Chapter six:
Over the past several days, Dust hasn't been able to get Ink alone. He finds that Error refuses to leave for anyone, thanks to spying. So he knows Ink hasn't told Error about what happened.
Error just says that he needs to be there in case Ink needs a moment with him.
Everyone has heard that Ink let Error stay when he had a moment. So they understand that reasoning.
Luckily Dust has been able to sneak glares at Ink, hoping to push him to finding a way to die again. He's been seeing Blood and Farm doing better and that's not what he wants. "It's only a matter of time." He tells himself as he's in his own home. He is sitting on a recliner, elbows on his knees hands on his chin, as he has the area dark save for a lamp.
Back in the hospital... Error stepped out to get a quick drink from the nearby water fountain. He is glad that it's in the same hallway so he can watch who goes inside, as well as allow him to hear if Ink makes distressed sounds.
Ink was sleeping when Error went to get a quick drink of water. His bed is propped up, though Error hasn't wanted to wake him up to move the bed down.
Dream and Cross went out on a date today. They do deserve a break as they've been doing their best to try to help Ink feel happy.
Blue is also getting a break today as he went out with his brother. He has been doing his best for Ink too so Error told him to go have fun.
Error pulls away from the water fountain and heads back to the room. His eyes widen at what he sees Ink doing.
Ink is awake and glaring with tears at his arms. He's gotten one of the bandages off of his arm. He's clawing at his arm trying to reopen the wound there. Probably also tearing open recently healed parts. "Come on! Open up again! Let me die!" He sobs as he continues to claw at his arm unaware of Error standing there.
"I-Ink! S-Stop!" Error shouts dashing to Inks side. He grabs the others wrist pulling his hand away.
"No! Let me do it!" Ink cries out but Error keeps a decent grip without hurting him. He tries to struggle to get his hand back to the wound, though Error is not allowing him.
Error sees that Ink hasn't managed to open up too much of the wound. He does see it is bleeding a bit so he'll have to call a doctor for sure. He just knows that it's not bleeding enough to be an emergency. First he needs to calm Ink down. He continues to have one hand on Inks wrist to keep him from harming himself. He uses his other hand to pull Ink into a hug. "Don't h-hurt yourself." He pleads to the other who is sobbing heavily.
"He's gonna kill..." Ink pauses to sniffle as his struggling in Errors hold starts to slow. "Kill whoever knows the truth. I have to... Die so no one else will die... I deserve to die! I'm worthless and useless." His talking fades into just sobs as he finally stops resisting Error.
Error feels his soul ache at the words he hears. "Don't t-talk like t-that." He pleads finding tears coming to his own eyes. He blinks them away as Ink has enough on his plate in this moment. "D-Don't let him w-win! You're stronger t-than him." He keeps Ink close and refuses to let go of Inks wrist. He can't let Ink try to hurt himself again. He has to make sure the other has calmed down before he lets go of the wrist. "I-I'm here. H-He is never g-going to hurt you again. Y-You don't have to f-fear him." He decides he will not leave the room even if it's to go to the water fountain. He can't let something like this happen again. "I-It'll be okay. Y-You're strong."
Ink flops to be limp in Errors arms as he sobs pretty hard. He is still sitting up since so is Error.
Error is very worried about Ink and he lowers the others hand to not strain him. He keeps a gentle yet strong grip on his wrist though. He knows it's better safe than to let Ink try again. "S-Shhh. I-It's okay." He rubs Inks back while still keeping him close. He can hear Ink trying to calm his sobs down. He doesn't stop in rubbing his back until Ink is no longer sobbing. "D-Don't do t-that again. Please. H-He can't hurt y-you now. We all c-care about you." He turns as the doctor comes inside. "I s-stepped out to t-the water fountain. A-And came back to him c-clawing at his wound." He shifts to still hold Ink close while also letting the doctor check Inks arm. He lets go of Inks wrist knowing he can't do it again with the doctor also here. He uses his now free hand to stroke Inks skull, while still rubbing his back with his other hand.
