Bonnie was inside the room, barely awake.

Ethan moved quietly, eyes darting about as he was led down the hall. "Thank you." He said, before slowly stepping into the room. Quiet as ever, the man moved across the length of tiled floor until he reached Bonnie's bed. Scooting a chair over, he sat down and looked intently at her, his worry obvious as day, "Bonnie, can you hear me?"

Bonnie didn't open her eyes right away, but listened to Ethan as he spoke. "Yeah." She replied in a mumble. She paused, opened her eyes and glanced around the room before speaking again. "Are the dogs okay?

Breathing a silent sigh of relief at hearing her voice, Ethan responded, "They're doing alright." He decided against telling her about the fight just now, because he didn't want to stress her out any further. "How are you feeling? Is there anyone I should call?" Always the gentlemen.

Bonnie calmed down when she heard the good news about the animals. She turned her head to look at Ethan. "I feel like my guts were eaten out." She replied calmly, her voice still weak. "No...Andrea can wait." She answered his next question.

Ethan hung his head down a bit, looking with troubled eyes out the nearby window. "I'm sorry you had to go through that." He didn't know why she had been attacked, but feared that it was somehow tied to him and his organization. "I will do whatever I can to make sure it doesn't happen again. I promise."

Bonnie stared up at the ceiling with that blank expression on her face. "It's not your fault." She simply replied. "Freaks do things like that for no reason." She acted calm, but when she got out of here she'd give her neighbors what's coming to them.

He was glad she didn't blame him, but that didn't help to ease his conscience any, "Freaks they are." Ethan agreed, turning back to look at Bonnie now, "I will personally see to it that they pay for what they've done." He had choosen his words carefully, and now watched for Bonnie's expression. He was wary about letting her know much about him and what he did, but this was the first hint as to what kind of person he could be.

Bonnie smiled weakly. She was the kind of person to get revenge as well. "It's good that they didn't hurt my dogs too much." She suddenly said. "If they touch Amber I'll kill them." And that was the truth. Nobody had ever gotten away with hurting her beloved dog.

A smile lightened up his face, "It sounds like you care very much about your dogs." Ethan himself was the same way, though he had his favorites. "We'll have to take another hunting trip when you get out of here." The man suggested next, trying to find a lighter subject. So much bad stuff had happened lately. He still didn't know where Ben was. Or that Mikhail had already 'escaped' from the hospital. Although, he could have guessed as much, given the Russian's adversion to being around so many people.

Bonnie thought for a moment before speaking up again. "Next time we go hunting, I'd like to find more wolves." She replied. Although wolves had killed her parents, she knew how good they were at hunting, and how loyal they could be if socialized to people at a young age.

"Sounds like a good plan." Ethan affirmed, as he stopped to think about the various packs in the Valley. Lately, it seemed that the animals were turning their aggression on each other more than on the humans. Of course, he and his fighters had been attacked not too long ago, attesting to the fact that the animals were still human-aggressive.

Bonnie smiled slightly, trying to ignore the pain. Or hide the fact that she was in pain, more like. Even with the pain reliever she still felt it. And she couldn't help but think of her sister, who she assumed was still back at her house. She looked back at Ethan after a while. "Is Andrea still at my house?" She asked hesitantly. That cabin seemed like a dangerous place to be alone right now.

He hadn't given Andrea a second thought after leaving, though he was quick to try and put away Bonnie's fears. "I believe she is, but there's no need to worry. A few of my friends were heading that way to check on the dogs." Again, he felt a bit guilty for not telling her about the attack, but he would in due time.

A familiar voice sounded in the distance, making Ethan flinch in response. Ben was here? A flash of anxiety passed over the man's face before he tried to hide it. No, he would stay here with Bonnie for now. If Ben needed him, he'd just call on the cell phone.

Bonnie closed her eyes when Ethan answered. She felt fear for her sister. And for once she wished Andrea was here with her. After the attack nobody was safe back at the house. At least not alone. She didn't speak again for a long time. Then she heard Ben's voice. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't figure out who it was. Then it hit her. "That sounds like your friend." She said, slightly confused.

Watching her reaction, Ethan looked downwards a moment, feeling some regret. He held rank over the others and knew they'd be obligated to protect Andrea if it came down to that, but he wished he'd just tell her the whole truth.

