"Don't touch my boys,"

He fetched the mail quickly, hurrying back to her side so as not to arouse suspicion. She wouldn't notice a thing for hours, if everything went according to plan. She was going to leave for work after breakfast and reading the news. It took her an hour to get to and from work on a good day, and about a half hour more if the traffic was bad, which it always was on a Monday. He wanted as much time as he could get.

His owner kissed him goodbye as she left, grabbing her purse and her coat and leaving a bright red stain on his forehead. She waved as she closed the door, and locked it behind her like always.

As if he hadn't learned how to unlock it.

Once she was gone it was time. Lost hurriedly made his way to the bathroom, rubbing the lipstick off of his face as quickly as he could and tossing the wipe into the bin.

He needed something to hide his collar, which took the form of one of his owner's scarves, wrapped around his neck with the hopes of it covering his face enough to bypass anyone recognizing him. It was soft, and as he stared into the mirror he stroked the fabric and paused.

Was he really making the right choice? What if she was angry, oh and she would be. She could have someone track him down, he could be dragged back kicking and screaming and she would hurt him, punish him for his disobedience, because how dare he leave her like that?

Well, wasn't that the point? She had told him his mother was cruel, that she rescued him but… he couldn't remember anything before her. His whole life was just… blank. Every memory erased. Nothing came before her, not in his memory, or in his life. There had to be an after. He needed there to be.

She wouldn't have heard him anyways, but Lost always found himself creeping down the stairs as if every little creak of the wood was going to summon her, and she would see him and know he was going to leave. His stomach turned at the thought, making him nauseous. It would take at least an hour before she was home even if she found out, that was why he chose today. He had even checked her bag the night before to ensure she wouldn't forget anything, and hidden a twenty dollar bill from her wallet in his favourite pair of shoes.

Lost wasn't sure how long he stared at the door, willing himself to build the courage to unlock it. Once he made it past the driveway he was set, he could get anywhere he needed to. He had even written down the directions to the nearest Azure shelter, a name he recognized from her scorn of the company's mission.

How dare people want to be free.

He barely recognized his own hands as he reached in front of him, pressing numbers into a keypad and hoping she hadn't changed the passcode. She got notifications on her phone if he pressed the wrong number, and he knew that she would never let him forget his mistake if she caught him.

1-2-0-8

The keypad lit up green, and a high pitched chime signaled as the lock clicked open. Lost blinked, almost unbelieving. It was working.

He was going to get out.

It chimed again as he shut the door behind him, and he flinched. All he had to do was punch the code back in, and she wouldn't know he had left until she was inside after work and it was far too late to find him again. One two oh eight.

One two oh eight.

1-2-0-8

It beeeped at him when it locked shut, and he smiled slightly. He was almost free, for real. No more false promises.

Lost turned on his heel and began to walk down the driveway, cutting over the front lawn and slipping through a break in the fence that he had found months prior. Conveniently hidden by hedges and his owner's precious flower bushes.

He looked at the house for a moment as he walked away and pondered. Anxiety sat like lead in his stomach, still unsure of whether or not he was making the right choice. He had to be, right? None of his fears could be as bad as she was. He could be a person, on his own, if he wanted to. He just needed to learn.

He just needed the chance.

***

It took him longer than he had expected.

By the time Lost made it to the shelter the sun was much higher in the sky than when he began, and his mouth and throat were dryer than he could ever remember. His legs felt weak and his head felt light, making him dizzy. He imagined the scarf wasn't helping, as the sun beat down on him he was sweating hard enough to soak the front of his shirt. 

He promised himself it would be worth it. 

The shelter was at the end of a very inconspicuous block, and the only things marking it as anything besides an ordinary apartment complex were the security measures and small Azure logo above the door. Lost faltered as he saw two large men standing outside, the bravery he had built up wilting and cowering at the sight, at the idea of what they could do to him. One of them took notice and watched him backtrack for a moment, before calling out. 

"Do you need help?" 

Lost stood in place. Yes, he wanted to cry. Yes, yes please, please help me. Save me. I need help. His hands shook, along with his legs. He had walked too far to turn back, too far to hide and run back to his owner with his tail between his legs like a dog. 

He stepped forward and nodded. The man quietly acknowledged his hesitation, crouching down slightly when he spoke again. 

"Did someone hurt you?" Another nod. 

