Tourist -7-
It wasn’t until I saw the unmoving body in that tiny room that I realized
just how still it was under the heap. Silence came crashing down, settling
around me like depraved thoughts of my past. My arm throbbed, my
lungs burned with caught breath, but the only thing I could see was Ben;
burnt and broken.
I forced myself toward his pale and unmoving body, the first step into the
room the hardest. But after that initial step, I somehow found myself at
his side, staring into his sallow face. He still looked sickly, and the fact
that Karl had even bothered to set the leg of a dead man flared a wave of
disgust in me.
Ben’s face was burnt a little, which would probably have healed easily if
he hadn’t...hadn’t...my brain clicked off, then. We had worked so hard
that afternoon to survive, and now this, on top of everything else, was
too much for me to handle.
I stretched out my hand, needing to know it was real, that it wasn’t some
sick game.
Before I could touch him, though, his body broke into frame-wracking
coughs as he twisted away from me, instinctively holding up a hand to
keep me at bay. I could feel an electric chill pass through me. He HAD
been dead. Something wasn’t right here.
He spat dark blood on the floor, his mouth stained from the smoke he
had inhaled. He coughed once or twice more before collapsing back
onto the pallet, and finally focusing on me.
“Daniel?” he asked incredulously, sounding as if his throat had been
passed through a meat grinder.
I let out a few shots of nervous, relieved laughter. “Jesus, Ben...I
thought you were dead.”
He grinned at me. “And you were pissed because that’d mean you’d
have dragged my ungrateful ass around for nothing?”
“Something like that,” I conceded. I examined him, poking at his arm
and then his leg, while he watched. He seemed somewhat amused. “You
really did look dead,” I added.
“Careful, I might think you care.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “It’s
quite possible I was, though. Wouldn’t be the first time.” I stopped my
prodding and looked up at him. “Karl is more than he seems,” he said
mysteriously. His voice was quiet, exhaustion overwhelming him.
I frowned. I hadn’t voiced any of my qualms about Karl, but it was true
that I had been worried that he had been the cause of Ben’s current
health state. I sat lightly down on the mattress next to Ben, trying not to
disturb him. I no longer cared if Karl found me in the room. I no longer
cared about the fire...it seemed so long ago, in another lifetime. All I
cared about was that Ben wasn’t dead.
His hand touched mine lightly, and I felt another surge of relief.
“Is Darren okay?” his dry voice came, and I felt an unbidden spark of
jealousy.
“He’s with Karl.” I didn’t mean for my voice to come out so
suggestively, or so tinged with regret. But Ben gave a rasping laugh.
“That doesn’t surprise me. They’re always running off together.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “And that doesn’t bother you?” My voice
sounded despicably hopeful.
His left eye cracked open, reminding me of a lazy, sunbathing cat. “Why
should it?”
I looked down at his hand resting on mine. “I thought...you...Darren...”
His sickly laugh came again, and it turned momentarily into coughing
before he could answer. “Our relationship is strictly professional, Dan,”
Ben said, watching me openly now. “That’s all it could ever be, in my
line of work. I can’t be distracted by lovers.” He had a wistful smile on
his face. “I’m sworn to protect Darren until he dies or dismisses me.
Until then, he gets my undivided attention.”
“But why are you sworn to him?” I reasoned, trying to stomp down my
disappointment. Ben could NEVER take a lover? I wondered
offhandedly whether I should speak to Darren about it, but that would
probably only result in Ben being angry. This was obviously information
he didn’t share with everyone.
“He and his father saved my life,” Ben’s quiet voice broke into my
thoughts. “Just like he saved yours. I protected his father until the
government called for him...” I could tell the memory was disturbing him
in some way, which was unusual for the stoic man. “And then I took my
place at Darren’s side.”
“But now you’re injured,” I said flatly. “Will he abandon you?”
Ben shook his head. “We’ll be safe here until I’m healed. Darren’s safe
with Karl.” He grinned cockily when he saw my uncertainty. “Believe
me, I used to have to sit in with them when-”
“Okay!” I interrupted. “Enough!” He laughed at me and tucked his
hands under his head, watching the ceiling.
“Has anyone looked at your arm?” Ben asked.
“No. Karl...” I drifted. I didn’t want to worry Ben.
“Karl’s kind of strange, but his heart’s in the right place.”
I hesitated a moment in my questioning, wondering if Ben should even be
speaking in his current state of health. But I had to know. “When you
woke up, you said Karl was more than he seemed...what did you mean?”
“Karl’s a healer. Which, as I’m sure you know, we have no need for in
our Utopian society.” His voice was mocking despite his fatigue. “He
was banished, like the rest of us. Now he spends his time patching up
our crew.” Ben’s eyes gave a mischievous sparkle. “He’s also known to
practice a little magic from time to time.”
The trouble was, I wasn’t sure if Ben was kidding or not. “You’d
better...ah...rest,” I said, standing up. He made a noncommittal noise,
but when I looked back at him, he was already asleep. This time,
however, I was comforted by the steady rise and fall of his chest.
I left the room, intent on sorting out my muddled mind. Things were far
too confusing here...so many things I didn’t understand, too many things
I’d slept through or forgotten in my 50 year absence from reality.
tbc in part eight...