"I-i-i-it's nothing, r-really!" Eric tried to protest. "I-I-all I-all I did was-was trip, I-I, um, I shouldn't bother him!"

"Nonsense!" Jackie declared, "Yer not a bother, and we can't let that scrape risk getting infected." The superhuman giant whisked deeper into the cavern, carrying the small human in his hands to the chamber that Henrik von Schneeplestein had claimed as a "doctor's office." Eric was feeling the wave of fear rise up in him, but nothing he could do could stop his masked friend from skipping right on in.

"Hey doc!" Henrik was bent over in his seat on the floor, thumbing carefully through a musty newspaper and muttering into his mask. He started at Jackie's greeting and quickly fumbled to push it out of sight.

"Oh! Jackie, hello!" He greeted. "Good to see you...!" Although his warm welcome cooled off as his gaze settled on the other visitor. Eric shrunk under his piercing blue eyes, squeamishly wringing his handkerchief. He tried looking away from the unreadable stare, glancing around the underground "office." It was certainly cozy: human-sized items of all sorts were scattered about on the rocky ledges, from disposed bottles of medicine to the old pair of glasses sitting next to the doctor. Come to think of it, there were very few items that were the doctor's proportionate size.

"Sorry to bother ya, doc!" Jackie meanwhile said, "But Eric and I were out looking for more berries when he tripped on a root. He's got a scrape."

"Ah, right, right- of course, of course. Set him down right zere. I'll tend to him in just a minute." Jackie knelt down and put his hands on the floor, allowing Eric to step offboard. The human hesitantly did so, peeking up uncertainly at the masked giant as he favored his good leg.

"A-are you s-sure I'm n-not intruding?" He asked nervously.

"Nah, of course not! Schneep loves playing doctor, it's what he does!" Jackie grinned as he pulled down his hoodie and ruffled his hair. "I gotta get to my shift though, Chase can pick you up when Henrik's done if ya want."

"Oh, o-okay..." Not wanting to make a fuss, Eric could do no more but watch the superhero head away. "Th-thank you!" He remembered to call out, and the giant waved his gloved hand in a thumbs up before he turned the corner. When his footsteps had faded, Eric looked back at the doctor and felt his anxiety heighten again.

What should I do now? Should I say something? I should say something. No no, he must be busy, I shouldn't bother him. Could I just leave? But then Chase would worry... Eric averted his gaze and instead studied the smooth grooves in the walls; a few seconds later his eyes rounded. Are those drawings? His eyes traced black marks in the rock before he realized, in fact, that there were drawings on the cave wall. The closest one was a scratched out diagram of the human body, with labels that were both wrong and gibberish words that Eric couldn't fathom pronouncing. As he looked deeper into the cavern, the drawings were less about doctor stuff and more scenic, like one charcoal doodle of a fading sunset. The end of the chamber was a bit too far for his human eyes to adjust to, but he could make out a "small" sketch of six silhouettes.

"Vhat did you need again?" Eric jumped and looked up to see Henrik looking expectantly at him. His cheeks flushed uncomfortably warm, feeling cold and pinned under that unreadable gaze. And the pulled up mask made it even harder to tell what the doctor was thinking. All he could guess was that the doctor was annoyed that he had to put up with him.

"I-I, I scraped m-my leg," Eric answered in a small voice.

"Ah yes, von second." The giant moved deeper into the chamber and rummaged through his things. Eric shyly hobbled after him, now close enough to make out that last drawing: It was a crude portrait of the other giants. He could recognize key features, like Chase's smile and JJ's moustache, but he didn't recognize the last one that was darkened out and riddled with little rectangles and boxes to distort the silhouette. His heart quickened. Could this be a drawing of the one the other giants always talked about when they thought he couldn't hear? Was this "Anti"?

Eric managed to not get caught staring at the picture again as Dr. Schneeplestein went back over to him and crouched down. "Roll ze leg up," he commanded. Eric hesitated.

"It's-it's on my thigh," he explained awkwardly.

"Zen just pull ze pants down, you have boxers on do you not?" Wincing, Eric nodded and did his best to remove his pants. But he had to sit down and remove his prosthetics first, uncomfortably aware that the doctor was watching his every move. Sheepishly, he set it all aside and stretched his stumpy leg out, showing the red scrape to Henrik. He kept his head down though, familiar enough with the horror and disgust that was probably in his eyes to know what came next.