The man smiled sympathetically at him, and Lost noticed a collar similar to his around his throat, with a shiny silver plate that said Zander at the front. 

"We can help you, you don't have to rush but… when you're ready, we can go inside and I can get you help. You came to the right place." Zander said. 

Lost nodded, slowly coming closer. "I- I, I don't… I don't wanna be owned any muh-more…

He collapsed just a few steps away from Zander, who caught him and held him close, feeling how violently he shook. "You're gonna be okay," He murmured. "I promise, nobody is gonna hurt you again." 

Zander adjusted his hold on the boy and stood up, lifting him easily. The security guard he had been talking to opened the door for them and shot him a sad smile, familiar with the fragile state of many rescued and escaped victims. 

"Thanks." Zander acknowledged. He scanned a card that unlocked a more secure, interior door and pulled it open, hitching the small boy in his arms up to not drop him.

Alondra noticed him coming back in immediately and rushed to his side, standing on her toes to get a look at the boy he carried. 

“He just showed up.” Zander explained to her, and she nodded, understanding right away. 

“He looks exhausted,” She said, looking at Lost sympathetically, “here, come with me.” She told him, and Zander followed her as she led them back to a more private room. Zander was able to sit Lost down in a chair but he didn’t seem quite ready to leave his side, hesitant to do so at first when Alondra instructed him to go grab the boy something to drink. 

He did so after a moment regardless, and Alondra looked at Lost worriedly, asking him, “Would you be okay with removing your scarf? You must be really hot…” She spoke softly and gently, not wanting to pressure him into anything.

Lost nodded slowly, reaching up slowly to unwrap it. "I… d-didn't want… anyone t-to notice… it…" He mumbled, gesturing at the collar around his throat when he pulled his owner's scarf away. He wanted to hold it, despite all of his sense telling him not to. It was her's, not his, and he didn't want it. 

He tossed it across the room to dispel his desire to cling to it, to his life as a pet. He wanted out. "C-can you help me t-take it off? I- I don't, I can't, it, it's locked…" 

“Of course.” She told him, getting closer to get a better look at the lock. “It might take us a little bit to get it off but we’ll find a way, I promise.” She assured him. 

Zander came back shortly after, bringing Lost a nice cold water bottle which he handed to him right away. 

“I called Eli while I was out there.” He told Alondra.

“That’s good, he should be able to help us get this collar off him.” She said. 

Lost watched the two of them tiredly, holding the bottle in his hands. It was so cold, it felt nice. He held it to his forehead instead of opening it, breathing slowly. "Uh, um. Um, excuse me," He spoke up. "Wuh- what t-time is it?" 

Zander looked down at his phone. "It's uh… just about twelve." Lost sighed with relief. His owner wouldn't be home for hours yet. 

"Th-thank you…" He said, smiling politely. Finally he opened his bottle of water, having cooled off enough to feel present again. The cold water was a welcome relief, soothing his parched throat. The poor boy was so small his feet barely touched the ground, and he kicked them slightly and shut his eyes happily as he drank.

They gave him time to cool down, knowing he must be tired. They still had to wait for Elias to get there before they could even attempt to get that collar off of him. Alondra let him drink, waiting until he had finished before trying to make him speak again. 

"So, can you tell us what we should call you?” She asked. Though she could easily check the collar around his neck, she didn’t want to assume that was the name he’d choose to answer to.

The boy looked at her with wide eyes, seeming to mull it over for a second before answering. 

"Muh- my name is, um, my n-name is Lost…" He said quietly. He looked down at his feet as he said it, almost ashamed to admit that he had been so far gone as to be named by his owner. He wrung his hands together nervously, hoping with all his might that these two would continue this level of kindness, that his many shortcomings weren't going to earn him lashings, or the silent treatment for days. Worse still was his owner saying she was disappointed in him, sitting him down to tell him all the ways he's failed her in the past… well, however long it had been since she did it last. 

However neither of them seemed shaken by his response, and he let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't his fault that his name was Lost, or that his real name had really been lost to time. He was Lost, or sweetness, although the latter made his skin crawl. He shivered slightly. 

 “Alright, Lost,” She said with a smile, “my name is Alondra, and you’ve met Zander.” She said, gesturing to him. “Once our friend gets here they’ll probably have some questions for you, but you don’t need to feel like you have to answer anything you’re not ready to, they’ll understand.” 

