Hannah looked at him stunned. Ben saw the look and explained. “I didn’t know who he was when I met him here. I just returned from Austin, Texas where I was doing some work for a company called Sturn Enterprises. The chief engineer told me the CEO was in Las Vegas bailing his son out of jail for assaulting a prostitute. He said the man’s name was Ray Sturn. He told me the whole story about how bad this guy was. How he drove his first wife to commit suicide. How he hurt people all the time and was a mean drunk.” Ben twitched but seemed unaware of it. “I got back and I thought the new neighbor’s name was Eli Beaumont. I stupidly never connected the two together.” Ben thought about that madman still on the loose.
“You have to do something for me.” Hannah looked nervously at his restraints. “Call Tina and give her a message.” She relaxed. “The code to my workshop. 1-9-7-3-#. If there’s trouble she is to get everyone inside and press the red button on the wall under the flip up plastic plate. The shop doubles as a panic room. The room will seal and the police will be called. To re-open the door AFTER the police arrive she just presses the red button again for three seconds. Can you tell her that?”
“Yes. Now, how are you doing?” Hannah asked.
“There are holes in my memory. I’m just noticing. I don’t know how long it’s been happening. It’s scary.” Ben admitted.
“Dr. Granger and I have spoken with Tina and Catherine. They’ve indicated that you’ve been having moments where you seem to… go away. It’s only been recent though and it seems to be combined with headaches and nightmares. When you were brought in we gave you an MRI and a battery of other tests and found nothing physical to explain these symptoms. Physically you’re healthy as a horse. Dr. Granger has some ideas but she’ll speak to you about that.” Hannah said brushing the hair from his forehead. Ben pressed back against her fingers as best he could.
Hannah smiled down at Ben and leaned down to kiss his forehead but he tilted his head up intentionally this time to reach her lips. She stopped before she reached him and looked into his eyes. He looked lost and he was looking for a connection. She allowed her head to descend further until her lips were lightly brushing his. His breath caught and he gently pressed his mouth against hers. He stroked her bottom lip with his and it was Hannah’s turn to gasp as tingles raced down her spine. He captured her top lip between his lips and gently nibbled his way to the corner of her mouth. Hannah was trembling and rested her hand on his powerful chest feeling it rise and fall with his breathing and the thump of his quickly beating heart.
Ben sucked at Hannah’s lower lip and ran his teeth over its surface tantalizingly. Hannah wanted to pull off her tight business suit and to climb on Ben but… he needed her help more than he needed this.
She closed her eyes tight and pressed her lips against his one last time before she pulled back, escaping the almost magnetic pull of his mouth. Ben’s eyes were half lidded and searched hers when she reopened them.
“You need to get better Ben. Speak with the doctor, ok? Let her in. Let her help you. Please!” Hannah gasped quietly. Ben couldn’t trust his voice so he just nodded while he kept his eyes on hers. She pulled away and walked from the room not looking back. Not wanting to see the effect she’d had on his body. Stepping out the door she stumbled to a stop as she almost bumped into Dr. Granger. Her face went red as she realized the doctor had seen everything.
“Checking up on me Dr. Granger?” she asked roughly.
“Confirming my faith in you was justified.” the doctor replied.
“Well?”
“It was.” Granger smiled. She walked back towards her office and Hannah followed after a moment.
Once they were seated the doctor unlocked her drawer and pulled out a thick dossier. She looked at Hannah. “Ben’s past. His foster care records.”
“How did you get them so fast?” Hanna gasped.
“I’d like to say it was magic but the fact is they were here in the building! The original Child Welfare Office was in the basement of the hospital years ago. Now it’s just records storage. My contact at Child Services got back to me and he told me that for records as old as the ones I wanted they’d be in the stored here. I went down to the basement and the filing clerk there is a savant and found Ben’s records in minutes. Some of these were sealed by the court but as his doctor I’m allowed to review them for his treatment.”
“Sealed by the court? Ben was in trouble with the police as a youth?”
She nodded. “I found Mrs. Cosburn. These were the sealed records. Ben was twelve when he went to live with Foster parents Walter and Margaret Cosburn. Walter was a machinist. A big man and an alcoholic. Margaret was a petite woman who was very caring and nurturing. One night Walter got drunk and beat his wife to death with his bare hands in the backyard of their house. Ben and another foster care boy named Richard Fenn arrived home late from school and the police suspect Ben fought with Walter because Ben was beaten badly. Ben may have beaten Walter with a monkey wrench as his finger prints were on it. The monkey wrench was also used to damage the home’s gas meter and the barbeque. Something ignited the gas causing a massive explosion which destroyed the house and ultimately killed Walter and Richard. The police report indicated that they found Ben soaking wet and kneeling in the scorched earth of the backyard holding the burnt and broken body of Mrs. Cosburn. He must have been in the pool during the explosion but he was catatonic and couldn’t recall any of the events. They took him to trial but the judge found there was insufficient evidence to prove Ben had been responsible. They simply put him back in the system without therapy and sealed the records.”
Dr. Granger looked at Hannah. “He suppressed the memories. Abusive father figure. Murdered caring mother figure. Friend killed in the blast. Ben was twelve and took responsibility for all of their deaths. He stepped up and tried to save the woman but it was too late. He tried to stop the abusive man and was beaten. For his efforts they all died. Tina told us that he was staring at the ‘blood on his hands’ when he was in the driveway. His memories surfaced that night and he relived them.”