Spencer could hear a voice as he came back into consciousness. It sounded distant and muffled. He couldn't make out the words that were being said. He felt like he was floating.

He tried to open his eyes, but found his eyelids too heavy to move. He moved his efforts to his hands.

He knew he successfully moved his hand when the voice fell silent. After a moment it spoke again. It was slightly clearer, was it his name?

He tried to move his hand again in response.

"Spencer, wake up."

This time he understood the words, though they were still cloudy. He recognised the voice. It was warm and kind, so it wasn't The Man. He tried his eyes again, and this time they began to flutter open.

He had to immediately shut them again, as he was blinded by the light in the room. He tried again, and let his eyes adjust to the brightness. He felt a weight on his hand.

"Hey buddy. How're you feeling?" He moved his head slightly to the side where the voice was coming from. Because of his movements, a searing pain made itself known in his neck. He had to shut his eyes in response, gritting his teeth in order to control the pain.

Once it had subsided to a manageable amount, he peeled his eyes open again. He found himself face to face with a man. He radiated warmth, kindness, and concern. He let out a sigh of relief. "Daddy..."

Morgan's eyes lifted off the page of the book he had been reading aloud when he saw a slight movement out of the corner of his eye. Spencer's hand was twitching slightly. Morgan quickly sat up and put the book away.

"Spencer?"

Another twitch in his hand. "Spencer, wake up."

He waited and watched Spencer for other signs of movement. It took a moment, but his eyes began to open. As soon as they opened, he shut them again and scrunched up his face.

Morgan waited patiently for Spencer to open his eyes again. It took a while, but eventually the boy's eyes were fully open and staring out at the room. They looked disoriented and confused. Morgan reached out and placed his hand on the boy's tiny one.

"Hey buddy, how're you feeling?"

Morgan watched as the child turned his head to face him. He cringed when he saw the movement pull at the stitches in his neck. It was clear that this was painful to the boy, as he scrunched up his face in pain.

Eventually, the boy relaxed and opened his eyes again. As soon as he realized it was Morgan he was looking at, all tension left him. He relaxed further into the bed and gently closed his eyes. "Daddy..."

Morgan felt tears coming to his eyes again at his new title. He tightened his grip on the boy's hand and rubbed his thumb over his knuckles. "Yeah buddy I'm here."

Although more relaxed, Spencer still looked incredibly disoriented. His eyes were having trouble focusing and they wandered slightly around the room. Eventually they found their way back to Morgan's. "Where are we?"

"We're at the hospital baby."

Spencer pouted at the answer. "I wanna go ho-"

Suddenly, he cut himself off and his eyes widened with fear. He slammed his mouth shut and started shaking. Morgan just looked on confused. "What was that buddy?"

Spencer didn't answer, his jaw still clamped shut, and shook his head no. He cringed at the pain it caused in his neck, but he didn't stop. Morgan put his hand on the boy's cheek to try and stop him from irritating his injury. "Hey, hey. Spencer, stop. I don't want you to hurt yourself. But what were you saying before? You don't have to be scared baby."

Spencer looked at him with wet, pleading eyes, but spoke anyway after a moment. "I said I wanna go h-home..."

Morgan continued staring at him as the boy choked out the words. "And why were you scared to say that?"

"C-cause I d-don't wanna go h-home… I g-get hurt there..."

Morgan internally chastised himself for not realizing the issue. But he looked kindly into Spencer's now crying eyes and wiped away some of the tears making their way down his face. "I know buddy. I'm so sorry. I don't want to go there either."

Spencer's eyes widened. "D-did he hurt y-you?" He asked in a fearful voice.

"No baby, not really. But he hurt you, so that hurt me."

Spencer looked slightly confused, but mostly guilty. "I'm sorry..."

"Baby, you have nothing to be sorry about. I'm sorry for not protecting you. But as for home, I was thinking we could move?"

Spencer perked up slightly. "Really?"

Morgan chuckled at the cute child. "Yes really."

Suddenly, a knock came from the door, before being pushed open to reveal the doctor. He was looking down at his clipboard when he walked in, but when he looked up he startled slightly. "Oh, Spencer, you're awake. That's great."

Morgan could see how tense Spencer had become from the new person in the room. He cautiously watched the newcomer to see what he was going to do. Morgan placed a reassuring hand on the little boy's knee.

The doctor was oblivious to the boy's anxiety, so he approached the bed quickly. Spencer shrunk away and grasped Morgan's shirt. "So Spencer, could you do me a favor and rate your pain on a scale of 0 to 10?"

Spencer glanced at Morgan who gave him a reassuring smile and nod. He turned back to the doctor. "th-three..."

Morgan frowned at the boy's answer. He could tell that he was in a lot more pain than just a three. "Spencer, the doctor is just trying to help you. He can't do that if you don't tell him how much pain you're in."

Spencer looked up at him fearfully. "B-but I'm s-strong..."

Morgan's heart broke at his son's words. "I know you're strong. You are the strongest little boy I know. But being in pain doesn't make you weak."

Spencer looked at Morgan for a minute, trying to decipher if he was telling the truth or not. He eventually decided that he was. He turned back to the doctor and spoke so quietly that they almost missed it. "e-eight..."

The doctor nodded. "Okay. I'm going to give you some pain medication so that you don't hurt as much."

The doctor quickly administered the drugs. "They are going to make you sleepy, so try and get some rest." With that, he walked out of the hospital room.

The drug was quick acting, so it only took a few minutes for the boy's eyes to begin to droop. Morgan watched the boy struggle to keep his eyes open. He began petting the boy's soft, curly hair. "It's okay buddy. Go to sleep."

Spencer looked over at him tiredly. "Stay?"

Morgan gave him a warm smile. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere."

With that reassurance, Spencer closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep.