Okay, so this is a small, YET IMPORTANT episode… hope you enjoy the Cost of Living!! It's 2010! Be happy! Also, thanks to my new readers... several people put me on alert lists and favorite lists yesterday, and it made me very, very happy. I'll write again tomorrow! ~Bryana
I sat calmly in my room, waiting for… well, I was just waiting for something, though I didn't know what. I felt hungry, which meant that Ben would probably walk in through the door with a plate of some kind of food and some water, then he would sit there and talk to me about random nothings. My feet swung back and forth as I wondered whether they really had spaghetti, and if the sauce would be good. After a long while, the door in the room on the other side of the window opened, and Ben walked in. I looked up at him and tried to smile. He didn't smile back.
"Hello, Carmen," He said. I noticed he didn't have any food with him. I got off the table.
"What's…"
"I can't explain why, Carmen, but unfortunately you have significantly less time to make your decisions," He said calmly, still maintaining his straight face.
"We made a deal," I said, thinking about the terms of our deal.
"I remember," He said. "You'll still get to do your visits with your friends, but we need to do them now. I'm going to come in, and then you'll see Jack." I nodded slowly, then he turned and left the room. I was nervous… this decision was being forced on me, and I couldn't stop it. Ben came in through the door in my room and held me by my wrist. We walked out of the room together. I noticed he walked with a certain tone of urgency and briskness. He opened a door, and I walked in to see Jack, in the same kind of room I was in. I was on the wrong side of the window, though. I walked to the window as Jack stepped forward on his side. "You have… five minutes, or so," Ben said, looking down at his watch. I nodded back at him as he walked out and shut the door. I looked at Jack, my hands placed on the glass as if to be closer to him.
"Hey," I said, smiling. He smiled back, putting his hand near where mine was on his side of the glass.
"Hey."
"How are they treating you?" I asked. Jack shook his head.
"Fine, they're… they're fine," He replied. I nodded, not taking my eyes off of him for fear of my short time with him. "Ben wants me to do surgery on him." I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.
"What?"
"Those x-rays? On the wall where we operated on the woman? They were Ben's… and he has a tumor," He said. I shook my head. "He wants me to operate…"
"Will you?" I asked, wanting to know where he stood. He shook his head and took an angered breath through his nose.
"No," He replied. I nodded, knowing it was his decision. I didn't know what to think of Ben, but I was afraid of him right now. I decided I needed to tell Jack.
"This is the last time I'm going to see you," I said. He looked up at me. I felt my stomach turn at my own words.
"What?" He asked, confused at my comment.
"They're," I started, but I paused, choking on the tears and nausea that I felt. "They're making me become one of them." He shook his head. "He said I could visit you all one last time, and then…"
"Who said?" Jack angrily asked, pressing closer to the glass.
"Ben," I sighed. A tear escaped. Jack was furious, but wanted to protect me. "Jack, I… there's nothing I can do," I told him, more tears breaking through. I leaned my forehead on the glass. "I'm sorry… I," I started, but the door opened behind me and a man, not Ben, came in. He grabbed my wrists, put them behind my back and tied them.
"Hey! Leave her alone!" Jack yelled, banging against the glass. I started crying, giving up on holding the tears down. The man pulled me off the glass and took me out of the room, Jack yelling the whole time.
I had been sitting alone in my room for multiple hours, I was sure. I hadn't eaten in a while… hadn't had any water… but I didn't care. My stomach turned with the anxious thoughts of what was to come, now that it couldn't be avoided. The door opened and Ben walked in on the other side of the window. He looked through the glass at me, silently.
"I changed my mind," I said. He just stared at me. "I can't do this, I can't… become one of your people. I'm sorry, I just…"
"That doesn't matter," Ben said. I looked up at him.
"What?" After a long pause he continued.
"Carmen, I came in here to tell you that I don't care," He said coldly. "What you want doesn't matter anymore." I looked up at him, afraid. "The only choice you have now is between coming calmly and seeing your other friends one last time, and not seeing them and coming anyway." I couldn't control my fear and sadness. I started crying, and tried to control my frantic breathing, but couldn't.
"Please…" I tried.
"What's it going to be?" He asked, making me all the more anxious. Tears rolled down my cheek. I nodded.
"Just let me see Sawyer again," I got out between my cries. He nodded, then left. I cried, desperate for a shoulder to lean on. I laid down on the table, crying into my arms.
Ohhh, poor Carmen. Why is Ben such an ass? Is he an ass? Or is Carmen the ass? Is anyone an ass? Will I ever stop talking? No body knows... lol read and review! I'll post again tomorrow!!!
