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greatgigintheskiess · 2 months ago

Text

With Me

Chapter 5: Free Will

CW: Broken bones, Branding (mentioned), (Implied) Child abuse, Minor Whumpee, Dehumanization

Word Count: 3.7 k

It's been two days since Nathan's operation and by now Don has lost any sense of time.

Has it really been a week already since he met the boy in the forest?

All of this still seemed like a fever dream. Yet the man had stayed all the time with Nathan at the clinic and not for a second left his side, even slept in the chair next to the hospital bed in case the kid needed something.

Well, his back might thank him later...

Occasionally, Barb also visited them, checking the child's vitals and his wound, which looked a lot better but still needed time to properly heal. At least, the pain seemed to ease.

The first night, Don had heard Nathan whimpering and crying in his sleep which struck the man awake. He gave the boy some more meds, sat with him for a while and told him the story of how he went on his first hunt as a young boy himself and returned home late at night with a self-shot rabbit.

Don still smiled, remembering this story of his childhood because not only did he take his father's rifle but also his mother caused him a lot of trouble for coming home in the middle of the night.

But as a bedtime story for Nathan, it seemed to work quite well. And by the time Don ended, the boy was already asleep.

Ironically, it was Don who couldn't sleep that night, whether it was for his uncomfortable sleeping position or for the thoughts bothering him about what would happen to Nathan now and where he gets to stay.

Don could hardly adopt him illegally because soon or later someone will ask questions how he, the lonely hunter in the woods, suddenly has a kid. But on the other side, it may be a good thing that he lives that isolated, and this way, Don can protect Nathan a lot better from any threat.

The last thing he wanted was for these scientist assholes to show up here and search for their lost little lab rat.

He was filled with rage and disgust only thinking about them and how they dared to hurt innocent children for their sick experiments. Don couldn't stop thinking about the other children Nathan had told him about, who still were in this hell hole and no one even came to help them, getting them out of there. The kid sure was very lucky to have escaped this place, even if it will probably take weeks until he can walk again by himself.

The man woke up early this morning but decided to let Nathan sleep a little longer. The poor boy was already stressed out enough by all of this. Instead, Don grabbed a cup of coffee in the waiting room, earning a few looks from other patients waiting for their treatment.

One of them was an old lady who had just now entered and registered at the reception, taking a seat next to Don while he stretched out his legs and sipped his coffee.

"Good mornin", she greeted him as a bit of confusion dawned on her face.

Admittedly, he didn't look that good with the dark rings under his eyes and sure wasn't in the mood for a talk with a stranger. He only waited for Barb to come actually. But that's just how old people are. His mother was just the same.

"Mornin'", he answered shortly, taking another sip of coffee until the cup was empty.

"I'm visitin' my husband and you, sir, why are you here?"

Don almost choked on his coffee. Damn, what was he supposed to say? He couldn't just tell her that he found an injured kid in his bear trap. He had to come up with something else.

"My, uhm...", he searched for the right word, "my son."

"Oh, that's lovely."

Son? Seriously?!

Don felt the heat burning on his cheeks. He needed to get out of here before this gets even more embarrassing.

"I, uh, have to go now", He cleared his throat, awkwardly standing up to end the conversation. “He’s waitin’ for me.”

"Have a nice day", the old lady said, before Don had almost run off, back to Nathan's room just to escape the awkward situation.

That's the reason why he hated small talk and especially old people didn't get when he wasn't in the mood for talking. Somehow he was wide awake now - he didn't know if it was for the embarrassing situation or the coffee, maybe both.

But he also caught himself thinking about what he had said earlier.

Nathan as his son... It was a crazy idea and couldn't be more far from reality.

At least, that's what Don told himself.

He immediately shoved away those thoughts when he entered the room and saw Barb sitting next to Nathan, inspecting his leg.

"Hey there", He said, throwing the cup into the garbage can as he walked past.

Don was greeted with a smile from Nathan and gently ruffled his blonde hair which was still tangled and a bit dirty as the hospital gown he was wearing. Once they get home, he'd fill up the bathtub, he thought. The boy surely had been in that forest for days and Don wondered when the last time the kid had taken a proper bath.

