Guiding Light

"I think... I'm okay..." he replies, "Just... feels like things are spinning a bit."

He remains hunched over there, continuing to breathe slowly. His body slowly relaxes as he does this.

"You'll live." The hedgehog withdrew her paw from him and started to step away to head towards the short driveway leading up to the front of the house.
There was no garage here, but no vehicle at the moment either. The driveway was clean, implying there wasn't usually a car here regardless.

"Flame, bring him in when he's ready," the hedgehog instructed over her shoulder, "I'll get the first aid kit."

"Yeah, alright," Flame replied with a nod, watching her mother briefly, then looking back to Wolf to wait for him to finish recovering.

Wolf straightens back up about a minute later. He glances in the direction the hedgehog was wandering off in, looking over the house briefly. He then turns and looks back at Flame.

"This is home?" he asks her.

Flame followed his gaze over to the house where her mother had already unlocked the front door and gone inside, leaving the door ajar behind her.

"Yep, that's home," she replied, "Definitely far from where we just were. I haven't been back here in a couple o' weeks."

She stepped past him and started up the driveway as well. "C'mon," she urged, gesturing for him to follow.

Wolf takes in another slow breath and let's it out. He glances around, just taking in their surroundings here for several moments. He then looks in the direction Flame had started off in and begins to follow her along towards the house.

Flame made her way up the driveway and then along a small paved path that led up to the front door. She entered the house and lowered the two backpacks to the floor by the door before stepping farther into the home.

The room they entered appeared to be the main living room. It was very sparsely decorated and neutral in color, the main focus seeming to be a large television set against the far wall. A long couch faced the television and a wooden coffee table sat between the two.

There were three other doorways in the room as well, but none of them had any actual doors attached to be opened or closed. Off to the left, one could easily look into a kitchen and rather small dining area, a sharp contrast to the living room as the walls were all yellow. The oval-shaped table visible from the living room seemed to have eight chairs all around it, if one were to get closer and actually count them.

The doorway across the room from the front door was more off to the right of the television. It seemed to lead down a corridor with another two doors parallel to each other and another two farther down. Light shining in from the end of the hall indicated a door with a window in it, but the window was currently covered by a light-colored curtain.

And finally, off to the right was a third doorway, wider than the others as it led down a hallway as well. This hallway had three doors down the left side, two doors on the right, and one at the end of the hall. The only doors open were the first two on the left side. One seemed to lead into a child's bedroom, where the light was currently on. The other was clearly a bathroom and the light was on there as well.

In fact, the dark-furred hedgehog who had brought them here was just stepping out of the bathroom, carrying a rather large medical kit in her paws. Trailing behind her was another much younger hedgehog with even darker fur. He had the same pink-colored eyes as the other hedgehog, but was covered in black fur and his quills were draped down from his head almost like hair. He was much smaller than she was and couldn't have been older than eight or nine years. While the first hedgehog was making her way back to the living room, he paused to switch the bathroom light back off.

Wolf carefully follows Flame into the house. He glances around the main room they enter a bit warily. He takes in the furnishings around the room and notes the doorways leading further into the house. He could see into the kitchen, but he could see nothing of note down the two connected hallways.

He finally turns and glances back through the doorway he'd entered through, then reaches over to push the door shut. Once he turns back around, he notes movement from the hallway off to the right. He spots the hedgehog making her way back over with a case of some sort in her grasp.

A little ways past her, he also spots the younger hedgehog who was apparently following her. For the moment, Wolf chooses to keep quiet and wait to be addressed.

The hedgehog moved over to the couch, setting her case down on the coffee table.

"Alright now, get over here, you two. Who's hurt the worst so I can get that done first?" she asked, turning to look over at the two teenagers.

The youngest hedgehog had started to follow the purple hedgehog back to the living room, but stopped promptly upon spotting an unfamiliar wolf in the house. He seemed a bit wary of the stranger and stayed by the only other open door, which was likely his bedroom, watching Wolf silently.

Flame glanced at Wolf as she reached back and locked the front door. "I'll let you make the call there. I think the worst I got is just my arm," she said.

Wolf watches the younger hedgehog for several moments. When he appears as though he's going to remain in the hallway, he returns his focus to the others in the room.

He glances at Flame in response to the other hedgehog's question, but she beats him to a response. He considers his response for several moments.