He nodded. These people seemed nice enough, and although he was in an unfamiliar place he was already feeling better about his decision than earlier that morning. It was smart of him to leave early, the kind of thought that would have gone unappreciated by his owner, and her constant efforts to keep him feeling and behaving like a child. 

 After some time passed there was a knock on the door, and Zander commented on how that must be Eli before telling him to come in. Elias opened the door, taking a step inside but he seemed to pause in the doorway, looking directly at Lost. He almost looked a little bit confused, his head tilted to the side just slightly, but he caught himself and smiled at him, trying his best to appear friendly. 

 “Hello there.” He said to him, closing the door behind him. “Zander told me you came here looking for help?” He asked, trying to get a good understanding of the situation.

Lost nodded. He was quiet, and hadn't said a word since telling them his name. When he did speak, his voice was soft. He almost seemed afraid to speak above a whisper. "I- I wanna… I wanna be, um, I…" 

He stumbled over his words for a minute, getting frustrated with himself the more he stuttered, and the frustration seemed to make it worse. Eventually he gave up, puffing his cheeks out and sighing and settling for another nod. 

 “It’s alright.” Alondra said to him softly, trying to be reassuring, before she looked to Eli. “He needs help with this collar, it’s locked.” Alondra told him. 

 “I thought that might be an issue.” Eli said as he stepped closer, stopping before he actually got close enough to touch the collar. “Is it alright if I touch you?” He asked Lost. “I should be able to get this off, I haven’t found a lock I couldn’t figure out yet, I just need to take a look at it first.”

"P-please… please g-get it off of me…" Lost whimpered, lowering his head. "I… I don't, I don't want it… please t-take it off." 

 “Don’t worry, I’ll try to do this as quickly as I can.” Eli told him, still being very careful as he checked the lock. He’d come prepared for this scenario, as this wasn’t the first time somebody needed to be freed from a locked collar. 

The collar was simple, leather stained a light purple collar with thick blue stitching. The lock hung off the back, with a little heart shaped tag on the front that read Sweetness. Lost had never seen the other side of the tag, but he had been told that it said his owner's name, in case he managed to escape her and was found by some well meaning individual.

And just like Elias had promised, he was able to get it off rather quickly, and immediately handed the collar over to Zander to take a look at the tag. “We can get rid of that for you, you won’t have to worry about it anymore.” Eli assured him.

Lost's hands shot up to his throat, touching the skin that had been covered for years now. His eyes were wide, his mouth slightly agape. He looked up at Elias and his eyes shone, the hint of a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. 

"Thank you…" He mumbled, his hands gently placed against his throat. He could barely believe the feeling, the freedom of having his throat unbarred and unhidden. The last restraint, the one constant reminder of his ownership, of his place. Finally gone. And so quickly, he barely had the time to process it before it was taken away from him, before he would never see it again. 

For a moment, he regretted tossing the scarf away from him. 

He almost hoped that his owner had been lying about putting her name and address on his collar, and that they wouldn't be able to find her. He almost didn't want her to know that he was gone at all, and wished he could somehow leave without really doing so. A part of him knew deep down, that there was something wrong with how he had been treated, that he was not a pet, or a child, or anyone's property. 

He didn't watch what Zander did with his collar, and put his head back down, pulling his knees to his chest with the hope that curling in on himself would protect him. 

He couldn't imagine finding someone in his state and returning them to the name listed on their collar. He could imagine a thousand scenarios, but all of them ended the same way; with that person as far away from any "owner" as they could possibly get.

Now that the collar was dealt with, Elias pulled up one of the chairs so he could sit across from Lost, so he wouldn’t be standing over him anymore. He didn’t try to make him look at him, but he was closer to being on his level and he spoke to him kindly, being very careful with what he said. 

“I know you’re probably tired, and we’ll let you rest as soon as we can, but we would like to ask you some questions if that’s okay?” Eli asked him. “We’d appreciate anything you’d be willing to tell us.”

Lost looked up at him through his eyelashes and nodded slightly. "Uhuh," He whimpered, and sat up a little straighter. He focused on Elias' freckles, the scar on his face, anything to avoid looking him directly in the eye. "I- I can."

 “If you’re comfortable with it, what can you tell us about the person who did this to you?” Eli asked him gently. 

