Spy School Out West

Chapter 12

I know I've been updating pretty frequently so far, but between real-life stuff and loss of motivation, I'm going to start posting less frequently. Still at least once a week tho.

This chapter used to be an author's note, but I got my motivation back so what it used to say (it was just a posting schedule) isn't relevant anymore.

You already know how this chapter will end. I just felt like it was useful to give you another perspective.

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Erica's POV
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Bozeman Health Deaconess
Bozeman, MT
June 6
0100 hours
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The rangers dropped us off at the hospital about two hours ago. Ben had been rushed into surgery before we got there, and we hadn't heard anything since. Mom used to check in with the receptionist every few minutes, but it was always "Rhodes is still in surgery," so we stopped asking. 

Two hours! Still, the receptionist said she'd let us know if anything happened, so I tried to read my book. It just made me angrier. How dare the characters be so carefree and happy! None of them ever had to sit in a cold, unfeeling waiting room for hours, feeling so afraid and helpless! They haven't ever gone through the agony I'm feeling!

You're being irrational, I told myself, then flipped the book over onto its pages. The receptionist called us over, then told us Ben's doctor would be here shortly. "Is he out of surgery?" I asked.

The receptionist typed something on her computer. "The surgeon hasn't updated the report," she said. "That doesn't mean he's still in. It usually takes them some time to wrap up and desterilize." The receptionist turned towards the double doors, where a man with brown hair and a lab coat stood. "Sasha Rotko and Catherine Hale," he called, reading off a clipboard. Once the doors had shut behind us and we were in the hospital, he said, "I have good news and bad news."

We followed him wordlessly into the elevator, which he took four floors up. He led us over to his office and motioned to two chairs he had set up, then said, "I'm Dr. Fullner, and I'm going to be Rhode's head doctor for his time here."

"Ben," I said before I could think about it.

"Excuse me?"

"His name is Ben," I explained. Dr. Fullner looked to Mom, wondering what to think of this.

Mom thought for a moment, deciding how to explain this. "Rhodes doesn't like his name much," she finally said. "Sasha always called him Ben."

"Ah," he said, without understanding. "Well, I have good news and bad news." He said "news" like "nyews," which irritated me a little bit, but I didn't really have enough left to care.

I looked at Mom, who looked at me. "Okay," she finally said.

"The good news is that he is alive and stable."

That made me cry a little bit. I didn't predict how much hearing those words would make me feel, like a dog shaking after a bath. Suddenly, colors seemed brighter, sounds seemed louder, and the knot in my chest dissolved in an instant. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding. I felt tears welling up, but they didn't seem to have any intention of falling. 

"The bad news is that, due to the severity and amount of his injuries, me and the rest of his medical team have decided to put him into a medically-induced coma."

I wanted to scream. Ben was alive, he was stable- and now he was in a coma?! There was a chance we could never talk to him again. That he would never look at me again.

"You have to understand," Dr. Fullner tried to explain. "His system needs time to heal. It's also medically-induced, which means the effects will be virtually nonexistent and there's a higher chance he wakes up." (this is kind of true irl, but I needed it to be true for the plot)