Alternatively By Kat

Maria opened her beautiful brown eyes to the terrifying sight which had startled her so when she had returned to the house that night.  Sara, Meg and their parents had all been cruelly tied together in the far corner of the room, and Ben; her husband, was lying un-conscious on the settee that was situated in the very centre of the large living area.  As she studied further, Maria realised that they were not the only people in the house, Derek was here.  He was looming over his twin brother, looking at him with such a jealous hatred in the depths of his eyes that she felt sick both emotionally and physically.  “Ah, Maria, finally you come around.  I didn’t hit you that hard did I?” asked her brother-in-law mockingly.
 “What are you doing here, what have you done to Ben?” she shouted frantically, staring over at where he still lay.  Her worry and anger grew as Derek simply laughed at the question as though it were not important enough to even bother answering.  “God damn you Derek, what have you done?” she repeated.
 “Now, now Maria.  Didn’t mummy ever tell you never to anger a man with a gun?” he snarled as he reached into his jacket, brought out the mentioned weapon, and waved it loosely in front of her.  She heard movements of dispute and fear from the Cummings family; this brought tears to her eyes.  She was so sorry that they had to go through this dreadful ordeal when it was obviously her and Ben whom Derek wanted.  She also felt a deep thankfulness that even after all of the trouble that she had had with her husband’s new love and her family, they were still loyal to her when she needed them.   It had been utter misfortune that she had been mistaken to be dead for the five years she had been gone, a terrible fate that Ben had fallen in love with another and a deep shame that he had remained with this woman, Meg, even after Maria had returned to Sunset Beach.
 After a long pause, Derek strolled to where Ben lay and kicked him violently in the stomach.  Both Maria and Meg screamed with their love for the man who had fallen victim to that awful attack.  Still Derek got the response, which he had been hoping for; Ben slowly lifted himself into a sitting position and took in the sight of his surroundings.  When he saw what was going on, Ben immediately lunged at his brother only to be knocked back down again.  However, the gag from his mouth was removed with a vicious movement.  “Say one word and I start shooting” warned Derek, and so Ben remained silent.  Instead he took the opportunity to look more carefully at the situation that he was obviously to blame for.
 When his stare returned to his evil reflection, he saw that he was now dragging an emotionally broken woman who had once been Meg, to sit next to his first love; Maria.  Yet again he wondered how he could have done this to the both of them, how could he have been so selfish in hurting them both just because he could not decide which of them he loved the most.  Having his wife taken from him those five years had been the hardest time of his life, when he found Meg he had though that that would be the last of his pain.  Then Maria had returned from the ‘dead’ so to speak, ever since then he had had to hide his love for Maria in order to keep Meg from being hurt.  Now look where they were, back in the evil clutches of his insanely jealous brother.  Ben really began to worry when he witnessed the flash of glory in Derek’s eyes.  “Well Ben, are you going to tell me which of your women is to live and which is to die?” drawled Derek threateningly.
 “You B*****d” whispered Ben, his voice shook with fear at the prospect of losing the woman he loved and the one he cared for deeply.
 “I didn’t think you’d answer that question, but I wanted to give you the chance anyway.  O’ well, I guess I’d better just get on with it.  I know exactly which of these beauties will be the one to break you.” With those last words he suddenly spun around on his heel and pointed the gun at Ben’s true love.  One single shot was fired…
 

