Patient Twelve

Chapter Eighteen

The sound of the shower running filled my ears as I woke up. I was curled on my side, and the room was filled with sunlight. I rolled over to see the other side of the bed was empty. I ran my hand over the sheets to feel that they were still warm. Ben must have just gotten into the shower.

I yawned and stretched my arms up over my head as I walked back into my room. I went into my bathroom and got into the shower. The warm water cascaded down my skin. I stayed in the water for a few extra minutes after washing my hair. When I stepped out of the shower, the mirror was steamed. It was nice to not have to look at my reflection. I wrapped a towel around myself and another twisted around my hair.

I opened the door to see Ben sitting at the foot of my bed. The textbook Oliver had brought was in his hands. I tightened my grip on the towel as he turned to face me.

"What is this?" he asked, holding up the book.

"Oliver gave it to me," I said. "Can we talk about this later?"

"Diana, what is he planning to do? Does this mean you're coming back to Canada? Is he putting you under the knife again?"

"Let's not talk about this while I am wearing a towel."

Ben threw the book onto the bed. His jaw was clenched and he ran his fingers through his wet hair.

"If he is getting cocky and trying to perform more surgeries on you -" he started to say.

"He's not," I cut him off. "He's not doing anything to me. He wants to do this to more people."

Ben glanced down at the book before looking back at me.

"Is he going to make you help him?" he asked.

I gave my head a slight nod.

"Yeah," I said. "Bethany never made you do that?"

"No. She hasn't."

"Okay. Well, get out of my room and let me get changed. We can talk about this later."

Ben didn't say anything, but turned and left my room. I opened the door to the closet to see the usual row of dresses were gone. It was replaced with a set of sundresses.

These dresses were not here when I put on my pajamas last night. Someone came in to replace these while I was asleep. They would have seen that I was not in my bed. I doubt it was Oliver. He probably had Leta do it, but she relayed messages to Oliver. She told him that I had a headache, so she surely told him that I was missing from my room. He probably came in and saw Ben and I sleeping together.

I put on one of the new dresses. The silky material ran past my knees. I found a clip and managed to twist my hair back and secure it.

Ben was waiting outside my door. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. His eyes scanned my outfit.

"That's new," he said.

"All of my clothes are gone," I said. "Someone must have come in last night."

Ben bit down on his lip. His cheek twitched and a small dimple formed. I raised an eyebrow as he looked like he was trying to suppress a smile. He extended his arm out toward me.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go to breakfast."

I was tempted to ignore Ben's gesture, but I knew I should not do that. I had to keep Ben and Oliver happy. That was the key to getting out of all of this. I laced my fingers through his, and we walked to the dining room.

The other patients were all sitting around the large circular table when we came in. Jane waved at us. Matt and Elias were deep in conversation. Candace wiped her mouth with a napkin and pushed her plate away. She walked by us and I could see her glare. We filled our plates with eggs and toast before sitting down.