 “We’ll look into the name on the collar, but if there’s anything else you can tell us that you think would help, that would be good.” Zander added.

"I…" Lost began, looking immediately anxious. "I, I don't… know. She, she's my owner… um, wuh- what do you wanna… know?" 

 “I guess we should start with how she got you in that situation to begin with. Did you know her before or was she just a stranger?” Eli asked him.

"Um…" He scrunched up his face uncomfortably. "I… don't… remember. I- I'm sorry." 

 “That’s alright,” Eli said, “Even if you can’t remember now, if you do remember anything later you can always tell somebody then, everything helps. Is there anything at all you can remember from before you were with her? Any family or friends? We’ll try our best to contact them for you.”

Lost's expression grew more frustrated, puffing out his cheeks again. For years now it had been the more he focused on it, the less he was able to recall. He could remember a terrifying, filthy cell and his hands restrained above him. He remembered being beaten, and screaming for help, and then… nothing. Nothing before, and nothing after until waking up on his owner's carpet; terrified and shivering only to be brought into her arms. 

He could remember her petting his hair, holding him and comforting him. He remembered her giving him the name of her sweet little lost pet. But nothing else. Nothing but her. 

"I… I remember my… my Miss, I…" Lost placed his hands on the back of his neck and whined quietly, starting to rock back and forth. "I remember Miss. I- I don't… know about… before her. I j-just, I just don't… it's not… there."

 “Hey, it’s okay.” Eli said gently. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stress you out. We can stop or take a break if you’d like, we only have to keep going if you want to.”

Lost whined again, putting his head between his knees. "I, I… just, I just rem'mber g-getting… hurt… I… rem'mber waking up… 'nd she was there, Miss wuh, was there 'nd… and… and I don't… have anything… before. Just, just her."

 “It’s alright,” Elias said softly, leaning forward in his seat just slightly. “You don’t need to force yourself, I understand. We can talk about anything else, we can leave this alone.” He told him, trying his best to stay calm and calm him down as well at the same time, he couldn’t stand seeing him so distressed. “We don’t need to worry about before until later, right now and how you’re doing is much more important.”

Lost sniffled, wiping his nose with the sleeve of his shirt. "I," He stammered, eyes welling up with tears. "I don't wuh, wanna be useless… I, I'm sorry… I just… I just wanna go home…" 

Eli's heart panged. It wasn't going to be easy to get any actual information out of him, least of all because he seemed to not know any. The poor boy was already so distraught, it was almost a wonder how he had gotten all the way here on his own. 

"I shouldn't hah, have left…" He mumbled, shaking his head. 

“That’s not true, it’s good that you’re here, we’ll keep you safe.” Eli told him. “We don’t need to rush anything.” He looked around worriedly, but it wasn’t uncommon for new rescues to be emotional, and Alondra had already grabbed a box of tissues and offered it to Lost. 

 “Here, it’s okay to take a break if you need to.” She assured him gently. “No matter what you can or can’t tell them, you’re still going to be safe here.”

He took the tissues with a soft little "thank you," and began wiping his face, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down. It took him a few minutes, sitting in silence and wiping at his face occasionally.

"M-miss is, um, she…" Lost began carefully. "She's… pretty. Um, she hah, has light hair, l-like, real light. And, and blue eyes like, like mine. She… she isn't muh, much bigger than me. She… she wears pretty dr-dresses, and shoes that make her t-taller. Her friends are… scary…" 

He paused for a minute and squeezed his eyes shut, balling his hands into fists and slowing down his breathing. 

"Her friends… do b-big, big bad work. Th-that… that's where I think… I came from. They… all have… pets…" He lowered his voice, as if the word itself was dirty, tainted by these people and their actions. "One of them h-hated me… I, I dunno why." 

“Hated you?” Elias asked, his eyebrows raised. He briefly glanced at Zander, wondering if he was thinking the same thing he was, the other man seemed just as intrigued by this. The thought that had been at the back of his head since the second he saw Lost was bothering him more now, he took his phone from his pocket and only searched for a minute to find the picture, almost hesitant to show it to him. “I’m sorry, you said her friends did bad work, do you… do you recognize this man…?” He asked him, showing him a picture of Nicholas Fairfax.

Lost's face dropped, the courage he had just built up leaving him in an instant. He pushed himself back in his chair, his breathing kicking up into quick, panicked breaths. He whined loudly, pulling his hands up to his chest protectively. 

