Cian P.O.V

I woke to my cellphone playing the "Doctor Who" ringtone I used for Liekar Pritcher. My eyes wanted to close, sleep still dragging at me like waves during low tide. I finally flopped my hand onto the coffee table, fingers partially numb, making it hard to grip and drag it over to my chillaxed frame, "Chillll-axed," I quietly chuckled, finding the word amusing to my tongue. I rubbed said tongue around in my mouth, the movements also getting a laugh out of me. My hand appeared in front of my face, so I rubbed against it, the other hand smacking me with something hard by accident, "Meeeeean hand," I scowled at it for several seconds, wondering why I had the cellphone.

***

"Shit!" I jumped up as "Doctor Who" screeched in my exposed ear, falling between the couch and coffee table, most likely creating several bruises that would quickly heal, but also reminding me of the boy. I instantly felt guilty for just sleeping and forgetting about him for that period of time. It was during this time that I realized what had woken me up and scrambled for the phone, "Oh fuck, oh shit. Please let him be okay," I muttered to myself as I noticed the large number of texts and calls from Liekar Pritcher. Why hadn't I heard the phone ring until now?! My mind instantly flashed back to what I had imbibed earlier, wanting to facepalm at the fact that I shouldn't have drunk the whole thing; shouldn't have sunk so low as to drink it at all.

Rather than scroll through the texts, I quickly just called, shakily standing only to plop myself back onto the couch, feeling the ache and bruises the fall caused me. I frowned at the thought before the call clicked, "Oh FINALLY! What the hell, Cian! I was starting to wonder if you just didn't care anymore or if there was something actually wrong with you!"

"Sorry, I was asleep and didn't hear my phone," The excuse made me flinch. I should have said that I forgot my phone.

The line was quiet momentarily, "I would shoot a lot of questions at you regarding what's going on, but something more important is going on right now- but don't think I'm just going to forget!"

"What's wrong? Is Ashe okay?" I wanted to stand and pace, but my body wasn't having it. I was starving and I felt too weak to expend energy just to walk off some nerves.

"You can definitely say he's okay! He's awake!"

I looked at the phone in my hand before bringing it to my ear again, "This is real, right? You just said he's awake... This is real?"

"Yes, Cian, this is real. He's awake and in a nice hospital suite with Mrs. Leugen. But that's not the only thing I have to talk to you about," Pritcher took a deep breath, but I couldn't focus on what else he was going to say.

"Can I see him?" The line was silent for several moments before Pritcher's voice carefully broke the silence.

"Cian, I-I really don't think you should. Ashe is awake and stable right now. I don't know what would happen if you met him, at least not right now..." I could tell Pritcher felt really bad for telling me something I already knew, "But I can send you video of him?"

My grim outlook turned brighter, "If you would, please."

"That, I can do... But, there is something I need to tell you. Well, more like, tell you regarding something that happened...."

***(Because I'm lazy and don't want to reiterate what happened and waste everyone's time)***

"You have to be fucking KIDDING ME!" Cian growled into the phone, teeth like daggers in the light when Pritcher had finished telling him of the events surrounding Ashe's return to consciousness. "How did someone like that even become a liekar?! Shit, we should be doing more regular background and blood tests."

Pritcher sighed, "You know that won't do much good- the blood tests that is. We metabolize things too fast to even really get caught, and what that idiot took was not only extremely rare, but also obviously dangerous. A blood test wouldn't have caught it in time."

Cian grumbled incoherently over the phone, "So, I'm guessing there's more to this since you're doing your usual bush beating now that all events have been shared."

"Well...Uh, yes. The fact is that Ashe is now stable," Pritcher became quiet after this statement.

"Yes? He is 'stable' but he also only just woke up from a coma for how long now?"

"Well, I-I think that he should be placed with the family that wants to adopt him."

"I agree that this event has made it more likely that we will place Ashe with her," I could feel my brown crinkling in confusion and a little anxiety.

"No, I mean, we should place Ashe with them... Now."

"What?! No! No no no! That would be too soon! It could stress him out or something!" I yelled into the phone, running a shaky hand through my hair. I felt like I was losing him again the moment that he finally opened his eyes.

"Cian, I know this is a lot, but from what I've seen, Ashe is very reliant on her," Pritcher was trying to step lightly, as if afraid I would break down at any minute. I feared the same. For some reason, all at once, this was just too much. My emotions that used to be so well-mannered, were all over the place. I was shaking, dizzy and ravenous. What the hell is going on with me?

I looked to the fridge, swallowing the rush of fluid in my mouth, "Pritcher, call me back in an hour- I need some time to calm down before we talk about this any more."

I pushed end, setting the phone down on the coffee table before making my way to the fridge. I opened the door, looking at the hidden compartment before grabbing a regular bag and sucking it down. Usually, I took my time, perhaps made some regular food and mixed some in or at least heated it; something. No, I was too hungry for that. My fingers twitched for another, but I quickly stepped back and closed the door in confusion. I knew better than to satiate a lust for blood, but I couldn't understand why I was in this state. The steps were hard to take away from the fridges, but I made it back to the couch and my phone. With a simple click, the time and date were depicted on its face, showing that a had lost a whole three fricking days! All I could think as I ran my hands through my hair was, 'drugs are bad.'