"I think you should go first." he replies, "I should survive at least until you're taken care of. I hurt a fair bit all over, but I think yours is worse. It's my fault that you're hurt at all too."

"No, it's that jerk's fault for attacking us," Flame replied, starting to make her over towards her mother. She glanced over to the hallway, finally spotting the child there. "Oh hey, Aiden," she greeted him.

The young hedgehog, apparently Aiden, shifted his gaze to her and nodded, but said nothing in reply.

The acknowledgment drew the attention of the purple hedgehog and she looked over to Aiden as well. "Now c'mon, Aiden," she said, "Don't be scared, he won't do nothin' to ya. 'Specially not with me around."

Aiden looked over to her, then back to Wolf. For now, he stayed put.

Flame moved over to the couch and took a seat, grunting softly as she was still sore all over. She sighed as she sat back and looked to her right arm. "So, how you gonna do this without an x-ray, Ma?" she asked.

"We'll see if I can," came the reply as the hedgehog knelt down on the rug in front of the couch.

Wolf glances back over to Aiden for a few more moments, then he moves over to the couch to observe Flame's treatment. He knew a bit about general first aid, but he'd never needed to deal with a broken bone before. Now, might be a chance to learn something for the future.

"So, where's the damage, exactly?"

"Here," Flame replied, indicating part of her forearm. She still had visible scrapes on her, but her arm still appeared fairly normal. Somewhat hesitantly, Flame held out her arm for her mother to squint and look over.

The hedgehog gently took hold of Flame's paw and elbow. "Hm... Well, doesn't look visibly busted. No real swellin' either..." She glanced up to the teen's face. "I'm gonna have to feel, though. You're probably not gonna like this bit."

Flame furrowed her brow. Her quills were starting to bristle a bit behind her as well and she sighed. "An x-ray would be easier," she pointed out.

"Well, maybe one day I'll buy a fancy x-ray machine," the purple hedgehog replied, "But until then, it's this or the hospital. And considerin' you've been movin' all this time and not still screamin', I don't think it's anythin' bad. Probably just a bit delicate." She glanced over to where Aiden had slowly started to inch his way closer and a smirk cross her muzzle.
"You want your little brother to hold your other paw?"

Flame also glanced over to Aiden, letting out a mildly amused snort. "I wouldn't wanna hurt him if I squeeze too hard," she replied, "Just try to not damage anything?"

"Oh, please," the hedgehog scoffed, "You act like this is my first time with one o' you nuts breakin' a limb."
Without awaiting any further reply from Flame, she started to feel along the navy hedgehog's forearm, doing her best to be gentle, but still squeezing and applying pressure as she went to try and feel for anything swollen or out of place.

Flame winced as her mother's paw came to the sorest area. She tensed more visibly and dug her fingers into the couch, but did her best to just keep quiet while her arm was more thoroughly examined.

Throughout this, Aiden was observing silently, worry and curiosity easily notable on his face as he would occasionally move in a little closer.

Wolf moves around in front of the couch. He comes to a stop on the other side of Flame from her mother. He doesn't sit on the couch though. Instead he lowers himself to a crouching position there. Then he reaches over slowly and places his paw lightly on top of Flame's as she dug her fingers into the couch.

At the feeling of another paw on hers, Flame managed to tear her gaze away from watching her mother's paws. She looked first to Wolf's paw, then up to his face. A weak smile appeared on her muzzle, but she didn't say anything as continued pressure on her forearm made her wince and look back to the hedgehog again.

Her mother was trying to not hurt Flame more than she had to, but still trying to feel for any indications of a truly broken bone in the hedgehog's forearm. Finally, however, she stopped, just lightly supporting Flame's arm in one paw. Her gaze lifted up to meet Flame's and she offered the teen a smile.

"Lucky you. I don't feel anything major. I think if we just put a brace on it and make sure you take it easy, it'll be fine," she assured her.

Flame let out a breath of relief as the pressure let up and her mother made her 'diagnosis'. "Phew... I think I can deal with that," she replied.

"Not like you got a choice either way," her mother pointed out dryly. "I haven't got a brace or anythin' here, though. I'll have to go to the store and buy one. Can do that after we finish you two up." She stood up. "Now, lemme see that bump on your head."

Flame turned her head, looking over at Aiden while the elder hedgehog started to gingerly feel over the bump on the side of Flame's head where she'd hit the concrete earlier.