The boy already looked so poorly and miserable with his injuries and bruises so the rest of his body didn't entirely make it better. Don for sure couldn't help him with his wounds but maybe at least get the little one some clean and fresh clothes.

That's what he thought at least when he saw Barb's worried face. Her co-workers must've asked her already about him.

"Hey, Don, do you have a minute?", She asked and Don's smile faded again.

Right, today Barb would let Nathan go and they had to discuss where he gets to stay now. Suddenly, his thoughts from this morning returned to his mind and Don followed Barb into the room next door where they could talk in peace without worrying Nathan.

Considering what he already has done for that child should be enough of an approval for his decision. And if it weren’t for him, Nathan would still be out there in the woods, all by himself. Here he had a cozy bed, nice warm food and some company. And who knows where he ends up when they involve the police now?

Though that had been Don's first idea right after he met Nathan, now he didn't even think about giving the boy away. He didn't really know why but it just felt wrong.

The decision all in all wasn't that easy, for both Barb and Don. She could easily lose her job and Don his hunting license after the 'incident' should some authorities get wind of this. But from the logical point of view, it would be necessary to report to the police after what Nathan had told them about the place where he and others were kept captive for so many years. The people responsible for that had to be punished after all.

But what would that mean for Nathan?

Don couldn't imagine how he would feel if he and Barb handed him over to some strangers who would just put him in another orphanage or worse. He'd be feeling devastated, scared, betrayed, alone and honestly, Don's heart just couldn't cope with that.

Looks like he did grow fond of the boy that he thinks about such things. So much for keeping his distance, he laughed to himself in his mind. Stupid old man with his stupid sentiments, that's what he was.

After a long talk, they finally came to a decision. Don gets to keep Nathan, well, if the boy wants. But Barb also told him to be careful from now on, trying not to draw that much attention on him, for Nathan's safety.

They both entered the room again, explaining everything to the kid, yet they still want to ask him before anyone decides anything. Though Don knew how that answer might look like.

"Nathan, do you want to stay with Don?", Barb said, sitting on a chair next to the child.

The boy looked at Don and nodded while a little smile appeared on his lips.

"Yes, I'd really like to."

That only expression on the child's face was enough to warm Don's heart. And where once fear and sorrow clouded his face, now there's a happy smile - the way a child was supposed to act. It was a sad thought but Nathan probably never experienced any nice things in his childhood and where kids his age had played outside, he was locked up somewhere, in pain and just his thoughts from losing his sanity. The boy still needed to learn a lot, but mainly what it meant to be a child.

Barb interrupted Don's train of thought.

"Sure that he's not too boring? I doubt that he has any toys for you", She teased and Don gasped in disbelief, making Nathan grin.

"No but he brought me nice food everyday", the kid replied.

"He did?", the woman raised an eyebrow, "I thought cooking wasn't your thing."

Don shrugged. "Well, now it is."

He knew his cooking sucked, he barely ate anything himself before but now he had another mouth to feed, something that was unimaginable just a month ago.

The man noticed how Barb had taken out a little book, handing it over to Nathan as a small gift. The boy had never gotten anything like that and looking at the cover, it seemed to be about different animals and their habitats. The font was big enough for a child his age to read and the colorful illustrations immediately caught Nathan's attention.

"There you go", She said with a smile, "You can read, now can you, sweetheart?"

Nathan shook his head a bit ashamed. Actually, he never learned to read or write nor went to school and in the hospital no one taught him anything either.

"Then you both can read it together", Barb broke the tension, taking a look at Don.

In the meantime, he noticed that the boy was much calmer now in the presence of the woman than in the beginning. As the town's doctor she often had to deal with children so it didn't surprise him that the kid started to trust her, especially after he spilled his heart out to them two days ago.

Nathan opened the book and admired the first few pages of it, carefully running his fingers over the paper as if he had never held a book in his hands. While he was almost in a trance like this, Barb addressed Don once again.

"I'll come over after a few days again to look at Nathan's leg."

Don nodded and looked down on the boy who was browsing through the book with interest, looking at all the pictures he had never seen before.

