Kanaya walked slowly out of Karkat's hospital room, wondering all the while if she'd done the right thing. I'd seen him terrified before, but when he saw that he was restrained, he looked as if he was going to die. Now he'll be stuck in here until he decides to cooperate. She moved back to the ward lobby where Rosa waited. At least at school he had me to talk to. Like that really did any good. She tapped one of the nurses on the shoulder, recognizing him as the one who had sedated Karkat.

"Mm, yes? What is it?" The man turned around, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Well, Karkat's my friend, and I was wondering when he'll be able to leave…"

"He can't leave for a while, not until he's partially healed and told us what happened. Damn, how could anyone do something like that to a kid? Makes me sick…"

Kanaya remembered full well what she had seen in the pictures. She had ridden in the ambulance with Karkat, but gotten separated from him in the frantic scramble when they got to the hospital. Eventually, she found the ward where he was, but couldn't see him because apparently he was trying to escape. A male nurse came over to her and asked her to come with him. He led her to a Dr. Scratch M.D.'s office, where she was promptly shown in.

"Ah, Ms… Maryam, I believe?"

"Yes, that is me."

"Do you know exactly the extent of his injuries, Ms. Maryam?"

"He has a badly broken rib, a fractured skull, and a concussion."

"Yes, but there is… more. I have pictures if you want to see, but I am warning you, they make me cringe and I've seen everything."

"I'll see them." When he laid the file in front of her, she hesitated before lifting the cover. As soon as Kanaya saw the pictures inside, she slammed the folder shut, tears pouring out of her eyes. "Wh-wh-what kind of thing would do that to a child?" She opened it up again, this time prepared for the horror. As she looked, she felt more tears spill out of her eyes. The top picture was of Karkat's torso from the front. It was so small and thin; the ribs were jutting out. One of them was bruised and swollen to twice the size of its counterpart.

The worst thing Kanaya had ever seen was literally carved into his flesh. There were countless scars, each series spelling out a different word. None of the words resembled anything a father should ever say to his son. The next picture nearly made Kanaya vomit in pity and rage. Karkat was lying on his stomach in this picture, and the same scars were across his shoulders, but they spelled out a sentence. She noticed that the skin around the scar was shiny and pinkish.

"That right there, that is an acid burn. We think that after those words were carved into his flesh, he was doused in isopropyl alcohol, although with a much stronger solution than is normally available. It also indicates that it was left on for a long time, maybe hours."

Kanaya couldn't speak, she was so engulfed in hatred for the bastard that did this. How? How could he even bear that?

"It's worse than you might think. The scar shows signs of stretching, indicating that he was young when he got this. Perhaps in third grade or thereabouts."

Oh, God, nobody deserves treatment like that, not even the worst criminals. And yet he went through that as a third grader? His dad has a lot to answer for.

"I can't let you see some of the other pictures, but this… particular scarring continues along his legs. I have to tell you, I don't normally get involved emotionally with my patients, but this makes me want to do murder."

"I know exactly how you feel. I want to take the worthless bastard that did this and tear him apart slowly. I want to make the rest of his life Hell for this!"

"Punishing the perpetrator aside, he is also missing large amounts of his epidermal layer of skin. Certain trace chemicals have been found, and it appears that it was burned off by chlorine. Perhaps it was in the soap that he uses or something?"

At this, Kanaya let out a sob. "Why? Why? Why? Why would someone want to do something like this?"

"Well, I can tell it wasn't done by a drunk."

"Really? How?"

"The letters in the scars. They're too precise, to exact. If it was a drunken man that did this, the letters would be less straight and would fluctuate in size. This, though, this was deliberate and intentional. The treatment of the cuts seems to be purposeful, if also brutally abusive."

"I suppose that only makes it worse. If his dad did it when he was drunk, that would be bad enough. But this, it's premeditated and careful. His dad must be truly evil."

"It's not my job to give opinion on morality, but this really is nothing short of horrifying. Also, while the broken skull seems to be a fairly safe break, there is another anomalous appearance in the skull. Look there," he pointed, "It's a hole."