The doctor gets clean bandages from his inventory, after cleaning the wound with a wipe ripped open from a package, making sure it is well bandaged. He glances to Ink seeing him just having given up to be limp against Error. "I'm going to move his therapy appointment to even sooner. This behavior is very concerning."
Error nods his head. "O-Okay."
The doctor looks to Inks face. "Ink. Do you want me to stay? Or would you prefer some alone time with Error?" He sees the other shake his head as he brings up the first thing asked. "I just want to be clear. Right now you need some time alone with Error."
Ink nods softly.
The doctor moves away at this. "Alright. It's clear he trusts you a lot. I'll let the two of you be alone for a bit." He leaves the room with that only to sigh outside of the room.
"What happened?"
The doctor turns seeing a red dragon with gold accents monster nurse. She is about as tall as Basic is, and she keeps her claws dull to not harm her patients.
"Ink got his bandages off of his one arm then tried to claw the wound open." The doctor sighs his tail twitching with worry. "This isn't good. There's something deeply troubling him." He sees that even the nurse looks to be rather worried about Ink too.
The nurses tail waves in her worried state.
Dream and Cross have just gotten back from their date. They pause seeing the worried looks of the two that are by Inks door. They approach causing the two to turn to them.
"Is everything alright?" Dream questions hoping that it's not Ink they're worried about.
The doctor speaks as he and the nurse turn to fully face the two. "Well Error stepped out to the water fountain for a moment." He gestures to said water fountain. "But as he went back he found that Ink got one of his bandages off. Ink was trying to claw his wound open again. Error did manage to stop him. I've bandaged it up. I'm moving his therapy visit to a day within this week." He sees both of them look worried, surprised and scared.
Dream is about to run into the room, only to be stopped by the doctor moving his tail in the way.
"Ink wants some time alone right now. Errors with him so we know he won't try to hurt himself again." The doctor informs Dream who backs off.
Cross hugs Dream to try to comfort him. "Come on babe. Ink will be okay with Error. Lets go find something to distract you for a little bit." He gently leads the other away trying to figure out what they can do.
Blue and Stretch are walking along down a stretch of road with lots of shops, restaurants, and cafes.
"Pappy. Can I tell you something?"
"Of course you can." Stretch confirms to his brother staying at the same pace as the other. "What's on your mind little brother?"
"Well I haven't wanted to bother Error with this. He's the one Ink is comfortable enough to have a moment with so to speak. So of course all his attention is on Ink more than anything else." Blue tells his brother who listens to what he has to say. "I guess I just wish we could go out together. Error does let me cuddle him when we're sleeping. So I have just been trying to be thankful for that. This is a hard time and I know Ink needs a lot of support right now." He stops his rambling as his brother puts a hand on his shoulder.
"I think you need to talk to Error about that." Stretch tells him as his brother turns to meet his eyes. "I know for sure that he'd be willing to listen to how you've been feeling. It can be easy to get wrapped up in worry when your friend does something like this. Especially with Ink and Error being rather close. You just also need to not neglect your feelings in all of this."
Blue nods then looks away. "Yeah. You're right Pappy. I'll talk to Error about it so we can figure something out. Promise." He follows Stretch as the two head into a restaurant for some food.
In the room Ink has refused to move away from Error.
Error doesn't mind as hell let Ink lay on him for however long he needs. He has a worry that Ink won't get any better, at least not until the one who has been hurting him is taken down. He just wishes that he knew who it was. He's already decided he's going to kill whoever it is. He looks to Ink when the other shifts. He sees him trying to move up. He uses his hands to gently help with that.
Now Ink is sitting up not leaning against anything.
Error looks to Ink and his soul twists and aches hard at how he looks.
Inks eyes are half open refusing to look anywhere but down, he seems to have a darker expression, and his whole face screams mental anguish. Even his eye lights are in darker colours.
Error wishes he could wipe away those bad emotions to make Ink happy again. His determination spikes as he decides he will not stopping working until Ink is happy again. No matter what it takes. He already planned to do so, just his decision is double confirmed now. "Do y-you need to l-lay down? I d-don't want you t-to strain yourself." He sees a soft nod from the other.
