They made their way to the hospital complex swiftly and Ianto opened the door. "Dafydd, you'll have to walk from here. There's a few steps down. Take your time, we'll help you." He went first to assure the other man, with the attendant following behind him, both ready to catch him if he stumbled. Slowly they made their way down, step by step until they reached the bottom.

"Is this our new guest?" A rich contralto voice asked. Ianto turned to Helen and smiled.

"Yes, this is Dafydd. Or at least that is the name that's on his shirt. Dafydd, this is Helen. She's one of those people who are here to help." Dafydd looked down, as if he were afraid to face her. "It's okay, Dafydd," Ianto assured him. Helen raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. Quietly she gestured for them to follow her. Ianto and Dafydd moved along behind her until she entered a room to the side. This was their general debriefing and examination room. Ianto had been there many times before, either by himself as he was now, or with Jack when they had come together. When they crossed the threshold Ianto closed the door for some privacy.

"Dafydd, could you sit here please?" Helen asked, keeping her voice low and even so as not to scare the injured man. She had seen this kind of skittishness in most of the patients when they first arrived, so damaged by whatever had happened to them. When Ianto nodded in encouragement he shuffled over to the examination bed and sat down on it. Helen raised it up slightly so that his feet were off the ground and he looked around in wonder as it moved beneath him. "The doctor should be right with you." She left the room briefly before returning with a hospital gown. She looked at Ianto in hesitation, holding it up.

"I'll handle this, thanks," Ianto said, taking the soft fabric. She paused for a moment before nodding and leaving them for some privacy. "Dafydd, we need to get you out of those clothes so the doctor can examine you. I'm going to cut those off, so we don't do any more damage to you. Is that all right?" Dafydd just looked at him, not responding. He sighed. Looking at the tray near the bed he picked up a pair of scissors and carefully approached the other man on the bed. Cautiously, so not to startle and accidentally cut him, Ianto reached for a sleeve and started cutting. Dafydd watched him placidly, not responding in any way to his actions. Growing more confident, Ianto worked faster, cutting first the shirt, then the thin trousers off of him. He had nothing on underneath and the flesh that was revealed to be in not much better shape than the more exposed areas. Ianto winced in sympathy, but didn't say a word. He then picked up the gown and put it on the other man, covering him from knees to shoulders. He tied it around Dafydd's neck and stepped back. He picked up the discarded rags and put them on a tray for later examination. They might be able to find something out by examining the cloth itself. He bagged a sample to bring back to Torchwood, and as he did he heard the door open.

"Good evening," a tall man walked into the room, smiling. His dark mahogany skin made a striking contrast to his white teeth when he smiled. He moved slowly, clearly having been warned by Helen about their skittish patient.

"Good evening, Dr. Samuelson," Ianto said with a smile. He liked the big man who was so gentle with the patients. "This is Dafydd." Dafydd's eyes had grown huge when the other man entered. "He's burned over most of his body and hasn't spoken much since I was able to recover him."

"Hello Dafydd. I'm Dr. Samuelson, but you can call me Sam. Most everyone here does," the doctor said with a quiet smile as he pulled up a stool and sat opposite his patient. He pulled the table closer and started his examination. Dafydd never said a word, though once he whimpered and the doctor apologized for inadvertently hurting him. He laid down obediently when the doctor asked, and audibly sighed with relief as some burn medicine was smoothed onto his limbs. The doctor worked quickly, but efficiently, trying to work fast enough so that the pain wouldn't be too much to the poor man. He wrapped the limbs with burn fabric that was designed to allow the skin to heal without infection.

"Has he eaten?" He asked Ianto, who was standing off to the side writing on a clipboard with what information he knew about the new patient.

"No, I only had a chance to give him water." Ianto said. "He seemed parched."

"I'm sure he was. Please ask Helen if she can put something together that would be easy for him to handle. Or we could get one of the orderlies to feed him if he can't." The doctor said, gently urging Dafydd onto his side so he could treat the back.

Ianto went out and asked Helen for some food. He was determined to assist if Dafydd couldn't eat by himself. Helen came back a short time later with a bowl of oatmeal and some milk. That would probably do for a first meal, so Ianto took the tray and went back to the examination room. Dafydd was sitting back up and the doctor was speaking to him quietly. He looked up and smiled for the first time as he saw Ianto enter the room.

"I'm back with some food," Ianto said with an answering smile. "How is he?"

