 In 2002, Ben is pushed out of a second story window at Llanfair by Viki's alter ego, Niki Smith (Viki had been suffering from a recurrence of her dissociative identity disorder).Viki's daughter Natalie Buchanan is initially blamed for pushing him, until Ben's amnesia clears and he remembers that Niki had pushed him.He recovers from the fall; however, shortly after he is accidentally shot by Antonio Vega, who is trying to save Viki from Allison Perkins (who had kidnapped her).