Subjects

43 - Lost And Found

It must have taken hours before Jeff was finally awake and out of the operation room. Our four favorite people and Ben were sitting out in the waiting area, grateful that nobody asked them any questions so far. In the small emergency center they mostly got people with minor injuries and kids with slightly less minor injuries, but never a case as serious as Jeff's, so you can see why the whole staff was too busy taking care of him to worry about the five other visitors.

Anyhow, sometime in the afternoon, Jeff was finally awake and one of the nurses came to call them.

"He is still under a lot of medication, so don't be surprised if he isn't making too much sense," she says.

If Ben wasn't worried for Jeff's life all day, he'd probably say that Jeff was rarely making any sense as it is, but now he just nods and gets up from his chair. His legs hurt from sitting in the same position for so long and his eyes are burning.

"It's probably best if not all of you come at once," the nurse adds when she sees all of them starting to get up as well.

"Where is he?" Ben asks.

"Second room on the left."

Ben walks in and immediately holds his breath, the smell is horrible, smells like... A hospital. Jeff lays on a white hospital bed, surrounded by so many devices that Ben has no clue what is their purpose. As Ben gets closer he sees that something is different. Jeff's injured leg is... Shorter.

"Ben?"

"I'm here, man," Ben comes closer and sits next to the bed.

"I am so tired," Jeff slurs the words.

"You should rest," Ben assures him.

Jeff fights to keep his eyes open only a moment longer, "they know... Who I am... Ben. I had to give them... My details for the insur...rance." Jeff says it in a tone that makes it seem like a bad thing, even though Ben can't tell why. "They will find you... You need to leave."

"No," Ben refuses. "We can't. What if something happens to you?"

"I will be fine," Jeff half closes his eyes. "I can... Manage."

"You can barely speak, Jeff," Ben argues.

"If they find you here... Whoever they are... None of this will matter," Jeff opens his eyes again and it takes him a second to find Ben. "I know you... Understand. You have to worry about... Them first."

Ben stares out the small window and when he looks back to Jeff, he's already asleep. In the waiting area, all three very anxious teens and one just as anxious half-alien girl get up when they see Ben coming.

"Jeff will be fine," Ben says quickly. "He just needs time to heal." The relief is apparent on all their faces, all except Eva who somehow can tell that the bad news have yet to come. "Jeff says, and he's right, that we need to leave."

"Leave him here?" Eva starts to protest.

"We can't!" Emily joins her.

"We have to," Ben says. "It won't take long for them to realize he's here, maybe they already have, and all we did will be for nothing."

"But we can take him with us," Eva says.

"No, we can't," Ben is way quieter than usual, probably because he isn't too happy about the situation either, maybe that's why ultimately they are convinced. "He's been through enough. His body needs time to heal and we can't carry him around in a wheelchair. Jeff wants us to go."

Eva looks down at the ugly pattern of the floor. She hates that things are like this.

"What if they find him here?" Roger asks.

"They want us, not Jeff," Ben says.

"Can I say goodbye?" Angie asks quietly.

"He's asleep now, Ange," Ben says.

Angie frowns but doesn't argue.

"Excuse me," a nurse that looks way too energetic for this place approaches them. "Hi, are you friends with this solider?"

"Yes..." Eva replies slowly.

"I just need to know, what happened to him exactly? His injury is pretty bad, a few hours later and.. Well, I don't mean that he is in danger now it is just very weird and everybody here are wondering what happened." The four teens stare at her, dumbfounded. Angie half smiles at the ecstatic girl. The nurse smiles nervously and she seems like she might start to giggle at any second now. "This turned out bad, sorry. That's not even what I came here to say. It's just, the doctor wants to talk to you, that's all."

"The doctor?" Ben asks.

"Oh, yes. He just has some questions," she says. "We all have, obviously, but you don't have to answer if you don't want to." She stands there smiling her strange smile until the confused looks on their faces make it clear that they are not going to tell her anything. "So he's waiting for you down the hall," she runs off.

"That was weird," Eva says.

"I like her," Angie says.

"So who is going to see the doctor?" Ben asks, already knowing what the answer will be. Too much raising your hand in class, Ben, or just speaking without permission. Now you pay the price.

"Nobody goes," Emily says. "We can't talk to the doctor, there isn't any rational explanation that we can give to what happened."

Didn't see that one coming, huh?

"Wait, you think we should leave too?" Eva asks.

"Ben has a point," Emily says.

Ben just nods and pulls his shoulders in a way that, if Eva had payed him any attention right now, he'd get totally slated for.

Eva looks over at Roger for support, but he is already starting to doubt whether they should stay. "Maybe it is better if we go, especially now that they start asking questions," he says.

"I get it," Eva says, looking down now. "I just hate this, all these decisions and everything is just so so bad, all the time!"

A hand she knows well by now takes a hold of her arm and she looks up. "It will get better," Ben says. "It's not over and we will see Jeff again." Eva doesn't care if it's the influence or just the serious look in his eyes, but she believes him.

"Fine," she says. "Let's get the hell out of here."

"We need new cloths," Emily says. "These uniforms are way too noticeable."

"I think I saw a lost and found earlier," Roger says.

And that he did. The emergency center's lost and found was basically a large box with things that people are never going to look for again.

"I'm seriously getting tired of wearing things that aren't my size," Eva grimaces at the pair of sweatpants that will have to go with the shirt she wears under her uniform.

A month ago Ben would have lost it over this comment but now he just says, "soon you won't have to."

As they walk out to the streets of the half sleeping town, Ben is wondering if what he said is true. Things are hopeless, there's no denying that, but for the first time in a while now, he feels like this cloud is starting to shift. Something he's still not sure how to describe makes his feet lighter and his mind clearer. Maybe it's hope, although Ben is pretty sure it isn't. No, he knows things are awful, and there's a very good chance they will get even worse, but Ben doesn't care so much anymore about where to sleep, what to eat and how to hide. He cares about who he does it with, and as long as they stay together, things can't be all that bad.