Ink lays back on his bed as Error helps him do so. He has his head turned away from Error as Error lets go when he's laying on the propped up bed.
Error is frowning with his concern over Ink. He really does wish he could take away all of Inks negativity.
"It wasn't just once..." A slight mumble comes from Ink as Error listens to what he says. "One part was only once... The rest wasn't just once..."
Error feels himself flaring up with rage. He takes a few quiet breaths to control himself. He stays quiet as he lets Ink continue at his own pace.
"He... He..." Ink struggles to get it out as a shiver passes down his spine. He starts to curl up into a fetal position. His body tries to cry again, however he's already done that too much right now so his body can't.
Error climbs onto the bed with Ink, pulling him close after laying beside him. He tries to use his legs to discourage Ink from going into a fetal position. His arms wrapped around Inks torso. "I-Ink. It's o-okay. He isn't h-here to hear you t-tell me. Make sure y-you don't push yourself t-too far though." He knows very well that Ink has had a hard day. So he doesn't want the other to push himself further than he can handle.
"He raped me!" Ink finally manages to get out a little loudly. He falls into dry sobs as his body attempts to force the crying.
Error clutches the hospital gown Ink was put into that has the paint sash on top. He clenches his teeth really hard. He swallows back a snarl to not scare Ink. He is definitely going to murder whoever did this. He can hear Ink starting to struggle to breathe as he starts to panic. His anger is gone in a flash for now. "H-Hey! Listen to m-me. Breathe. L-Like this. Follow m-my lead." He takes calming deep breaths. He is glad to hear Ink attempting to do the same. He keeps it up and soon hears Inks breathing start to even out a little. "T-That's it. Y-You're safe." He keeps doing the breathing with Ink until he sounds better. He gently strokes Inks skull soothingly.
"It was just once." Ink tells Error as he gazes distantly at Errors chest. His back to the wall where the bed that Dream and Cross have been sleeping in is. His voice is quiet so Error strains a little to listen. "B-But he kept coming back. He'd hurt me and told me I was better off dead. That I'm so worthless." He starts to tremble against Error as he tries to curl up again.
Error stops him, once more gently encouraging his legs to not come up. "Y-You're not worthless I-Ink. He is w-wrong. You're the m-most important skeleton o-of all time. K-Keeper of AUs. Keeper and protector o-of creativity. Even in t-these times. Not t-to mention how amazing you a-are. You're so k-kind and fun. You are v-very creative and have a-a real talent for it. Y-You've helped so many m-monsters. So many A-AUs. You helped m-me. That I-I am grateful f-for. Just so you k-know the truth. The t-truth that he made you l-lose sight of." He goes quiet wondering if Ink is going to say anything else. He just had to make sure that Ink knows that what he was told isn't true.
Ink shifts to move just a little closer to Error. "I can't say anymore." He looks worried that he's already said too much.
Error remembers the threat that whoever did this will kill them if Ink told them. "N-No way is a-anyone going to kill m-me." He reminds Ink and nuzzles his skull gently. "I w-will let you t-tell me who on y-your own time." He stays with Ink then turns as he hears footsteps. He sees Blue who comes over to him looking a little worried. "H-Hey. I'll e-explain later p-promise." He tells the other who smiles in assurance before moving to check on Ink. He sees the usually cheery eyes of Blue dim to deep worry at seeing Inks state.
Blue looks understanding as to why Error is practically spooning Ink; though with their fronts facing each other. He moves away a little clearly not sure what to say or do.
Error glances to Ink wondering if Blue needs to leave for a bit or not. He sees that Ink is probably going to be like this for awhile, a bit distant and quite depressed. He'll just stay here and let Blue be here too.
Blue sits behind Ink on the bed. He accidentally presses against Inks back.
Ink jerks away making Blue jump off the bed in surprise; Blue lands easily on his feet. He scrambles against Error as if trying to get away. He whimpers in terror as he does so.
"I-Ink! Ink!" Error grabs onto Inks shoulders trying to calm him down. "I-It was just B-Blue. It is o-okay. Calm d-down." He struggles with Ink for a few moments before the other manages to calm down.
