AN: Thank you, thank you, thank you to all those who have reviewed, favourited, followed and read this so far. It got so much more of a response than I was expecting. I'm so glad that you like it and I will try my best to keep it up to the same caliber. I'm sorry if I don't get the medical stuff right, I tried to do my research, but there was only so much I could do. Without further ado, here is Jack with his wild reactions again. As always, I do not own Rise of the Guardians
Hours later, it was Sandy's turn to watch Jack. He was entertaining himself by creating an elaborate scenario out of dream sand, slowly adding more and more elements to the picture. A small moan startled him out of his thoughts. The golden man froze where he was, trying not to spook the youth as he allowed his pictures to dissipate.
Jack tensed and then ever so slowly lifted his head like a dog sniffing the breeze. His eyes scanned the room and he flinched again when he spotted Sandy. Then, recognizing the golden figure, he relaxed slightly and propped himself up on the bed. The two sat in silence as Jack looked down at his hands worrying the edge of his blanket.
Sandy wanted to talk to the boy but did not want to touch him for fear of scaring Jack. Instead, he waited patiently for the winter child to look up. It took a few minutes, but eventually, Jack's gaze rose to meet Sandy's. Slowly, the elder Guardian formed an arrow pointing to Jack, a figure of a person clutching their stomach and then a question mark. Are you in pain?
The boy shrugged his shoulder slightly and gave a small nod before returning his gaze to his blanket. Sandy's heart leaped in his chest and he wanted to hug Jack to his chest and make everything better. Instead, he had to settle for offering him medication. He made his way over to the cabinet of supplies and rifled around before finding what he was looking for. Sandy couldn't help but notice out of the corner of his eye that every small noise made Jack tense slightly.
Swinging back around, Sandy went to offer the painkillers to Jack. However, seeing what was in the older man's hand, Jack's eyes went wide, panic shot through them as he tried to scoot into the corner.
Sandy quickly turned around and put the pills back. He then showed Jack his empty hands as he backed up slowly, allowing the frost child to relax. The older Guardian wondered what had happened to make Jack afraid of pills. He decided to file that question away for later thought. Instead, the golden man formed the sign of a bed and a question mark.
Jack nodded slowly and lay back down onto the bed. As Sandy was about to form a ball of dream sand, he decided against it, fearing that it would be taken as another sign of aggression. What had happened to Jack?
Sandy waited for Jack to fall asleep naturally, and then spread the dream sand over his sleeping figure.
The Guardians met the next morning in the infirmary, not wanting to leave Jack alone. Sandy quickly recounted Jack waking up and what had happened after. They all looked despondent as they considered what must have happened to their youngest to make him act like this.
"I brought something to help us with after effects," North announced. The others looked confused until he held up a large, old book, bound together with fraying leather bindings. The title read, 'A Guide to Trauma and What to Expect.'
"Seriously, mate?" Bunny questioned. "You think that is going to help."
"It won't hurt," Tooth commented, "And maybe it can help us with Jack." She glanced tenderly at the youth sleeping in the bed. She had to restrain herself from stroking his hair and cradling him until everything was all right. She knew that wouldn't solve anything now.
After Sandy gave a nod of agreement, North cleared his throat and flipped to a bookmarked page before starting to read out loud. "After a trauma, the patient may begin to exhibit signs of emotional trauma. Common symptoms include: anxiety, panic attacks, reduced appetite, reduced amount of sleep, jumpiness, over reactions, withdrawal from normal routine and decreased ability to concentrate."
"Well, it seems Frostbite has already got two of those," Bunny noted. "Jumpiness, check and over reactions, check," he muttered, checking the items off an imaginary list with his clawed finger.
"Anyway," North said, shooting Bunny a glare, "now that we know symptoms, maybe we could help fix." Tooth grinned slightly but her eyes were clouded with worry. Bunny and Sandy however looked even more doubtful.
"Are there any helpful treatments in that book of yours?" Tooth asked.
"It is difficult book," North admitted sheepishly, "I have not read very far." Bunny scoffed at this pronouncement, to which North replied, "Fine, if you are so smart, read book yourself."
Before an argument could break out, Sandy slipped the tome out of North's hands and flashed a sign of pages turning and an arrow to himself. Before anyone could move, the creak of the hospital bed alerted them to Jack stirring. They all froze, trying not to startle him.
Sandy motioned for them all to get back and keep quiet. He waited as Jack repeated the process from earlier of tensing, glancing up, reacting and relaxing. Each time it looked like one of the other Guardians would say something, the dream spirit silenced them with a glare.