"...Vhere are ze rest of your legs?" Eric flinched. There it was. That horrid question. Those nose-upturned stares. Those judging looks. Always judging. Always categorizing him as the worthless waste of space he was. He didn't even have the voice to answer anymore. He could just feel his anxiety bubbling up, fear burbling and threatening to overflow. All he could see was just that bus, the land vanishing, the long fall... The stench of burning flesh, the soot of their dogs and his own brothers. The horrible realization that he had been the only survivor, mutilated almost as badly as the corpses--

"Hey, back to me." Eric started when Schneeplestein snapped his fingers in front of the human. "Sensitive topic, I see. I understand. Just don't think about it right now, and try not to move. Zis vill sting a vittle bit." Eric nodded, but when the doctor put two fingers on his leg he immediately flinched. He quickly mumbled an apology and just looked away, expecting a rebuke. To his surprise, Henrik said nothing as he went to work. The doctor was surprisingly gentle; he didn't use rough motions or even raise his voice like he usually did, although he mostly muttered behind his mask. He even let Eric know when he was applying the antiseptic and medicine, giving him the heads up he needed to bite down on a yelp.

"Good news," Henrik announced as he wrapped the white cloth around his leg. "You are going to be just fine. Just keep off of it for a little vhile, as much as you can to not stress it... Should be easy, considering Chase never leaves your side." Eric let out a shaky sigh.

"Th-thank you." As he reached for the prosthetics, Schneeplestein was collecting his medical things and nudged them a little closer to make them easier to grab. But before Eric could thank him, he got up and strided off to set his things back in place and wash his hands. The words died in the timid human's throat as he stared at his backside, and then he worked on getting his feet and pants back on. The bandages held finely.

"Have Chase bring you back here before nighttime, ve can't let ze wound fester." Eric nodded, standing.

"O-okay, th-thanks-thank you." He turned and started walking back toward the opening of the chamber. He was about halfway there when Henrik's voice stopped him.

"Vhat kind of accident vas it?" Eric stood quietly for a few seconds. He slowly moved his head a little, but he couldn't bring himself to look over his shoulder.

"A-a-a bus," he answered quietly. His words were breathless, as if speaking them louder would bring back the terrible incident.

"Who died?" His breath caught in his throat.

"... M-my-my brothers," he breathed hoarsely. "All-all fifteen of them..." His vision started to go fishy, and he hurriedly tried to rub them with the back of his arm. "I-I was the only one. I-I wasn't even suppose to-to be there... I just wanted to spend more time with them...!" His efforts to remain calm dissolved when his tears still fell. He muffled his sob with his hand and closed his eyes, wishing he wasn't such a mess. He tried scolding himself for crying in front of someone again, and his anxiety only congested him even more when he heard the doctor's footsteps slowly approaching. With a whimper, Eric looked down, putting his face in both his hands as he rubbed behind his glasses with the handkerchief and shook with silent sobs.

The first thing he expected was a harsh scolding, or some kind of reprimanding for being a crybaby. But the last thing he expected was for the gentle press of the doctor's fingers lightly touching his shoulder.

"Let it out," Henrik murmured, "It iz like a sneeze, you cannot hold it back vhen it should come out." Eric froze, and then it all came crashing down as he started bawling. He was aware of a fleshy wall nudging him in one direction, and he was turned around before being swept off his feet. Eric kept his face covered, his crooked glasses up on his forehead as he shook with violent sobs, all of the tightness in his chest flowing free with each wail. He was pressed against warm, clean fabric, and he blindly curled into it, finding comfort in the heat-emitting surface. He heard Schneeplestein let out a windy sigh, but the doctor said nothing, just sitting there with the human held against his chest.

It took a spell of time before the tears slowed. Chase had-- shortly after the episode started-- come in to pick up Eric, but he had been alarmed with the sight of Henrik hunched stiffly on the floor, comforting the bawling little human with a full on hug. Eric had been transferred from Henrik's cold hands to Chase's warm ones, and the familiar presence calmed his erratic breaths. Eventually, Eric wore himself out, and he now lay in the giant's arms like a small teddy bear, slumped against his stomach and too tired to cry any more. His eyes were half closed, but his breathing for the most part had stopped wheezing.

"... And zhen he broke down on me," Henrik finished. "I do not know ze full details, but vhatever happened it vas a very hard experience."

"Okay... What should I do for him, doc?"

"Zere iz nothing you can do. Vould you open up about your problems to someone you hardly know?" Eric's eyes slowly closed as Chase failed to give an answer. "Exactly. So just be zere for him. Vhen he's ready to talk about it, I'm sure he vill tell you. But until zen, make sure he keeps off of zat leg."

"Okay... Thanks Henrik."

"It iz my job as doctor."

"I meant... I know you don't like humans. You never really were a people person, even before... Well, you know."

"He's not zat bad. He vatches vhere he steps. Not like ze others." Chase smiled a little and glanced down at Eric, finding the human had dozed off.

"I better get him to bed. He must be tired." Henrik nodded as the bro slowly got up.

"Bring him later for me to check up on." He dipped his head.

"Will do, doc."