A lie. Was it because Robin feared him, and what he might do? Aaron wouldn't blame this dear man for it if that was his reason. Hadn't he just been thinking what ways he would repay the tormentor, after all? Just what he would do to the body, how much of its blood he would send splattering out all over the walls?

But now wasn't the time for those thoughts. Not in front of Robin. He'd never meant to bring the boy into that part of his world, as glad as he was for it. Hope, yes, precious hope, brought about by total accident.

"Not yet, I'm afraid." Aaron had already spoken to the nurses. He offered Robin a comforting smile, despite his words. "They've told me you've made progress, but it's not complete. You have to be discharged by a doctor before they'll let you leave."

He paused then, and reached down, taking Robin's hands in his. "You would tell me, wouldn't you? If something was wrong." A soft voice, without a hint of the darkness that the heart held. "If someone was hurting you."