Patient Twelve

Chapter Seventeen

 I stumbled back as he pressed his lips against mine. He snaked his arm around my back to stop me from falling, but he also took the opportunity to pull me closer. I pressed my hands against his chest and pushed him back. I turned my head to get his lips off of mine.

"Ben, what are you doing?" I asked. "Get off of me!"

He took a step back. He shook his head and ran his hand down his face. A smudge was across the lens of my glasses from his nose. Ben dug his fingers into his eyes and let out a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know what came over me."

He walked toward me and I backed up. My hand ran along the wall until I felt the doorknob. Ben lunged forward as he saw me opening the door. He reached over me and slammed the door. He looked over his shoulder before putting his other hand on the other side of my head.

"Di, please don't be mad at me," he said softly.

Ben leaned in toward me, and I took in a sharp breath. A heavy sense of dread sat in my chest. Ben was sleeping with Bethany to gain her trust. What was he trying to gain from me? Was everything he told me to do part of some part of a plan that was going to benefit him? I thought he was the one person I could at least trust.

He touched my cheek, and it snapped me out of my thoughts. I grabbed his wrist and pushed him away, but he leaned in closer. He rested his cheek against the top of my head. I turned my head as he had my face pressed against his chest.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have done it. I've just...I've just been so alone. I've been stuck at Bethany's house or on this island. I never thought I was actually getting out of here, but you're giving me hope."

Ben's voice cracked, and he sniffled. I realized he was crying. I never saw a man cry before. I've seen my Mom and Marcy cry plenty of times. I never had male friends, so this was new to me.

"I have not tried to get away in over a year," he said. "I have nowhere else to go. My parents basically disowned me when I moved to Toronto. My sister teaches in Africa and all of my friends forgot about me. If I left Bethany I would be homeless. No one will want to be with me because of these experiments."

Ben's tears fell into my hair and ran cold onto my scalp. I pushed Ben back, and he unraveled me from his arms. His eyes were brimming with red. He hastily wiped the tears off of his face as he turned his back to me.

"Do you know how to get out of here?" I asked.

Ben shrugged. "I could probably figure it out."

"What about the medication?" I asked.

"They're just immunosuppressants. Bethany and Oliver have a large stock of them. I could probably find prescription pads too."

He spun around and grabbed my shoulders. He took in a sharp breath to stop himself from crying.

"You're coming back to Canada," he said. "We'll be back in Canada, and we'll get out of this."

I nodded. "I thought that was the plan all along."

Ben chuckled before pulling me in for another hug. My mind was racing as I pulled his arms off of me. He furrowed his eyebrows. I looked down at the floor, and he grabbed my chin to force me to look at him. His face was pale, and his cheeks were stained with tears.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Can you go?" I asked. "I need to be alone."

He nodded before kissing the top of my head. He let go of me and went through the door that connected our rooms. I locked the door before crawling into bed. I pulled the sheet over my head with an odd chill running through my bones.