Bad News (Coprolalia Part Three)

Chapter Ten

Picture credit: writeitforthefandom

Ben tapped his fingers on the metal recliner-like chair he was on.

They'd been at Torchwood for about five days. Elias and he had tried their best to send Collins back to St. Louis, but she just wouldn't leave, even when Celeste had gone all creepy-badass because a sixteen year old had tried her very best to shoot Parker in the face.

Being a bounty hunter, apparently, could really bite you in the ass. Unless you're Claire or Julien.

Zee, dead.

Anabella, dead.

Callum, probably wishing he was dead.

Analise was going to be in a world of pain as soon as Celeste went back.

Parker had to watch her back to make sure no one shot her.

"Ben?" Claire was sitting next to him until Celeste and Raphael got there.

"Hm?"

"Can you please stop tapping?" His girlfriend whispered. "I can feel it inside my skull and it hurts and I- I don't need any hurt before what's about to happen, okay?"

Ben immediately stopped tapping.

Celeste and Raphael would be there in ten minutes. Then they were going to attach a prototype robot leg to his stump and he had to be conscious the whole time with a small enough amount of pain killers that he'd still be completely lucid.

That was about enough to numb a stubbed toe, not the attaching of his nerves to metal and wires.

"It's going to be okay, Claire." Ben comforted her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "The next six hours or twelve hours or however long this is are going to be hard but after... If this works I'll be able to walk again without feeling like I'm more likely to land on my face than take another step. That might not seem like a lot."

"In retrospect it seems like we've been through worse."

Ben looked right into Claire's bright blue eyes. "Claire, you've been through a lot, and I won't... I'm not trying to lessen how terrible the miscarriage was. But that pain gets less painful over time. The only thing about my leg that has gotten better in any way is the shock whenever I look down and one of my legs isn't there, and even that's still there. I can't stand for too long or my stump gets torn up and it bleeds and scabs. If I sit its nearly impossible to stand back up. I need help to put one foot in front of the other. I can't live a normal life. This is going to be hard but trust me, it is worth it."

Claire leaned into him. "Are you absolutely sure about this?"

"This is the second most surest I've ever been about anything."

"What's the first thing?"

"You."

Claire laughed. "That is incredibly cheesy."

Ben smiled. "Its true."

She smiled back. "I love you."

"I love you too."

The door swung open and Raphael walked in first in black scrubs. Ben had had to lend Claire a pair of his, since that was the only way Raph would let her in. They were laughably big on her, but they would fit better than her brother's would, and neither Parker nor Elias had any, and they couldn't ask Analise.