In every hospital, the last place anyone wanted to be, beside the morgue, is the waiting room. Here, in a medical center of a secret underground facility, sits a teenage boy dressed in a heavy black combat robe. He is hunched forward, running his hand through his partially spiky blonde hair that was now a mess. His foot tapped with impatience at time crawled by.
“Yo! Ben!”
Ben turned his head. A man was walking up to him from down the hall. His straight-lined face had a huge grin on it with pearly white teeth. His hand was outstretched, ready for a hand-shake. Ben would have never guessed that this was a doctor if it wasn’t for the lab coat and the stethoscope around his neck.
“Hey, Dr. Jacobs.” Ben said weakly.
“Benny-boy!” The doctor stood in front of him. He wasn’t so cheery anymore. His brown eye brown curved with concern. “You are by yourself?”
“Robert had to talk to Dimo; Antoine and Matthew left to fill out paperwork. I felt like staying here.”
The man turned to see the operating room doors. They read: “IN USE.” So he was waiting for her, wasn’t he? “When will they say she will be out?” he asked.
Ben shrugged. Not a response a doctor wanted from his friend, let alone a patient.
“Listen.” He sat next to the boy. “You did what you could about the girl. You save her life and the lives of everyone else. She is going to be fine. She is in good hands.”
Ben nodded. “I know doc.” He still stared at the doors. Apparently, that wasn’t what was bothering him and Dr. Jacobs had a hint on what it was. “I heard about your little brush with death. I came immediately to check on you. How do you feel?”
Ben didn’t answer and looked up at him. The doctor instantly saw that he didn’t have to speak. His could see the story unfold in the boy’s eyes and from the sadness, worry, and fatigue on his face.
“Never mind. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I understand.” Dr. Jacobs said to him. He pulled out antibacterial wipes and gauzes, and got to work on Ben’s wounds.
Meanwhile, the boy kept his gaze on the doors as his mind dragged him back to the nostalgic world; so far away out of his reach. A place he dreamed with all his heart that he could go back to.
A couple of years ago-
The wind caressed his face. The morning sun embraced him warmly and suddenly, he was wide awake. He walked onto the beaches of L.A. with a surfboard in his arm. Today was going to bring big waves. He always had a knack to foretell such luck, didn’t he?
“Hey, Ben!”
A boy his age came running to him. His soft brown hair bounced as he jogged with a camcorder in his hand. A pair of bright red shorts made him stick out more than his humorous attitude.
“What’s up John?” Ben said. They fist bumped, a little thing they’ve always done to greet each other.
“Nothin’ much. You ready? The news said they’ll be big ones today.”
“I know. I heard. You got enough tapes?”
“Yeah. Well,” he looked out to see a gigantic wave coming in the distance. “I hope you can keep up. I’m gonna’ bust some new moves.” Ben ran off to take on the seas. Behind him, he could hear John’s cries of excitement. Let’s give him a show, shall we?
He got onto his stomach and let the water carry him out to sea. Soon, he began to paddle as he kept his eyes on a wave. The size was perfect, like all the ones he practiced with. It was time.
Ben eased himself up the wave. Balancing onto his feet, he rode upwards in order to gain the momentum and air he needed to do a trick. As the seconds ticked by, he gave himself a quick moment to take in the thrill of being on top of this majestic water wave. He opened himself to the wind blowing through his wet blonde hair and the seawater glide through his fingers. Then, he went back to game-mode. With the momentum, he leaped to complete his tail-whip followed by his twist in the air. The end the move, he landed with perfection back onto the dying wave. He did it!
Ben turned to look at John who was standing on shore. He was jumping up and down with exhilaration. A shiny flash told him that his move was going to be remembered forever on John’s tapes. He threw his hands in the air and yelled in joy. What a great way to start off the morning!
When he opened his eyes, he saw as small crowd gather where John was. They had seen him too! But something didn’t look right. At first, he thought they were waving and cheering for him. Then he looked closely to see that they were also pointing behind him.
“What are they-“Ben didn’t have time to finish his sentence. A wave had crept up behind him and was approaching at an alarming speed. He didn’t have time to move out of the way before a large amount of water collided into him.
How embarrassing. He mentally kicked himself for not being more careful. That was probably on the tapes too. No matter he would be alright when he broke surface.
