White︱BenEarth AU

11

"The sunflowers please."

Ben was at the same flower shop from a few days ago, buying flowers for the boy he wanted to meet so bad. He hadn't visited the day before, his school intervening to his plans. If he was totally honest with himself, this wasn't just for his grades anymore, meeting Earth. He had grown fond of the boy who dressed in white.

He couldn't quite describe his feelings, it was sort of like the need to protect him. In his eyes, Earth was a boy in trouble, and his senses wanted him to protect him from everything he was facing. Save him.

Ben hadn't been around any of Earth's biggest schizophrenia seasons, and didn't know what the boy was going through. He had done a lot of research of the said mental illness, but Earth wasn't giving him the vibes. At first yes, when he didn't talk much, and seemed off, he seemed to be portraying some sort of a mental illness, but Ben wouldn't have described it as schizophrenia. 

But the thing is, he didn't know.

 "Thank you!" He thanked the person who gave him the flowers. He paid for them and left the little shop, and headed straight to the hospital. 

It seemed like a routine to him already, and it felt weird to have broken his routine yesterday. He had tried to come yesterday, he really tried, but his school work was just too much for him to handle. It seemed like something wanted to keep him away, so he decided to just skip the one day and visit now with some flowers.

Earth would understand.

"Who are you visiting?" The all too familiar woman asked when opening the door to Ben. "Oh it's you. I suppose you're visiting Earth?"

Ben nodded and was already stepping inside, but the woman stood still, not letting him enter. "Uh, what's wrong?" Ben's voice was a little concerned, worried of the sudden denial. He knew the woman didn't like him much because he seemed so persistent, but it was no reason to deny his access.

"Earth is not a patient here anymore."

Those words made Ben's blood froze, stick to his skin, clogging his throat. "W-what?" He gulped down the piece that seemed to deny the access of oxygen, and breathed deeply, dozens of ideas going around his mind like a carousel. "Did you let him out? He's cured?"

The woman crossed her arms, and sighed a breath that turned into mist around her. It was cold outside, a breezy day. "It doesn't really belong to you, but I guess it's a great closure for your work if I tell you."

That seemed awfully nice of her.

"Also I don't have to see you again."

Well there goes that.

"He had a vision of some sort, normal considering his condition. He hasn't had those in years, at least not bad ones. He hasn't talked to us as you know, so we wouldn't know about small situations." She started, making Ben cock his brow as a sign for her to continue. "I know you think that he doesn't seem like a patient that would need help, but you don't know about his history here."

"Could you tell me? So I can take notes, of course." Ben convinced. He didn't care about the assignment at all now. He wanted to know what happened to Earth, and where he was now.

"I wasn't working here when this happened, so I don't know actually how accurate my knowledge is since this hasn't been written down anywhere." She sighed, closed the door and leaned against a railing of the stairs. "Earth's mother signed him in, when he was seven. No one ever saw his mother, and it's said that she just abandoned her son to our doorstep. He was given what he needed, meds and clothes and such, but the first night he stayed, he had an attack. He saw very vivid visions, and went hysteric. After he got medications, he didn't remember anything that happened, and sulked from all the nurses. He had night terrors at least once a week, but didn't remember them the next day."

"But these have faded over the years, right?"

The woman nodded. "Yeah, but now he apparently had a vision again. He mumbled something when we found him laying on the floor. He was in a shock, clasping his own legs. I think he remembered everything. That happens sometimes, and it can be a traumatic experience."

Ben blinked rapidly and gulped a sharp breath, it burning down his throat. Cold beats of sweat glided along his skin, feeling uneasy. He couldn't believe it. How could he so suddenly have such a situation? Was it the outside world Ben took him to? Did that trigger him? "So where is he now?"

"Not here." The woman answered bluntly. "We called assistance since there was not much we could have done, he wasn't responsive. They took him somewhere higher, my best guess would be the international grand psychiatric hospital in Spain."

"Spain?!"