Kay moaned in pain as Coultron kicked him in the ribs.

“Now, do you know your place?” Coultron leaned forward and spat in Kay’s face. “I am Coultron Basilin, and I will not have some beast-lover getting in my way!” He shifted the hammer to a two-handed grip and raised it up above his head.

“City Guard!” Someone shouted. “Drop your weapon!”

Coultron swung for Kay’s head.

A hand grabbed the hammer out of Coultron’s grasp as easily as picking up a rock from the ground. Captain Armis looked down at Kay’s broken body, then back at Coultron. “You’re under arrest.”

“This man is an intruder who-”

“I’ve spoken to three different witnesses that identified you and two others as responsible for kidnapping this man off the street two days ago.” Armis glanced at the hammer, then tossed it on the ground. “You’re under arrest.”

Coultron said something as more guards showed up and started dragging people away, but Kay didn’t understand anything. The pain was a visceral force pulling him under.

Captain Armis crouched down next to him, a grimace on his face. “Someone get me a healer!” He shouted.

That was the last thing Kay remembered.

When he woke up, he was blissfully free of pain. He tried to look at his arms to see how they were, but someone pushed his head back down onto the pillow.

“Go back to sleep now, if you would.” A blurry person with an indistinct voice told him. “We’ll wake you up again when we’re done.”

Kay drifted back into unconsciousness.

Someone gently tapped Kay’s cheek. “Time to wake up, please.”

“Muh?” Kay’s head rolled to the side as he tried to look at the person next to him.

“Very good. Now, do you know this person?”

Kay followed the figure’s finger until he found Eleniah next to the bed he was in, looking down at him worriedly.

“Yeah?”

“Good! What is her name, please?”

“It’s Eleniah.” Kay slurred a little as he tried to smile at her.

She smiled sadly back.

“Wonderful. We’re going to release you into her care now that you’ve been healed. The drowsiness and dopiness should fade over the next day or so.”

“Wha?”

The blurry figure chuckled. “Yes, that’s usually what my patients say at this point.” They turned to Eleniah. “He’ll be more alert in around two days at the longest. He isn’t to do anything more than simply eating and such for at least a weak, and definitely no combat or anything strenuous for another week after that.”

“Thank you. If someone did most of the work for him, could he travel after that first week?”

“Yes, as long as he isn’t too strained. Most of the damage was in his arms, the ribs were only fractured, and we healed those easily.”

“Thank you again.”

The healer bid them both goodbye and left.

Eleniah very gently helped Kay stand. She slowly aided him in walking out the door, where they stopped as they almost ran into Captain Armis.

“Here, let me help.” The Captain arranged Kay, so a majority of his weight was on the Captain.

They walked out of the building at a snail’s pace, with Kay only partially understanding what was going on. Most of his focus was on how amazing it was not to hurt.

“So?” Eleniah watched Captain Armis as she held open the door.

“So, you’re under house arrest until further notice.” Armis very carefully maneuvered Kay through the doorway. “While there were mitigating circumstances, you did attack people and do significant damage to the front of that building.”

“They-”

He cut her off. “I know. They kidnapped your student, and anyone who thought you wouldn’t go after him is a moron. I would have preferred that you come to the Guards first, but I understand why you didn’t.”

Eleniah closed her eyes and sighed. “So, house arrest.”

“For the duration of our investigation, yes.” They paused a moment to reposition Kay. “It’s probably going to be longer than I like to finish, with everything else that’s going on.”

She rubbed at her forehead. “At least it’ll give him time to heal before we leave.”

“As much as I hate to say it, that’s probably a good idea.”

“We’re leaving?” Kay asked, his head bobbing side to side.

Eleniah looked at him and chuckled wryly. “Yes, but we’ll talk about it when you’re all the way here.”

“Okay!”

The rest of the trip back to the house was a blur. The next solid thought Kay had was when he started laying down in his bed. “Hey, Eleniah?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

She paused and looked at him, then smiled. “Yes. Things are much better than they could have been.” She gently rubbed his head. “Now, sleep until you can think properly. I need you to understand me when I yell at you about situational awareness.”