“Co—Cora, are you alright?” His voice trembled as he asked. 

The pipette I was holding slipped from my grasp. Benjamin’s slap had been so forceful that it caused the tube to break, sending a sharp fragment piercing into my palm. The pain was so excruciating that it made me break out in a cold sweat, leaving me speechless.

Not long, news of the accident spread through the company. The department’s chief hurried to the scene, his urgency evident as he insisted on sending me to the hospital immediately.

Later, I found myself in an ambulance, the siren blaring as we sped through the streets. Benjamin insisted on coming along, visibly anxious and frantic. He was like a cat on a hot tin roof, desperately urging the driver to go faster and shouting angrily at the red lights.

He looked at me with genuine concern, wiping the cold sweat from my forehead and gently patting my back in an attempt to reassure me, as if he were more frightened than I was. Even as we arrived at the hospital, he wanted to accompany me into the operating room.

“You can’t go in, sir,” said a nurse, blocking him at the door.

Benjamin's eyes were filled with worry as he kept his gaze fixed on me, following my every movement until the operating room door slowly closed. 

“Don’t be scared, Cora. Everything’s going to be okay. I’ll be right here when you’re done,” he reassured me. His insincere expression was so grating that it made my stomach churn. The forced smile and concerned words only deepened my discomfort and I couldn’t suppress the wave of nausea that overwhelmed me. I ended up throwing up.

After the surgery, I was wheeled into a general ward. The room was sterile and dimly lit, its walls adorned with the dull, calming hues typical of hospital decor. I lay there, the throbbing pain in my hand a constant reminder of the ordeal I had endured. I lost track of time, drifting in and out of uneasy consciousness.

Through the haze of my discomfort, I could faintly hear voices just outside the room. Benjamin and Rachel were talking in hushed tones.

“It’s my fault. If it weren’t for me, Cora wouldn’t have been hurt,” she said, her voice heavy with regret. “I should’ve taken it when she scolded me; a little grievance isn’t a big deal. I guess I’m just not strong enough. I can’t even handle the smallest inconvenience without falling apart. I truly feel guilty for what happened to her.”

“If Cora can’t get better, I’m willing to pay any price,” she added.

The girl’s soft voice quivered with barely audible sobs, her attempt at strength betraying a vulnerability that tugged at the heartstrings. Even as a woman, I couldn’t bring myself to blame her, let alone a man who seemed to have an instinctive protective nature.

As expected, Benjamin tried to calm Rachel. He moved closer to Rachel, his expression softening as he reached out to her. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, offering a reassuring squeeze. 

“Hey, don’t be too hard on yourself,” he said, his voice soothing. “It was an accident. Cora will be okay. The fact that you’re owning up to this shows how much you care and what a strong person you are. We’re all here for her. Right now, we need to stay hopeful and supportive.”

His comforting words were accompanied by a warm, steady gaze. “Just because she’s injured doesn’t mean you’re at fault. In fact, you’re the victim here. She shouldn’t have been scolding you and the injury wasn’t your fault. Don’t get too caught up in it, Ray.”

“You really think it’s not my fault?” Rachel hesitated, looking at him with concern. 

“Of course, it’s not.” Benjamin nodded earnestly.

“Cora should be waking up now. I’ll go check on her,” Benjamin said and with that, the conversation came to an end. 

I heard his heavy footsteps grow closer, the sound echoing down the sterile corridor. The steady rhythm of his approach was almost rhythmic. A few moments later, the door to the hospital room creaked open with a slow, groaning sound, breaking the otherwise silent atmosphere.

“Hey, Cora, how are you feeling?” Benjamin’s head peeked in, his voice tinged with concern. “Does it still hurt?” He moved carefully to my bedside and crouched down, his handsome face showing clear signs of fatigue. His eyes wandered around the room, deliberately avoiding mine. Knowing him as well as I did, it was clear he was nervous and uncomfortable. Benjamin always had this way of fidgeting and looking everywhere but at me when he was uneasy. Despite his attempts to keep it together, the tension in his body spoke volumes about his internal struggle.

“Look, I know you must be upset with me, but please give me a chance to explain,” Benjamin began, his voice earnest and filled with an urgency that hinted at his regret. He took a deep breath, searching for the right words. “Actually, I did it for you. Rachel is the manager’s niece. If you offend her, she might go complain to the manager, which wouldn’t be good for you. Not to mention, she’s your lab partner, so you’ll be seeing each other every day. I’m just trying to keep you out of trouble.”