"Uhuh," He whimpered, nodding. "I, I, I h-hate him, I hate him, he's, he's so mean. He doesn't, he doesn't t-tell the truth!" Lost buried his face in his hands, shaking his head and whimpering. "He's a buh, bully! And his pet is t-too…" 

 “I was worried you would say that…” Eli scowled, quickly putting his phone away so that Lost wouldn’t have to see the image again. “I’m so sorry that they treated you that way, but you won’t have to worry about him or his pet anymore. The fact you knew who he was is helpful on its own, so thank you for telling me.” He had to remind himself to stay calm, he could be upset later, right now he just needed to focus on Lost and trying to keep him comfortable. 

"He… he's m-mister Fairfax. I… I'm not allowed to c-call him by his um, his first name." Lost said quietly. "Good boys um, d-don't." He added, almost as an afterthought. 

 “Did you… have to spend a lot of time with him?” Eli asked, though he had a feeling he already knew the answer to that.

"Not… at first." Lost chose his words carefully. "I… I wasn't… allowed to. For, for a while. I… I d-disobeyed. And, and I th-thought… he would be nice to, to me. When, when I was wrong… miss didn't care anymore. Cus, cus it was… it was m-my fault." He wrung his hands nervously, looking at Elias. He didn't trust them, not yet, all that he had heard about the company from his owner's angry ranting was that they took pets away, away from where they belonged. He didn't have any idea what was done with them afterwards. 

"She j-just kept, kept leaving me wuh, with him. All the t-time. Cus I earned it and, and she had, had places to g-go." 

 “I’m… I’m sorry… that wasn’t your fault, you never deserved any of that…” He told him. He tried to be careful about what he said, he didn’t always know what would or wouldn’t upset somebody in this situation, but he hated to think he believed he’d earned or deserved any of what happened. It sounded like pretty standard behaviour from Nicholas, but he didn’t want to comment on that to him either.

"Miss t-told me I did," Lost said, as if that made it fact. "She said I'm b-bad, and, and he said so t-too. They, they're… smarter than m-me." 

 “Well… I don’t think you’re bad… and neither of them are going to bother you here, we’ll make sure of that.” Eli said. He wanted to tell him that they were wrong, he was never bad no matter what they said, they weren’t smarter just because they acted like it, but he didn’t want to overwhelm him, no matter how angry he was that they made him think that way.

"They're mean," Lost replied. "They… th-they suck! I, I don't l-like them." He had finally settled on sitting with his knees up, his arms crossed and his chin resting on them. He pushed his face into his arms, covering his eyes and sighing heavily. 

Really, he wasn't sure how he felt. His mind felt strangely blank, although his heart raced and his eyes watered. He wasn't… upset, but he wasn't happy about it, either. Everything seemed so overwhelming. He wanted the questions to end, his head hurt and he was so tired, and hungry, the more he focused the more he realized just how much of a mess he was. He was exhausted, and covered in sweat, his feet, legs and back ached so badly, and his scars burned. He wanted to lay down on the floor and let it swallow him, but the effort of moving even that far made him want to cry. He hurt. 

"I… I don't wanna do th-this anymore puh, please…" Lost whimpered, burying his face further in his arms. "I'm so tired…"

 “That’s okay, you don’t have to.” Eli quickly assured him. “Alondra can go make sure a space is ready for you, and we can let you get cleaned up and bring you some new clothes and then you can relax.” He told him. “You can take all the time you need to rest, we don’t need to rush anything.”

Lost nodded, too tired to do much else. All of the exhaustion he was feeling before seemed to have doubled, and he barely stopped himself from falling asleep in his chair. 

Alondra headed off to set up a room, while Elias left with the promise to return with clean clothes and towels. Zander stood awkwardly in the corner of the room, having not been given a task he seemed to remain stationary, his hands in his jacket pockets and his eyes fixed on the floor. Occasionally he would rock on the balls of his feet, scanning the room while Lost stayed in place.

He was far too tired to move. Presumably, he was going to be offered a shower but the thought only exhausted him more, if only partially because he wasn't used to bathing himself anymore. After four years of being babied and doted on for every little thing, he wasn't quite sure where to begin taking care of himself. 