The sound of water flowing out of the faucet into the almost full bathtub had something meditative about it. Don stared for a while on the water splashing slightly against the tub's edges, thoughts about what Nathan had told him two days ago still circling in his head. He was so shocked about it, wanted to cuss the fuck out of the ones who were responsible for the boy's suffering but at the same time he felt so helpless and wasn't able to keep any thoughts of his together.

What if they were already looking for the boy? Would they even search here, in the deepest woods?

The more Don found out about the child's past, the more pieces he could tuck together until a complete picture emerged.

And that picture was horribly disturbing.

Don closed the tap and the water stopped running. His hand slid through the water, sensing if it had the right temperature. He came back for Nathan and carried him in bridal style to the bathroom, hopefully for the last time until his leg will be in a better condition.

He sat the boy as gently as possible on the closed toilet lid, his bare feet dangling in the air. Don took the hem of the dirty hospital gown the kid had been wearing this whole time.

"C'mon, 'lemme help you with your gown..." He said calmly with a gesture to help the boy undress.

But Nathan crossed his arms in front of his stomach, preventing the man from shoving away more of the fabric.

"No", the boy said, his hands clenching more into his gown.

Don immediately put away his hands, assuming that he might've gone too far with physical contact. He thought Nathan was at the point where he trusted him enough - or else he wouldn't have stayed here with him, right?

But why was he so scared then?

He had a foreboding but pushed these thoughts aside right away.

No, he didn't want to think about that.

Don respected the kid's own will - for whatever reason it might be - and he would never want him to be uncomfortable in his presence.

"Wanna do it yourself?" The man asked instead, to which Nathan replied with a nod.

He saw that the boy moved his hands away from his stomach, ready to take the gown off his body by himself. Once he did that, Don saw his exposed back for the first time and that sight disturbed him all the more.

The child's skin was covered in more awful injuries. A huge bruise covered the boy's shoulder, scars lined his spine and something very shocking and horrible caught Don's sight.

Symbols burned deeply into the flesh of the boy's protruding small shoulder blades. It appeared to be a number, a roman one.

A 'V' and 'I'.

Six.

Don gulbed.

That was also something Nathan didn't tell him about. Don couldn't express the amount of disgust he had felt in this moment of realisation.

The boy seemed to surprise him all over again, but not in a positive way.

"Is that...a branding?" The man stuttered, terror overtook his facial features.

The child turned his head, noticing Don's horrified expression.

"Number Six. Everyone gets a number." He responded in tension, not moving an inch.

"Everyone?"

A nod followed after that question.

"The others... they have a number too."

Nathan felt his body trembling as he remembered everything. The moment he got his number. His screams in agony, begging and pleading and tears running uncontrollably when the hot iron burned into his skin, leaving that terrible branding.

That day, the boy lost his name, his personality, his dignity.

He was a subject. Something with a beating heart, nerve system and working brain but not more than that.

"They didn't treat you like a human, where you came from, did they?" Don asked, coming closer to the petrified child, tilting his head.

"No... Not human, subject."

Don kneeled down to the boy, who proceeded staring at the ground.

"Kid, listen. You are a human. Just like me. And it doesn't matter what they said about you, got it?"

Thousand thoughts ran through the boy's head, he didn't even know what to feel, what to say. Don's words burned into his mind, leaving him so confused and abashed. But he let the man's words sink in, thinking about them. Never did one say something like this about him. And Nathan didn't even know anymore how a human needs to be treated.

Indeed, he never saw himself as one. How should he know it better then?

"Okay..." Nathan breathed as an answer, avoiding the man's stoic look on him.

Don sighed.

He knew the child was overwhelmed by that. He didn't even need to ask, he saw it in the boy's eyes, in his gestures - him avoiding eye-contact, a quickened heartbeat and hard swallows whenever he spoke about what happened.

And he couldn't describe just how sorry he felt. Sorry for all the lies the boy has been told. Now his only assumption about the child has been proven, sadly. He probably never had anyone in his life, was alone the most time, abused, beaten, treated terribly.

And now also traumatized by all these experiences in his life. That shouldn't happen, never, to anyone.

No one in this world deserved to be treated like that.

After a few moments of complete silence, Don looked back on the bathtub still filled with water, still untouched and calm.

