Title: I Do Cherish You
Part: 1/1
Author: Wendy
Category: Others
Rating: PG
Copyright: 1999
"Can you believe that today is our two year anniversary?" Meg Evans asked her husband.
"I can still remember precisely the day we got married on Valentine’s Day of 1999. That was one of the happiest days of my life," Ben replied with a smile.
"Yeah, I agree with you. Of course the honeymoon was great too," Meg grinned.
"Not that we really did much sight-seeing in Venice."
Both of them started to laugh.
Then Meg got serious and said, "I love you so much."
"I love you too, Meg."
The two of them shared a passionate kiss together.
"I’m going to be out for a little while," Meg began.
"What for?"
"I want to fix us up something nice tonight."
"Well, okay, but don’t be long."
Ben and Meg kissed again and she left.
As Meg walked down Ocean Avenue, she kept on replaying her wedding day in her mind. Every little vows that they took. She kept on grinning at the thought of Ben and was so happy that she didn’t realize that she was in the middle of crossing Ocean Avenue, but by that time it was too late.
"NOOOOO!!!" Meg screamed.
A truck that had been speeding on Ocean Avenue was unable to prevent the accident as it finally stopped. Meg laid in the middle of the street in a pool of fresh blood. A crowd began to form surrounding Meg and the truck.
After a few minutes, an ambulance finally arrived at the site of the accident. They quickly put Meg on a stretcher and pulled over to South Bay General Hospital.
Within minutes, Doctor Tyus Robinson was attending Meg.
"Call Ben Evans now!" he yelled to one of the nurses. "Come on, Meg, we have to stabilize you now!" he whispered to himself.
Once Tyus was able to stailize Meg’s blood pressure and wrapped up the wounds on her head and arms, he moved her into the ICU.
Ben ran into the hospital and caught Tyus coming out of Meg’s room
"Tyus, what is going on?" Ben asked.
"I’m afraid that I have some bad news for you," Tyus said sympathetically.
"What is it?"
"There’s been an accident," Tyus paused. "Involving Meg. And it’s bad."
"Can I see her?"
"Yes, but I’m warning you right now that she doesn’t look too good and she’s unconscious," Tyus answered professionally.
"Is she going to be alright?"
"It’s too early to tell."
Ben slowly peeked into Meg’s room. The room was lifeless, only with the beeping sound of the heart monitor and the low sound of the respirator. Ben approached Meg’s bed and saw that her face was filled with cuts and bruises. He pulled over a chair and held Meg’s hand.
A tear started to roll down Ben’s cheek, followed by another, and another. Soon, tear was free-falling from his eyes.
"Please don’t leave me, Meg," Ben sobbed. "I can’t live without you."
Meg’s face remained still.
"I need you. Please, Meg."
A nurse came in to check on Meg’s stats and left.
"Please, God, please don’t do this to Meg. She deserves so much more, please don’t take her life away. I will do anything if you can just save her. I can’t live without her beautiful smile and her crystal blue eyes. I need her. Her family and friends need her. Don’t take her away from them. I love her so much and she doesn’t deserve this at all," Ben wiped his tears away with his sleeve.
Slowly, Meg’s parents walked in and Ben turned around. Sad faces filled the room. Ben stood up and hugged both Joan and Hank, showing his sorrow. He left the room, leaving Meg with her parents.
Ben walked over to Tyus, who was filling out some papers.
"Tyus, please, is Meg going to live?" Ben asked.
"Ben, like I said earlier, it’s way too early to say. She lost a lot of blood. Meg has to have inner strength, which I’m sure she has. But even if she does survive, you know that it will be a long recovery, right?" Tyus answered.
"Yes, thank you," Ben said sadly and went over to the phones to call Casey to go to the hospital.
In Meg’s room, Joan and Hank were filled with sadness on their faces. Everything just changed in their lives with one phone call. Just one. Their daughter was laying on a hospital bed, helpless to her surroundings. Not only was Meg helpless, so were her parents.
Hank finally broke the silence. "Meggie, please come back to us," he sobbed. "We need you so much. This wasn’t suppose to happen to someone as kind and generous as you. We all love you so much. There’s not another individual in the world who is as caring as you. Please don’t leave us."
Hank kept trying to hold back his tears, but he was unsuccessful. The stillness in the room was screaming as he left Joan in the room with their oldest daughter.
Joan picked up Meg’s hand and said, "God, please don’t let Meg die. She is our precious daughter and please don’t take her away from her family and friends. We need her so much and so do a lot of other people. Why did this have to happen to her? Why, God?"
In the silence, Joan cried sitting in her chair. Behind her were Casey and Sara. They got to the hospital as soon as they received the phone call from Ben.
Joan stood up and hugged her other daughter and Meg’s guardian angel and slowly left the room.
Outside of Meg’s room, Hank and Joan were talking to Tyus and Ben was sitting in a corner. Feeling sorry for Meg. Feeling sorry for himself. Just feeling sorry for the situation.
