Matt frantically pulled the bedsheets tightly around his shaking body, whether it was because of the temperature of the room or the adrenaline fading from the actions prior, he wasn't sure. He let out broken sobs as he curled as tightly as he could around the silky sheets, trying to make himself as small as possible in the center of the bed so that he could try to forget what happened. He vaguely heard people calling his name, but he didn't register it as he was nearing a panic attack. As he almost gave in to the unconscious pull, he suddenly felt pressure against his arm and felt it pull him against a solid object, when he looked up, saw it was a chest. He looked further up and recognized the face to which the chest he currently was resting against belonged.
It was Tai pulling him towards him, to comfort him and support him like he always did ever since they were kids and traveled to the digiworld for the first time. If he was more aware of the surrounding he would have asked how Tai managed to escape his cell, but he was perfectly content to snuggle into his chest and hide his face from the rest of his friends. He knew his friends wouldn't look at him differently, but the deep-seated fear still lay within. He snuggled further into Tai's chest, trying to dislodge those thoughts and focus on regaining his composure. As he did this, he felt a calloused hand, rough from years of practice, gently comb and tangle through his tousled hair. He pushed against the fingers, appreciating the calming gesture.
"Matt" Tai tried as he continued to run his fingers through his hair hoping to calm him down enough to see what was wrong besides the obvious. "Are you okay? I know like you aren't okay... you know what I mean!" Matt just looked at him in a bemused smile but didn't say anything. Tai let it go for now and just continued to hug Matt, knowing they would be brought back to this topic and relatively soon as he wanted to make sure he wouldn't get any infections.
"Matt, I know you rather ignore what just happened or even forget about it, but I have to make sure your wounds don't get infected!". Matt slowly raised his head from where it was resting against Tai's chest and slowly scooted back enough as if saying "I'm ready for you to check". Tai understood this, as he and Matt knew each other well enough to communicate silently. Tai slowly raised himself from the side of the bed where he had been perched in the rush to make sure that Matt was in some semblance of okay.
Slowly moving towards Matt with his hands raised as if approaching a wild cat on the street, sat in front of Matt and took a hold of the arm closest to him, which happened to be his left. Gently turning the arm over and poking and prodding any marking that is unfamiliar, he moved on to the next one. After finding little damage done to his arms, Tai moved on to his torso and head. He scoped over and found a few bumps on Matt's head and scratches on his back. He asked if Matt could lean forward a bit more so that he could take a closer look to see how deep they were. Finding them relatively shallow, Tai made a mental note to still clean and wash them. Finally, Tai came to the worst part: the lower body. Seeing Matt's scared face as Myotismon pushed himself onto his friend haunted his memory, and made him seeth with anger, not only just at the Digimon. As he watched in terror as Matt begged and pleaded even though he knew his voice was unheard by the Digimon above him, he still tried and tried as that was the only way he had some sort of chance. He knew Matt would be scared of anyone going near him especially close to his lower body. He heard his name being called behind and he turned his head to look over his should. He saw the rest of the digidestined, no, his friends looking at him, watching his movement with concerned faces. He gave them his trademark smile saying "Everything will be okay" and turned back to look at the task before him.
"Matt, I know that you are scared and traumatized and I don't want to make it worse, so if you wanted to do the look over yourself that is fine. But I will watch as I know you and you will brush it off." Matt's appreciating gaze turned into a glare as Tai finished his sentence. Tai just looked at him in a smug smile knowing that Matt is not pleased even though he knew it was the truth.
Matt slowly made his way towards the edge of the bed before briefly hesitating. He looked at Tai as if looking for reassurance of any kind then pushed himself to stand. Tai hurriedly ran to try and stabilize Matt as his legs were shaking like a newborn foal. As soon as Tai was close enough, Matt all but collapsed onto him clutching his sleeves like a lifeline. Tai proceeded to then run his hand through Matt's hair and down his back whispering words of reassurance. All while this was happening, their friends watched silently as if not to startle the scene laying before them. After witnessing Matt go through that horrific act, they knew Matt needed as much comfort as Tai could give as he was the only one that managed to get out of his cell.
Once Matt felt more stable, he pushed away from Tai to stand on his own. Tai, respecting the distance gap, just watched as Matt dropped the blanket which was the only thing that remained to give him some privacy. As soon as it dropped, Matt looked over his legs and turned around for Tai to see, but he wasn't paying attention. As he turned around, Tai zeroed in on the blood and other liquids running down the pale shaking thighs. He hurriedly looked up and cleared his throat, "It doesn't look like any of the scratches we saw should get infected, but we should still have Joe look and treat them." As Tai spoke, he noticed Matt not making eye contact he looked at the ground the whole time. He closed the distance gap and stopped right before Matt asking with a silent invitation if he could hug him, but left it to Matt to close the gap. Close the gap he did, Matt sobbed into his chest and gripped the back of his shirt tightly, his fingers going white with lack of blood flow from how tight he was gripping his shirt. Tai just hugged Matt trying to convey all of his emotions with one hug and hoping to help him even though the situation won't be fixed. They slowly fell to the floor as Matt's legs started to give out from under him and Tai wanted to ease him to the ground. Grabbing the abandoned blanket, Tai situated it so that the only thing that could be seen was Matt's face. Pulling Matt against him, Tai leaned against the bed frame with Matt curled sideways, tucked between his legs. Continuing his calming gestures, he noticed when Matt's breathing evened out and he fell asleep.
"Tai, bring him over here so I can clean out his wounds and treat him before Myotismon gets back!" Joe whispered yelled.
Tai was glad that Joe had managed to get all his medical supplies in and keep them as now they didn't have to worry too much about Matt getting super ill.
"I'm going to let him sleep some first, he needs it," Tai said, his voice leaving no room for arguments. With that, Tai closed his eyes, thinking about a way to stop Matt from getting hurt again. This was his last conscious thought as he too followed Matt into dreamland, unintentionally leaving Matt unprotected.