The Neighbor II

Madness

Ben could not keep still for the life of him and it was annoying Cassie to no end. They were sitting in a waiting room, waiting for him to be taken back for some tests that he promised he'd do for the sake of his marriage. He's been standing up, sitting down, pacing, shaking his leg, flipping rapidly through magazines, then slamming them down when he was done. 

Cassie looked up at him at one point while he was pacing around and said, "For God's sakes, Benedict, sit down!" Ben growled and plopped himself back down next to her. "I don't understand why you're so nervous." Sighing, he told her, "Because we're in a fucking psychiatric hospital! There are killers, rapists, people think they've been abducted by aliens here! What if they find something out about me?" 

"They won't,"Cassie assured. "You're just having minor tests, no lie detectors, just a quick check-up. Okay?" Ben just rolled his eyes and shook his head. He was going to act like more of child than the one they have at home. 

"I can't believe you let Tom take care of Michael," he scoffed, attempting to change the subject. "And in our home of all places!" Cassie shook her head and flipped through the magazine in her hands. "He offered," she told him. "Besides, we needed someone and you did try and kill him, so I'd say paying him for babysitting is a very slow start to mending things."

"But what about what he told me about you?" He practically whined. "I would think that would give you a good reason to not let him go near our son." While not bothering to look at him, she explained, "He apologized and told me he was running on rage because you had gotten him upset. He was very sweet, so I'll let it go." 

A few moments later, a nurse came out from behind a door and called, "Mr. and Mrs. Carlton?" Ben and Cassie both stood up and walked over to the nurse. "Hi, I'm Shelly and I'm going to be your doctor's assistant nurse for the day. The Doctor Evans is currently with another patient, but I'll go ahead and start some tests for you. Follow me."

They both followed the nurse through the door and ended up in a hospital looking hall. While Cassie was getting the details of the tests from Shelly, Ben was looking through each window on the doors he passed by. 

There was one man staring at a wall while rocking his chair, another who seemed to be talking to himself, then a woman staring up at the ceiling and laughing like a loon, but what really set off Ben was the man hitting himself against the wall in a straight jacket. He was actually terrified at all this. 

"Mr. Carlton?" Shelly softly called. He whipped his head over and looked at the nurse and Cassie looking at him oddly. He hadn't realized he stopped in front of the door. "That's our most dangerous patient, Harley Adams. Killed over thirty people in his life."

Ben tensed up and felt a sudden heavy weight on his chest. He clutched on to his shirt and started having trouble breathing. Cassie quickly went to his side and said in the most soothing tone she could, "Breathe. Hey, Ben, babe, breathe. You're okay." 

He started taking slow, deep breaths, and then nodded when he was okay. The nurse looked at him curiously and asked, "Does this happen all the time?" While rubbing Ben's back, Cassie told her, "Only when he's very stressed. Hasn't happened too recently, but a lot last year."

As they continued walking to the room, Shelly asked Ben, "Why last year?" Ben put his arm around Cassie for his own support, then weakly answered, "We lost our unborn." Shelly jotted that down. "And was that a miscarriage?" She asked. Ben shook his head, but Cassie answered, "A guy that was living in my old house without anyone knowing had a fascination for Ben. One day, I was in the house and he attacked me. Stabbed my stomach."

Shelly opened the door to the room for them and led Ben to sit down at a table. "A stalker, huh?" She asked as she tied a rubber band on Ben's arm and got out a couple of needles. "We have plenty of those in here. Many of them have killed the person they were after."