Without a word they walked down to Walt's car. Jesse didn't make a peep the entire drive to the hospital, but instead shifted his weight uncomfortably in the seat and stared out the window. Walt kept glancing over at him, knowing he was incredibly scared from the way he rubbed his hands over his face, as we always did when things got too intense for him. He wanted to say something to make him feel better but couldn't think of anything good. I mean, what could he possibly say to make this better? To be honest he was surprised that Jesse had even let him take him to the hospital.

When they arrived, Walt parked and got out. Jesse stayed in the car, staring out the passenger window but not looking at Walt, even when he came around and opened the door, holding out a hand in case Jesse just tumbled out of the car.

"Jesse?" Walt said, trying to meet his eye, "Are you passing out or are you just freezing up cause you have no idea what to do?"

"Yeah, that," Jesse mumbled, looking briefly at Walt, then shying away, intimidated by his friends concerned gaze.

"This will be okay," Walt assured, "Come on, get out."

Jesse slowly got out of the car and followed Walt into the hospital. Between the smell of the hospital, the bright lights and words like sexual assault being bantered around between an endless sea of hospital workers, Jesse could hardly place himself. It all seemed like a blur. He was vaguely aware of Walt pushing him gently forward, of being led to an exam room. He cringed when he was asked to drop his pants and let a stranger examine him, but he did it slowly and in a checked out state. He snapped back to attention when the doctor said,

"We're going to have to do a very minor procedure to fix this up. We can do it right here, today. Is that alright? I just need to ask you a couple of questions and we can get started."

Jesse looked up, realizing that Walt was still in the room. Sitting in the corner, silently. Jesse forced himself to meet Walt's eye, just long enough to give him a look that said, Please do the talking. Please.

"I'd be happy to answer any questions," Walt volunteered, "He's not…well, he's not really himself right now."

"That's to be expected," The nurse explained, "Okay, so I just need a little history. You said this was a sexual assault?"

Jesse looked down, cheeks burning, fighting back tears.

"That's right," Walt answered, maintaining his composure.

"When did this occur?"

"Yesterday."

"And did he seek any medical treatment already?"

"No."

"Okay, and would you like us to do a rape kit?"

"No!" Jesse spoke for himself on that one.

"Alright, Mr. Pinkman, we're going to have to put you under anesthesia for this. Do you have any family history of sleep apnea?"

Jesse shook his head.

"Okay, how about any shortness of breath, lung disease, anything like that?"

Jesse hung his head over the edge of the exam table, unable to answer any more.

"He has no health problems other than this," Walt chimed in.

"What about history of bleeding disorders?" The nurse asked, concern in her voice.

"No," Walt answered.

"Well, it's just that some of the scarring is prematurely thick. The wounds are fresh and bleeding, which is consistent with an attack that happened yesterday, but the scarring in the rectum is already far more built up that it should be."

"Is that a problem?" Walt asked sharply, sensing that Jesse's patience had run out.

"It's indicative of abnormal tissue growth, which can be an issue during a surgical procedure."

"What kind of issue?" Walt demanded.

"….before…" Jesse muttered, face to the ground.

"What was that, sweetie?" The nurse asked.

"I said they were there before!" Jesse screamed, looking up long enough for Walt to see the vein in his forehead popping with pent up anger, "The scars, they were already there! Please, just do the damn surgery."

He couldn't help it anymore and tears ran down his face. Walt wanted to go to him but couldn't bring himself to move. He watched the pain in Jesse's face as he lay crying on the exam table.

"Alright, Mr. White, we're going to move him into surgery now. You can wait in the waiting room and he will be out in about an hour or so."

Walt nodded to Jesse as he left the room, unable to forget the look on his face.

When Jesse woke up hours later, the whole incident was a blur. At first he couldn't figure out where he was, but as his focus improved he remembered the events of the morning. He became vaguely aware of a cold washcloth on his forehead and realized that Walt was sitting next to him, wiping his face with the cloth. Realizing this, he jumped up forcefully, gasping.

"Jesse," Walt pinned his bare arms against his chest. It was then he realized, that his clothes were gone, he was wearing one of those flimsy hospital gowns. Great, as if I needed to be more vulnerable, he thought.

"Stop it, stop it," Walt was telling him, "It's me. It's Walt. You're okay."

Jesse put his arms down, looking around vigilantly.

"It's over, you did it," Walt said, "Calm down, we'll just let you come to a little bit and we can go home."

"We?" Jesse croaked.

"We'll figure it out," Walt assured, "Just relax."

As they sat in the car on the drive back, Walt again attempted to engage Jesse, who looked a little bit better now that it was over and he was back in his normal clothes.

"Are you hungry?" Walt asked, "We can swing by a…"

"No!" Jesse lashed out, "Look at me, dude, I can't even sit straight cause my ass is all fucked up! No, I don't want to go into a restaurant!"

Jesse motioned for Walt to see how he was sitting with one knee tucked up under him to protect his fresh wounds.

"I was gonna say drive through," Walt said softly.

"Oh…uh..no thanks."

After another moment of awkward silence, Walt reached out again,

"Relax, Jesse, I know its awkward but trust me, I'm a teacher. That means I'm a mandatory reporter, do you know what that is?"

"Um…does that mean you have to report like child abuse and shit?"

"Basically, yes," Walt explained, "It means I have had hundreds of awkward conversations, had to explain my suspicions of sexual abuse to principals, counselors, social services, you name it. This isn't the first time I've come across something like this and it probably won't be the last. So you don't need to worry about me. Okay? Are we cool?"

"Yeah, we're cool," Jesse murmured, glad this wasn't as big a deal for his partner as it was for him, but also a little unnerved to think that Walt thought of him as an abused kid, sitting in the principal's office waiting for social services.

When they arrived at Jesse's house moments later, Jesse hopped out of the car and Walt once again followed him in. Walt waited a minute after closing the door behind him to speak.

"Well, it's up to you," He said carefully, "Do you want me to stay awhile or will you be okay by yourself?"

"I'm okay," Jesse said, "I just want to sleep."

"That's fine," Walt said, "I have to meet up with Skylar to discuss…things…anyway. I'll come back around dinner time, I'll bring you some food and we'll cook."

"What?"

"Food, I mean, not meth," Walt laughed, "Sound good?"

Jesse nodded. Walt could see how tired he was.

"Okay?" He held out his arms, gesturing like he was going to hug him, but not stepping forward, inviting Jesse to make the first move.

Jesse stepped into his arms and hugged him. He could feel how thin and frail Jesse really was, as he was wearing just a T-shirt instead of his usual layers. Walt pulled him in, resting his chin on the top of the young man's head.

"Thank you for taking me to the hospital," Jesse said, giving into Walt's embrace, "I was not ready to deal with that on my own."

"You're welcome," Walt said, "Get some rest, I'll see you later."