Ben opened his eyes. He was underwater. It was peaceful despite the turbulent atmosphere above. He wished he could stay there forever, just living among the tranquil creatures of the ocean. No, it was a dream that could never come true. He was human and in need of air.
There was shadow below him. Ben looked down. That couldn’t be right. How could…? He saw it. A enormous black figure was circling under him. A shark? The size wasn’t right. The creature, whatever it was much bigger than any shark he saw in his life, and he saw many. What’s more, this thing had dark red eyes.
Ben squirmed in fright. Those eyes were purely evil. It would have no problem eating him. Ben scrambled to get topside.
The monster followed him, mouth open to devour him in one bite. Ben saw it’s razor teeth and almost felt them on his skin. NO!
With one last move, he desperately kicked hoping his foot would reach its target, the nose. Surprisingly, Ben’s foot reached its mark and the beast cringed away. It was clearly in pain. Their eyes met just before it sped off. It would come for revenge that was certain. There was no doubt. If it did, Ben knew he would be here, waiting for it.
John was at Ben’s side as he trudged up the beach.
“Dude! You okay! That was a nasty wipeout back-“
Ben brushed him off. “I’m fine.”
Another person was there too. It was a lifeguard. “We got worried when you didn’t come up.” He said, stopping Ben to examine him. “What were you doing under there for so long?”
Ben didn’t answer him. What could he say? That he almost got eaten by a big black sea monster? He would immediately sent to the ER for a concussion.
“Dude! Your foot!” John was pointing at his foot. It was turning purple. The hint of green slime between his toes made Ben’s blood run cold.
“What did you do?” The lifeguard asked him.
“I must have hit my board.” He replied. Everyone gave him strange looks but didn’t argue with him. He had a way with people. Sometimes, it came with an advantage.
A couple of hours later, Ben was back where he belonged, on the beach. He sat there, watching the waves and pondering about what he just survived. What was that thing anyway?
“Hey, dude.” John sat down next to him. “How’s the foot?”
Ben glanced at the cast that covered his foot. The first person to sign it was his mother, who took the injury well enough. She had even comforted him with is favorite breakfast meal, chocolate chip pancakes light dressed in warm maple syrup. He breathed in the faint aroma. “It’s doing alright.”
“What happened out there, man?”
“I don’t know, dude. I don’t know. Maybe I will one day.” One day.
A huge feeling overcame him. Ben felt it as he watched the waves roll in from the outer edge of the sea. He thought about how hundreds of years ago, that horizon represented the unknown world out waiting to be explored. Now, we seem to know everything, destroying the longing for adventure or thrill. One can’t be daring anymore without risking a ticket or unhappy loved ones. Exploration was the thing of the past. Today’s encounter changed all that. Right?
“Ben?” He turned around to see a man standing behind him. Suddenly, the vision faded. “ … Ben!”
Ben snapped back to the present. He found himself looking up at a guard. He was standing in front of him holding out a piece of paper. Ben took it from him.
“The Mission Report.” The guard explained briefly. “Dimo wants it by the end of tomorrow and he also wants to see you ASAP. He sent me to give it to you.”
Back to work. “Thanks.” Ben said.
The guard gripped his machine gun and nodded. Turning on his heel, he walked off.
Dr. Jacobs was nowhere to be seen. The only evidence of his visit was the prescription note on the seat where he sat. It was more of a note than a doctor’s order. “Hey Ben.” It read. “I bandaged you up, as you can see. You have a few bruises around your body and your face but a trip to the medic should fix that. I would recommend some herbs and sleep. You look like you need it. Hang in there! Your friend that an apple can’t keep away- Dr. Jacobs. P.S. Tell Robert to check in with me too.”
Ben smiled and pocketed the note. He would be glad to pass the reminder to a certain friend who wasn’t a fan of doctor visits.
The empty report was still in his hand. Ben looked at the doors. They were still closed and occupied. She was in safe hands. He would catch up with her when she woke up. Till then, he had a lot of work to do.
Ben sighed. “Time to get started.” He said as he got up and walked down the hallway.
A minute later the doors burst open and a girl on a gurney was wheeled away. Two nurses walked out and sat in the chairs. One of them immediately sat straight up, sniffing the air hungrily.
“Hey, is it just me or do you smell chocolate-chip pancakes?”