When they reached the hospital room they were looking for, Jin paused for a moment to wipe away the last of his drying tears. He didn't think the other hybrid would be awake yet, but he didn't want to take any chances.

After knocking very quietly on the door in warning, they entered slowly and were met with the sight of the doctor standing off to the side filling something out on a clipboard as a nurse adjusted the blanket over the hybrid on the bed. Jin cleared his throat quietly.

"Oh. Hello. Were you the one to bring him in?" the doctor asked kindly.

Jin nodded his head and took a few more steps into the room. "Is he okay?"

The doctor smiled. "He will be fine. It's a sprained ankle, a dislocated shoulder, and a couple cracked ribs. We changed out his bandages, and the rest is nothing we can't take care of. We've got blood tests running right now just in case, but he should make a nice recovery."

Jin's eyes trailed over the hybrid's form and saw one of his arms in a sling and the other with a heart rate monitor over his finger. He was calmed slightly hearing the normal heartbeat. "When will he... wake up?"

"Should be within the hour. You're welcome to stay if you like. If you do stay, would you mind pressing this button when he does wake?" he asked, gesturing to a button right next to the bed. Jin and Hoseok nodded with soft smiles. "Wonderful. There are some people that need to speak to him when he's awake. I'll be going now, but don't hesitate to press the button if something goes wrong."

"Thank you, doctor," Jin commended him as he and the nurse left.

"So this is him?" Hoseok commented as he moved over to sit by the bed. Jin took the other plastic chair in the room and brought it over by the bed as well before sitting next to Hoseok. "He's cute," the human said. "Look at those ears," he mused.

Jin smiled; he was happy to hear Hoseok voicing out his own initial thoughts. Maybe he could get Hoseok on board, and he could have someone on his side. "He's a german shepherd," Jin explained.

Hoseok smiled. "That's so cool. Purebred??" At Jin's nod, Hoseok's eyes went a bit wide. "Wow. He'd go for a fortune. I don't even know what breed Tae is, he's a mix of too many," he commented with a small chuckle.

"I think they'd get along," Jin thought out loud. "Him and Tae. And not just because Tae tries to be friends with everybody. I think he could use a friend like Taehyung. They're the same age, too."

"Yeah? That's cute- I'd love to see how Taehyung would react to someone he couldn't wrestle with," Hoseok laughed, and Jin even grinned at the thought. Taehyung probably wouldn't know what to do with himself. He might just sit there completely still staring at him and let his tail wag like crazy for hours. The image had Jin laughing in earnest as well after a moment, and Hoseok reached his hand up absentmindedly to pet the cat hybrid. He was pleased that he was able to cheer the other up a bit.

"Thanks Hoseokkie. I really like him."

Hoseok grinned sadly. "I'll talk to Namjoon and Yoongi later. I can't promise anything, but I think you're doing something good here. I think Tae would like to have another canine friend around, anyway. I'll see what I can do."

Jin felt hope swell in his chest once again.

It wasn't for another half hour that the figure resting on the bed began stirring again. Jin quickly released his hold on the younger's hand (that he hadn't been aware of until just now anyway) so he didn't frighten the kid. He let him come to his senses a bit, and soon the hybrid was blinking his eyes open and glancing around the room. He brought his good arm up to feel around his chest, and his heart rate quickened just the slightest bit until he met eyes with Jin.

"Jin.... What's going on?"

He sounded so helpless that Jin could have started crying again."It's okay, I promise. The doctor came in to check up on you so you can get better faster."

Hoseok reached to press the button next to the bed, but Jin gently placed his hand over the human's and lowered it away from the button. "Give him a minute," Jin whispered before turning his attention back to the hybrid.

"Where are my clothes?" he whimpered out.

Jin took notice of his hospital gown and how the sweater and sweatpants that he'd lent the younger were now folded neatly on the little table off to the side of the room. "They had to take them off so they could see how you were hurt. But it's okay now, it's over."

The hybrid huffed heavily and bit his lip hard. He just didn't know what was going on--he'd never seen a place quite like this before. Never had someone strip him in his sleep. Never been in a room quite so clean. Everything here was foreign to him, and he didn't have a master present to tell him what to do. "W-Where is.. is Master?"

Jin sighed and ignored the look Hoseok was sending him. "Listen, Namjoon isn't your master."

The younger hybrid looked horrified. "He doesn't want me anymore?" He didn't know why that thought upset him so much. He's spent his first night begging to be released to die in the wild, and now that he was being released, he didn't want it anymore. He'd lose Jin, and he'd be left in this foreign place all by himself to deal with the scary people with needles. Before he knew it, his eyes had begun to water. He was angry at himself; he'd never been this emotional before, but after less than one day in the presence of someone he considered a friend, he realized that he was losing all that he had. 

He'd changed ownership before. Many times, actually. Each time, he'd have to learn a new daily schedule and mannerisms that his new master required of him, but this was different. Here, there was no master and there was no security. It's dumb to say that he had security before when his life was on the line every single day and he feared disappointing his master to the point that he'd be kicked out and picked up by a new one, but at least that was a constant. At night, he would sleep in a small room with a couple of other cots, all occupied by other hybrids. Most days, his master would put them through either obedience training or physical training, depending on how his master was feeling.

Every few days, he was taken down to the district late at night, it was dark and the only lights they had were lanterns and torches. There were only four locations he knew of where he had to fight. All of them had metal cages he'd be into, and he'd block out the noise of men yelling and laughing, slamming themselves against the outside of the cage, making him feel claustrophobic, taunting him, and sometimes giving encouragement (depending on who they put their money on). He'd follow his master's orders. He never looked the other hybrids in the eyes; it only made it personal. And it wasn't personal- it was just life.

If he won, he'd be expected to act proud--to strut through the crowd back to his master and stand by him as he collected his winnings for the night. He was never proud.

If he lost, he'd be dragged back to his master's car, tossed in the backseat, and forced to wait the short drive home for his beating all the while wishing that it took longer to get back and forth so he could prolong it for as long as possible.

The vivid memorie