“I didn’t expect this accident to happen. If I had known it would end up like this, I would rather have been the one injured.” Benjamin gazed at me with an earnest expression, as if desperately trying to prove the sincerity of his words. Time ticked by and the silence mocked his ridiculous pretense. Seeing my indifference, he finally couldn’t hold his composure any longer, his feigned affection cracking. 

“I have something for you. Wanna guess? ” He forced a sheepish smile and quickly pulled something from his suit jacket pocket, hiding it behind his back. “Here’s a hint. It’s something that you really like.”

Benjamin looked at me with eager anticipation, like a puppy waiting for a pat from its owner. His eyes were wide, filled with hope as he waited for my reaction. But I remained still, my face an impassive mask, not giving him the satisfaction of engaging with his clumsy attempts at charm.

“Alright,” he said with a sigh, “I suppose the sedatives haven't worn off completely, so I'll just show you.” He moved the object he had been hiding behind his back onto the bed. It was a pair of tickets to a dance theater.

“Your favorite indie band is going on tour and they'll be in town next month. I know how much you love them, so I camped out on the website for days to get these tickets. You’re the most important person to me, Cora. If this doesn’t show how much I care about you, I don’t know what will.”

I remembered that the tickets had gone on sale only the night before. It was clearly a last-minute effort, his minimal attempt to calm my anger. He kissed my forehead and gently said, “Let’s go see them when you’re better.” 

The room was so silent it felt like the world had stopped spinning, the kind of quiet where even the tiniest noise—a pin dropping, for example—would have seemed deafening. Benjamin’s eyes were locked onto me with such intensity, it felt like there was nothing else in the world but me and him. He was completely absorbed in the moment, his gaze unwavering and filled with an almost desperate hope.

Seizing the opportunity, I slowly raised my hand, pretending to gently stroke his cheek as if offering some sort of tender gesture. His eyes sparkled with anticipation and he eagerly leaned in closer, like a well-trained puppy responding to a command.

Then, with a swift motion, I brought my hand down hard. The sharp crack of skin meeting skin echoed through the stillness, a stinging slap that left five bright red fingerprints blazing across his once-perfect face. The impact was so sudden and loud that it seemed to shatter the silence around us. Benjamin’s expression froze in shock, his face marked with the bright red imprints of my hand. He blinked, momentarily stunned, before his face flushed with a mix of rage and confusion. “What the—what is wrong with you?” he shouted, his voice trembling with anger. I met his fury with a cold, unyielding stare, showing no hint of remorse for the scorn I had delivered.

“You’re disgusting! With your skill at distorting the truth, turning black into white and being duplicitous, you’d be a perfect lawyer.” I continued, my anger simmering.  “Do you think two concert tickets will erase the fact that you’ve wronged me? Do you think I’m a fool? Just wait for your invitation to the police station.” My gaze remained cold and unyielding as I continued, “You said it’s for my own good, but it’s actually you blinded by lust, isn’t it? You’re trying to curry favor with the manager, you’re selling me out, using me as a stepping stone so you can climb higher. You’re a complete asshole!” 

I still have a lot of pent-up frustrations, so I might as well let them all out. “And to think that the manager will make things difficult for me, that's ridiculous. Do you really think my whole career could be wrecked by a few words from some lazy girl like her? Like I’m just goofing off and not busting my butt to get where I am now? Do you think that the department head is that dumb, that you see him as a person with such shallow mindset? You disappoint me, Ben.” Benjamin was utterly battered by my relentless barrage of accusations, struggling to find the right words. 

“Is that how you see me? You think I’m using and manipulating you?” His voice wavered with a helpless edge, a stark departure from his usual composed demeanor. He looked at me with eyes wide and pleading, trying to grasp for any shred of sympathy. But I couldn't muster any. To me, his words felt hollow, just more empty reassurances in a sea of broken promises. I had something more pressing on my mind, something that demanded my attention. Without giving his desperate pleas a second thought, I cut him off with a commanding tone. “Give me my medical record.”

The first time I realized how badly I was hurt, everything went into total chaos. People were running around everywhere and the whole place was buzzing with panic. As I was being wheeled into the operating room, the doctor quickly told Benjamin to hang onto my medical record. 

The moment I said it, Benjamin’s face turned sharply. The usual confidence that defined him was replaced with a visible mix of embarrassment and anxiety. He fumbled with the papers, his hands shaking slightly as he tried to hide his growing unease. Watching his reaction, my heart skipped a beat. A deep, unsettling feeling settled in my stomach. Something was definitely wrong and his nervousness only made the sense of impending trouble even stronger.