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Not Alone (Gumdrop x LadyDark)

“Is there… Didn't anyone show you?” He pauses as the man speaks, looking at his back and then at Akira’s face. “Hold on, let me check it then I will show you...” He gently removes the bandage and softly cleans the wounds so he can check them, then picks up his phone to take a picture to show him. He sets the phone down again and adds more cream and bandages. “Please be warned... It looks worse than it is... And we can help you heal most of the scars…” Tristan moves closer to him again and holds up his phone to show him the photos of his back. “I'm glad you don't feel these… And more glad you; don’t remember getting them...” He gently lays his hand on his shoulder to give him some form of comfort.

He smiles softly “Alright… I'll stay with you for as long as you'd like… You were my last patient to check today. We can talk about anything you'd like, and I'll explain anything I can to you… I want you to know you can trust me and can talk to me about anything, I promise you that I'll never hurt you and will do all I can to keep you safe” Hed only housed a few people in the past, never for very long and never someone in such need of help, but he felt a pull to this young man, wanting to see him well and happy.
 
Akira tilted his head a bit when the doctor seemed confused that he didn’t know there was something wrong. Was this why he was so concerned about his back before? Something was wrong with him?

He stared at the picture on the phone, his hands slowly moving up to grab the phone to look a little closer at them. That’s what his back looked like? They didn’t even hurt…how long ago had he gotten these? How had he gotten these? How could he forget that? He frowned a bit and sunk into the bed again, giving the doctor back his phone.

It all hurt his head. How did someone manage to forget something like that? He looked over when the doctor sat down and licked his lips for a second, “how…how does someone get scars like that?” he asked.
 
Tristan watched as the young man finally looked at his own back, allowing Tristan to take a closer look with his phone. He felt a deep sympathy for him; no one deserves to experience what this man had gone through. Gently, he took back his phone and glanced at Akira with a slight frown.

"There are a few possibilities for these marks," he said. "But yours seem to have been caused by a whip or a thin switch, like a cane. I can't say for certain what caused them, but they resemble other wounds I've seen from those methods." He moved to sit beside Akira's bed and tucked his phone into his pocket. "I'm actually relieved that you don't remember how you got them, and part of me hopes you never do. They look very painful."

Tristan then began to describe his home and neighborhood. "It's mostly quiet around here. You'll hear kids playing on weekends and just before dinner most nights, but it's not too loud. I have a large house that my parents left me, and your room will be on the second floor, not far from mine. You'll have a lock on your door that you can use if you ever feel unsafe. I promise I won't enter your room without your permission unless I think you're in distress." He smiled softly. "I'll need to get a list of foods you like so I can shop before you arrive. Do you have any favorites? Oh, and I've ordered some clothes for you; they should arrive the day before you leave the hospital. I'll bring you a change of clothes to take with you."
 
Akira frowned and nodded, whipped or canned…that was…he had had flashes of that in his dreams. Maybe they were memories after all? “I’m not,” he said, “How does someone forget something like that? That- I feel like I’m missing so much of my own life, I don’t even know how much time I’m missing, I-“ he took a deep breath, attempting to not get upset. Something was telling him getting upset was not a good idea. Though that didn’t sound right to him. He definitely hadn’t learned that from his parents.

Akira glanced over every now and then as the doctor started to explain where he would be staying soon enough. He nodded every now and then before shaking his head on the foods, “I’ll eat pretty much everything. I don’t really like bananas though,” he said. He perked a bit, “or…coffee?” he said, questioning it. Why didn’t he like coffee? He didn’t remember not liking it. His brain was just screaming at him that he didn’t like it. But why?

He looked down at his lap and fingered his thigh. “I- I think I have more injuries,” he stated, almost out of the blue.
 
Tristan nods with a frown “I can see why it would upset you, but with your injury, memory loss is normally temporary and should start coming back… But also, when dealing with trauma, the brain can lock things away to ‘protect’ you. It may take counselling to get those memories back if they don't return on their own…” He reaches out and gently holds his hand, loose enough that he could pull away if wanted. “I can see you holding back, it is perfectly fine to get upset, this is your life and body that were hurt, you have all the right to get angry and be upset” He gives his hand a small squeeze and continues to hold it as long as he's allowed.

He perks up with a small smile “There’s something! It's a small memory, but it is something…” He chuckles a bit “Not a fan of bananas or coffee… Oh, I don't think I could live without coffee, I know it's not great for you, but I need it to function for 36-hour shifts…” He laughs again before looking at his legs and frowning, he wasn't sure he wanted to look if it was what he was thinking. “Do you mind if I have a look? We didn't give you a full exam so there may be things we didn't see, now I can call the nurse back in if you're uncomfortable or it can just be myself, it's totally up to you… And I promise this won't be told to the police if you don't want it to be”
 
Akira flinched when the doctor held his hand and though he felt awkward he didn't pull his hand away. He wasn't sure how he felt about any of this. He found he just wanted it all to be over. So when the doctor told him that he was allowed to be upset he frowned a little. No, everything inside him told him that he shouldn't be upset or at the very least he wasn't allowed to show it.


Akira nibbled on his lip and fingered his thigh a little bit more before nodding, "I- I don't want the police to know. And I don't want the nurse in here either," he said, looking at the doctor. He wasn't super comfortable with the doctor either but he felt slightly better with him than the nurse. He moved on the bed a little bit, just enough so that he could push the blankets down and then that awful hospital gown up. He was slow about it a bit nervous to see anything. He had his underwear on, so at least he wasn't going to flash the doctor or anything, which did make him feel a little bit more comfortable pulling up the gown.