Finally, Jack managed to look up and fix his gaze on Sandy before scanning his eyes across the other Guardians. "Jack," Tooth called softly. He flinched slightly at the noise but managed to look back at her for a moment before hiding his gaze once more. Tooth was shocked into silence by their look of pain, sadness and maybe even fear. She hadn't seen a hint of their usual mischief and glee.
"Jack," Bunny began quietly, ignoring his twitch and moving on, "I know you can't talk, but if we gave you a pen and paper, would you write for us?"
Jack nodded slowly and Bunny rushed off to get the materials. Waiting for the rabbit to come back, the other Guardians slowly and quietly pulled chairs up to Jack's bed, trying not to startle him with loud noises. Sandy just pulled up a cloud of dream sand.
Moments later, Bunny walked back into the room, carefully extending the paper, pen and clipboard he had the foresight to give Jack to write on. The boy tucked his knees to his chest and rested the clipboard on his legs.
"Do you have any questions, Jack," Tooth began. The frost child paused a moment with his pen above the paper before carefully scribbling a question.
What day is it? His writing was an old fashioned loopy script, which was surprisingly neat.
"October 26th," North responded. They could see Jack mentally counting the days he had been away. His face took on an expression of mild shock and concern. Before they could ask him what was wrong, he wrote another question.
What happened to my staff?
"I don't know mate," Bunny answered, "We saw it broken beside you when we found you." A look of grief flashed through Jack's eyes as his glance was pulled down to his staff.
When Jack didn't look as if he was about to write another question, North asked, "Are you in pain?" They received a slight shrug in response but no written message. The older Guardians gestured for the boy to write a response. Hesitantly, Jack wrote again, showing them his message.
I barely feel it.
North could tell that he was lying, they all could, but decided not to press. He remembered Sandy's story of Jack's reaction when offered painkillers. Instead, North decided to go right to the root of the problem, "What happened?"
Jack's eyes grew wide and then slipped off into a gaze far in the distance. Whatever memory he was reliving couldn't be pleasant. He immediately snapped to and shook his head. That wasn't an answer but they realized they wouldn't get anything more.
"Can you tell us who did it, so we can go throttle them?" Bunny queried, tone harsh as he considered the lashing he would give to whoever was responsible. To his surprise, Jack shook his head again. "Why not? We could really give it to them."
Instead of a response, the boy just kept shaking his head. As Bunny was about to fire back another question, Sandy stepped in, showing the shape of a stop sign in dream sand. He noted the look of relief in Jack's eyes before turning back to the other Guardians. He showed them an X and someone being pushed. Don't push.
"We missed you," Tooth cooed suddenly. Jack's lips twitched up slightly. It wasn't a full out smile but they would take what they could.
Suddenly, Jack let out a big yawn, blinking his eyes to keep awake.
"You are tired," North stated, "We will let you get rest. Who wants to keep watch?"
Jack started to write again and they thought he would pick who he wanted to stay with him. Instead, his message said I don't need anyone to watch over me.
"We just want to make sure you are okay," Tooth responded, moving her hand to reach out for him but then thinking better of it.
Please, Jack wrote. He glanced around at all of them before looking down at the paper in his hands. They conceded his request reluctantly and filed out of the room, anxiously glancing back at the battered child on the bed.
As the others left the room, Jack let out a shaky breath. He looked up at the ceiling, willing himself not to cry. What happened to him wasn't that bad, was it? He quickly glanced over himself, noting firstly his lack of a hoodie. That unsettled him to begin with as he was so used to his constant companion.
As his gaze travelled along his body, he saw his side taped up, holding together a few broken ribs. There were also numerous lacerations, cuts, bruises, burns and other injuries, some of them bandaged with gauze. His wrist also had a cast, immobilizing it. Overall, he seemed to be in one piece, which was a small miracle considering what they did to him.
He forced his thoughts out of the past and glanced down sadly at his staff. As he did, Jack felt a stabbing pain in his chest and his stomach did a swoop. Only now that he had time to think did he notice the hole in his chest that the broken staff left. It wasn't only his conductor of power but a piece of his soul as well.
Jack closed his eyes slowly, thinking he could at least get some rest. However, as soon as his lids closed, vivid memories came back to him. His breath caught in his throat as he remembered those grinning faces glaring down at him malevolently. He just felt so helpless.
Trying to take his mind off the memories, Jack looked down at the paper and pen still in his hand. Slowly, he began to doodle across the page until his eyes closed and he slipped into unconsciousness.
Hours later, North creeped hesitantly across the room, trying not to wake Jack. As he got to the bed, the Russian saw the paper still clutched in his hand. Cautiously, North slipped the paper out of the child's grasp. What he saw there caused him to laugh quietly. The page was decorated by swirling patterns of frost drawn in pen.
North smiled and placed a blue mass beside Jack, hoping he would find comfort in the hoodie, a replication of his old one.