Five Shots

Thanks to the books Rose found in the house, and with all he covered last night, he had an idea of what to expect.

The facility was larger than he had initially thought, since they had only walked through part of it. It was twice the size of the other one, if not larger.

Dorian kept his hands in his pockets, clenched to help regulate the heat through his body, since his hands were becoming too cold.

Benson walked ahead with Rose, discussing something about treatment and his equipment that Dorian couldn't quite catch, because he was busy taking note of his surroundings.

The entire facility was still a spotless white, without stains. There were rooms with see-through walls, some resembled kitchens, others looked like the room he'd done his scan in.

They reached a part of the facility where there were rooms with doors left open, allowing him to see what was going on inside.

The first was a room with a bed and straps on the sides, probably to hold down whoever lay in it. He wasn't quite comfortable with that.

Then he spotted rooms with cubicles.

They were different from the ones he knew, these ones were filled with water, and sometimes sand.

Benson and Rose finally stopped by one of the open doors. They turned to look at Dorian, wondering why they couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, only to find him two rooms away, staring into the room.

Rose's expression shifted to worry, she hurried over to him without thinking and saw him staring at the cubicle in that room.

Her gaze softened, she knew how much seeing that would affect him. She took his hands and gently pulled him away from the room.

Dorian didn't say anything, he kept his head low, while he battled with the memories that kept popping up, no matter how hard he tried to force them back.

He didn't realize when Rose took him into another room and made him sit. He only felt her hands on his arms, and Benson's presence.

Aside from that, all he could think about was the cubicle and everything that had taken place in that place.

Rose, on the other hand, stared at him quietly while Benson rummaged around for drugs.

"Dorian."

She called softly for the third time, hoping he would answer her, but he didn't. He just stared at his hands, his mind in an entirely different place.

A sigh escaped her lips, and at that moment, Benson found everything she had asked for. He placed the tray with it all on the cart beside her.

"Thanks," she murmured, got up to her feet, and turned to face the cart. Her eyes moved over the small bottles and syringes, the cup of water, a few pills, and finally, the powder packet.

'I wonder when you'll be okay enough to stop taking all these', she thought, her chest aching at the thought of having to go through his treatment process again.

Benson placed his hand on her shoulder when he noticed she was also getting lost in thought. He leaned close, enough to be at her height, then rubbed her cheek with his thumb.

"If you can't do it, I could help. It's not something complicated."

Rose blinked, she lowered her gaze and let out a quiet sighed. "Sorry for the delay," she said as she reached out to pick up a syringe.

He smiled warmly. "I'm not complaining," He paused and took the syringe from her hands. "Why don't you watch me do it and try to hold him, so he won't stab me in the neck."

Rose let out a soft chuckle, "He wouldn't stab you."

Benson raised a brow, then glanced at Dorian. "I doubt. Don't you see how he looks at me when I try to touch you?"

Dorian blinked slowly, only now realizing their voices were closer. Rose was sitting beside him again, her hands wrapped around his clenched fists. Her warmth contrasted the chill in his fingers, and it finally helped his temperature rise.

He hadn't even noticed how tightly he'd been clenching his fists, that his knuckles had turned white.

He carefully released his grip and watched her hands hold his properly, letting him feel every part of hers.

"Dorian," she tried again, her voice calm, like she didn't want to startle him. "It's the same dose from before, just a few more additions."

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. His throat felt dry, so all he could do was nod slightly, and that seemed enough for her.

"Hold still," Benson said, gently brushing back the sleeve of Dorian's shirt as he took a seat on the stool in front of him. "You'll feel a pinch, at least five times."

Dorian didn't even flinch when the needle went in.

His mind still went to that cubicle, the fifteen-year-old version of himself, chained to a horizontal bed, with multiple tubes connected to his body.

The helpless version of himself, waiting for the perfect time to escape without failure.

Thinking back to then, that was when he even met Rose… or when she noticed him, and stared for too long.

He smiled at the thought and glanced at Rose, whose gaze was fixed on what Benson was doing.

He turned to look at Benson and saw he was holding four syringes between his fingers, while one was still in his arm.

Panic shot through his body, but because Rose was still holding him, he didn't want to pull back and hit her by mistake. He shifted back a little and carefully withdrew his hands.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Benson snapped, roughly grabbing his arm and placing it back on his thighs.

"Don't make me put everything in at once."

"Are you insane?!" Dorian yelled back, eyes wide at the frightening thought of all five syringes dangling from his body.

"What?"

"Why are you holding five?!"

Benson shrugged and smirked. "Because it's faster than having to do the same thing five times after giving you."

Dorian turned to Rose, silently wondering if she agreed to it. When she nodded, his shoulders dropped.

"Why aren't you the one doing it? This guy is insane," he whispered, not caring if Benson could hear him or not.

While Benson actually did, he just let it slide.

"Stay still. Let him finish," Rose whispered back.

She rubbed his hand gently, trying to comfort him.

He still couldn't fight back the soothing feeling, so he reluctantly stayed still.

Five shots later, Dorian was kneeling on the ground, both hands gripping the sides of the bed while his head rested on Rose's thigh.

He could feel something burning under his skin, especially the spots where he took each shot.

Behind him, Benson exhaled loudly, "Whew," Benson said with a grin. "Didn't even pass out this time. We're making progress."

Dorian gave him a look that could kill a goat, then said between gritted teeth, "I swear, if you miss again, I'll drain every liquid in your body like I did to those bastards at the Nephlim Lab."

His gaze then darkened, "…and next time, leave my medications to Rose, unless you want to lose an eye."

Benson grinned, watching with a gleam in his eyes as he went back to his seat and relaxed.

Once he was certain Dorian had completely relaxed, close to falling asleep, He didn't hesitate to stab the syringe into the spot below his ear bone and into the first vein he spotted.

Dorian flinched awake from the pain.

He tightened his grip around Rose's clothes, feeling the hot liquid flowed out of the syringe and into his body, but it didn't just move through, it passed through his veins and went straight to his head.

His eyes rolled back on their own, making him blind for a second, momentarily.

He let out a breath he had been holding, relieved that his thoughts were now limited to what was happening, and not the past.

He slowly raised his head, letting the feeling of the drugs deepen for a second. Then he blinked and took a deep breath.

"How do you feel?" Rose finally asked, after waiting for his eyes to clear up a bit.

Dorian didn't reply.

He just laid his head back on her lap and held her hands.

"I'm fine… just give me a minute here."

'I'll gather enough strength and make sure I stab six syringes into Benson's neck.'