"And what is that dark blob?"

"That appears to be a GPS tracker chip. The pattern on the hole is suggesting that it was made with a power drill or something of that ilk."

"Okay, that is just unthinkable." Kanaya suddenly swayed on her feet, nearly losing her balance. "I-I think I've seen more than enough."

"You can sit down in the lobby until a nurse comes and gets you. If you need anything, just ask at the desk."

"Thank you. For everything." Kanaya turned and walked out on shaky legs. When she reached the nearest chair, she collapsed into it, her mind simply numb from imagining the hell Karkat had lived in. Everything was purposeful, planned to cause pain of some sort. She could not tell how long she sat there before she was greeted by her mother.

"Kanaya, I've been to see Dr. Scratch. He showed me the pictures and explained what happened." She was interrupted and Kanaya lunged forward and wrapped her arms around her.

"I c-can't bear to even think about it! It's no wonder he was so terrified of me, all he's ever known is pain." She looked up at her mother's face. "How does someone like that even recover?"

"I'm not sure that he ever will fully. Scars like that run deep. It seems obvious that he has something like PTSD. And at such a young age too. It's no wonder that he's trying to run away."

They lapsed into a worried silence and sat down again. Time passed, and eventually a nurse told Kanaya that she could go and see Karkat. "And try to get him to tell you where he lives. He's not telling us anything." Her heart leapt up into her throat and she was terrified of seeing him again. What if he's that soulless shell again? Or the animalistic wretch? She walked into the room, suddenly feeling angry at Karkat for not telling her.

"Karkat, how DARE you not tell me?! I saw the pictures; did your dad do that to you? How could you even live with a monster like that?"

"Kanaya, my dad didn't do any of this to me. Really, I'm fine. I shouldn't even be here. It's wasting valuable time and space. Just try to get them to let me leave."

"No. You are scarred so deeply, in so many ways. You need their help Karkat."

"I don't need anything."

"Not even food? Again, I've seen the pictures. Your ribs stand out so much that you're nearly a walking corpse. And why the HELL do you have a GPS tracker embedded in your skull?"

Karkat's eyes grew wide and his heart rate monitor went haywire. "Nurse! Help!" Kanaya screamed. Help was already bursting though the door.

"He's having a panic attack! Get me a sedative, stat!"

Kanaya watched as her newly sedated friend's bed was moved back to its supine position. She looked at his sleeping face, hoping to find peace in his face. She saw no calmness though; his face was still contorted in fear. Leaning down over his face, she gave him a kiss on the forehead before leaving the room.

Karkat's P.O.V.

He stood stock-still in a pitch black room. He could not tell how much time passed, as it is with all dreams, before he saw a nightmare grin appear in front of his face. It did not speak; merely let loose a burst of soul-shilling laughter before vanishing into the gloom. Karkat felt a subtle shift in the feeling of the room. It was more malevolent. Something evil was there with him.

The hidden evil was silent, but he could sense its presence, its movements. It slowly approached him, and he saw a silver blade appear from the solid darkness. He steeled himself for the cut, and was not surprised when it made its first cut. He was surprised that it would choose to cut his face. The pain was enormous, but he could not scream, nay, he could only control his thoughts.

The torture went on to the second cut, but a new sound made him strain against his bonds in wonder. It was the sound of metal striking metal. His eyes focused again, and he saw a sight that was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. A figure in pure white was fighting the pervasive evil. It struck once, twice, and on the third stroke, the shadow's blade shattered, though still silently. The figure turned to him to cut his bonds. It was nearly there when-

He came to once again lying restrained in a hospital bed. Standing over him was-

"Hello, you worthless pile of shit. Get your fat, lazy ass out of bed." The voice was deep; it rattled Karkat to the core of his being, but it was nearly a bestial growl.

His limbs were freed and Karkat was suddenly pulled to his feet by his hair. A ripping pain in his arm told him that the IV needle had been pulled out. "Well hello to you too, dad."