Pritcher P.O.V

I pulled up one of the cameras in the suite, the only room without a camera being the bathroom. it was lunch time and Ashe was sitting down, feet shifting from the crossbars of the chair to the central stand of the wood table as he shoved more food into his mouth. Mrs. Leugen was just finishing doing the dishes before seating herself as well so she was close enough to swipe off some of the food that had gotten smeared onto Ashe's face. I took the recording and clipped it before sending it to Cian.

Pushing my chair back, I rubbed my eyes, thinking about what I'd seen so far, "I'll have to do some tests." I sighed, scrubbing my head. The tests would have been easier if he could see, but I just spent the hour before calling Cian back researching how I could best test him.

My phone rang, pulling me from one of the many sites I had been skimming and printing documents from, "Liekar Pritcher speaking."

"I saw the video of Ashe. He seems really happy with...Her," Cian immediately bit into the meat of our conversation.

"Yeah, he is. I honestly think it will be impossible for us not to place him with Mrs. Leugen," I waited for Cian to grumble or shout, but was only met with silence. "It seems that Ashe has probably imprinted with her. I'm planning on testing Ashe to see how he is mentally and psychologically."

"Testing? Will it be dangerous for him?"

"I don't plan to mention any triggers, and I'll stop if he starts getting tired or looks stressed out," I frowned into the phone, confused that Cian wasn't asking about the imprinting or showing any controlling characteristics like he usually does. "Cian? Are you... Okay? You seem a little off."

I heard a huff, "I'm- I think I'm actually doing better, especially now that Ashe is awake. I guess at this point I'm finally realizing that me interfering is not what is best for him. I guess what I'm saying is that, while I definitely want visuals and updates, I think I should give you the power for deciding what's best for Ashe now."

I could hear how hard it was for him to say that, but I also realized that it was good for him to do that. He had been tearing himself apart for so long now, with nothing anyone could do about it. It was definitely for the best that Cian became a silent watcher, but I was surprised that he admitted it so easily when I had just told him about what had happened just after Ashe had woken up.

"I do want to send people to check on his home life periodically. I also want some people to do a walkthrough of the house to make sure it's a good environment," Cian stated, much more like himself.

"That can be arranged with Mrs. Leugen. But for right now, I'm going to let you go," We both hung up while I let out a sigh before collecting the pile of documents and finding the correct tests to start him off with.

So far, I had deemed the need to make sure his other abilities were not impaired since he was blind. That required having him do examples of all the normal Wanpyrkos abilities; I didn't know if he had any special or rare abilities since he had never been taken to a doctor, so the general would just have to do for now. Next, I knew I had to do Cognitive Assessments, Adaptive Behavior Assessments, Diagnostic Reading Skills Assessments, Stanford Achievement Test and Psychological Assessments.

I felt tired just from looking at the list of tests that he should have already had. I sat up quickly and went into Ashe's schooling documents, finding some of the tests. They were old, but looked positive. I shortened those tests he had already done, planning to just make sure it hadn't been affected by his coma.

Documents in hand, I knocked on the door of their suite to which Mrs. Leugen greeted me quietly, "Liekar Pritcher, please come in."

I stepped in, noting the quiet, and turned to comment only for her to intercede, "Ashe is sleeping right now."

My eyebrows rose as I looked at the clock, "Has this been a common occurrence? Has he been sleeping more than I thought?"

"He's just been getting tired easily, probably not used to it since he was sleeping for so long."

I nodded, gesturing to the dining table to which we both sat, "Before I can release Ashe to you, a couple of items must be met. First, we will have to do a physical walkthrough of your home."

"Of course, most adoption places do that; I totally understand."

"I also need to test Ashe to make sure he still knows how to read braille and so on. I have to test his Wanpyrkos abilities as well as assess him cognitively and psychologically," I rested my laced hands on the table.

Mrs. Leugen looked from the table to me several times, her face dithered through many emotions, "I don't want to sound uncaring, but how long will this take? My husband and other children are already extremely anxious about how long I've been here already."

"After the tests, the walkthrough, and the signing of a few documents, you'll be free to take Ashe home with you," I smiled, knowing that all this has been very stressful on her. "Why don't you go home for a little? Ashe should be okay for a couple hours if you explain to him."

Ashe was not, in fact, okay with her leaving for a couple hours. While not asleep, it seemed Ashe could not psychologically handle her not being in the same room or not visually present for very long. The tests confirmed that intellectually and cognitively, he was actually above average for his age. He was well-read and could use many of the items necessary for his schooling and daily life. Psychologically, he vacillated emotionally at a lower level than his age, and seemed to need constant emotional support and physical shows of endearment.