PART TWO
Maria’s mind began to swim as she slowly looked down to stare unbelievably at the bloodstained puncture, which was situated to the left of her stomach.  As she did so all was silent in the room, in fact she heard nothing but the quiet ticking of the mantle clock.  When she finally had the courage enough to glance at Ben, she was presented with an expression of utter most pain and disbelief.  Derek had stayed for only a second after shooting her, and now he was gone.  Ben snapped the strong material that had for so long held his hands together and Maria heard him call her name.  Yet she remained silent, shocked with awareness that at that very moment she was extremely close to death.  Ben’s arms surrounded Maria just as he reached her bleeding body; he knelt on the floor besides her and held tightly.  He was shaking, she desperately wished that he wouldn’t as it saddened her to her soul.  She had already hurt him once before when he was lead to believe that she was dead until five years later she had returned.  She couldn’t bear to watch the pain in his eyes as she slipped away from him yet again, only this time it would be forever.  “Ben, he shot me!” exclaimed Maria, with her beautiful voice shuddering with shock.
 “Maria, you’re going to be alright.  Just keep looking at me Ok?” he whispered.  When she thought about what he had said, Maria realised that she had no choice but to nod her head in reply.  It was either that or end their time together by arguing with the man she loved.  She decided that they had enough quarrels, there would be no addition to that number.  She and Ben had far too many unspoken words to say to each other, many of which would remain so.
 Just then, there was a knock at the door.  Everyone in the room except Maria and her husband began to shout at the top of their voices until Casey came barging into the house through the now dented front door.  His quick glance around the place told him that an extremely terrifying event had occurred, soon his glance fell upon the fatally injured Maria and her devastated husband.  He rushed over to where they were huddled against the far wall, amazed to find Maria with a bullet wound, soaked with her own blood.  “My God, Ben what happened?” he asked in a thoroughly panicked tone.
 “Casey get an ambulance, hurry or she won’t make it!” shouted Ben, before returning his attention back to his beloved wife.  “Maria, everything’s going to be just fine” he gently said to her.
 “You never were very good at lying English” gasped Maria using all of her strength to force a smile onto her pretty face.  At that Ben simply broke down, when he brought his face close to hers she saw tears streaming down his cheeks at the prospect of losing her.  When Casey had phoned the ambulance which was undoubtedly on it’s way to the house this instant, he untied both the Cummings family and Meg who was now in tears of sadness herself.
 “Ben, how is she?  Will she be alright?” cried Meg from where she stood with her family besides the sofa.  This question was blankly ignored and Casey led everybody into the kitchen, leaving Ben and Maria alone.
 “Maria please, you can’t leave me.  Not when we had just found each other again” said Ben, simply not wanting to come to terms with the probability that she would die.
 “Ben, I love you.  I will always love you” sighed Maria with her last breath
He stared at her peaceful expression now; she had closed her eyes and placed her head on his shoulder.
Just as everyone came quietly from the kitchen, including Meg, Ben whispered his final words to his wife.  “I love you Maria”.

PART THREE

The quiet sound of a nearby machine grew louder as the darkness began to clear.  Maria slowly opened her eyes to find herself lying in a small white room, beside her; Ben was asleep in the large chair.  Had she actually made it?  Had the ambulance arrived in time, before the bullet wound lost too much blood?  Never before had she felt such a relief, and although she couldn’t quite remember what had been said during those last few minutes with her husband, she was sure that she had told him once again of her love for him.
 “Maria?  Are you awake?” asked Ben as he rose from his sleeping position and took her hand in his.  “O’ God darling I was so worried that you wouldn’t make it.”  He pressed his finger to her mouth as she tried to speak and instead he simply took her gently into his arms and kissed her soft mouth with such tenderness that she gasped in amazement.
 “ Ben?” she asked in absolute confusion.  Surely he wouldn’t have done that had he still been with Meg, but why would he have left her?  They both heard a small knock on the door before Dr Robinson entered carrying what looked to be many different charts and graphs.
 “Well Maria, you certainly had a lucky escape that time” the Doctor told her in a thoroughly pleased tone.  When he saw the hopeful expression on her face, he answered her silent question with one simple statement.  “Yes Maria, you’re going to be just fine” he said.  “Now, do either of you have anything you would like to ask?”
 “Tyus, I have a really bad headache, is that normal?” asked Maria with a slight frown clouding her beautiful complexion.
 “O’ of course.  You probably hit your head quite hard when you fell from the boat” replied the doctor before throwing a quick smile in her direction and leaving the room.  Had she really heard him correctly?  Did he say; when she had fallen from the boat?  What boat?  He can’t have possibly meant the one that had taken her from Ben before, that was over five years ago!
 “Maria I am so sorry that I didn’t believe you when you told me you had no idea it was Derek who you were in bed with, God I was just so hurt and angry.  It took all my strength not to try and kill the both of you” explained Ben.  When he looked to her for a sign that she forgave him for the mistake, he was replied with a blank stare.  How could she say anything to comfort him when she had no idea what the hell was going on?  When her husband left the room in order to seek the doctor for more information about his wife’s current condition, Maria quickly but quietly scrambled out of the bed and lifted her night-gown over her head.  Immediately she began to search for the wound that had been made just a short while ago when Derek had shot her, she couldn’t even find a scratch on her smooth stomach.
“This can’t be happening” she told herself.  Desperate for more proof she walked around the bed to where the charts lay scattered on a nearby table, with one fast movement Maria snatched up the top sheet of paper.  She gasped in horror as she read the date at the bottom of the sheet:

            ‘November 16th……… 1993’

PART FOUR

Maria stared intravenously at the date, which was printed so clearly on the progress chart in front of her.  Each time she looked at it, her confusion grew.  Not only was this exactly six years out of date, it was the day that Ben had found her making love to his brother; the night of the boating accident.  “What is going on?” she screamed, throwing the paper onto the floor.  Ben and Dr Robinson rushed in to find Maria collapsed on the floor, tears streaming down her rosy cheeks.
 “Maria, what is it?” asked Ben as he lifted her from the cold tiling and placed her gently back onto the bed.  “What’s wrong darling, did you fall?”
 “No, I didn’t fall.  But please tell me truthfully, what is the date?” she replied.  Both men simply stared at her thoroughly serious expression, wondering why she had asked such a curious question.
 “It’s the 16th of November” said Tyus growing extremely concerned for the woman he had known for so long as both a patient and a friend.
 “Yes but what year?  I know this sounds really bizarre but you must tell me, please” begged Maria.  She needed to know once and for all whether or not she was going insane.  Although asking silly questions like that, she had no doubt in her mind that Ben and Tyus would think that she was going slightly mad.
 “I think that I should leave the two of you alone for a little while” suggested Tyus, and with that he turned and left her and Ben in the room together.
 “Maria what the hell is going on, why do you need to know what year it is?  Can’t you remember the boating accident?” queried Ben, with his worry growing fast and strong for his wife’s well being.
 “Yes I can remember it but it didn’t happen tonight, the boating accident happened six years ago!” cried Maria, shaking with bewilderment.  When her husband continued to stare at her with astonishment, she got extremely frustrated and began to cry again.  Being held by Ben certainly didn’t help, hearing him whisper his words of undying love which she was sure that only hours ago he had denied was killing her.  This was the dream that she had strove hard to catch hold of since returning to Sunset Beach.  This was all she had wanted ever since discovering that Ben loved Meg, to turn back time and have another chance with Ben.  But Maria had never believed that it was possible, she still didn’t.  There had to be another explanation.

PART FIVE
 

For a long while Maria contemplated whether or not to tell Ben about what she had experienced, she had even greater doubts about telling Tyus.  Perhaps they would label her as being crazy and put her in a mental institution, she wouldn’t exactly blame them for doing it either.  If she were told a story like that, she would think she was out of her mind too.  Still she couldn’t keep it a secret, and maybe someone could tell her what was going on if they knew the truth.  “Maria, you are alright,” exclaimed her mother as she hurried through the private room door.  Following her were Antonio and Ricardo; Maria’s brothers.
 “Mama, Antonio, Ricardo” she replied giving each of her family a welcoming kiss on the cheek as they stepped up to the bed.  Ben also gave his mother-in-law a hug as he rose from where he had been resting to let her sit in his place.  As Ricardo took a step back Maria saw a flash of anger brewing in her brother’s eyes.  He had never quite gotten on well with Ben, he had always been rather over-protective of his little sister and having her almost drown was not giving him a good perspective of him.
 “So what the hell did you do to her now?” asked Ricardo, aiming his harsh words at an anticipating Ben.
 “Come on Ricardo, this is neither the time, nor place” said Ben, getting angry himself that he had indeed been responsible for the accident.  If only he hadn’t mistrusted his wife when he found her with Derek she would not be in the hospital right now.  Just as her older brother began to hit Ben with yet another insult, to everybody’s relief Tyus walked into the room.
 “Well I’m glad to see that your family have arrived Maria, but do you mind if we discuss this experience you claim to have had?” he asked with a slight concern in his voice.  At this everyone turned toward her wondering what the devil he was talking about.  “We can always speak in private if you would prefer?” he added.
 “No, I would rather my family heard what I have to say thank you Tyus” replied Maria after studying the confusion on each of her company’s faces.  “The thing is that I have already lived the next six years, I know this sounds crazy but I have.”  As Maria continued to explain exactly what had happened from Antonio becoming a priest to the trouble her brothers had over a girl named Gabi, the tension in the room grew.  When she finally came to talk about the hard time she had coming to terms with Ben finding a new love, everyone turned to each other in amazement.  After finishing the story with a full account of the shooting, Doctor Robinson finally spoke.
 “Maria, what you have experienced is obviously a mental projection triggered by the boating accident.  For example, when you have a dream, your mind works much faster than when you are awake.  It is very possible for you to have dreamt up a whole six years of your life during the time you were unconscious” he explained with such a certainty that each witness began to nod in understanding.  One by one everybody began to disperse from the room in order for Maria to get some much needed rest, all but her mother who remained where she was sitting.
 “Maria, are you sure that what you have just told us really happened to you?” she asked with a hushed voice and a great importance.
 “Yes Mama, I was so sure that it was real.  But it must have been a dream, Tyus said that it was the only explanation” she replied to her mother’s query.  Maria’s curiosity began to grow as her mother looked to the heavens and gave a short prayer in Spanish.
 “Maria do you know what this means?  I think that you have experienced an alternative passage of fate………”