Inks breathing is in pants as he used a good chunk of energy there.
"T-Take a look. T-The only o-other one here r-right now is Blue. H-He won't hurt you. L-Like me." Error encourages hoping that if Ink sees Blue it might help Inks mindset. He also has an idea that the one part must have happened with, whoever it did it, pressing against Inks back. He is basing it on Inks reaction to Blues body touching his back.
Ink hesitantly looks behind himself. His eyes land upon Blue, who smiles softly in a comforting way.
Blue gives a gentle wave hello along with his smile. He is turned to face the bed and Ink. He just let Error calm Ink down, as he worried he might make it worse by helping as well.
Ink turns back to face Errors torso. His panting settling down to relaxed breathing.
"I'm sorry I scared you Ink." Blue tells Ink still smiling wanting to assure him, also as he is relieved to see the other is calmer for now.
"I-It's okay." Ink forces out of his mouth in response. He tries to focus on Errors clothes and scent to block out the memories. He can't let himself sink into the memory.
Blue doesn't get back on the bed not wanting to scare Ink again. He thought Ink was getting better. He just has no idea what could have changed to make him into a mess.
It is night time and everyone is sleeping... Well almost everyone...
Error hasn't been able to sleep after the day they had. He is sitting in a chair next to the bed.
Blue is laying on the bed he and Error decided to share. He's fast asleep.
Error watches Ink sleep with the bed fully down this time. He imagines the pain he will inflict on whoever did such horrible things to Ink. He clenches his pants and pushes away those thoughts. He can think about them when he knows who it is. He eventually gets some sleep next to Blue after Cross woke up. He is asleep by the early hours of the morning.
Everyone is awake as it's the late afternoon when a knock comes to the door. They turn and see a kind looking dog monster.
She looks related to one of the Doggo's, she has white and black spotted fur, a slender yet fluffy long tail, a doctor uniform, and gentle blue eyes. "Greetings. I am Dogari. This hospitals lead therapist." She moves closer then looks to those there in the room. "This is policy but I must request that you all leave. I have to be alone with Ink."
Error wants to protest only to hold back. He knows that Ink will be okay enough with her. He follows as the others leave. He finds the closest seat to wait for the therapy to end, without spying.
Blue sits down next to him.
"Me and Dream will get us all something to drink." Cross offers and gets what Blue and Error want before leaving with his fiancée.
Inside the room Dogari sits down next to Ink. "I am here to listen. You can start if you want. Or would you prefer me to begin with some questions?" She waits for Ink to give an answer. She can take as much time as she needs as she knows patience is a great tool here.
After a few moments Ink finally speaks up. "I felt worthless. Useless. I was putting myself down." He doesn't dare tell her the whole truth. He doesn't want to risk her talking to cops if she knows Dust was hurting him. He knows that Dust wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone looking into it. He can't do that to innocent monster cops. "The AUs I used to try to protect to let them run their own course, are now all one. I am not needed anymore." He stops unable to go on. His words echo actual thoughts he had, not long before he tried to kill himself.
"It can be hard to feel like we might not be needed. I can assure you that you are needed. Your friends have been here for you even visiting you. They need you." Dogari sees that Ink still looks upset. She has seen it in enough cases that are like this. So she isn't surprised. "It won't feel okay at first. Just know that we are all here for you. The staff and your friends."
Ink nods so Dogari tries to gently encourage Ink to share some information. He stays quiet only adding one part here and there. He keeps to the story that he did it to himself.
When Dogari feels like they should bring their session to an end she gets up. "We will speak again. Once you're off the other medications I'm going to prescribe an antidepressant to try to help."
Ink nods softly and Dogari leaves.
Error rushes into the room as soon as he spots Dogari walking towards them.
Dogari looks as Blue, Dream and Cross approach. "He will be given antidepressants when off his medication for things like pain. I cannot share what was talked about as it is a privacy policy."
"We understand." Blue assures her with a smile. "Hopefully things went good." He goes with Dream and Cross as they head into Inks room. He will keep quiet about wanting more time with Error. He can see that now isn't the best time to try to pull him away from Ink.