Cult leader

After math

Max spent pretty much every night in David's bed. the other campers either didn't notice or didn't say anything. David never said anything to his adopted son about it, Max was afraid and was taking care of it in his own way. what had them all worried was the fact Max would randomly pass out and just sleep anywhere. David had tried to assure the campers that it was just Max's way of dealing with this, but they still didn't like it. it was just three days after Daniels attack and the little camp was trying to get over it. David was doing whatever he could to get their little minds off it.

"alrighty campers! once you finish breakfast we're going to go out on the lake! just a fun day of swimming." David smiled. most of the campers seemed excited, but Max was just trying to keep from falling asleep in his oatmeal. David was quick to lean over and push Max's bowl out of the way in time for Max's head to slam onto the table. David quickly put his hand between the boys head and the table.

"is Max going to be okay?" Nikki ask.

"Max is going to be just fine once he's had plenty of time to heal." David assures. "which is why we are going to do a lot of activities that he doesn't have to do." David adds. Max jerked up quickly, falling backwards off his seat.

"shit!" Max mumbled, wincing. David immediately pulled him up as the boy started coughing, having knocked the wind from his already damaged lungs. Max looked at him and mumbled, pushing his hands away. "fuck off." Max snapped. David smiled at Max, reassured he was okay.

"oh... wait um, today you guys will be hanging out with Gwen. I forgot today was the day Max and I had to go get his stitches removed." David said. Max groaned lowly. he didn't want to go back to the hospital.

"yeah you little shits." Gwen smirked. the campers groaned lowly. Max didn't fight David as the man scooped him up and headed out of the mess hall, with only a quiet request to grab Mr.Honeynuts before the left. David made the detour grabbing his keys and his sons bear before heading for the car. the campers all looked out the window watching the car drive off before Gwen whisked them away.

it was hours later when the campers head the car pull up. Gwen refused to let them go over to it and crowd Max and David. David got out of the car opening the back door. Max jumped out and the campers watched him make an odd motion. he was patting his leg. the found it odd until a large dog jumped out of the backseat and stood beside Max. it looked like a German Shephard and Husky mix.

"puppy!" Nikki squealed running over.

"no." David said. they all paused at the stern tone in David's voice.

"look you idiots, this is Ratchet. he's my service dog. fucking counselor thinks I need one." Max snapped.

"we've been having him trained for months. he's also a guard dog." David smiled. Max nodded at the dog and started walking off. Ratchet followed immediately. the campers watched Max go and waited until he was out of ear shot. David knew questions were coming.

"why does he need a service dog? especially since you said he was being trained before the Daniel thing." Neil said. David frowned trying to think of a way to explain.

"well... alright. it's time to explain." David sighed. "so you guys know Max falls asleep randomly, but you don't see the other things that happen." David sighed. "Max has a sort of... they call it an absent seizure, but it's more than that. he has these flashbacks of things that have happened. you guys see him staring out at nothing sometimes, he doesn't move and sometimes he forgets to breathe. him 'falling asleep' is sometimes him having an episode and forgetting to breathe. he's not falling asleep, he's passing out from lack of oxygen. sometimes he wakes up from those things screaming and his therapist decided the best course of action was a service dog to help him." David explained. "so don't mess with Ratchet when he has his vest on. leave him alone. if you notice him acting weird get my attention. if you see him walking around by himself, it's not anything to worry about. he's still a dog and sometimes just needs to stretch his legs." David assured.