The Ruins Of Tomorrow

29. No One Is Ever Gone

 Mrs. Brown woke up before Benjamin.

I stayed by their sides while the doctor monitored them closely. I didn't want to leave, not even for a second until I knew they were alright. I had been feeling restless the past few days, not being able to sleep and kept waking up from bad dreams.

"The boy will recover," Dr. Owen said, removing his gloves and tossing them in the trash. They were bloody as he had changed the dressing from Benjamin. "It will take some time, but the wound should heal properly in a couple of weeks."

Dr. Owen told me the rest before he woke up. The mark wasn't from a biter. The doctor had speculated that it could have been an animal, specifically a dog. His flesh wasn't pulled, it was a puncture wound and he was bruising around the skin really badly.

I stopped holding my breath and finally let my hands relax in my lap. Dr. Owen walked away, finishing writing his notes for Ben as he went to check on Mrs. Brown again. She had been sleeping a lot more than usual and stopped eating as much. I had to keep telling her my name and where she was at, but oftentimes she would forget what I had just said.

Benjamin shifted around in the bed, wincing as he lifted his arm and poked at the IV. "How are you feeling?" Dr. Owen asked, walking over to Benjamin again. 

"I'm just feeling cold and I have a headache," he said, touching the right side of his head. 

"That's perfectly normal, it's just your body's way of dealing with what happened. You'll be back to feeling normal soon, so don't let any of that worry you," Dr. Owen said as he looked over his notes again. 

Benjamin looked around the room and then set his eyes on me. I instantly felt something in my chest and the heavy weight on my shoulders when he gave me a specific look. "Where is Lia?" he asked.

Dr. Owen froze with his pen still in his hand. I couldn't even look him in the eye at that moment. I kept seeing Lia's face anytime his eyes would stare into mine and I would feel my heart ripping in two. I didn't know if he was ready to hear about what had happened to Lia just yet... and I didn't know if I myself was ready to be the one to tell him either. 

"You need more rest Benjamin," Dr. Owen cuts in, clearing his throat. "Why don't you tell us what happened when you got attacked?"

Benjamin sighed, falling back into bed and stared at the scratches on his arms. "The day I got out I noticed a hole in the wall. I don't know if someone broke it or something else happened, but I saw a chance to go outside for once. I was trying to be careful the whole time until I slipped down a hill and fell on top of a dead roamer. I panicked when I saw and smelled blood on my jacket. Then the next thing I knew, something growled and attacked my side really badly. It was a dog, and it had a bandana around its neck as a collar. Maybe it thought I was one of the dead because I smelled like one." 

He lifted his shirt and winced at the sight of it. "I would have died, but after that a couple of roamers started to approach us and then I heard someone call out for the dog. It eventually let go and ran away. I was bleeding a lot and tried to make my way back home when I nearly collapsed back inside. Things started to get blurry and I don't remember much after that. I think I fainted once Lia found me." 

"It's a good thing you're healing fine," the doctor said. "We're glad it was just a dog only. If it was any other animal, it would have killed you in seconds. And you are very lucky that none of the infected blood that you got when you fell managed to get in your wound." 

I thought it was harsh to say that to a kid, but he had a point. Most animals would look to kill and hunt. The dog must have been trying to survive and thought Benjamin was a roamer and attacked him out of fear. I was glad that Benjamin was alright.