At Ari's prompting, Ben slowly eased himself down onto the gurney, his eyes slightly wide as he did so. The sound of Ari's coaxing saw him try to slow his breathing too, however, the images lying in his recent memory seemed content to stay there and he settled for slightly shuddering breaths as he closed his eyes. At the sound of the cork unstoppering from the vial, Ben peeped an eye open again. His lips twitched downwards, and he was tempted to let out a petulant, 'But what if it tastes bad?'

Now was not the time for any such behavior, and he knew such an exclamation would immediately provoke the blazing look Ari had initially given him. That, and Ari had given him calming drought before which had - to his memory - not tasted horrible, so he relented and eased himself up. Immediately he was overcome with a serene feeling – his panic was still present, however, the sense of urgency had been quelled significantly, and he eased back down, watching Ari work.

With his panic subdued, he could focus a bit more clearly and remained quiet for a while before – after assuring himself that no one was likely to burst into the examination room – reaching up to catch Ari's hand in his. "I'm sorry," he muttered quietly, regarding Ari with a sober expression. "I don't mean to put you through all this stress."

---