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Terry wouldn't wake up, Ralph tried everything from smacking him to whispering in his ear but the coyote was out stone cold. One of the other students called up the nurse and Terry was to be carried to the infirmary. Ralph insisted on accompanying them. As Ralph and the nurse carried the coyote between them, he glanced up at the nurse. She was a gazelle who looked very tired. "Are you alright?" Ralph asked.

The nurse yawned in reply, "I'm fine, I've just been overworked due to an awful strain of mono over in the girls dormitory. Apparently a jock got a little frisky with the kisses and well... let's just say half of the cheerleading squad are being quarantined to their rooms in the first week of college."

The wolf winced, "That sucks."

The gazelle nodded. "You're telling me. When they called I was in the middle of sleeping so that's why I'm tired..." She glanced down at the coyote that they were carrying, "So, why are you so concerned about him? I mean I can understand that you're roommates, but even so I doubt you've known each other for more than a day."

A blush grew under Ralph's fur, "Yeah... well, you see..."

A giggle escaped the gazelle's lips, "You have a crush on him, don't you?"

Wincing, Ralph shyly nodded. "Is it that obvious?" The gazelle nodded. Letting out a sigh the wolf looked down at the coyote hanging between them on a stretcher. "It always sucks, I'm one of the few gay wolves from where I'm from and I come here to find that my roommate is cute. Sadly, I can't tell if he's interested or not because he's so... closed off."

Nodding, the nurse looked down at Terry, "I understand, I have a gay friend myself and he's always on the prowl for his next beau." She glanced over her shoulder looking down the hall, "My office should be at the end of this hall."

Ralph nodded, as they walked towards the infirmary the wolf heard the panting of someone running. Glancing behind him, Ralph blinked as he saw the familiar form of Nathan from orientation. "Nathan?" The leopard was dressed in gym gear, panting as he slowed down his pace.

Nathan drew up to Ralph, slowing to a walk. He looked concerned as he looked at Terry, "I heard from my roommate about a coyote passing out down the hall, I could only guess that it was Terry. What happened?"

Ralph shook his head, "I don't know, I was hoping the nurse knew." He glanced at her, but her lips seemed tight as they continued to walk. "Do you know?"

The nurse took a breath, "I... I'll talk when we get into the infirmary, since you're tagging along..." She addressed Nathan, "Why don't you open the door to the infirmary, I really don't want to have to set Terry down." Nathan nodded, opening the infirmary door open to let the Nurse and Ralph in with Terry suspended between them.

Closing the door behind them, Nathan walked into the infirmary and glanced around the sterile environment as Ralph and the nurse set Terry down onto a table. Relaxing, the nurse slid open the coyote's eyelids open and shined a light into the iris and watched as it dilated. "Hm..." She hummed as she drew away from them and opened up a cabinet before ruffling through some documents. After searching through some folders she found the one she was looking for and pulled it out.

Ralph and Nathan both sat in some chairs that they had pulled up as the Nurse pulled out her own chair, sitting down and glancing at the pair. "You two wouldn't mind if I took off this thing, would you?" She gestured towards the mask she had been wearing to prevent infection from spreading. When the other two shook their heads she pulled it off and gasped. "Thank god, I've been wearing that stupid thing for what feels like hours..."

Sitting down, the nurse pulled her hair back into a ponytail and tied it back with a hairband. "Much better..." She muttered, the smiling at them. "Sorry about all of this, whenever I'm in here I can actually relax."

Nathan smiled, "It's alright, I guess. While you're getting ready would you mind if I ask you for your name?"

She winked at him, "Not trying to ask me out on a date, are you?"

Nathan broke out in a large bout of laughter, "Nah, I have a girl waiting for me back home. I was just curious is all."

The nurse chuckled. "Sure..." she winked playfully, "My name is Miranda. Miranda Secre." After the two introduced themselves as well, Miranda smiled. "Well now that all of the pleasantries are out of the way..." She looked at Terry seriously before glancing at the folder in her hand, "Well... I was told about Terry here before he got here. I'm only an intern here, but Terry has a... past that precedes him that was required to be told to us."

Ralph nodded slowly, "What happened to him?"

Miranda closed her eyes for a while, and for a moment Ralph was afraid that she dozed off but she started to talk again. "I'm not sure if you know this, but Terry's father was an alcoholic. The type that hits the bottle hard and hits others harder..."

The pair in front of her blinked in unison, Nathan asked the question they both felt hovering over their heads. "Are you saying that he hit..."

"Terry, yes. And his mother. It seems he beat them almost constantly..." Miranda said as she slipped a sheet out of the folder and glanced it over, "Their neighbors reported him multiple times to the cops, and he was no stranger to the slammer."

Biting his lip, Ralph glanced at the unconscious Coyote. "Is that why he's like this?"

