smack that with a ruler considering how you got it and how you still won't listen to me," Hannah fumed.

"Ben had to face an intervention once today," Rochelle admitted. Hannah gave her an appraising look and gestured to the hall when Ben looked the other way.

"If you change your mind you know where I am," Hannah said and Ben nodded.

Rochelle leaned over to Ben. "Going to the ladies room. Don't leave without me." He nodded and she stepped out of the waiting room. She spotted Hannah standing at the end of the hall speaking to a nurse. She headed in their direction. The nurse moved on and Hannah opened the door to her office and Rochelle entered.

"Did the fight last night include another blackout?" Hannah asked, getting right to the point as she did.

"Yes, Ben can't remember the fight. We tried to get him to agree to see Dr. Granger again or someone else and I thought he was going to pass out. He asked for more time and Gabriella told him he could have it." Hannah made a frustrated sound. "You should have heard him when Gabriella asked him what he was willing to do. He was almost panicking. I don't understand."

Hannah got a thoughtful look on her face. "Dr. Granger can't tell me what is said in his sessions but I can let her know Ben is having this reaction to the idea of returning to her sessions. I'd like to know if she's aware of that. Thanks for filling me in Rochelle. Since our little blowout I don't get to talk with Ben very often," she said with a sad expression.

"Soon you might not get to see him much either. Gabriella is taking a job a CEO of a new company in Milan. She's going to have to move there. It hit Ben pretty hard but he insisted she follow her dream. I'm sure he will visit her as often as he can," Rochelle explained.

"Oh my god! That must have rocked Ben's stability quite a bit. When is she leaving?" Hannah asked.

"She and Catherine are leaving tonight for four days. When she returns we'll find out how long she'll have here. It's going to be tough for Ben AND Gabriella. Cat too! I better get back to Ben. It was good talking with you!"

Hannah walked Rochelle out and headed upstairs to see if Dr. Granger was available. She caught the doctor as she was leaving her office with her jacket over her arm.

"Dr. Granger, could I speak with you for just a minute before you go," she asked.

The doctor hesitated then sighed and opened her office door once more. They took seats and Hannah got right to the point.

"A patient of yours is in the emergency department."

"Ben?" she guessed. "Is he alright?"

"He was in a fight last night. Ben came to the rescue of a woman and beat a man unconscious. He hurt his hand this time. The face he punched repeatedly must have been very hard."

"Does he remember the fight?" the doctor asked.

"No. He was in a fugue state like before. Some of the ladies confronted him earlier today and asked him to return to your sessions."

"They did? I thought they hated me!" the doctor said with just a little venom.

Hannah just raised her eyebrows and stared at her until the doctor's expression showed embarrassment at her reaction. Hannah continued. "It was his reaction that concerns me. When they asked him he apparently had a bit of a panic attack. Is that new?"

Dr. Granger frowned. "Yes, he wasn't fearful of his sessions before. We were making such good progress!" She was silent for a moment. "You say he's in the emergency room? Perhaps I could just drop in and say hello." She stood up and Hannah followed her downstairs but left her outside of her office. Ben wasn't in the waiting room but one of the ladies was. She recalled her name just before the woman spotted her.

"Hello Mrs. King," Granger said in greeting.

There was a momentary flare of hostility in the woman's eyes but that was quickly suppressed.

"Hello Dr. Granger. Ben is behind the second curtain," Rochelle said.

She nodded her thanks and moved away as quickly as her dignity would allow. She listened then knocked on the wall before opening the curtain and stepping inside.

"Hello Ben."

He looked up in surprise. "Oh! Dr. Granger, are you doing rounds in the ER?" he said a little nervously.

She smiled to try to set him at ease. "No, I just got word that one of my patients was visiting so I thought I'd drop by to say hello."

"Hannah."

The doctor nodded and watched Ben's expression. He wasn't angry at Hannah's interference. If anything he looked a little sad.

"You don't need me to tell you that she's concerned as are the others," she said both gently and quietly as they weren't in the privacy of her office.

Ben nodded. "Yes, they want me to continue my sessions with you."

"Are you ready?" she asked.

Something flashed across his face and he looked away then shook his head, unable to meet her eyes. Dr. Granger was sure there had been panic in that look.

"I want you to know that I'll be here when you are. I hope you-"

A young doctor knocked on the wall and stepped inside the curtain looking at a chart. She came to an abrupt halt when she almost ran into the psychiatrist.

"Dr. Granger! Sorry, I wasn't aware you were doing rounds with us today!" the woman said with a musical accent.

"Dr. Bhandari, I was on my way home and I heard that my friend was here so I just stopped to say hello," she said with a smile.

"Ah, ok, I can come back later..."

"No, I was just leaving," Granger said to the young woman. "See you soon Ben!"

He forced a smile on his face and nodded, not trusting his voice.

When Dr. Granger left the remaining doctor turned to him and glanced at the chart. "So I'm Dr. Bhandari and you have a swollen knuckle."

Ben lifted his aching hand and she got a look at the damage.

"Ah. Did they take you to get an x-ray yet?" she asked.

Ben nodded so the doctor flipped on the screen in the room and tapped some of the controls to bring up the image. She made thoughtful sounds and looked back at Ben with a smile.

"I don't see any breaks or cracks so I believe it's just a dislocated knuckle. I'm going to reset it and then we'll splint the finger. I'm sorry but this will hurt," she explained and he just nodded with a sigh.

She took his hand between hers and before he was ready she tugged the finger and directed the knuckle back into position. Ben yelped but he managed to not yank his hand back from the doctor. She was right, it did hurt and Ben closed his eyes and gritted his teeth against the wave of pain that shot up his arm.

