Blurred Horizons

“What was that for?!”

“For being an idiot. I know I normally say that lovingly, but this time, you really are being an idiot.”

Scarlett couldn’t believe the things Ben was saying. He couldn’t have truly believed that she didn’t need or want him. He couldn’t have. Every nerve in her body wanted to smack him again. Normally, he would’ve taken it just fine. In fact, it rarely even hurt him. But now, Scarlett wasn’t sure he could take it. He really was in bad shape. She sighed and bowed her head slightly, closing her eyes.

“What do you want?” she asked softly.

“I want you to be happy,” he said.

“Then you’ll stay by my side forever,” Scarlett said. “Ben, what do I have to do to prove that I need you in my life? Are you going to take my word for it, or the word of the man who single-handedly ruined me? Just think about it.”

Ben just sat still, staring at her. Scarlett glanced at the wound, which was bleeding far too much. He didn’t have a chance if it was going to stay like that. He had even less of a chance if he had no hope for himself.

“Is the girl they described the same girl you married?” she asked him. “No, it’s not. It’s the girl you met when you first boarded the Silver Spirit, but it’s not the girl who loves you. It’s not the girl who wants to be your wife, or a mother to your children. Do you know what that girl would have done? She would have gotten rid of the baby as soon as she found out about it. She would have taken poison, just to make herself sick and kill the child inside. She would have beaten herself to a bloody pulp, just to make sure it was dead. Ben, I’m not that girl. Am I?”

“No, you’re not,” he sighed.

“The last thing that girl would have done is beg anyone for anything. She was far too proud,” Scarlett said, taking Ben’s hands in her own. “Ben, I’m begging you to believe me when I say I love you more than life itself, and even if I have my doubts about myself being a good mother and wife, there is no one in the world I’d want this life with but you.”

“Not even Colt?”

“Not even Colt.”

“But you do love him,” Ben said.

“I did love him once,” Scarlett admitted. “It was a different time then. You saw the people I was forced to live with. I was desperate for someone to be there for me, and Colt was the only one willing to listen. We were both so young, Ben. It didn’t work out in the end. We wanted very different things. When he left, I was convinced that it wasn’t going to get any better than what I had. But then you came along, and I realized I was wrong. Ben, please believe me when I say you are the air in my lungs.”

For a few nerve-wrecking moments, he just blankly stared at her. Then he sighed.

“I can’t move,” he muttered. “You come here.”

Scarlett sighed in relief and crawled over to lay her head on his shoulder and hug him as close as she could without hurting him. He kissed her forehead, then tilted her head up to give her a deep kiss on the lips.

“We’re going to be so happy,” Scarlett promised him.

“I know.”

“Are we going to get off this island together?”

“Fucking yes. I’m done with magic islands,” he growled, trying to sit up. “Why is it that every time I’m on an island with you, I end up on the verge of death, sad and alone?”

“You’re not going to die,” Scarlett told him, rolling her eyes. “Are you sure that the only way to get off is to… you know…”

Ben froze for a second, as if he was thinking about it for the first time. The idea was terrifying to Scarlett. She supposed she could understand some reasoning behind it, but what if they actually died?

“There’s only one way to find out,” Ben said, pulling his pistol from the holster.

Scarlett frowned as he clicked the safety off, staring at it in his hand. She reluctantly did the same, looking back to Ben with worry in her eyes. He gave her a reassuring half smile, squeezing her hand gently.

“We’ll be alright,” he promised her.

Holding her pistol at Ben’s temple while he held his to her head was about the hardest thing she’d ever done. And for a split second, she couldn’t help but laugh nervously. Ben frowned, looking at her with concern.

“What?” he questioned.

“I was just thinking,” Scarlett shrugged. “Imagine if someone asked us to do this a little over a year ago.”

Ben cracked a half smile, running his thumb over her hand. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“On three?”

“On three.”

On the third count, Scarlett felt a searing hot pain rip through her skull.



Scarlett woke up in a cold sweat, sitting upright and looking around the room, panicking. She was in her bed, in her cabin. The last day had felt like a dream, but it was all too real. She could still feel the shot through her skull. She suddenly remembered Ben, turning to find that he was asleep next to her, his face looking nervous and scared. Moments later, he woke up too, sitting upright a little too suddenly like Scarlett did. When he did, however, he cried out in pain, holding his side.

“Was it real?” Scarlett asked quickly. “Or was I dreaming?”

“It was real,” he grunted, lifting up his shirt to check the wound.

Much to both their surprise, it had already been stitched up tight, and it didn’t look quite as fresh as it used to. Ben frowned, then looked at Scarlett, his eyes widening in shock.

“That’s not possible,” he whispered.

Scarlett frowned, confused for a moment, but then self-awareness struck her like aether to the skull. She was pregnant. Really pregnant. The barely noticeable bump had grown in size, and she appeared around eight months pregnant.

“That’s impossible,” Ben said again, a hand resting on her stomach. “Don’t move, I’m getting Doc.”

Ben got out of bed a little too suddenly and swayed on his feet, groaning softly before standing up straight. He looked significantly better than before, though he was still in obvious pain. It was like the wound had started to heal overnight. Scarlett waited as he disappeared, her hands resting on her belly in utter shock. It wasn’t possible. How could this have happened overnight? A thousand different possibilities ran through her mind until Ben returned with Doc, who looked frazzled to say the least. There were dark circles under his eyes from many sleepless nights, yet a bit of relief as well.

“Explain this,” Ben demanded.

“Explain what?” Doc frowned. “She’s pregnant. You did it. I thought you knew.”

“Yes, but she wasn’t this pregnant,” he pointed out.

“Yes, she is,” Doc insisted. “I don’t know how much you know about how babies are born, but believe it or not, the stomach grows over the course of nine months.”

“But it hasn’t been nine months.”

“Not yet. It’s been around eight.”

Scarlett just stared at him in complete shock as Ben sat down beside her, both of them listening to Doc explain.

“We ended up in a whirlpool, and everyone woke up on an island,” Doc said. “Or so we’ve learned, after discussing it. I was the first to wake, about four months ago. When I did, everyone was like a zombie. They shuffle around the deck with their eyes wide, like they’re sleepwalking. The ship has been sailing in circles, and the crew has just been surviving. They’ll get up and eat silently, do whatever they need to do, but most of the time everyone is asleep. Including you two. I’ve been trying to take care of everyone. I really have. You’re lucky I’ve been tending to that wound, Ben. You weren’t doing very well at all when I woke. I thought I’d really died on that island, and that this was hell. But then Stephen woke up, too. And then Alexander. We discussed it, and we learned that we all shared one thing in common. We all tried to kill ourselves.”