Ruin: Part One

Chapter 14




"Is Dr. Foster working?" Yes, that's right. I do not know how to listen when it concerns my own well-being. Everything Noah said to me has gone through my own personal filter and I've come to the conclusion that I need to know what the f*ck is going on.

The woman behind the bustling information desk taps a few keys on her computer keyboard. "He's here. He's working in ER. It's that way." Her finger juts past me towards double doors.

"I know the way," I say back to her even though she's now barking an order to someone on the other end of a phone call.

I step through the doors into a world that is chock-full of noise, dozens of people sitting in an overcrowded waiting room and hospital staff milling about.

I know enough to not ask the women at the desk about Ben. I can tell by the crowd of people gathered in front of them that their hands are full. I came here to see him. I'll wait until he has a moment.

"Kayla?" His voice calls from the left as if on cue. "What's wrong?"

He's beside me in an instant, his hand flying to my hairline. "Is it your head? Are you still experiencing headaches?"

I stare at him, soaking in the image of him in a lab coat, a stethoscope strung loosely around his neck. I've never seen him like this. The night I was in the ER he was still dressed in jeans and a sweater. Now, he officially looks like a doctor. Where is the horrible person that Noah talked about? How can a man who has devoted his life to helping people heal be as bad as Noah says he is? "No, it's fine."

"Are you sick?" He motions behind me towards a nurse. "Let's get you into a room."

"I'm not sick." I lean closer to him. "That's not why I'm here."

He holds his hand up to stop a woman who is throwing numbers at him at breakneck speed. "I'm busy, Lynette. I'll be there shortly."

The huff that escapes her lips is audile. "We're very busy, Dr. Foster. Make it quick."

My eyes bolt to the side to her face. She's frustrated with his dismissal. She doesn't make eye contact with me at all.

"Give me a moment, I said." Ben's eyes don't leave mine. "This is important."


"Fine," she bites the word out in a hiss. It's obvious by her tone that it's anything but fine.

"Ben," I whisper his name quietly for no reason than to temper everything I'm feeling. "You shouldn't have walked out on me the other night."

"Christ, I was an idiot about that." His hand clenches in a fist on his chest. "It wasn't right. I can't tell you how sorry I am. I panicked when you were talking about Noah."

"I talked to him about you."

His jaw tenses slightly. It shifts the structure of his face and a glimpse of Noah is there for an instant. "You told him I was your lover?"

I feel the word roar with full force to my core. Lovers? We haven't defined it. I hadn't. Ben had, obviously. "No. I just told him that I met you."

He nods his head slightly. "What did he say?"

"He knew you worked here." I point to the floor. "I told him you helped me when I got hurt."

He leans forward slightly, pivoting on his shoe. "He told you to stay away from me, didn't he?"

I nod. "I want to know why."

He pulls on the collar of his lab coat, adjusting it slightly. "I should be off by eleven but it's never that simple." His hand drifts towards the waiting room.

"I understand," I say wishing that he could just walk away from his responsibilities here for an hour so he could explain to me what happened between him and his brother. My entire being is telling me that the issue isn't as serious as Noah has made it out to be. I've been with Ben. I've felt the tenderness in his touch. I've been nursed back to health by him. I don't see the evil that lives beneath the surface that Noah claims is there.

His name wafts through the air over the public announcement system.

"I need to go." His lips brush against mine in a gentle kiss. "I'll text you when I'm done here."

He grazes past me in his rush to help others. Right now, at this very moment in time, I wish I was the one he was helping.