"Geezus!" he growled once the pain subsided. He opened his eyes to see the doctor staring at him wide eyed and her jaw hanging open.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"You- you're him!" she squeaked.

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Him who?"

Dr. Bhandari moved her hands from his injured hand to touch a scar on his arm and his chin. "The Bronze Man!"

He scowled and his facial scar flared. She dropped her eyes and pulled her hands back quickly. She moved to the cabinets and pulled out a large metal and foam splint and medical tape. She reshaped the splint for his large hand and proceeded to bind the injured finger.

She glanced at his face and saw he was no longer scowling. She opened the curtain and leaned out. Rochelle looked in her direction and Dr. Bhandari gestured for her to come into the room. When Rochelle arrived the doctor cleared her throat. "I'm going to tell you something you won't like so I've asked your friend in so she can see you follow my instructions. The dislocation was bad and you should have had it treated last night. The inflammation was severe so I'm concerned about nerve damage in the finger. You need to wear this splint for the next two to three weeks and no using the hand if you can avoid it. Light duties only! That means brush your teeth with your other hand."

"I'm renovating a house! I can't do that with one hand!" Ben growled.

The doctor took his right hand in hers and jabbed her pen repeatedly into the last section of his finger. Ben stared at his finger.

"You couldn't feel any of that could you," she said.

"No," he replied quietly.

"That numbness may go away if you follow my instructions. You need to reduce the inflammation but mostly you have to let that finger heal. Think RICE; Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. I want you to use a cold compression wrap to reduce the swelling. Then put the splint back on and keep it elevated. I'm giving you the roll of tape so you can keep the splint in place. You need to do this."

"Message received doctor. Thank you," Rochelle said looking at Ben, daring him to argue.

The doctor left with a final look at Ben's body and Rochelle led him from the Emergency room back to her car.

"Do you have one of those cold compression wraps?" Rochelle asked.

"Yeah, I have one at home."

"Then that's where you are going," she finished.

Ben leaned back in the chair and stared out the side window as she drove. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he struggled to get it out with the splint on.

"Hello?"

"Ben? It's Gwen. I have some happy news for you! Your new van will be in on Thursday! You can pick it up Friday morning."

"Excellent! I'll go to the bank and get the certified cheque. See you then!"

"I'll have a certified cheque for you as well. See you Friday!" Gwen said and hung up.

Ben looked over at Rochelle. "Could we stop at the bank on the way home? It won't take long."

The stop didn't take long as the bank manager dealt with Ben himself directly and fast tracked his request. As they made their way back out to the car Rochelle smirked at him.

"I wish the bank manager jumped through hoops for me like that!" she snorted. Ben just smiled in return.

As they got back on their way she gave him a serious look. "Ben, am I going to have to worry about you ignoring the doctor's instructions?"

He looked out the window and grimaced. He knew himself only too well. Once he began a renovation project he was fully committed to getting it done. He couldn't just stand by and watch from the sidelines. "I'm going to have to find something else to occupy me while I heal and it can't be here," he sighed.

"Why don't you take a trip down south to someplace sunny and hot! Lie back on a lounge chair on a beach, listen to the waves, and relax! Go dancing at night and dine on fresh seafood!" Rochelle moaned, obviously describing her ideal holiday.

"I don't think I could handle more than a week of that," Ben admitted.

"So take a week! See how you are after that! Ben, you have to do it!"

Ben thought about it then frowned. "Would you come with me if I did? I don't want to go alone."

Rochelle blinked. She hadn't thought of that. It had been years since she'd taken a vacation. "I... guess I could take some time. It would have to be someplace inexpensive. I'm on a budget."

"Rochelle, if you join me on a vacation I'm paying. You just bring your sexiest bathing suit and an outfit to dance in," he said with a grin. Her face lit up with a sexy smile. "I'll do some research to see what's available on short notice and I'll let you know. Can you arrange to be away from Saturday to the following Saturday? Oh! What about Jayden?" he suddenly recalled that she might need to be home during his house arrest.

"Sara can keep an eye on Jayden so that covers him. I can take next week." Rochelle suddenly realized she'd have Ben all to herself for a whole week. Lots of time to get to know each other much better. Maybe learn to connect with the man on an emotional level. She'd never done that before and the idea made her nervous. She chickened out. "What about Trish?" she blurted.

It was Ben's turn to blink in surprise. "Yeah, I'll ask her to join us!"

Rochelle opened her mouth to tell him she meant taking Trish instead of her but the idea of having Trish along to act as a buffer appealed to her so she just smiled. "I'll take care of asking her and you can look into availability."

Ben smiled and nodded.

They drove home in silence, each wrapped up in their own thoughts.

Rochelle was working out her strategy for ensuring Trish said yes.

Ben was trying to think of any decisions he'd have to be involved in for the renovation of the house. He had the plans all worked out and had gone through them with Dominic. Truly, other than for his own personal satisfaction he didn't need to be there.

She parked in her driveway and Ben walked with her over to Trish's place and kept going to meet up with Dominic and Hector. Jayden was pushing a broom to tidy up the sidewalk and the driveway from all the mud and rocks the heavy equipment had left behind.

The team was finishing up on the new basement floor and the walls were in place as well though the forms were still on them. The forms would be removed tomorrow when a crane was brought in to pull them out. It would then be used to move four massive I-beams in place which spanned the width of the new basement. Eight uprights would be welded to these to support four more I-beams for supporting the second floor. Ben wanted ten foot ceilings on the first and second floors. As he was keeping the existing basement on the front of the house the ceiling height across the new basement would also remain at eight and half feet.