Patient Twelve

Chapter Thirty-Four

I managed to convince Ben to follow me into the bathroom. He had removed his T-shirt and was leaning against the counter. I searched the cabinets in the bathroom, but all I could find was gauze and Vitamin E gel. I washed and cleaned his infected skin. Ben flinched whenever I touched him, and grabbed my wrist.

"Di, that really hurts," he said.

"I know," I said. "It looks awful. You need to see a doctor."

"You know why that can't happen."

I wanted to tell him that the infection would spread and it was basically a death sentence, but I bit my tongue. If I told him that we would both be dead.

"You need antibiotics," I said.

"I'm aware," he said.

"Didn't you take those prescription pads from Bethany?" I remembered what Ben had told me back in Oliver's basement. "We can just write a prescription for you. We won't have to go to a doctor."

Ben let out a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. I don't know if it was because of the bright lights on the vanity or because I finally had my glasses back, but I noticed the dark bags under his eyes.

"I can't use them," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"I can't write Bethany or Oliver's name down on them," he said. "I don't have a signature I can use."

"You can't be serious, Ben. Did you not think of this before?"

"I wasn't planning on them dying. That wasn't in the original plan."

"What about the pills we take? Those immunosuppressants? What are we going to do when we run out?"

"I haven't thought about that yet. I was more concerned with getting us here."

I shook my head and looked over at my reflection in the mirror. I may be staying alive, but once those pills run out I am losing my sight.

"We're here now," he said. "I will think of something tonight."

"Ben, we could lose everything," I said.

There wasn't much more I could lose. All I had left was my life and my vision.

"As long as we're together we'll be okay," he said.

He cupped the side of my face, but I pulled away from him.

"Let me finish cleaning that for you," I said.

I didn't wait for his response before putting a layer of the cream over the infection. I knew it wouldn't do much, but it was better than nothing. I wrapped the gauze around his waist to cover it. Ben slipped his shirt back on after. He kissed my temple before leaving the bathroom. He went into the kitchen. I stepped out to see that he was looking at the cans and other boxes of food in the cupboard.

I walked over to the sliding glass door on the side of the living room. It lead out to a wooden deck with a set of stairs right at the edge of a lake. The sun had already begun to set, and the sky was being taken over by darkness. I looked over my shoulder to see Ben's back was to me.

My hand grabbed the door handle. I could run out of this house. I could run and get help. I took another look over my shoulder to see Ben still looking through the cupboards. If I ran he wouldn't be able to keep up with my pace, especially with his infection. He did have a car though. No matter how fast I thought I was, I knew that I could not unrun that.

"What are you doing?" Ben asked.

I looked behind me again to see Ben had his arms crossed over his chest. I let my hand fall from the handle.