The House Part 23

Chapter Three in which Brien wakes up
“Ben,” Brien said, “Why exactly am I lying in a hospital bed?”
“Brien!” Ben said startled, “You're awake.”
“Yes I am.” Brien said, his head propped up against the bed frame, “Now, why in the name of all that is holy am I in a hospital bed?”
“What do you remember?” Ben asked.
“I was born on May 16th Thirty nine years ago.” Brien said, “I was chosen as a 16, I then became a foreman, then Chief Legal Consul, then Head Foreman and Prime Minister, we are currently at war with the rebel who call themselves the October Conspiracy, and I am having an affair with you. Anything important that I left out?”
“Let me be a little more specific.” Ben said laughing, “What is the last thing that you remember before waking up here?”
“Ok,” Brien said trying to sit up but falling back down, “Well let's see...Ok, we had captured Thomas March and Allison insisted on trying him in public for Public Relations reasons. So I decided to be the prosecuting attorney and Allison decided to be the Judge. We found some guy called, um what was it....Hugo Something or other and we began to try the case. I did my opening and then Hugo did his opening. I didn't like it so I objected, Allison shot me down. He continued to give his opening, and he kept attacking me so I objected again and I was shot down again. He started talking about some old case that had nothing to do with ours so I objected again. This time Hugo freaked and started yelling about how this case was biased and it had already been decided and stuff like that. Allison told him to be quiet and he continued to freak out. Then he walks over to me and.....Oh My God, he stabbed me! Where is he?! I want to go and shoot that treacherous little maggot!!”
“It's ok, it's ok.” Ben said pushing Brien back down, “Brien it's ok. Neil took him out. Brien it's ok! He's dead!”
“He better be!” Brien growled, laying back down, “Lord, how long do I have to be in this hospital?”
“At least a week.” Ben said and Brien groaned, “Look, you were stabbed with a knife that had some sort of weird chemically things on it, you are lucky to be alive for God's Sake!! Now I have everything under control Militarily an
d Allison has everything under control politically. So just lay back and rest. Everything will be fine.”
“How long was I out?” Brien asked.
“Two days.” Ben responded.
“Two days?!” Brien repeated shocked, “My God! What's been going on? I need to get up and go see the military reports. What is the latest intelligence on the rebel's plans? My God, they could be planning an attack while I'm out for the count! Dear Lord, I need to get up and...”
“My God Brien!” Ben said, pushing Brien back down on the bed yet again, “I'm pretty sure that if the rebels were planning an attack we would know about it.”
“There wasn't anything about it in the intelligence reports?” Brien asked.
“No.” Ben replied calmly.
“And you read them?” Brien asked suspiciously.
“Yes I read them.” Ben said.
“All of them?” Brien asked.
“Cover to cover.”
“Did you talk to Will”
“Yes, I talked to Will?”
“Did you ask him about a rebel attack specifically?”
“Yes I did.”
“And what did he say?”
“He said that an attack was imminent and that we should surrender and prevent the massive losses.”
“What?!!”
“Kidding, Brien, kidding.”
“Lord, you almost gave me heart failure!”
“You've already had it.”
“What?”
“After you were stabbed your heart stopped for a few seconds.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Lord, I want to kill Hugo November!”
“He's already dead.”
“Grrr.”
“You're upset that the guy who stabbed you is dead?”
“No, I'm upset that I DIDN”T GET TO KILL THE LYING FREAKING TRIATOR MYSELF!!!”
“You are such a psychopath.”
“And you are a such a pacifist.”
“You say that like it's a bad thing.”
“It is a bad thing when you're at freaking war!”
“You really are a psychopath.”
“Which is better than being a pacifist.”
“I'm not sure that most people would agree with that.”
“Just because an idea is unpopular doesn't mean that it isn't true.”
“That makes sense...If you're a psychopath!”
“And that is exactly the type of thing a pacifist would say.”
“Actually no it isn't, a pacifist would have tried to avoid a conflict. Do you know the meaning of the word Pacifist?”
“Yes I do and I know that you are one.”
“Psycho!”
“Paci!”
“What?”
“You can shorten the name that you call and I can shorten the name I call you.”
“But Paci isn't a word.”
“It is now.”
“You are insane.”
“And you are non-violent.”
This conversation could have gone on forever but was ended when Ben's beeper went off.
“Sorry Brien,” Ben said, “That means that I have a High Council meeting, I'll check back in with you later.”
“Bye.” Brien said, pushing up a pillow so it rested more comfortably under his head, “Quick question before you go.”
“Shoot.” Ben said,
“What do you plan to do with Thomas March? Are you going to try him again?” Brien asked.
“We're going to talk about that today.” Ben answered, “But it looks like we are going to try him again after you get better. Allison thinks, and I agree with her, that we need to show that you're not only still alive but also still able to function.”
“Ok, cool.” Brien said, “Bye Ben.”
“Bye Brien.” Ben said and left the room.