When she spoke again, Ethan tried to hide his nervousness, "He can handle himself. What matters is that you get well." Again, that charming smile lit his face as he tried to push attention away from Ben, even though he was just itching to find out what had happened. Although... he wasn't really looking forward to telling Ben about their new enemies. Or the fact that he liked Bonnie.

Bonnie looked back at Ethan and smiled. A few thoughts raced through her mind before she spoke up. "The doctors said I'll just need to stay here for a few days." She said informatively. And for once she was glad she wasn't alone. With all that had happened, she wasn't very solitary anymore. And Ethan was a good guy. She knew that.

Ethan nodded in response to her statement, "A few days, and you'll be back on your feet." Steeling his gaze away from Bonnie for a moment, the man looked to the window again. The sky was covered by rolling gray clouds, and the leaves of the trees were billowing in the wind. "Looks like the weather is changing. Won't be long before the leaves start changing." For once, it felt nice to talk about random things. And maybe he could get to know Bonnie better. Looking back to her, he went on, "Fall is always my favorite time of the year. Not too hot, not too cold. Beautiful scenery."

Bonnie looked out the window as well. "I never really liked fall very much. It's the loneliest time of the year for me." She replied, her blue eyes fixed on the clouds. Bonnie usually made a point that she liked being alone, but didn't like being lonely. She believed the two were different. She believed loneliness was longing for company, not simply the absence of company.

Mentally kicking himself, Ethan tried to recover the situation, "At least you don't have to be lonely right now." What should he say now? Ah, he would try to cheer her up some more, "Hopefully you'll have some ligers to keep you company as well. And some wolves." Remembering her earlier comment, Ethan planned to search for pups later, in the hopes of capturing a few for her.

Bonnie smiled faintly and looked back at Ethan. "I know I don't." She replied with a return of happiness. And then Ethan brought up the ligers. "I always wanted a tiger when I was a kid. I got mad at my dad on more than one occasion for telling me that I can't have one, because we already had one dumb cat and didn't need another. I never got my tiger."

A good-hearted laugh came at the response to her story, "I don't think my dad would have let me have one either, if I had asked." Ethan shook his head at the thought, "I'll get you a tiger. And then we'll see how those gang members handle a big kitty like that." A pleasant grin showed in his face now.

Bonnie laughed as well. "My mother told me that God made dogs so we can have a loyal companion that would die for us. She also said God made cats so we know we're not the supreme being." She said amusedly. The Hatchett family always had good faith. If anything good happened, they thanked the Lord for it. And if anything bad happened, they drew closer to Him. She had been taught that all things, bad or good, happen for a reason. And this brought her to another story. "She once told me that God can use the bad things for good." And this was something Bonnie believed with all her heart. There are some things that she just knew.

"Is that so? I have to agree, cats certaintly don't bow down to anyone." Ethan chuckled a bit at this. He had one old tom cat that prowled around his house, but that was it. Aside from the big cats, of course. "I don't know what I'd do without man's best friend." He added after a moment of thought. The pack had saved his life more times than he could count.

Bonnie nodded. "Every cat I've known has seemed to want me dead." She replied happily. And yet another memory came back to her. "We had a big Ragdoll tomcat when I was a kid. He followed me everywhere. But whenever I tried to pick him up, he ran away. One day a rabid dog came along and tried to kill me. The tom fought the dog off, but contracted the disease." She continued, choked up. "The cat was foaming at the mouth the next day. My dad had to shoot him. I was only five years old." This story had always brought her to tears. She always loved that cat.

The mirth had faded by the end of her story, as a sympathetic look took the place of his previous smiling-grin. "I'm sorry to hear that. We've been quite lucky here in the Valley. We haven't had a rabies outbreak since 2003. It killed quite a few animals, and even a few people." He said somberly.

Bonnie closed her eyes in that way of hers, like she was shutting out the world. But after a moment she opened them again and stared at the ceiling. "It's good to live in a place like this." She simply replied, not able to think of anything else.

Usually. He thought to himself, feeling a bit of anxiety well in his stomach. What was he doing, dragging her into his life? Well, he would do whatever he had to do to protect her.

Ethan glanced at a clock on the wall and gave a look of surprise, "Oh, I'd better get going!" The man stood up looking at his wrist watch as well to be sure the time was accurate, "I'll see you in a little while." With a bright smile, Ethan departed from the hospital.