The gazelle shook her head, "No, those just led up to the breaking point." She pulled out another sheet of paper and winced, "They have some of the details here, but I'm technically not allowed to disclose this information. But, if you really want to know..." Miranda stood up, walked over to her desk, and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, quickly jotting down something Miranda turned back to them. "Call this number. The person on the other end should be able to explain to you what happened."

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Leaving Terry with Miranda, Ralph walked back towards his room alongside Nathan with purpose. As they walked down the hallways of the college Ralph glanced at the oddly dressed leopard. "Why are you wearing that? If you don't mind me asking."

Nathan looked down and blinked in shock as he realized what he wearing, "Whoops, looks like I got a little excited when I heard about Terry. I was on my way back from hitting the gym." He rubbed his hand over his stomach and winked, "I don't get these muscles through genetics alone."

Ralph chuckled as they walked into his room and headed over to the phone. Slipping the paper from his pocket he picked up the phone. The wolf felt an odd feeling of anxiety building up in his chest while dialing, hitting speaker when it began ringing so Nathan could hear too. There were three rings before they heard the click of the phone being answered, "Hello?" A soft, female voice answered.

"Hello, my name is Ralph. I'm Terry's roommate, who is this?" The woman's breath seemed to catch at the mention of Terry.

"I... I'm his mother, Sharon. Is something the matter with Terrance?" Ralph heard a quaver in the woman's voice.

Taking a breath, Ralph replied. "T... Terry's fine..." He didn't want the delicate sounding woman to be panicking. Nathan shot him a glare but Ralph shut it out.

Sharon's breath slowed down, "O-... oh... that's good, I've been worried since he left... So, what did you want to talk about, Ralph?"

Shutting his eyes, Ralph bit his lip. "It's about Terry's past. I've been hearing him muttering in his sleep about somebody named Jack..." He pulled the name from what Terry had muttered as he passed out.

There was a slight gasp from the other end. "I... I thought he wasn't having those dreams anymore..." Sharon muttered in a pained voice.

Feeling bad for the woman, Ralph continued on. "Could you tell me what happened; who Jack is?"

Sharon took a few moments to answer. Ralph and Nathan waited with baited breath before she spoke again. "It was when I was shopping... Terrance brought his friend Jack over while his father was passed out from one of his usual binges and..."

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Terry looked up at the shadowy figure with fear in his eyes his arms slipped away from the fox in his embrace who muttered in confusion. "What's wrong, Terry?" He then decided to look behind him and gasped in shock, "M... mister Drawd..." He whimpered the coyote's last name.

Terry's father's eyes were bloodshot from binging hard on alcohol, "Y... you kissed him..." The heavyset coyote muttered to his son, gesturing towards Jack.

His lips opening and shutting in fear, Terry spoke in a tiny voice to his dad. "I... I can explain dad. I..." But his father wasn't listening, the coyote's body tensed as he pulled his arm back holding the beer bottle in hand and smashed it down onto Jack's head.

A shriek of horror and fear roared out his lips as he watched his best friend go down, the fox's eyes rolling back immediately from the impact. Blood started to drizzle out from where the bottle had impacted with his friend's head. Terry screamed again as if he couldn't make words. His father looked at him with a death glare, "Sooo... you want to kisssss men, you little faggot?" Terry's father slurred.

Fear erupted in Terry's chest as his father smashed the beer bottle against the wall, shards of glass pouring over his friend's body. "D-... dad..." He whispered, terror having taken away his voice.

Drawing closer and closer, his father's body became a silhouette against the light as the beer bottle drew near. "I'll teach you to touch other men, you little fuck..." Terry's voice rang out louder than ever as the broken glass pierced his pelt and carved jagged wounds.

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"The neighbors pulled my husband away from Terry. Jack never got up after getting hit, and Terry... I'm sure you've seen his scars..." Sharon's voice had grown steadily shakier as she had told them the story, "I came in to find police hauling away my husband for the last time, a body being wheeled out in a bag, and my son hurt beyond physical wounds..." Ralph and Nathan could hear how hard it was for the mother to tell the story.

A silent sob wracked Ralph's body as he wiped away a tear from his eye, "Th-... thank you for telling us this, miss Drawd..."

Sharon took a moment to recompose herself, "Please, take care of my son. He's strong, but he's suffered so much. I don't want him to be hurt, I want him to make friends..."

Ralph closed his eyes and nodded, "I'll be his friend, I promise."

Sharon sniffed, "Thank you..." She then hung up her phone leaving Nathan and Ralph in silence.

Turning to face his leopard friend, Ralph shook slightly. "I just can't believe it..."

Standing up, Nathan nodded. "We... we have to take care of him." Ralph nodded, the pair then turned back towards the hall to go back to the infirmary where Miranda and Terry waited.