"Physically? Nothing that won't be healed by time. But the rest?" The doctor shrugged. "We'll see. Do you want to stay with him?"

"Yes, please," Ianto said. The doctor nodded and said something about having the staff get a room ready for their new guest. Ianto took the stool that the doctor had used and balanced the tray on his knees. "I have some oatmeal here. Would you like some?"

Dafydd looked down at the bowl, then to his bandaged hands. It was obvious that he wouldn't be able to feed himself. Ianto smiled in encouragement before picking up the spoon. Carefully he tested the temperature before bringing it up for Dafydd to eat. The man took the first bite eagerly and moaned at the first taste of human food in whoever knew how long. "More?"

Dafydd nodded. Slowly Ianto fed him, pausing occasionally and holding the glass of milk so that he could drink through the straw. When they were done, Dafydd sighed, closing his eyes. It was a simple meal, but one he obviously appreciated. Ianto moved the empty tray to the table beside him and talked, telling Dafydd that he was safe here and although he had to leave soon, he would be back. Helen came in and Ianto helped her change Dafydd into some loose clothing that wouldn't restrict him too much. They then led him to a room which already had his name written on the door in chalk.

Dafydd paused, staring at the writing, tears slowly rolling down his cheeks again. He heaved a shuddering breath before stepping through the doorway.

"Dafydd, this is your place. Remember that as long as you are in this room, you'll be safe. If you don't want to come talk to anyone, that's okay," Helen said in a low voice. "But this is your haven. If you need anything, you'll have to tell us, because we won't know otherwise. But we hope you'll be happy here, and can get better."

Ianto stood in the doorway as Dafydd moved about the room, staring at the bed before going over to a dresser. They had already put several changes of clothes there for him, as well as his medicines and supplies on top. Stopping in the middle of the room, he turned and stared at Ianto.

"Safe?" He croaked.

"Yes. You'll be safe here," Ianto nodded. Now that he was out of the ragged clothing he had worn, he looked a lot younger than Ianto had first thought. Perhaps he'd be able to heal in this place, and they would find out more about what his story was. "You should rest now. I'll be back to see you again." He turned to Helen. "Thank you."

"That's what I'm here for, honey," she said with a smile. She left the room with Ianto and as she closed over the door they could see that Dafydd had crawled onto the bed to lie down. "Poor lamb."

"I hope he can recover. The burns are only a part of it," Ianto said. He didn't need to say more. All of the people here were damaged in multiple ways. Their hope at the best of times was to just make them comfortable enough to forget the pain of what had happened to them. And when they couldn't do that, they just provided the medication to make the poor people forget. He sighed heavily and she rested her hand on his sleeve.

"We'll do our best, you know that." He nodded and leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek. "Careful, handsome, you'll turn my head."

"Ah and I thought you only had eyes for the Captain," Ianto teased, glad for the change of topic.

"That one? He's all talk and no action," Helen said dismissively. "He is easy on the eyes, though." Ianto chuckled. He could certainly agree with that statement.

"I'm off or I'll miss my boat," Ianto said with a smile. "Thank you." He said his goodbyes to the other staff as he left the facility and made his way down to the boat, which was still waiting for him. The captain didn't speak as he pulled away from the little dock and made his way back to the wharf in the dark. Ianto sat inside the cabin, lost in thought. He almost missed his mobile ringing, he was so preoccupied.

Looking down at the number he answered. "Good evening, Jack."

"Ianto, where are you?" Jack asked. He had only just got back to the Hub himself and had been concerned when he couldn't find Ianto.

"Just on my way back from Flat Holm. We have a new resident," Ianto replied. Jack didn't miss the tired sound of his voice.

"How bad?" Jack asked.

"Bad enough that he can't speak, not so bad that he may not in the future. Only time will tell." Ianto couldn't help letting a little sigh escape as he thought of the other man. "I'll tell you when I get back to the Hub."

"Okay, I'll be waiting," Jack promised. "Come home, Ianto." They rung off and he waited for the boat to arrive. He looked forward to getting back to Jack and to the Hub. It was more home than his flat was these days. He thought of all that had happened so far. For all the heartache, he wouldn't miss the moments where he could help people, even if only in the small way he was able to help Dafydd. He hoped that he would be able to return and see the young man recover his life, even if he had to stay at Flat Holm to do so.

The sound of the boat scraping against its moorings pulled him out of his reverie and he disembarked. Waving to the captain who was tying down the boat for the night he went to his car and headed back to Jack, and home…

~*~