Husbands

Ben Davidson

---

By: Diana

In late January of 1999, Victoria Lord Carpenter narrowly escaped death when a plane she was planning to travel on crashed. She had gotten off the plane moments before take off thanks to a mix up with a note meant for her traveling companion, Mel Hayes. In the ensuing weeks Viki began to have dreams of a foggy roadside area at a crossroads she'd never seen, and Mel, speaking to her, trying to tell her something important. One night while driving she actually found the site she'd been dreaming about and had another vision of Mel Hayes, who told her she had been spared for a reason.

Viki drove to the crossroads once again, where Mel's voice told her to choose wisely. Looking around, she spotted a bright red neon "Crossroads" sign, and went toward it. Little did she know that she was about to meet her soulmate, the man she was destined to spend the rest of her life with. Nor did she understand that Mel had been trying to tell her that this was her destiny and the reason she had been spared from the plane crash.

She entered the bar called Crossroads and met the bartender, Ben. They bantered back and forth for a while, finding something magical happening between them. He called her Blondie, and said he was 'Just Ben'. When she started to leave, she was unable to because her car wouldn't start. She called the mechanic Ben recommended, after declining to spend the night there with him, and they again exchanged spirited conversation, but not names, until her car was repaired and she could leave. When she returned home she discovered she'd lost an earring.

Viki called the bar looking for her earring, and hoping to talk to Ben, but the barmaid, Sophia, told her that no earring had been found, and that the bartender Ben had quit. Later, at the Banner office, Jessica showed Viki a "Blondie" ad in the paper. She went again to Crossroads where she found Ben, who had placed the ad. But when he searched for her earring it was missing.

After getting into an argument with Ben about pregnant teenagers she tried to leave, but there was a bad storm approaching and the roads were closed. Crossroads had a Karaoke contest that night, and Ben teased Viki into singing. She surprised herself, and Ben, by rendering a stirring version of "I Will Survive". Viki won the prize, a pair of fuzzy dice, and she and Ben connected. He admitted to flirting with her, and told her they had to meet again.

Viki saw Ben's next ad and once again went to Crossroads where she inadvertently showed Ben the latest Hamlet ad. He made a lame excuse and left but she stayed for lunch and gossiped with Sophia, who told her Ben was dangerous, and had many women.

Wen returned and sent Sophia off for lime juice so that he and Viki could discuss their feelings. They were both honest and Ben wound up kissing her.

Viki went back to Crossroads to share with Ben her joy over her daughter Jessica's news that she would keep her baby. She and Ben discussed the kiss they'd shared, and Ben told her he wanted to feel her in his arms. He put on the jukebox and they danced to "I've Got A Crush On You". She told Ben she needed to tell someone about him to make it seem more real. Ben asked her not to and she reluctantly agreed. They kissed good-bye and she left.

Kevin teased his mother about having a boy friend but she refused to talk with him about it. Viki once more went to the bar, to tell Ben she needed a better reason to keep his secret. Ben lied and told her he was married and had two children. She left, not believing him, but crushed and hurt. Kevin found her crying in her office and tried to help. She agreed to go away for a while to think.

After her return Viki thought about looking for Ben, but was constantly interrupted when she tried. She talked to Sam at the Country Club, where she was to give a speech, and left Sam to give the speech while she went to the bar to find Ben. When she entered the bar she found Ben with a gun pointed at her.

They talked and he admitted he was not married and had lied to her to try to push her away, then told her she had to leave. She argued with him, offering to help him, and he finally agreed to come back to her when he cleared up his problems. They kissed and he walked her to her car where shots were fired. Ben jumped into her car with her and she drove them away.

She brought Ben to Llanfair, where she tried to question him, then realized he'd been shot. She cleaned his wound as per his instructions, telling him he could stay the night and they'd figure out what to do the next day. However, when she left the room he tried to leave just as Dorian rang the doorbell. Viki sent Ben up to the attic while she got rid of a suspicious Dorian, but when she returned to Ben she found him in bad shape. She wanted to call a doctor, but he told her he was a doctor and he led her through removing the bullet from his shoulder.

During Ben's recovery Ben ran a high temperature. She went to her office for an old prescription of antibiotics, and while there she stopped Kevin from investigating the shooting at Crossroads. She returned to find Ben passed out on the floor where he'd fallen while trying to call Kevin.

