Long Away

Chapter 31

That night, Ben didn't get even a minute of sleep. By the time a nurse came to check on him in the morning, he was barely able to keep his eyes open.
"Good morning!", the woman said in a way too cheerful tone. Ben forced himself to smile.
She placed a plastic tray on the bedside table.
"Here is your breakfast," she said.
"You are scheduled for an MRI at ten o'clock, but I can send a doctor your way before that if you want?"

"I don't think that will be necessary," Ben politely declined. Truthfully, he just didn't know what he would say.
"Alright. Should I bring you a washcloth after you are done with your breakfast or do you think you can make it to the bathroom? It's right over there."
The nurse pointed at a door to an en-suite on the other side of the room.
"I haven't tried to stand up, but I feel alright," Ben said.
"Very well. You will find what you need by the sink. Is there anything else I can do for you right now?"
Ben shook his head.
"Thank you, I'm good."

The nurse left, and Ben removed the lid from his plate to inspect his breakfast. As expected, it was pretty scarce. Two sad slices of whole-wheat bread were laying next to a tiny bowl of what appeared to be some kind of cheese. It did not look like anything Ben wanted to put into his mouth. He ate the bread as it was before moving on to the peanuts and chips Deaky had left him.

When he was full, he carefully stood up and walked over to the bathroom. He was a bit dizzy, but as he had been laying still for so many hours he thought nothing of it. After washing himself and brushing his teeth, he already felt somewhat better.

Somebody knocked on the door, and he peaked out of the bathroom. It was the nurse from earlier who had come to take the empty tray with her again.
"Everything alright?", she asked Ben.
"Yes, I'm fine."
"That's good to hear. There is a visitor for you outside, a mister Roger Taylor. Can I let him in?"
"Yes, please do," Ben said, and hoped he didn't sound quite as excited as he was.

The nurse held the door open for Roger before she left. Ben couldn't stop himself from laughing when he saw his boyfriend coming in with a grin on his face and a large bouquet of flowers in his hands.
"Rog, that really was not necessary!"
"I disagree," Roger said, and placed the flowers on Ben's bedside table before pulling him into a tight hug. Ben closed his eyes as he nuzzled his face into the taller man's neck.

"How is my sweet boyfriend feeling today?", Roger asked, and ran his hands up and down Ben's back.
"Since when so attentive?", Ben asked surprised.
"You say that as if I never am," Roger complained.
"You know what I mean. This is a little more than usual."
"Well, what do you think? You really scared me last night."

Roger gave Ben a light peck on the lips.
"So, tell me, how do you feel?"
"Better. Especially now that you're here."
He felt Roger smiling against his lips when he kissed him back.
"You're cute, you know that?", Roger whispered softly. Ben smiled.
"So are you."

They sat down on the bed and talked for the next few hours, until another nurse came in.
"I quickly need to get a blood sample," she explained to Ben.
"We need to see if you have any deficiencies that caused you to lose consciousness."
"Alright," Ben said.
He rolled up the sleeve of his shirt and Roger stepped aside to make room for the nurse to do her work.

When Ben saw the syringe she was holding, his stomach dropped. There wasn't anything unusual about it, neither did Ben have a problem with needles or blood. But for some reason, the sight of it caused him to feel unwell.
"Are you okay?", Roger asked when he noticed the look on Ben's face.
The nurse, who had been spraying sanitizer on Ben's arm, looked up.
"You are a little pale," she said.
"Are you feeling dizzy again? Do you want to lay down?"

Ben swallowed.
"It's fine."
It wasn't fine. Ben clenched his teeth. He was wondering why he had this reaction. Somehow it felt like the syringe was subconsciously reminding him of something, but he couldn't think of any incident that would explain this. He looked away when the nurse drew his blood.

Only five minutes after she left, Ben was picked up by a doctor for his MRI. Roger was sent to the waiting room in the meantime. The MRI took about half an hour. After she looked over the results of the scan, the doctor asked Ben to follow her into her office.
"Please take a seat."
She motioned to a chair across from her desk.

They both sat down, and she laid out Ben's files in front of her.
"So, Mr Jones, the MRI doesn't show anything, so there shouldn't be any lasting damage. How do you feel now? Do you still have headaches or anything else?"
Ben hesitated. Clearly something was wrong, but should he bring it up? He wasn't going to at first, but now more and more weird things kept happening, and it was really starting to creep him out.

Then again, it wasn't safe to tell any stranger even half of his true circumstances. It would be best to share his concerns with just Freddie and Brian.
"No, I feel completely fine." Ben put on a convincing smile.
The doctor took some notes.
"Alright, that is good. In that case I don't see a reason to keep you here longer. Or would you prefer it to stay for another night for observation?"

"No thank you, I don't think anything will happen," Ben said. He felt relieved that he was given the choice to go home. This place was not good for his nerves.
"Very well. I would suggest you come in for a follow up check in two weeks though. If any symptoms come up before that, you can also come earlier," the doctor said.
"I will do that," Ben agreed.

She gave him an appointment and Ben was free to go. When he peeked into the waiting room, he saw that nobody else was there other than Roger, who was flipping through a car magazine.
"Hello there, handsome stranger," Ben said in a flirtatious tone as he walked in.
"Come here often?"
Roger looked up from his personalized porn.

"No, luckily not."
"Wanna go somewhere else then?", Ben asked.
Roger's face lit up.
"Are you released?"
"Yes, I am."
Roger jumped up and wrapped his arms around Ben.
"Woah there. That's quite a lot of enthusiasm. Your place or mine?"
Roger chuckled.
"Makes no difference to me."

***
Hey guys!

Today is a special day! It's my dear friend Itsametaphorjoe 's birthday!
If you haven't already, (which would surprise me honestly), definitely check out her stories, they are all amazing.
So, to celebrate her birthday, you all get two chapters. Pretty exciting, right?

Tay