Throughout the rest of the day, many of Meg’s friends came to visit her, sending their condolences. Ben decided to stay at the hospital for the night.
In the middle of the night, Meg started to become conscious.
"Ben?" Meg whispered gently.
"Ben had been asleep with his head on the side of Meg’s bed, but started to wake up. "Meg?" he smiled, trying to get a nurse or a doctor.
"Wait…" Ben looked at her. "Ben, I know that I don’t have long to live, I can feel it."
"No, please don’t say that."
"Please, Ben, I just want to be with you." Tears started to roll down Meg’s cheeks as Ben tried to wipe them away for her. "I love you so much and our two year anniversary wasn’t suppose to happen this way. I know how much you hurting right now, I see it in your eyes. And I see that you’re losing hope."
"Meg, please, don’t do this. You will live, have some fate in yourself. In us," Ben lowered his voice to a whisper.
"Ben, I have a lot of faith in our love, which is why I have to say this to you. Please promised me that you’ll never forget about the love that we’ve shared and what we’ve been through together. I’m so grateful for you and everything that you’ve brought into my life. I’ll cherish you in my heart forever."
"I promise. I will never forget you. Never."
"I…love…you…"
With those three last words, Meg’s eyes closed and the heart monitor stopped beeping.
Ben rushed out of the room to call for a doctor. As soon as the doctors arrived, they tried to revive Meg and kept Ben out of the room. He bawled outside, waiting for the doctors to come out.
"I’m sorry, Mr. Evans."
Ben slowly reappeared next to Meg’s bedside and replied quietly, "I love you too and for the rest of my life I will cherish your love in my heart."
The funeral was scheduled two days after Meg’s unexpected death. Friends and family were shocked over this, but none were as sad as Ben was during the funeral.
Inside St. Joseph’s Church, white roses were scattered around with white candles lit around and all over the altar. A large picture of Meg was in a golden frame next to her coffin.
"We’re here today to pass the life of Megan Cummings to God…" Father Antonio Torres began and started to read passages from the Bible. "…And now, Casey Mitchum would like to say a few words about his best friend."
"Meg…I’m so sorry how things have turned out for you, but I couldn’t be happier that you had a happy life. I can still remember your first day in Sunset Beach when you fell of the pier," Casey smiled. "There are so many wonderful memories that we’ve made and I’m so grateful that you walked into my life over four years ago. You’ve changed me so much and for the better. I don’t know where I would be today if it wasn’t for you." Tears swell up in Casey’s blue eyes. "Meg, I love you and I’ll never forget you and the friendship that we had." Casey looks towards Ben. "Ben would now like to say something about Meg."
Casey walked down the altar as Ben was walking up. When they met one another, they gave each other a hug.
"Meg, I love you now and forever with my heart and soul and I never will forget what you’ve done for me. I was totally lost when you came into Sunset Beach, but then you guided me to the right direction. I will never ever regret loving you because your love has made me the person that I am today. I’m truly sorry that this had to happen to you and I would give anything to just looking into your baby blues and tell you just how much I love you. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I’m so glad that you were there for me when I needed you. We’ve been through thick and thin and I’m not sure how I’ll survive without you. There are so many more things that we haven’t been through yet and I can’t believe that I won’t be able to share my feelings with you any longer." Tears were falling down Ben’s face. "Mark, if you’re up there listening to me, please take good care of Meg for me. I’m counting on you."
Slowly, Ben walked down from the altar.
The funeral service ended in another hour. Ben finally arrived at his house. Without Meg. He walked up to his room and it was the last time he will be there. He wasn’t able to live in that house any longer since it held a lot of memories with Meg there. He had already gotten himself an apartment because he had to get away from the misery that he was feeling in his house. As he was finishing packing, he slipped a CD into his player and remembered all those happy moments that she spent with Meg.
All I am, all I’ll be
Everything in this world
All that I’ll ever need
Is in your eyes
Shining at me
When you smile I can feel
All my passion unfolding
Your hand brushes mine
And a thousand sensations
Seduce me ‘cause I
I do cherish you
For the rest of my life
I will love you still
From the depths of my soul
It’s beyond my control
I’ve waited so long to say this to you
If you’re asking do I love you this much
I do
In my world, before you
I lived outside my emotions
Didn’t know where I was going
‘Til that day I found you
How you opened my life
To a new paradise
In a world torn by change
Still with all of my heart
‘Til my dying day
I do cherish you
For the rest of my life
I will love you still
From the depths of my soul
It’s beyond my control
I’ve waited so long to say this to you
If you’re asking do I love you this much
I do
~"I Do (Cherish You)" by 98 Degrees
"I do cherish you, Meg…for the rest of my life…" Ben whispered to himself at the end of the song.
He took the CD out and got all his bags. His luggage was already downstairs waiting for him. With a few bags in hand, Ben said goodbye to the home that he once shared with Meg.