She gave Ben the antibiotics, and again tried to get him to let her call a doctor. He insisted that he would be okay, and sure enough his fever broke and he was better. He finally told Viki about himself and his family. She was sympathetic and loving. He insisted he had to leave and she told him he didn't get to make the decisions for both of them. He told her she didn't either and kissed her. They were interrupted by Jessica and Will looking for an old cradle.

Viki told Jess and Will that Ben was a carpenter she'd hired to do some work in the attic. When Sam dropped by Ben shocked Viki when he admitted that he and Sam were brothers. Sam feared that Ben's presence would endanger both families. Viki then pleaded with Sam to keep Ben's presence at her house a secret until Ben had time to straighten things out.

Ben and Viki began their romance by her making him dinner. He poured wine and lit candles setting the stage for a romantic evening. Later, passions heated up as they embraced and he agreed to stay with her for the time being.

Ben told Viki about Dorian's visits to Crossroads and her interest in him. Viki went to Crossroads to warn Sophia against spreading stories about Ben's whereabouts and tried to fool Dorian into believing she didn't know where he was.

Later a frantic Viki found a note Ben left for her saying good-bye, and realized where he'd gone. She found him in the rain outside Crossroads. Ben urged Viki to leave because he had set up a dangerous meeting with the people who were trying to kill him. She refused to leave, and they confessed their love for each other. She convinced Ben to return with her to Llanfair, where they made love for the first time in the attic.

When Kevin tried to publish a picture of Ben Viki and Ben were forced to come forward with their relationship. Kevin was not happy, and left, warning Viki that Ben would hurt her. Bo paid Viki a visit and questioned her about Ben. Viki said that she recognized Ben as the bartender at Crossroads, but she didn't know where he was. Ben and Viki later wondered how Bo found out about them and hoped that it wasn't from Kevin.

Viki pleaded with Ben not to leave the safe haven her home had provided for him. At the Banner Kevin swore to Viki he hadn't betrayed her by informing Bo about Ben. After Bo didn't find Ben at Llanfair, Viki told Bo that Ben had disappeared. She then she confronted Dorian at the police station, realizing that Dorian had informed on them, then went to Sam looking for Ben. She finally found him at Kevin's and thanked Kevin for sheltering him.

Dorian formed an unholy alliance with Ben's enemy Hugo, and lured Viki to the hospital's underground garage, where Hugo chloroformed her. Dorian bound Viki with duct tape and locked her in the coal cellar. Viki attempted to convince Dorian that Hugo was responsible for Mel's death. Viki made a desperate play to escape, but Hugo caught her and decided to leave both Viki and Dorian locked in the coal cellar. After a couple of days of confinement, and a broken gas main, Kevin and Ben rescued them in the nick of time.

Ben and Viki were reunited and went out on their first real date. They felt awkward when they found people staring at them because of their recent notoriety. They left the Palace restaurant and wound up at Crossroads where they received a warm greeting. Viki later told Ben that she'd never been happier.

Expecting Ben for dinner, Viki was shocked when Clint showed up at her front door. Ben arrived and Viki introduced him to Clint, surprising her ex-husband when she told him that she and Ben were a couple. Viki and Ben discussed moving in together, but agreed that it was too soon.

Viki gave Jessica an engagement party at Crossroads, and, after a fight between Will and Cris, Jessica rushed out and was hit by Dorian's car. Ben comforted and supported Viki through the entire ordeal as Jessica lay in a coma. An emergency C-section was done but her baby, Megan, was brain dead and Larry asked Viki to donate Megan's corneas. The family was ecstatic when Jessica finally woke from her coma.

Viki sadly told Ben she'd been having recurring dreams about baby Megan. Sitting together in the attic where they first made love, Viki thanked Ben for dispelling so many of the demons which had haunted her for so long. Later Ben told her he was thinking of staying in Llanview.

Ben applied for a staff position at Llanview Hospital. Viki told Ben that she must attend his confirmation board meeting if he had any hope of getting hired and offered him a pair of fuzzy dice for good luck. Viki was shocked when Dorian voted in Ben's favor, after Asa and his followers had voted against him.