"Let's get you in there or else the water will get cold."

Don gently placed him into the bathtub, trying to not hurt the boy with his wounded ankle. "How's the temperature?" He asked softly.

"It's good."

The man took a shampoo bottle and a washcloth, explaining to the boy what he'll do with it. "Now I'll give ya a lil' hair wash, kiddo. You better close your eyes so the shampoo won't sting them."

The boy did as he told him and Don started washing Nathan's hair, softly massaging his scalp which he seemed to enjoy as he closed his eyes in relaxation.

A smile crept over the man's face, remembering how his mother used to wash his hair as a little boy. Something he also always had liked.

"That's it, my boy. You can open your eyes."

Don took a cloth, dipped it into the water and washed off all the dirt and blood from the kid's body, trying to not tear open his stitched wounds.

"If I hurt you by accident, tell me, okay?"

Nathan nodded, feeling how tenderly Don was rubbing his back, especially around the awful mark wound. Don was worried that the boy would protest like before as this situation was even more intimate than anything they went through before, but Nathan seemed to trust him enough and simply enjoyed the procedure, sitting still in the bathtub.

And like that, all worries from before were seemingly dissolved after Don finished bathing him, washed off with all the dirt and blood and Nathan didn't know when the last time was he had been so relaxed.

While Don was putting away the bottles, Nathan's attention fell on the foam, which looked and felt so weird. The child was moving his hands out of the water or collecting some of it on the water's surface just to peer at it in pure fascination. He believed to never have seen such a thing before.

Well, before no one has ever let him have a bath, either.

And when the child put together his hands curiously to see how the foam was stuck between them, he felt how calm it was in his head. No thoughts, no anxiety. Just silence. And it was pleasant.

Don had watched the boy for a while like that and couldn't help but smile at this sight. Something about the way Nathan was playing with the foam like every kid usually did, just having fun - probably for the first time in his life - it lightened Don's mood without him even noticing it. Instead, a warm feeling spread in his chest.

The man almost felt a little sorry for interrupting that moment when he took a cup and wiped the remaining body wash and shampoo from Nathan's skin.

"You know what? I think I forgot to wash one spot", He then said to the boy, running his fingers behind his ears, "Riight here."

Don heard a giggle from the kid as this seemed to have tickled him, which caused the man to chuckle himself. The kid laughed so rarely though his laugh was absolutely adorable. And Don was kinda glad that he left such a positive impression on the boy, making him feel comfortable enough to laugh this light-heartedly in his presence.

Which was a whole lot different from the first time they met, he realized.

"A'ight, now you're all clean. That's better, ain't it, huh?" Don got Nathan out of the tub, toweling him down.

"Here I got you some fresh clothes, though they might be a 'lil bit too big for ya."

He gave him some of his old clothes, a dark blue sweater which he barely wore anyway, and wool socks his mother once knitted for him. Don wasn't that much of a fashion expert. He owned only a few clothes, most of them dark sweaters, a few t-shirts and two or three pairs of pants for hunting. Owning many clothes and barely wearing them all appeared to be unnecessary to him.

Like expected, the sweater was way too large for the little one and putting it on, it almost reached to his knees.

"Well, ain't the best but better than nothin', right?" Don rolled up the sleeves up to the boy's elbows.

He really should get the kid some clothing in his size…

Nathan looked down at himself and couldn't remember wearing such comfortable clothes ever before. The sweater was large enough for him to cuddle into it and finally his bare feet were protected from the cold bathroom floor.

Also it felt good to be clean again, finally washing off all the dirt, sweat and dried blood of weeks from his body. And especially after the bath, Nathan could feel his muscles ease a bit after all the physical exhaustion his body had gone through.

The man also noticed how relaxed the boy now looked and he saw his shining blond curls for the first time which before were all tangled and covered in dust and dirt. His face was all clean too, with freckles showing on his skin which had been practically invisible before but now adorned the boy's rosy cheeks and snub nose.

Don thought about putting on some fresh bed sheets too but for now, he'll care about dinner first as he felt his stomach growling.

"So, how 'bout dinner? Bet you wanna eat somethin' too, kiddo."

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