Alondra returned fairly quickly, the same gentle, yet friendly smile on her face that she had offered while he struggled to answer Elias' questions. 

"I've got a room with a bed for you, if you want to come with me," She said softly. Lost whined. "You don't have to shut the door if you don't want to, we won't lock you in. And you aren't sharing with anyone, it's just for you." 

Lost continued to whine, rubbing his eyes against his arms. He produced an array of colourful explosions behind heavy eyelids, trying with all his might to keep himself awake. He shook his head, grunting in disagreement as he found that words simply refused to obey him. 

"Do you want me to carry you again?" Zander spoke up, taking a step out of the corner. Lost mulled it over for a moment. Fresh clothes and a bed did sound better than curling up in his current state, on that chair no less. He groaned something resembling a yes and looked up tiredly, eyes red and puffy. He reached out to Zander with both arms, and Zander picked him up easily. The boy weighed next to nothing, clearly his owner and Nicholas hadn't been doing a great job of keeping him fed, which wasn't uncommon. 

Zander followed Alondra down the hallway, up a flight of stairs and around a corner to a hall with many rooms coming off of it, each one having either a blank tag beside the door, or the occupied ones with names hastily scribbled in. 

They arrived at a door recently labeled with his name, in a curly, swirling text that he could only assume was Alondra's. Inside was a bed, a table and chair, and a small dresser. Lost noticed a closet around the corner when Zander put him down on the bed, with empty hangers ready to be filled. 

His own room. 

The most his owner had given him was a kennel.

Elias came back quickly, carrying the items he had promised as well as a small stuffed shark, which he handed to Lost with a shy smile. 

"You don't have to want it, or like it, but… I always find hugging them helps me calm down. I thought you might like one." 

Lost stared at the small blue plush, with its embroidered black eyes and sharp white teeth. It smiled at him, and he found himself smiling back a little. He tucked it into the bed beside his pillows and smiled at Elias, his eyes shut with sleepiness. 

Eli smiled back, and placed the towels and clothes on the bed bedside Lost. 

"I got you some sweatpants and a tee shirt as well, um, there wasn't a lot of options so they're blue and gray. I hope that's okay. The showers are just down the hall to your right, there's signs in case you get mixed up too." He explained, gesturing to the general direction of the showers. 

"Th-thank you…" Lost mumbled, stifling a yawn. "I… I think 'm too… sleepy… though… um…"

"Oh, that's okay!" Eli exclaimed, not wanting Lost to feel pressured. "You can do whatever you'd like." 

"I…" Lost continued. "I wanna… um… new… n-new clothes… and… and… slee… sleepy…" He paused for a minute, looking down at his feet nervously. After a moment he looked at Elias again, big blue puppy eyes pouting up at him from the bed. "Wuh, will you… st-stay with… me? I… I don't… want m-miss to… to find me… please…" 

 “Oh- of course, if that’s what you’d like.” Eli told him. He was almost surprised he wanted him to do it but he didn’t mind helping, anything to make him feel better. “I can step out so you can get changed but I’ll come back in when you’re ready. I’ll make sure everything is okay while you sleep, you don’t have to worry about her.” He assured him.

Lost smiled. He mumbled another thank you and resisted the instinct to refer to Elias as sir. Eli left the room for a moment, and Lost made sure he kept the door at least an inch ajar, and that he wasn't trapped before hauling himself off of the bed and into his new closet to change his clothes. Lost liked small spaces, and he could imagine setting up a little den of sorts in there to recharge himself. 

Changing went quickly despite his exhaustion, and he meekly called for Elias to open the door again as he dragged himself back to bed. 

"I… am so t-tired." He stated flatly as he pulled the covers back. The bed was warm, and clean, and the room outside was cool and comfortable. It was a gracious relief after walking so far, and he almost began to feel like he deserved it. After all, he was only human. Lost grabbed the plush that Elias had given him, and held it to his chest before laying down and tucking himself in. He had always preferred to go to sleep with something to hold. 

"Thank you," He called again, looking up at Eli with sleepy eyes. "Um, um… th-thank you. 'M, I… I… am… sleepy. Good… goodnight." 

 “Of course.” Eli smiled at him. “I hope you sleep well, goodnight.” He told him, taking a seat in the chair in the room so he could stay with him. He hoped he’d feel better once he’d had some time to rest, he couldn’t imagine just how exhausted he must’ve been.