Patient Twelve

Chapter Twenty

I woke to hear a collection of voices. I rubbed my eyes with the heel of my hand. Without my glasses everything was blurry. The room was dark, but a stream of light was coming in. The door was cracked open, and Ben was leaning out of the door. He was using the door and his body to block me from sight.

"I can't believe I didn't come here with you," a female voice said. It sounded like an angry Bethany. "You're acting like an idiot, Oliver."

"I've made my decision," Oliver said.

"No you have not," Bethany said. "We'll talk to Dr. Alexander in the morning."

I sat straight. She's not happy that Oliver is deciding not to sell me. Ben must have heard me moving because he looked over his shoulder. He closed the door a little more. I knew I should get up and go back into my own room, but I needed to know what they were saying.

"There's always next year," Ben said.

"He has a short attention span, he won't care about buying her next year," Bethany said. "He may not even be alive."

"Her surgery was only a couple of weeks ago," Oliver said.

"And now you know what you are doing," she snapped. "Your next patient will survive."

I could hear Oliver let out a deep breath.

"Let's go back to our room," Oliver said. "We'll talk more about this in the morning."

They all said goodnight before Ben closed the door. We were surrounded by darkness. My hand fumbled over the nightstand until I found the lamp. It provided the room with a faint glow. Ben sat on the bed. His jaw was clenched and his lips were pressed into a tight line.

"Do you think she'll make him sell me to Gregory?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said. "He doesn't have much of a spine."

I squeezed my eyes shut. I had let myself fully into a false sense of security in the past few days. I thought I would be going back to Canada and Ben and I would be escaping. I never considered Bethany changing Oliver's mind.

I didn't realize I was crying until Ben wiped the tear off my cheek. He pulled me hard against his chest. I clung to his shirt and I continued to cry. I hated that I was crying, but I could not stop it. He rubbed my back and pressed his lips against my temple as I cried into his chest.

"I'm never going to see my family again," I said.

"I promised you we would be getting out of this together," he said. "I'm going to make sure that you get back to Canada."

He pulled me away from his chest and cupped my face with his hands. I took in a sharp breath to control the tears.

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, ignoring everything that Candace had told me.

Ben's lips spread into a smile. He wiped the remaining tears off of my cheeks.

"I promise we'll get out of this together," he said. "I can't lose you. You honestly mean so much to me."

"Ben-" I started to say as I pulled his hands off of my face.

"No, Diana," he cut me off. "I love you, okay? I love you so much and I cannot go back to Canada without you."

My chest tightened when he said those words. I wanted to tell him he was wrong, but I didn't argue with him. He was my last little bit of hope. I didn't respond but gave him a faint smile.

Ben's smile somehow got larger and he pressed his lips against mine. I didn't push him away, but instead, I brought my hands up to his chest. He deepened the kiss and put his hand on my thigh to pull me onto his lap.