Aiden had gotten just a couple of feet away and was looking over how all three of them were rustled up and dirty. He was fiddling with his fingers just a bit in front of him and didn't particularly return Flame's smile.

Wolf nods slightly to Flame in response to her smile. He leaes his paw on hers while her mother continues examining her other arm. When she explains that there doesn't seem to be any major damage, Wolf lets out a breath.

"That's good to hear." he says, "No serious injury."

"Damn straight," the hedgehog agreed. She didn't look at Flame's head for too long before moving away. "Looks like I'll just have to keep you two indoors for a day or two to keep ya outta trouble until things start lookin' better."

She turned back over to her kit, picking up some sealed antibacterial wipes and tore open the packaging they were in. These were held out to Flame. "Start wipin' down your scrapes with these," the hedgehog instructed, "If I do it, you'll just start whinin'. I can look at your friend in the meantime. If you want 'em wrapped up so they don't rub on stuff, we can do that, too."

Flame took the wipes from her mother in her right paw. She nodded. "Yeah, okay," she replied, glancing over at Wolf and then withdrawing her paw from his. "Brace yourself, Mom's got heavy paws," she warned.

Wolf glances between the two hedgehogs as they converse. At Flame's last comment, he tilts his head to one side slightly.

"Heavy paws?" he repeats, "What does that mean?"

He glances at the other hedgehog.

"They don't look like they weigh a lot."

The hedgehogs glanced at one another and smirked slightly before Flame's mother replied, "It means that Flame thinks I do everythin' too roughly. In reality, she's just too sensitive."

Flame only responded by sticking her tongue out at the purple hedgehog, then turning her attention down to the scrapes on her knees and starting to gingerly clean them up with the wipe given to her.

Without waiting for Wolf to reply, though, the older hedgehog gestured to the couch. "Now sit on down, let's see what you've got wrong with ya and what we can do to fix it," she said.

"Oh... well events like these have gotten me more acquainted with rough handling than I'd really like." Wolf replies.

He stands back up and moves over to sit on the couch beside Flame.

"What's wrong is that I have a bunch of violent people after me." he then says, "So if you could make me or them disappear, it might be enough to fix my problems..."

The trio of hedgehogs all gave Wolf a small variety of glances at his reply. Aiden didn't linger for long, though, as he was at the side of the couch now, watching Flame wipe down her knees.

The hedgehog crossed her arms. "Well, I did make you disappear," she pointed out, "Halfway across the country? It'll take a while for anybody to find you. And if they try and get in here..." She took a moment to crack her knuckles in front of her. "I know how to handle myself."

Flame snorted softly at her mother's words, but said nothing otherwise, despite the sound drawing the other hedgehog's gaze to her briefly.

Wolf looks up at the hedgehog from where he sits.

"I hope you're right about that..." he says, "It just seems that eventually I'm found by someone who's after me. They cause a lot of damage when they do as well... I just wish there was someway to stop it."

"Well, doesn't do any good to worry about it right now," the hedgehog pointed out, "And you're definitely safe here at least. Let's just worry about puttin' you back together for now, mmkay?"

She leaned in closer to Wolf, starting to look him over for any obvious injuries. "Where's it hurt the most?" she asked, "I'll admit, I, uh.. didn't exactly think about you gettin' dropped earlier when I cracked that guy's ribs..."

"Oh... okay. Having a chance to recover is a good place to start." Wolf replies, "As for where I hurt the most... well... my upper body hurts a fair bit, front and back... Probably didn't help when I got dropped... But I doubt I was in much better condition before that anyway."

"Anything feel broken?" the hedgehog asked, "You might just be bruised and sore."

As Flame tended to her own scrapes, Aiden looked on. When she eventually looked up and met the younger hedgehog's gaze, he paused briefly, then raised both paws and began to gesture several things to her at once. It was certainly sign language, but perhaps confusing to anyone unfamiliar with why this child was gesturing so much.

Flame squinted a little as she watched his little paws, doing her best to make sure she understood what he was saying. Once he stopped a couple of moments later, she glanced down to her bare feet and smirked a little.

"We had to leave in a hurry," she replied to her brother, "I threw 'em in my backpack."

Aiden glanced over to the backpacks over by the door, fiddling his paws together in front of him again as he considered another question.

"I don't think anything is broken." Wolf replies, "I hurt all over, but I don't hurt really badly anywhere specific... Kinda... surprising since I remember crashing into a few things today..."