PART SIX
 
 

For quite a length of time, Maria could do nothing but look at her mother in puzzlement.  Although she fully excepted that her mother did indeed have certain physic powers, what she was hearing right now was rather a lot to take after all that happened to her that day.  “Mama, I don’t understand what you are telling me” sighed Maria, slightly agitated that no sooner had she listened one explanation for the six year phenomenon that she had encountered, another was given to her.
 “Maria, do you remember when you were a little girl I told you that you may reach a certain point in your life when your fate would be split, and that a choice would be made as to which path it would take?” asked Carmen with such a high integrity in her voice, that it sent a chill down her daughter’s spine.
 “Yes, I seem to recall it Mama but…” was all she was given chance to reply before her mother continued with her teaching.
 “Well what I didn’t tell you was that if such a great mistake was made as to which path your life would be taken, your soul could be brought back to that point and given an alternative route to travel” she concluded.  When Maria remained still, Carmen presumed that she understood and so hushed in case any questions were asked.
 “But Mama, Ben was in love with someone else.   Why would I be given another chance with him if his heart didn’t belong to me completely?” cried Maria, unable to accept that fate would bring her husband back to her, only to take him away from her when he realised that it was not her whom he truly loved.
 “Maria, only the promise of true love can give power enough to bring somebody back to their soul mate.  You need have no fear that Ben will not love you for eternity, it is written in the cards that this is so” explained Carmen with a smile.  When she rose and gave her daughter a kiss, the spark of hope in Maria’s eyes showed her that each word had been thought over and established in her mind.
 “Mama, does this mean that I have my husband back?” asked Maria with great enthusiasm.
 “Sie Maria, you have your Ben back.  You never really lost him” replied her mother with a warm happiness in her voice.  Her daughter had always been such a warm-hearted girl who thought so much of helping others; she deserved some rapture of her own.  She could only ever achieve this with Ben.
 When Carmen had gone, Maria waited patiently for Ben to return to her.  She had not been alone for long when he caught her attention from where he was standing in the doorway, with his hands leaning casually against the frame.  “Are you alright Maria?” he asked reluctantly.
 “Of course I am darling.  Come and sit with me?” she said with a slight wilt in her soft voice.  When he returned her smile and strolled across the room to perch on the edge of her bed, Maria felt a huge wave of emotion sweep through her.  With both of her slender arms outstretched, she beckoned him close to her and held him tightly.  When Ben squeezed Maria slightly for the purpose of re-assuring her of his love for her she almost wept with relief.  “Ben I love you so much, I don’t think that I could ever let you go again” she whispered.
 “Maria you never lost me in the first place, it was a dream remember?” he replied lovingly.  “You know that I could never be happy with someone else, I love you sweetheart!  I will always love you!”

THE END....

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