Doctor Feldman had pursed his lips and closed his eyes. "I see. And what happened to this man?"

"When we got there and burst in on the guy, he disappeared. I mean, I was more concerned about Stanford—"Stan looked at his brother—"—than that—creep. By the time I had gotten my brother off of the wall where the guy had him tied up, the lowlife was gone. "

"Hmm. I see. "

"So—other than the stuff from the bicycle chain, this jerk didn't do anything else to my brother, did he? "Stan asked. He was partly hoping not, and partly wanting to get the doctor off of the subject of what had happened to Stanford – and who had done it.

The doctor frowned. "Unfortunately, I found some electrical burns on your brother's torso, and one on the bottom of his left foot. "

Stan covered his face with his hands. "No…."

"We've cleaned and bandaged them as well as the other wounds." Doctor Feldman explained. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be a large amount of tissue damage, and if there was, it was superficial. We have your brother on the heart monitor to make sure any electrical shock didn't disrupt the rhythm of his heart. "

For a few moments, Stan kept his face covered. He just wanted to scream, and part of him wished that the shape shifter was there so that he could rip it apart with his bare hands.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see the doctor on the side of the bed where he was.

"Your brother's going to be okay." He assured. "I may want you to come back a couple of times so that I can see how his wounds are healing and to change the bandages, but he's going to be okay."

Stan sighed. "Thanks, Doc. "

The doctor moved to leave the room, and then suddenly turned back to Stan. "Did—your brother have a lot of accidents—as a child, or in his early adulthood, or—was he—attacked by any animals? "

Stan thought a moment. "Eh—no, why? "

The doctor frowned. "Well, there are several old scars on his back—some of them are healed on top of each other. "

Stan honestly had no clue what the doctor was talking about. "Well, my brother was gone for several years—he actually just came home not long ago. I had—no idea. "

"I see. Well, I need to make my rounds. I'll talk to you, soon."

Stan watched him go, and then looked back at his brother. Stanford, what happened to you in that other dimension?

He took his brother's hand and squeezed it. "No one's ever going to hurt you again. I won't let them. "

Beep…beep…beep—beep-beep-beep…!

"What-?"

Stan looked up at the heart monitor. Suddenly his brother's heart had begun to race. Looking down, he saw that Stanford's head was tossing on the pillow.

"No…" he murmured. "No…please…please don't…"

His voice got slightly louder.

Stan squeezed his brother's hand. "Stanford, I'm here."

"Please don't—stop…"

Stan leaned over and patted his brother's cheek. "Stanford, wake up. It's okay. "

"Stanley, where are you—Stanley, help me! "

Stanford's eyes flew open, and he lay there, breathing hard.

A nurse came in. "Is everything all right, Mister Pines?"

Stan looked at the nurse. "It's okay; my brother just had a bad dream. "Turning back to Stanford he said, "It's okay—just breathe easy. You're all right, now. "

Ford tried to breathe more slowly, but it took him a moment to calm down and get his breathing steady. "It—it's all right, miss—I just need—I just need to calm down. "

The nurse came around the bed and held Stanford's wrist a moment, looking at her watch. After a minute she said, "All right. Please try to stay calm, Mister Pines. "

Stanford nodded. The nurse didn't look completely convinced, but left.