Trouble In Paradise; A Ben Mason/Falling Skies Fanfic

Chapter Two; The 2nd Mass

His piercing green eyes stared straight through me. It seemed as if he knew my whole story, as if he could see into my soul, right through the wall I had built to hide my feelings. I wanted to look away, but couldn’t. “Riley,” came out of my throat in a dry croak. The voice that came out, didn’t sound like it belonged to me. I took a long deep breath. “My name is Riley Johnson,” I said with perfect clarity and I reached out and shook his hand.

He smiled. The first smile that i’d seen in what seemed like forever. A beautiful smile. Before the invasion I never realized the happiness it gives you when someone smiles at you. I couldn’t help but smile back. His hand felt warm and strong, which was a relief from the cold air surrounding us. He was taller than I was. And those piercing green eyes, I just couldn’t look away. “Is anyone with you?” He spoke quietly. I shook my head. “I come from a resistance group called the second Massachusetts.” This still felt like a dream to me. Was that boy really there? Was I already dead? Was I in heaven? Was he going to take me to my parents? Then everything went black.

When I woke up, for a perfect second, I forgot everything. I forgot everything about the skitters and that invasion, and my parents death. For one second I woke up and lived in my memories. My memories of waking up in my room, with my band posters and blue pillow cases. The smell of breakfast running all through the house. The sound of my mother and fathers voice.

Then reality hit me. The reality of the end of the world. And I was stuck right in the middle of all of it again. But I still had no idea where I was. I looked around and saw shelves of medical supplies. I tried to sit up, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of my head. Then I saw the boy that had found me was sitting in the corner. When he saw my eyes open, he walked over to the side of the bed. “I'm glad you're okay.” He said softly. I was confused. What happened? Where was I? How long had I been out? “You do remember who I am, don’t you,” he said?   He chuckled as if it was a funny joke. But at first, I didn’t. I couldn’t remember who he was. His face suddenly turned serious. “I’m Ben. I found you alone in the woods.  Under that tree.” His eyes were filled with concern. Ben, Ben! yes that’s his name! Then I remembered everything.  He was that figure walking towards me, the one that saved me.

He gently laid his hand on my forehead. “You feel warm,” He stated. He left the room and quickly came back with a young woman following behind him. She couldn’t have been older than 25. She smiled at me and said “Hello. I'm Lourdes, one of the medical doctors here at the second mass.”

“The second mass?  Where am I?” I asked. She smiled warmly.

“You're safe,” she said. “Can you lay on your side for me, please?” I turned, and winced at the shock of pain in my head. “Your wound is healing quite quickly.” She informed me. “My wound?”

“Yes. Ben told me that he found you in the woods, and then you passed out. It was probably from shock, dehydration, starvation or a mix of everything.” Ben was still standing next to the bed.

“Are you thirsty?” He asked. Who was this boy, and why did he care about me so much? Lourdes helped me sit up and Ben gave me some water. “I’ll leave you two alone for a while,” he said.  She winked at Ben. And if I hadn’t just suffered from a minor concussion, I could have sworn that I saw him blushing.

“No worries Riley, just get some food, water and rest, and you will be back up in no time.” She said calmly, and then she left the room as quickly as she had entered.

“So how long was I out?” I asked.

“19 hours and 46 minutes.” My eyebrows nearly raised off of my forehead. Nineteen hours was a long time to just lie on a bed. And forty six minutes? What was up with that?