The boat was docked, and Ben was pulled up and out of it by the two Dharma men.
They had traveled quite a distance, and had finally arrived at a place that Ben had never been before, nor knew existed. It was another island, located some miles from the shore of the original one he had come from. Ben twisted around curiously to see his island; it was large and stood as if beckoning him or taunting him to try to return through the turbulent waters that separated them from one another.
"Come on." Grunted one of the men as the two Dharma workers tugged Ben along -- one holding each arm -- through a path of jungle trees and wild bushes. Ben looked up at the two men; both had their eyes focused forward on their destination, neither looked at him or each other.
Ben wondered anxiously where they were going to take him and what was going to be done with him once he got there. As the three continued onward, the path began to widen and the trees thinned, until the area began to look clear and a large bluish-grey building was visible, standing tall with balconies on the upper stories. Ben was studying the building that was suspended up high above, and it wasn't until they had begun to pass some cages on the ground level that he looked to see that there were actual, live polar bears inside them.
Ben halted despite his current situation, and stared at the two male white bears that walked in circles in their encampment looking agitated and frustrated. Across from them, were some more bears, in a larger cage, lying listlessly on the ground as if they were bored out of their minds, almost as if they were aware that there was no getting out and they had given up all hope to find a way to escape. It was clear that each cage of bears were treated differently than the other.
Ben wasn't sure which group had it best, as it seemed that neither of them were in the better situation. Ben was momentarily transfixed with the great animals and the contrasting issues they were experiencing, when the two men pulled him, reminding him that he had to keep moving.
The image of the bears was still in his reeling mind, as he was guided into the tall building that Ben could now see bore a Dharma octagon label, engraved in the center of the octagon was a strange mythological creature called a hydra. This building looked like a sort of testing facility as they entered. It was a dark interior, with many hallways of numbered doors. Ben was beginning to feel somewhat disassociated in the whole matter, as if it wasn't really happening to him. He was feeling so overwhelmed with all the different imagery and the insecurity of what would happen to him, that surely it had to be a dream.
The two men brought Ben down one of the corridors of doors and opened one, number 2. It a white room that only had a single white bed (that resembled a gurney) standing in the middle of the room. Ben raised his eyes to see that up above was a window where observers could sit and watch him. He opened his mouth realizing what was to happen next, when the men pushed Ben inside alone without a word, and shut the door, securely locking it from the outside.
Ben suddenly felt fearful at this sudden encampment in this lonely room. He didn't want to be left inside there alone and with no idea how long it would be until someone returned for him. Ben ran to the door and pounded his fists on it crying out for someone to open the door. His wrists grew sore as he hit them repeatedly against the hard surface until finally resigning himself, he gave up. Ben staggered to the bed, and fell into it, sobbing until he fell asleep.
His dreams were troubled. Ben stood on a cliff edge staring out over the water- the other island visible from this view. Swimming across the blue ocean waters were white polar bears, they were escaping their capture. Ben raised his eyes as an eagle soared over his head, missing him by inches and then raising up into the morning sky. Suddenly the sky grew dark, blackness began to engulf the entire island and Ben felt as if he were going to be swallowed up in it. A deep laughter arose as if amused by his sufferings, and Ben moved backward, tripping over his own feet and falling down the hill, rolling and tumbling, until he fell into a pile of leaves.
It was calm again, and Ben felt safety around him. A hand touched his shoulder, and Ben looked up to see the face of the person touching him, but it was too bright….
"Benjamin. Benjamin?" Ben opened his eyes to see a man in a white lab coat was bent over him. He wore large glasses and had a lopsided grin on his face, trying to be friendly, though the kindness didn't really reach his bespectacled eyes.
"Hi there." The man spoke like a small child's television spokesman. Ben stared at him for a moment, feeling apprehensive and unsure. He had no way of knowing how long he had been inside the white room or what time it was, or how long the man had been in there with him. His knuckles were still red from pounding them on the door what seemed like hours and hours ago.
"And how are you doing, Benjamin?" The doctor asked, "Are you doing O.K.?"
Ben nodded in reply, still studying the stranger who proceeded to turn away and begin to busy himself with a table of medical instruments that were on a table that he had brought inside with him. Ben sat upright and glanced at the door; it was closed tightly, and Ben couldn't help but wonder if it was unlocked yet or not. "When am I going home?" Ben asked. The doctor didn't answer him right away, putting a syringe into a bottle of unmarked Dharma medicine.
"When am I going home?" Ben repeated louder, looking warily at the needle as the Doctor drew it out of the bottle, it looked long and sharp, glittering in the bright fluorescent lights.
"Soon." The man replied shortly, setting the bottle down and tapping the needle with his fingernail.
"Why do I have to stay here?" Ben asked.
"You're here to be rehabilitated, Benjamin. Do you know what 'rehabilitated' means?" Ben nodded, he wasn't as ignorant as this doctor was treating him.
"Good. Now, Ben, I'm afraid you're going to have to take this now, this is for your health. It will only be a little needle prick, alright? It won't hurt a bit. Now, hold out your arm…" The doctor moved toward him with the needle. Unwilling to disobey, Ben reluctantly gave the doctor his arm. He didn't make a sound as the needle punctured his skin, though the feeling made his eyes burn, he didn't verbally object. The doctor removed the needle with a smile, patting Ben on the shoulder.
"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Ben didn't reply and the doctor went and set the needle down on the table. "We just want to make you better, Benjamin."
Ben, all at once, began to feel very relaxed, as if his muscles were all numb.
The door to the room opened, and some more men in white lab coats entered the room, picking him up and carrying him to a room with a "23" marked on the door. They brought him inside, and sat him down in a chair, putting his head in a rest, they pulled goggles over his eyes, and hooked up his arms, an IV needle was inserted into his hand gently. It was all very dream-like and the sounds of the men moving about began to become muffled and distorted.
He didn't know when the film had begun, only that it had, and it played in front of his vision, very colorfully and vibrant. Images flashed in front of his eyes of doll faces, Buddhist statues, fish, and different coins. Ben watched, transfixed in this odd vertigo of spinning imagery as he listened to the messages that were being preached.
Time lapsed for what seemed to be forever, and Ben was only aware of the facial mask being pulled off. Ben's eyes fluttered shut from the bright light emanating from the doorway. "He's had enough." A muffled voice said. He was picked up and carried away back to his room and laid down.
Ben lay there in a haze, with his eyes closed. He heard scraping footsteps and a closing door.
With a loud clanging noise, the lights went out and Ben was left in total blackness.
A/N: Thanks to all of you for sticking with the story and reading it, I really appreciate the reviews and feedback! I apologize for taking a while to update- you all keep me motivated to continue writing, so thank you for that!! I began to think about the room that Karl had been placed inside (Room 23) in season three of lost and decided it must be a rehabilitation room, (perhaps designed with hostiles in mind) in hopes to save their mental health with a series of mental drugs, brainwashing videos and positive messages that are supposed to change the way of a person's deranged thinking. And, Who better to place inside one of these rehabilitation room than Ben? Haha, after all, he did say that he hated needles…