After Dorian confessed to hitting Jessica, Viki let her anger toward Dorian overwhelm her. Ben told Viki about a woman he had once cared for who became totally obsessed with him. He begged Viki not to let blind rage turn her into the same kind of woman she despised most, Dorian. Ben explained to Viki why it was so important for him to regain his sense of purpose by fighting to have his medical license reinstated after Asa paid off the Nevada Medical Board to have it pulled. Later that night Viki waited up for Ben with wine, and they made love once again.

As they were preparing for the Banner anniversary party, Viki finally was able to tell Ben about her father, and what his abuse had done to her. She told him that she had created alters to protect her from her father, and that she was now totally integrated. Ben was stunned, but assured her he understood and loved her. They decided that both were damaged, due to early parental influences, and that that might be one reason they fit together so well.

At the Banner party Ben admitted to Viki that he once had a relationship with Viki's newest Styles editor, Skye Chandler. Viki confronted Skye, who let her know that Ben was about to propose to her, then Skye shattered Viki by announcing that she was married to Ben.

After Viki fled the party, Ben tracked her down at Crossroads and begged her to believe that his impulsive marriage to Skye in Vegas meant nothing to him at all. He told her that they had both signed annulment papers, which Ben had left with Skye to file, but that Skye had failed to do so. Ben pleaded for a second chance to make a life with her, then proposed to Viki, but she told him she couldn't accept his ring as long as he was still married to Skye.

At the Banner Viki told Skye she would hold her to the letter of her contract Ben was upset that Viki didn't fire her. Ben calmed down after Viki revealed that she wanted Skye to see her every day and know that she and Ben were together and happy.

Jess gave Viki and Ben a trip to Palm Beach as an engagement present. Ben and Viki tried to relax in Palm Beach, and, after a young boy charmed Ben with his football Viki worried that Ben might want to have children with her. Ben assured Viki that he didn't need to father a child to be happy. They enjoyed an intoxicating evening, but Viki was forced to cut it short and return home when bad new about Jessica interrupted her. She left a letter of explanation for Ben but Skye intercepted the note. When Ben finally made it back to Llanfair, she pumped him about what happened while he was locked in with Skye. Later Viki was elated when Skye reluctantly signed the divorce document.

At Kevin and Grace's engagement party, tragedy struck when Grace drowned, and Ben held Asa responsible. Ben left Asa's alone trying to deal with his feelings, telling Viki he couldn't be with her right then. Viki tried to console him as he grieved, and he admitted that his thirst for revenge was growing. Viki interceded to prevent an ugly scene between Ben and Asa at Grace's grave site.

Viki found out that Ben had brought Max to the hospital with a ruptured aneurysm, and was operating on him. As Ben tried to save Max's life, Viki comforted Blair and berated Asa his for stupidity, then warned Asa she'd ruin him if he ever went after Ben again. Viki tried to deal with Ben's outrage when Larry bent to pressure from Asa and removed Ben from Max's case. Viki followed him home and found him in the attic, where he admitted to her that he needed her and made love to her. Later Ben told her he'd seriously considered letting Max die on the operating table but Viki assured him that he could never have done that.

Shattered by Grace's death, Kevin struck out at everyone during their Thanksgiving dinner at the Palace restaurant. Ben and Viki accepted their share of the blame for the circumstances surrounding the feud with Asa that had caused Grace's death, and returned home to share a bittersweet Thanksgiving together.

Relaxing together one afternoon, Viki and Ben discovered a young girl out near the gazebo. After Ben examined her they took her to the hospital, where she was reunited with her mother, who explained that she ran away because she was afraid of another surgery. Ben offered to donate his services free of charge in order for Emma to have the surgery she required. Emma and her mother presented Ben with a token of their undying gratitude for his skill and compassion, while Viki grew increasingly concerned about her inability to give Ben a child of his own.

When she learned that Ben had resigned from the hospital after another Asa controlled board meeting, Viki urged him to think of Emma and all the others he could still help. Ben ask Viki to stay out of it, to allow him to fight his battle by himself, but she insisted on helping him in his fight with Asa. Ben told her to stop mothering him, which devastated her, and she was even more hurt when he decided to leave Llanview for a while, alone.

After weeks of waiting with no word from Ben, Viki's holiday was saddened when Skye showed up at Llanfair bearing greetings from him in Las Vegas. Starr arrived with Dorian, who told her Skye had not found Ben, and was only trying to hurt her. Viki got her Christmas wish when Ben unexpectedly returned on Christmas Eve.

