Headsets For Fear

PRESENT 11 : BENJAMIN

Twenty days later

In a way, it was good that Nora fell sick. It gave them(him and Kaitlin) some work to do. Something to be busy with.

It's strange, how lazy one became when they didn't have a job. Or school. Or anything that stressed them and made them grow mad. It was almost as if humans were programmed to be nothing but lazy, and schools and workplace and other shitty places were meant to change that.

Benji was sitting in Octavio's garden with his friends, hearing Kaitlin chatter away about what plants she had bought from a nearby nursery. Personally, he didn't have any interest in trees. Sure, they looked good in photos, but he never found anything in them  to obsess over the way Kaitlin did. However, he made sure that he remembered at least some parts of her conversation. What if she asked him about it someday, just out of the blue? He would hate to see her hurt face.

He glanced sideways to look at Nora, who looked just as disinterested as he did. The only person who seemed interested was Rick. He kept on asking questions to Kaitlin about what manures should be used, how much time a certain plant took to grow flowers, and how to protect them against insects. Kaitlin answered him enthusiastically.

He did remember that when they dated back in high school, he was greeted by a huge garden whenever he went to their house. The whole family was a bunch of dendrophiles.

Benji handed Nora a bottle of water as she coughed a little. He pointed at Kaitlin and Maverick, who were roaming around the garden looking at the trees, and themselves, who were sitting in a bench. "You wanna get out of here? You're still weak."

Nora shook her head. "Some fresh air will do me good."

Benji patted her shoulder softly. "Don't act like being sick is a crime, dumbass."

Nora narrowed her eye. "I'm not."

Benji rolled his eyes and said. "Whatever."

Nora had given them one hell of a shock when she suddenly collapsed after returning from work three days before. They thought she had drunk poison or something by mistake. She didn't wake up until two hours later, with a high fever and a weak body. Clearly, weeks of stress had finally taken their toll on her. Her body had to capitulate with its need for rest.

Rick wouldn't let Nora do so much as talk about work after that. He fixed up a routine and a good diet for her. She obeyed without much of a protest. Kaitlin went to Nora's room to put wet strips of cloth on her forehead, and massage her back and teach her some yoga to do.

He, as usual proved to be useless. Not that anybody seemed to mind.

Now, Nora looked a lot healthier. The colour in her cheeks had returned. Her ocean blue eyes looked clearer, and her gaze was more confident. Her body hadn't gained it's normal strength yet, but her posture had returned to the perfectly straight poise it used to have.

By then, Kaitlin and Rick and finished with their garden tour(Benji wondered what was so interesting about trees which hadn't even borne flowers yet), they returned. Kaitlin looked at him and pouted. "You didn't listen," she complained. He was relieved to see that there was an undertone of joking in her voice. She wasn't seriously upset.

"It was boring," he admitted. "So I and Nora decided to stay back."

"Well then, what will you find interesting, bud?" Rick asked, sitting on the bench next to them.

He thought about it for a moment. "If Nora could tell us something about how the case is going," he looked at her reluctantly, wondering if she would comply to his request. "Or anything cool that happens in the FBI. I wanna know."