Chapter Two

Bilbo woke up as someone gently shook his shoulder. He whimpered and curled in on himself. "Its alright lad, I won't hurt you." The voice said, it was a voice Bilbo knew, a voice he liked.

"Oin?" Bilbo asked and Oin smiled.

"Good you know its me and you know who you are, that's very good Bilbo." Oin praised. "Can you remember where you are?"

"Erebor? Cause that's where you live, right?" Bilbo asked and Oin smiled at the hobbit.

"That's right lad, how many fingers am I holding up?" He asked and Bilbo looked at his hands.

"Is this a game, I like games." Bilbo said and Oin nodded.

"Yes its a game, now how many fingers?"

"Three?" Bilbo asked and Oin frowned.

"Are you sure?" Oin asked and Bilbo squinted his head hurt.

"Two? It would be easier if they stopped moving." Bilbo said and laughed as Oin looked worried.

"You've got a concussion, in addition to being more then half starved and having bruises all over your body."

"What's that?"

"It means when your head really hurts and its a bit hard to think for a while." Oin said.

"My head's been hurting a lot, they liked kicking it." Bilbo complained and Oin ran gentle fingers over Bilbo's head, he saw several lacerations on the hobbit's head, in addition to bumps and bruises. He didn't want to think of the damage that had been caused by being with those dwarves for the four month journey to Erebor.

"I will make you something to feel better, it will stop you hurting."

"No more hurting?" Bilbo asked.

"No more hurting, but first you need to drink your broth, alright?" Oin asked and the hobbit nodded. "Slowly though Bilbo."

"Can't I eat something other then broth?" Bilbo asked and Oin shook his head.

"Your stomach needs to get used to food again Bilbo." Oin told him and helped him to drink several cups of broth. "You can have some more in a little while, if your a good lad and drink your pain tonic." Oin said and Bilbo nodded, he drank the potion and sighed in relief, but as he got drowsey he started to panic.

"No more sleep please, I'll be good." Bilbo said and Oin stared at the hobbit, not knowing what else to do, he smoothed his hands across Bilbo's back, anger striking him as he felt the hobbit shaking in fear.

"You are good, but you need to rest Bilbo, give your body a chance to get better." Oin said.

"No more pain...No more pain." Bilbo said rocking back and forth. "No more..."He trailled off and started to snore softly, Oin stared at the hobbit, surprised at how quickly the potion had effected him. He was even more alarmed when the hobbit slept for two days. He managed to trickle broth into Bilbo's mouth and keep him alive in that time, but still he was very relieved when Bilbo woke up. The hobbit hunched in on himself and started to cry.

"Bilbo, lad what's wrong?" Oin asked, but got no answer from the hobbit, Bilbo was too upset for that and only continued to sob. Oin gently rested a hand on Bilbo's shoulder and was surprised when the hobbit buried his face into Oin's robes, clinging to him. "Its alright Bilbo, you are alright and among friends. We'll get you well and you can help Thorin."

"Help Thorin, I helped Thorin, but he said I was bad, bad Bilbo." Bilbo said and started to cry again.

"What you did was thought to be bad, bad for dwarves, but you were just trying to help in the only way you could. I don't think you were bad Bilbo, the rest of the company doesn't think you were bad either, but others think you were bad and they might do bad things to Thorin if he doesn't make them happy." Oin explained gently to the hobbit. "Its alright, but please be gentle with yourself, here have some broth." He handed the hobbit a cup and Bilbo drank it. "There's a lad, how are you feeling?"

"Head still hurts, but it doesn't hurt bad no more, no more tonics please?" Bilbo asked.

"No more tonics, or at least, not until I get the dosage right, how often were you made to drink something by the bad men?"

"Don't know, I was so sleepy." Bilbo said. "Don't wanna sleep again."

"You don't have to, not right away at least. Why don't I read to you for a bit instead, you like drawing right?" He asked and Bilbo nodded. "Well then it won't hurt you that much, if you draw while I read." Oin offered and Bilbo grinned, Oin pulled up a chair and handed Bilbo some papers. Bilbo drew while Oin read from a Westron book of tales. He watched over his charge from the corner of his eye and he read, wincing at the childish drawings Bilbo managed and remembering how much finer Bilbo's drawings used to be. He continued to read to the hobbit, until the quill dropped and he started to snore. Oin gently laid Bilbo down as Thorin burst into the room.

"They gave him Alshrinal!" Thorin said furiously, before Oin could warn him to be quiet. The hobbit awoke and started to scream, pulling his feet up to his chest and rocking back and forth.

"Its alright Bilbo, no one is going to hurt you! Thorin what were you thinking, frightening him like that."

"But they..."

"I know about Alshrinal, in overdoses it can reduce a mind of someone, to that of a child. Luckily the effects fade with time, but I don't know how long it will take for him to recover and I've heard that there can sometimes be relapses even then. The bounty hunters finally talked then?"

"Oh they talked, after I persuaded them for the past three days, when I threatened to do to them, what they did to Bilbo, they talked alright. The scum is currently in the prison and they will stay there, I don't care what the people think about this. They drove Bilbo crazy, no matter how temporary it might be and that is unforgivable." He said and gently put his arms around the hobbit. "You are safe Bilbo, I'm sorry I got angry, I just don't like seeing you hurt like this." He told Bilbo as Bilbo shook back and forth.

"It would be better to leave him, he's stuck in his own world and it can sometimes damage a person by being too forceful. He's gone through a lot Thorin, in these last months." He said and Thorin nodded, backing away from the hobbit. Bilbo eventually calmed down and Thorin hugged him gently.

"No one is going to hurt you Bilbo, not anymore." Thorin told him gently as Bilbo started to cry, after a while he exhausted himself and fell asleep against Thorin. Thorin gently laid the hobbit back down and turned to Oin.

"How much longer will he be like this?"

"I do not know, it could be as short of a time as a week, or months before he fully recovers. He should be able to start helping you after a week or so, but other then that I'm not certain."

"I see, well I suppose we can only wait for him to return to himself." Thorin said and sighed softly. "I must get back to work." He added and Oin nodded, watching the king depart, Oin could only hope that Bilbo got better, because if he didn't it would way heavy on all of the company.