Ben told Viki what he'd learned during his time away from her and admitted that his love for her had saved him. Ben and Viki's happy reunion was later interrupted when Ben received a summons to appear before the medical board to have his medical license revoked.

While standing up for Sam and Nora at their wedding, Ben showed a thrilled Viki his final divorce papers, then, when the wedding didn't take place, took her to Crossroads for a private celebration. Ben told her he'd purchased the bar for them, to be a haven away from the rest of the world. Ben proposed and Viki accepted and they celebrated the New Year by making love. The next morning they had to admit that they had to return the real world.

During a routine physical Viki learned there was something wrong with her Mammogram. At the same time Ben found out that Asa had framed Will, and had had him arrested. Viki went to Ben for support and found him with a gun, ready to go after Asa. She tried to talk him out it, asked him to dance and tried to reason with him. But he insisted on trying to force Asa to admit he'd framed Will, so Viki gave him an ultimatum, asking him to choose between her and the gun.

Viki put Ben's bags in the attic as he pleaded with her to forgive him after he went after Asa but was prevented from doing any damage by Sam, who came after him and took the gun from him. But Viki told him that he'd chosen a gun over her and she couldn't live with that. She returned his ring and broke off their relationship.

At Dorian's going away party, a weeping Viki begged Ben to choose love over vengeance but he admitted that he could not let go of his anger towards Asa. Viki finally unburdened herself to Dorian who consoled her, as Viki revealed how frightened she was by the prospect of facing breast cancer.

Viki reeled from the news that she had breast cancer. Ben struggled with the fact that he truly was Asa's son. Viki and Ben ran into each other at the hospital, and she reached out to him, but both were conflicted about their own problems and Ben was unable to open up to her.

Viki admitted to a heartsick Joey and Jessica that she had breast cancer, then explained to her children that she did not want Ben to know about her condition as she did not want him to come back to her out of pity.

Ben and Viki shared a dance at Ben's reopening of Crossroads, but Viki insisted that she merely wanted one more lovely memory of them together, not a reunion. Later, an adamant Ben told Viki that their relationship would never be over. He tried to persuade her to take him back and then asked her to marry him once again. Viki turned him down, but they shared a passionate kiss before putting an end to their relationship.

Just before her surgery Viki called out to Ben at the hospital, but, although he was there on another matter, he did not hear her. Viki later told Joey that she had dreamt that Ben had come to see her, and Joey informed her that Ben had actually been at the hospital.

When Ben came to Llanfair to tell Viki about Nora's death, he got closer to the truth about her illness but they were still unable to open up to each other. Ben tricked her into admitting she'd been sick and at Cherryvale, and told her he'd seen her there.

Ben pressed Viki to tell him why she had been at Cherryvale, but Viki backed off from telling him the truth after she sensed that he was also hiding something. Ben and Viki admitted they still loved each other, but they both had secrets they couldn't share.

Ben finally admitted his relationship to Asa, after Ben he inadvertently discovered that Viki was undergoing Chemotherapy. Viki admitted the truth about her cancer but worried that that was the only reason he wanted to returned to her. Ben convinced Viki that they belonged to each other, and he wanted to be with her no matter what she was going through. They were happily reunited and Ben once again asked Viki to marry him. After a slight hesitation, she happily accepted his proposal.

Because of her cancer Viki was reluctant to make love with Ben. Ben romanced her, dancing with her, then taking things slowly enough that he managed to help her get past her fears, and the two made love once again.

Ben accompanied Viki to her second Chemotherapy session, where she had a severe reaction. Ben sprang into action and saved her and when Colin later arrived at the hospital he was relieved that Ben had taken control and rescued Viki.

Viki persuaded Blair not to tell Sam the truth about Ben's paternity by offering her money to use in her battle against Asa. Viki tried to comfort Ben about his feelings for Renee and they discussed telling Renee that Ben was her son, but always came back to the problem of Asa. So both agreed to keep the secret for the time being.

Ben was unsuccessful in locating Will, and returned to Viki as she underwent her last Chemotherapy session. They were ecstatic when she learned she was in remission, and they celebrated by going to Palm Beach for a romantic reunion/recovery.

>

Attic Proposal 1 Transcript
Attic Proposal 2 Transcript
Jessica Disappears Transcript
Wedding Transcript