Fallen

Chapter Two

"Ben?" I knocked on his door before I entered.

Ben sat on the sofa, a tablet in his hands. He looked over this shoulder. A smile erupted on his face, his grey eyes went straight to my skirt. "Well, don't you look good in that skirt."

"Oh, shut it." I walked to the sofa. For the first time in his life, his bedroom was clean. Before there had been things littered everywhere. When I first saw the room months ago, it had surprised me that Ben's bedroom was so unkempt since he as a person was clean and organized.

When Ben was transported to York, Amelia had gone into nesting mode and cleaned his entire room. Ben wasn't happy about the clean, because he didn't know where his things were, but it was the doctor's orders for him to be in a nonhazardous environment.

I undid the tie and the first few buttons of my white shirt underneath my Alliance jacket. "Let's go for a walk." I stuck out my elbow for him to take.

"I already went on one. With Audrey. She was peppering me questions about the trip. It wasn't a walk at all. More like an interrogation."

"Oh boohoo. Get up."

Ben gave me one of his genuine smiles. That beautiful smile reminded me of a time when he hadn't smiled. When I first met him, he had been straight faced and withdrawn. That was a difficult time for him. He was mourning the death of his mentor. He still hadn't told me the story of what happened.

Setting down his tablet, Ben rose. He was still sore and his energy was low since Liam shot him three weeks ago. The doctor had prescribed at least three walks a day along with other therapies and medication. It would be a slow healing process but he would heal.

It was strange. When my knee was injured during the mountain simulation all those months ago, my knee healed almost instantly. But delicate areas, like the heart and lungs, took a long time to heal. It showed how much we advance in some areas and not as much in others.

He took my extended elbow and waved to the door. "Lead the way Chief."

I poked him carefully in the ribs. "Watch it."

We exited the bedroom and walked down the hall at a leisurely stroll. Our arms hooked. Ben no longer needed the extra support of my arm as he walked, but I enjoyed the contact.

"So, the doctor said I could start work tomorrow."

"Oh?" I shot an eyebrow up.

"Light work, mind you." He gave me a pointed look. "Like paperwork."

"Good, it's about time you got off your ass."

This time, Ben lightly nudged me with his elbow. "And you are back on the field."

We reached the end of the hall and turned to the right down another hall. I rolled my eyes. "So, you get well enough to work and that means I have to start too?"

Ben looked down at me, his lips in a half smile. "Yes, that means you too. You had three weeks off."

"Well, they weren't really relaxing weeks." I didn't have to tell him that I spent a lot of my time not getting sleep. He knew that from the dark bags underneath my eyes. What he didn't know was why I wasn't getting sleep.

Some of it had to do with him. For a time, we didn't know if he would make a full recovery. But most of my sleeplessness came from the nightmares I had. Since our arrival in York, the horrors I witnessed in the Wasteland would override my mind at night.

I knew I should visit Doctor Hunt for some sleeping medication. My hesitation was due to my stubbornness that they would go away on their own. Plus, I didn't want anyone to know. People would start fussing. Better to suffer alone than have people ask how my sleep schedule was.