He looked down at the thigh he had been fingering, the bare skin revealing a red patch of skin, a second-degree burn that had maybe a week of healing. He frowned when he saw it. He didn't remember getting it but something told him that's why he didn't like coffee. Not only was the skin red overall, but on the other leg, just on the inside of his thigh were very clear cigarette burns. Just a few, but still they were pretty clear that they were going to scar if not looked after properly. They also looks fairly recent a few days at most.
 
“I promise… I'll take the photos for evidence but they will only be shared with the police if and when you choose. I only pushed before, because I wanted you to have justice… You were hurt and wronged and I wanted someone to pay for it.” He moves closer and takes out his phone to photograph what he is about to be shown, he doesn't push or hurry him along in any way. He knew how hard this might be for him and the other stress they had put him through hadn't helped him at all.

Tristan gasps softly and his eyes widen at the wound, it would need to be treated right away if they wanted it to heal with little scaring. “Akita… Son, doesn't that hurt?” He moves to take the pictures and frowns some more when he sees his other leg, this poor boy had been through so much. “I'm so sorry Akira… You didn't deserve any of this” He puts his phone away and moves to the door, opening it enough to talk out of “Nurse, I need a burn kit brought asap… No, no… Yes I'll be doing it, patient’s request… Thank you, just knock” He thanked who he was talking with and closed the door again, he moves to wash his hands and comes back toward the bed. “May I have a look before the kit arrives, I promise to be as gentle as I can be”

He reaches on the wall by the bed and gets some gloves to put on, also turning the light on and pulling it closer from the wall. “Do you… have any idea how these happened?”
 
"I- I know, but I- I don't- I just don't want to draw attention to myself," he said, frowning a little bit. Why not? He normally didn't want to draw attention to himself, so that checked out, but this time it felt more crucial to not draw attention.

Akira shook his head when the doctor asked if it hurt, "not really," he said, "I mean, I kind of hurt all over right now, but not a lot," he explained. It honestly made sense now that he was figuring out all these injuries he had on him. It worried him a bit, what happened? Why couldn't he remember? Was it really just his head injury? It felt crazy that a little knock to the head could cause something like this.

Akira nodded when he was asked if he could take a look. He assumed touching since the other said he would be gentle. He moved a little bit to allow the doctor to have a bit more access to his legs and looked up, "I- not really? I vaguely remember coffee? And my leg was really hot... but that's about it. I don't- know about the circle ones. Maybe I spilled coffee on my lap by accident?" he asked, though that didn't really make much sense since he had just said he didn't like coffee. He frowned at his words. "Maybe that guy accidentally spilled some coffee?" he gave another solution, yeah that sounded more accurate. Sort of.
 
Tristan nods slowly as he moves closer to gently look the wound over and touch around it softly. “Boiling coffee could very well be the cause of this burn, it looks like a liquid was poured on you...” He looks up at his face “I can't say if it was accidental or not, but I wouldn't assume so with your other injuries… As for these, I've seen wounds like this before sadly” He looks to the small round burns on his other thigh “These were caused by a cigarette, by someone holding the burning end to your skin” He was about to say more when there was a soft knock and he stood up, removing his gloves and going to the door to get the Kit.

“Thank you...” He takes the kit from the nurse before again closing and locking the door. He returns to Akira and puts on new gloves as he opens the kit and takes out supplies. “I know you don't want to draw attention, and I understand that, but I still think the people who did this to you should pay for it” He starts to gently clean the burn and apply cool cream to help it heal and a bandage over top to keep it there. The cigarette burns were next and he had to carefully make sure each burn was cleaned out before another cream and bandage were applied.
 
Akira sat and watched as the man touched and poked at his burn marks and nodded when the doctor explained that yes, coffee indeed could have caused this kind of burn. He frowned and glanced over to the cigarette burns. Well, that definitely didn't sound like that could be an accident. There was no way someone could hold a burning cigarette to another's skin accidentally. He jumped when he heard the knock and looked over before covering his legs for a moment until the doctor came back.

He watched as Dr. Jacobs cleaned the burn and put on some kind of cream on it. Only to cover it with a bandage, "I- I know... but-" he started, nibbling at it lip, not even noticing when it first cracked open a little, bleeding just a bit. When looking closer it was clear this was a habit, the moment he tasted the iron on his tongue started to suck and make sure the blood was cleaned off before he started to talk again, "I know, I just- I have this feeling that that's not a good idea," he murmured.
 
Once Tristan finished, he looked up at Akira with a sad smile. "That is likely a trauma response," he sighed softly. "You were abused, Akira, probably both verbally and physically, and you developed a way to protect yourself by avoiding actions that you knew would lead to more abuse."

He reached out and gently held Akira's hand, rubbing the back of it with his thumb, allowing him to pull away if he wanted to. "I understand your feelings and actions; you are still trying to protect yourself. But what I want you to know is that I will protect you now. I will keep you safe and ensure you are never hurt like that again." He gave his hand a light squeeze. "Once you are released from here, I will take you home, where you can rest and recuperate in a safe environment."

He let go of Akira's hand and stood up to remove the unnecessary items from the kit and dispose of the rest. "I would really like to help you get back on your own two feet. My home will be yours for as long as you want it to be; I don't mind having a house guest." He chuckled softly. "I have a large backyard where you can relax when you want to be outside, and you can roam the house freely. Just ask if you'd like to see my room; I don't want to keep anything from you."

After washing his hands, he turned back to Akira. "It seems like you are starting to remember some things, which is good, but I want you to know that your mind might protect you from remembering everything."
 
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