(The text in **bold** was written by FernStone, uber thanks, Fernstone!)

**“So, what do we do now?”**

*“I guess we should go in and find the girl?”*

Aaron locked the car as everyone exited, sticking the keys in his pocket and swinging his backpack onto his shoulders. He looked at the facade of Saint Joseph's and said to the others, “We'll check in at the lobby. If they know that we found her and just want to know if she's alright, I'm sure they'll let us see her.” With that plan in mind, Aaron led the way into the building, leaving the afternoon sun behind them as clouds began to cover it. 

As the strange group walked into the lobby, Aaron noted that it was more modern than he expected it to be. There was a lot of head space, and the clean floors were loud under their feet as the three of them approached the front desk. A tired but friendly enough looking woman looked at them expectantly and asked, “How can I help you today?”

Aaron took the lead, even though his mind was racing with what he should say. He hadn't been in this particular situation before. “Um, hi. We came here to see a girl that just came in. She got attacked, and we found her and called 911, and we just wanted to make sure she was okay.”

The receptionist eyed them curiously from behind her glasses, though apparently she knew exactly who he was talking about. She said to Aaron, “You're the ones who found...her, then, and called for help. Well, she doesn't have a room yet, but someone will be down here to speak with you shortly.”

“Speak with us?” Aaron thought out loud, “Oh...they probably want to know what happened. Okay, thanks then.”

“You're very welcome. Please, take a seat.” She gestured to the lines of chairs that ran through the lobby, all of them stuck to each other. Aaron nodded to her and headed with the others to take a seat. 

**Rei remained silent as Aaron spoke to the woman at the front desk, before taking a seat when indicated to do so. He pushed down his hood, deciding it was probably best not to keep it up while in the hospital, pushing back a longer strand of blue-purple hair with a huff. "I'm Rei, by the way. Currently I prefer the masculine pronounce, such as he, but it's probably easier if you just refer to me by gender neutral pronouns if needed, such as they or them." He spoke quietly, gaze fixed on the other two. Almost challenging them to question what he said.** 

Aaron wasn't sure what to think at the moment, so he simply waved and said, “I think I'll use 'he'. I'm Aaron, by the way.”

**"Thanks, nice to meet you," Rei said, frowning. "I wonder why those bullies were so intent on hurting her..."**

“I...can't think of a reason. No one deserves that. Especially someone so young...” Aaron said dolefully,  lost in thought with his hands on his fists.

He was about to ask Reyna a question when he heard a door in the distance open. An older man in scrubs and a white coat stepped behind the front desk. He had a head of thinning dark brown hair and a disturbingly square jaw. He talked with the receptionist for a moment, stealing glances at the three of them. Soon though, the man approached them and shook each of their hands, introducing himself quickly before getting down to brass tax. “I'm Dr. Hayes. I'm to understand that you three might know what happened to our patient, is that correct?”

“Yeah, well, maybe. Sort of.” Aaron piped up raking a hand through his now messy blonde hair. He was about to tell the story when Dr. Hayes interrupted him with a held up hand. 

“We'll walk and talk. I'm told you wanted a visit. If you follow me to the waiting room upstairs, we can discuss this on the way.” Dr. Hayes said curtly, gesturing them to follow him.

“Um, sure.” Aaron shrugged at the others as he shuffled behind the rather intimidating doctor. 

“I'm assuming it was an attack of some kind.” Hayes stated as he led them to a hallways with elevators, hitting a button to call one down. 

Aaron began his story dutifully. “Yeah, well, I was working at the register when I saw her.”

“Him.” Dr. Hayes corrected him coldly. 

“What?”

“Him. Not her.”

Aaron was about to say that there must be some mistake, when he remembered the words of the returning attackers. *'You seen any freaks around here? We have some unfinished business with **'it'**.'*Understanding rushed through him, turning his face slightly hot. A trickle of embarrassment crawled through him for not noticing before.

“Oh, I see. Um, well, anyway I was working and I saw he-...him.” Aaron corrected himself, but it didn't feel right to say 'him' instead of 'her'. He didn't know why, but it just felt rude. “He was barely walking, so I went to go see if he was okay and well, uh, he wasn't.”

“He was conscious when you found him?” Hayes asked as they all stepped through the now open elevator door. “Did he say anything, or give you his name?”

“No. I asked if he was alright and he passed out. I took him inside and called 911.”

“I see.” the doctor said, pulling a clipboard from under his left arm. He wrote on it for some time, staying completely silent for the elevator ride until the doors opened again. He stepped out with them, and still staring and writing on his clipboard, asking Aaron, “So the bandages, that was you then?”

“Yeah.” Aaron flushed again, wringing his hands. Hayes looked up at him now, and the way he was studying Aaron made him feel like he had done something wrong. 

“Son, you should never attempt to treat someone unless you have been trained to do so.”

Aaron stiffened and froze, wishing that he could disappear. “I-I was just trying to help.”

“That may well be so, but 'trying to help' can make the situation even worse. You were very lucky. The boy might've had broken bones or internal injuries that you could've aggravated.”

“I didn't know-”

“That much is clear.”

Aaron snapped his mouth shut, suddenly taking an interest in the wall tiles, trying to blink away his discomfort. He heard Hayes huff slightly before saying, “I'm sure you thought you had the best intentions. Now, the waiting room is this way.” He heard the doctor start to walk again, so he followed him, still not wanting to look at the man. 

“Unfortunately the boy is still unconscious, so I can't let him see visitors until then. Even when he does wake up, he will have some questions to answer. So, until he wakes up, I'd ask that you three wait in here.” The doctor said this as they reached the waiting room. It was a small secluded little area with chairs similar to the ones in the lobby against the walls. There were also a couple of vending machines and a television in the ceiling corner that was playing the news at a very low volume. 

Aaron was about to ask Hayes another question, but by then he had already left rather unceremoniously. Not knowing what else to do, Aaron plopped himself down into one of the seats and took a small rubber ball out of his book bag. He began throwing it at the floor and bouncing it over and over to release some energy. As he did so, a scowl slowly began to form on his face. He was thinking about the girl, about those kids who called her a freak. About how everyone in school, hell, everyone in town seemed to be intolerant of just about everything. 

Suddenly, Aaron sighed exasperatedly at his companions and confided to them loudly, “This town sucks. I can't stand it.”