Negligence

(Day 31: Tuesday Afternoon)

"Ben," Fairy Godmother begins, her hands folded together on her desk. "I have asked you here to let you know that I got a visit from Nurse Sarah the other day."

"Oh," he glances down as he's hit with a great relief. When the teacher had gotten the call he had acted very serious about it, and the class oohing at the prospect of him being asked to the office didn't help. He had thought that it must have been something terrible, even though he had no idea of what that could have quite been. However, now that he thinks about it, this could be a potentially horrible situation as well. "Um. What did she tell you?"

"Well," Fairy Godmother frowns. "She came to me saying that she'd like to sue your parents for negligence."

Ben's mouth gapes open in shock, before he tries to cover it with a smile and partly laughs, "Ah. What did you tell her?"

"I told her that your parents have been nothing but supportive of the education system and that suing a royal would be arbitrary." Ben nods, and it takes a minute for the headmistress to continue. "Ben… I need to ask you. How is your home life? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Ben looks down. "It's fine."

"This is a safe space. You can tell me anything here."

Ben shakes his head, "There's nothing to tell. Everything is fine."

The headmistress smiles in concern, "You don't seem very sure about that."

Ben's quiet for a moment, "Sometimes it's weird, like things will feel unsettling for some reason. But really, everything is fine. We're almost as perfect as we portray ourselves to be."

Fairy Godmother nods, "Okay. But according to the nurse, you had an incredibly high fever and your parents refused to have you taken to the hospital."

Ben laughs with unease, "I wouldn't have been sent to the hospital. I would have been sent to the ER."

"And you do know what the ER is?" she asks.

"It's the Emergency Room," Ben answers in slight frustration.

"Which is reserved for emergencies." She looks over Ben carefully, "If you were in enough of a critical state to be sent to the emergency room, then it was very serious."

Ben is quiet for a second, as he stares at her blankly, "You're not telling me anything I don't already know."

She looks at him seriously, "Did you know that under normal circumstances you would probably be in Child Protective Service's custody right now, until either the charges are seen as false or your parents are deemed fit to have custody of you?"

Ben shuts his eyes and shakes his head, "I'm king of the throne. That couldn't happen."

"Which is why I said 'under normal circumstances'," the fairy godmother reminds him, "but that doesn't make what's happened any less serious." She pauses. "I know that as a royal, you may feel as though there's no way out, but there's always a solution."

Ben shakes his head, "No. I'm fine." before he stares into her eyes. "My parents were just looking out for me. I didn't want to go to the emergency room any more than they wanted to take me there."

The headmistress seems put aback by the information, "Would you like to explain why."

Ben is quiet for a long minute, "It's… I have this medical thing." and he watches as the fairy godmother appears to listen intently. "Only my family's doctor, my parents, and I know how to treat me when I'm unwell. Going to the ER would have done more harm than good."

"A medical thing?" Fairy Godmother asks. "What kind of medical thing?"

"The kind I'm not supposed to talk about," Ben angrily answers, before he attempts a long, calming breath. "It's nothing. I'm fine. Really."

"It doesn't sound like nothing," the headmistress debates, "and something this serious really should be listed in your school file."

Ben's quiet for a moment, "It can't."

"Why not?"

"I don't know why," he replies in frustration. "It— it just can't."

Fairy Godmother watches as Ben settles himself down again, "Who told you it can't?" Ben doesn't answer. "Was it your parents?" He looks up at her. "It was them."

Ben eyes the wall behind her, "What I have… it doesn't even have a name. You wouldn't be able to put it in my file, even if I were to tell you."

"But if you end up in the nurse's office again—"

"That won't happen," Ben interrupts. "I'm not supposed to go to the nursing offices. I just ended up there last week, because I was being an idiot and forgot to take my medicine. When my fever got too high I passed out, and then I was taken there against my will."

"So, you take medication?" the headmistress inquires.

"Nothing prescribed," Ben answers, "but it is a requirement my doctor has set." The fairy godmother nods. "So. Now that you know my parents aren't being neglectful, may I please leave?"

"In a minute," she evenly replies. "I'd actually like to review what you said earlier about things being unsettling at home."

"Unsettling," Ben repeats.

"Yes. I'd like to know how it's unsettling."

Ben shrugs, "I'm not sure. It just feels that way sometimes." but the fairy godmother doesn't respond. "It's like there's these secrets that are being kept from me… or conversations that I'm simply not a part of."

Fairy Godmother partly smiles, "Anything else."

It takes a moment for Ben to note, "I think they fight sometimes." and he frowns as he looks down. "There are times at dinner where it's quieter— or even times where my mom will sit farther away from him." He looks up at her and sees her concern, "But every couple fights. It doesn't mean anything."

The headmistress hesitates to question, "Ben… You said that you think your parents may have fought. Have you ever gotten into a fight with them, with your father perhaps?"

"I mean, yeah. Of course," Ben frowns. "He doesn't like every decision I've made as king, so there have been some arguments."

"Do these arguments usually include shouting?"

Ben almost laughs, "Don't most?"

It takes a moment for Fairy Godmother to ask, "Does he do other things when you two get into these arguments?"

Ben remembers when his father had leaned on the small table and how when he pushed up on it the table had been tossed across the room. He remembers hearing the vase break and how the white lilacs and red tiger lilies had already scattered over the floor by the time his mom had come, but whatever expression his father had of which had held Ben's attention is not remembered. "No. He didn't."

"I see," Fairy Godmother slowly responds, and when Ben looks up at her she questions, "Does your father get angry often?"

"There are times when he feels unwell," Ben acknowledges, "but when he's like that he's not usually around us… or, at least, I won't be around him. Like, he won't attend dinner or I will be told to go elsewhere."

"So, your mother is around him when he's— how did you put it— unwell?"

"Sometimes." Ben nods, "Yes."

"And to your knowledge," she uneasily asks, "has he ever hurt your mother?"

"Hurt?" Ben questions, as he remembers back to when he was little and they had been swimming in the pool in the back yard. He must have seen it dozens— or even hundreds— of times before then, but that was the first time he had asked. He remembers how she had looked over her shoulder and used her hand to trace over the scars on her back, as if they were something she'd completely forgotten about. It's nothing, honey. Just a little accident I had with your father back when he was the beast.

"Ben?"

Ben frowns, "Sorry. I was just surprised that you would ask that, but no. No. He doesn't do that."

"To your knowledge," Fairy Godmother comments.

"No," Ben insists. "There's no knowledge to it. He loves her. He would never do anything to her."

The headmistress carefully responds, "I know you've taken the classes, even the ones that weren't required. Surely you know it isn't always so simple… People can hurt the ones they love with no ill intent involved at all."

He shakes his head, "No. It's not like that." before he pauses, flustered. "No. I told you that I thought they were fighting, and then you twisted my words and turned it into something criminal." He looks at her, "My family is as nice, perfect, and normal as any other can be, regardless of whatever mishaps we have had along the way. We pull through, and we protect each other. We survive." The fairy godmother remains quiet. "The way my family operates… it's very supportive and stable, and in the end it doesn't matter if I have this medical condition or if my father has an occasional emotional sensitivity. Because, in the end we have each other, and that's all that matters."

She frowns, "No family is perfect, Ben."

He pierces his eyes at her, "Which is why I said 'as any can be'." before he glances at the clock. "Can I leave now?" She quietly nods, and then he paces to the door.

-I almost feel like she should tell him to wait and not go so soon, but I got to the end of the page and I hate leaving only one or two paragraphs or sentences onto the next. Sadly, one chapter is all you're getting for tonight. Let me know what you thought.