CHAPTER 3: BENJAMIN
1523 Words
BEN
Life is a mystery—forreal.
The more you try to understand it, the more complex it gets.
My advice—don’t even try understanding it. Just live it as it unfolds.
If you try to understand it, you might go insane.
I'm Benjamin Howard by name. But most people call me Ben
A 23-year-old black male.
I've got a complex/toxic relationship with my dad.
I don't hate him—just don't agree with his lifestyle.
You'll agree with me if you get to meet him.
My mom, on the other hand, is the love of my life.
I love her very dearly.
She's the best mom anyone can have.
Very supportive, beautiful, relentless, resilient, hardworking, attentive, loving, to mention but a few of her good qualities.
But you don't wanna get on her bad side—you really don't.
Anyways, here I am, doing 120 on the highway—blasting Sam Smith's playlist loudly from my car speakers and singing at the top of my voice.
You know that feeling, when the lyrics of a song match your life and your current emotions? That's what their song does to me.
I need to clear my head cause I just had a very long day—the details I'll spare you.
Where I'm headed—I don't know.
Call me crazy. But you can't relate if you haven't experienced what I'm going through currently.
I know I said earlier that I need a distraction—but not the type to make me kill someone with my car by running them over.
That's what came to my mind immediately. I saw a figure crawling from out of the forest beside the road I'm on.
Slamming my foot on the brake pad violently and panicking—I brought the car to a stop just a few metres away from where the figure was lying.
Wow, that was a pretty close one.
Stepping out of my car, I moved towards the figure to confirm who they were.
You know that spooky beginning of an American horror movie—this is what this feels like.
I know we do criticize all these characters in a horror movie, when they see a potential danger and still approach it—but I couldn't bring myself to stop.
If I die for this foolish act, I'm one thousand percent sure that my whole family will be disappointed in me, and they will come for my soul, cause it's a dumb move, bruh.
I proceeded cautiously towards the figure and I realized it's a man—a black man.
Now, I hope and pray that I'm doing the right thing cause I'm trying to save a brother here.
I can see him clearly cause I didn't turn off my car's headlights—and it shone brightly on him.
He's wounded—seriously wounded.
Is he dead? Or just passed out?
I moved closer to him until I was standing over him.
One second, I saw his eyelids were slightly closed, they were twitching the next second, then, they weren't moving again.
His wounds look like a gunshot wound, and the other, is a big cut, probably from a sword?
Sword, really? Who uses a sword in this twenty-first century?.
Are thieves and bandits tired of guns already?
Judging from his wounds, it seems he was robbed or attacked by some dangerous people.
I can't help but wonder.
Well, I'll get an answer when he wakes up—hopefully.
I hurriedly bent down to check his pulse—it was very faint I could barely feel it.
Don't die on me now buddy. I prayed whilst lifting his body up slowly to take him to my car
Damn! This guy's as heavy as a rock.
What does he eat?—mountains? Cause he's so freaking heavy.
I half lifted, half dragged him to my car, and I put him in the back seat, making enough room to make him comfortable.
I was panting heavily after putting him there. T'was as if I just ran a marathon race.
I quickly closed the back door and jumped into the driver's seat as I zoomed off in search of the nearest hospital or clinic.
Luckily, there weren't many cars on the road, which made it easier for me to drive at a God-forbidden speed rate.
After about fifteen minutes of speeding and swerving in between the few cars I met on the road, I finally saw a hospital and I pulled over.
I ran inside, calling for the Doctors and Nurses that I had an emergency situation.
They quickly rolled out a gurney and followed me to my car.
It took me and three other nurses to lift him out of the car and place him on the gurney.
They quickly rolled him inside and I caught a glimpse of the surgical light before the gurney disappeared into the theater.
I was pacing around, unable to rest or calm down.
The nurses at the counter were giving me assuring words that he'll be okay, but I'm finding it difficult to believe them.
Why am I this worried over a stranger whom I don't know from Adam?
After a few hours, I was getting tired and hungry. I stepped out of the hospital—but not before giving the nurses my contact to call me if he wakes up before I return and I left to get some food.
I'm lucky KFC doesn't close early, cause it's very late already.
I pulled over and went inside to place my orders.
I returned about forty-five minutes later with takeouts because I couldn't bring myself to eat at the restaurant. So I brought the food back to the hospital.
When I got back, one of the nurses at the counter called me.
“We were just about calling your phone,” she said.
“He's out of the theater. He's now in ward 7A. He's still unconscious though, and we'll advise you not to disturb his sleep. You'll be allowed to go in there to see him” she told me with a sympathetic look.
“Thanks a lot,” I replied.
“You don't have to mention. It's our job” she responded.
“May I ask who he is to you? No offense, but we need to know if you're family or if we'll be needing to call his family,” she said whilst preparing her pen to write the information down.
I thought deeply before responding to her.
If I tell her I'm a stranger who saw him by the road, they'll ask for his family which I don't know, and it might take a long time cause he's unconscious and there's no ID on him.
“He's my friend” I lied.
“Is any of his relatives around or available so we can reach out to them?” she questioned
“No, they are out of the country” I lied again
“No problem sir. You can go in. But remember, do not wake him. And if he wakes up, call the doctor or any nurse around.” She instructed me.
“Thanks, nurse… Chloe,” I said, reading her name tag, which made her blush.
“The pleasure's mine,” she said, smiling.
I turned and started heading for the ward he's in.
“Oh, my bad. The Doctor calls for you. She told me
“Just take a turn to your right, you'll see her office. It's not easy to miss” she added
I nodded and followed her description, saw an office with the name tag “Dr. Julia” and I entered.
“Good morning Mam. It is I who brought the man taken to the theater. Remember me?” I asked while sitting down.
“Of course I do,” she replied with a smile.
She's white, beautiful, and has a beautiful smile.
She's got beautiful white teeth and a beautiful body to complement her looks. She looks astonishing.
She looks like she's in her early forties.
“He's lucky you brought him in when you did. Any further delay, he might've ended up dead” she explained.
“He's a fighter I must admit. Normally, any man with that level of injury would've died almost immediately. I'll say his guardian angel loves him dearly” she stated.
“I guess so,” I replied.
“So, who is he to you?” She asked
I gave her the same answer I gave the nurse at the counter.
“You are a good friend. He's lucky to have you as a friend” she stated.
“I'm flattered. But what are friends for?” I replied, smiling.
“Well yes, you're right”, she replied.
“The main reason I called for you is to let you know that there's a bit of an issue with treating him,” she said, which made my heart skip a beat.
Immediately after she finished her sentence, two cops came into the office.
Oh, Ben, your good heart has finally put you in trouble, I thought to myself.
- Writer
