Chapter Text
Bob found Aiden on the ground of the forest, mauled by a coyote who was currently standing above him, staring into Bob’s eyes. Aiden wasn't moving, Bob couldn’t even tell if the kid was breathing. He suddenly felt a surge of rage, tackling the coyote off of Aiden with a yell. He used his trusty pocket knife to begin slicing into the coyote, making it cry out in pain, and struggling to bite and claw at Bob. Despite the attacks from the coyote, Bob wouldn’t stop until the damned thing was dead, with its skull crushed by Bob’s very own foot. He took out his anger on the coyote, continuing to slice it open and tear out its organs despite being long dead. Blood covered Bob’s body, a mix of his own and the coyote’s.
He turned to look at Aiden, and immediately rushed to his side, holding the small human in his oversized arms. Bob felt tears well up in his eyes as he tried to shake the kid awake “c'mon kid, wake up! Please I- don’t leave me” he sobbed, emotions flooding his system. Tears fogged his vision and he barely realized that Aiden had opened his eyes “It- It hurts-” he spoke with a raspy voice, Bob immediately responded “I know I know, it’s going to be ok, just please, stay with me.” He watched as Aiden’s chest heaved from his labored breath “I can’t- it hurts… so badly” he choked on his own breath “it hurts papa.” Aiden closed his eyes again, falling unconscious as Bob desperately cried for the kid to wake up again. But when he didn’t respond, Bob did the only thing he could, take him to the hospital.
Bob did his best to explain what happened to the police, without exposing himself. His story was mostly truthful, though some details were left out. He explained how he found the kid mauled, and how he had driven off the coyote that had attacked him. With the evidence they had, the two policemen trusted Bob’s word, and believed him. Both Bob and Aiden were taken to the ER. Once Bob’s treatment was done, he refused to leave Aiden’s side. Aiden had experienced a coma due to blunt-force trauma to his head. Bob’s best theory was that he was knocked over by the coyote tackling him, and roughly hit his head on a rock or tree root. He hoped that was all it was. Bob would wait and wait for the kid to wake up, Boys n’ Grills was even closed for a short while due to the incident. However, in time Bob recovered fully, and he had to reopen the restaurant and get back to work. Business slowed down and Bob’s coworkers did their best to motivate him. Bob barely slept at night and he was constantly checking up on his landline for any messages or missed calls from the hospital. And finally, In the middle of the night he got a call.