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.

"and guys don't forget, this is Max. don't treat him any different than you normally do. he's trying to deal with this stuff on his own and he doesn't want you guys knowing about this." Gwen said. the campers were quiet before all agreeing to not say anything to Max.

"great! lets get ready for dinner." David nods and heads for the mess hall. the campers followed chatting with each other. when they came around the front Max was standing with Ratchet sitting beside him. he wasn't an asshole all the time and he could tell his dog was excited to see all the children even if he was on duty. they watched the boy take a velcro patch off the vest, but the dog didn't move. Max checked to make sure the vest wasn't too tight and nodded.

"okay Ratchet, off." Max said. immediately the dog sprang to life running over to the other campers excitedly. barking and wagging his tail as he covered them in slobber. Max smirked slightly. the kids basically went just as nuts as the dog. David nodded at Max with a smile heading into the mess hall. Max followed the adults into the mess hall and immediately Ratchet followed. the campers followed just as quickly.

"whats Ratchet going to eat?" Space kid ask.

"oh well, we've been planning for Ratchet to join us this summer so we have dog food." David assured. Max put the patch in his pocket and went to the storage closet to feed Ratchet. the dog followed him and watched him pour some food into the bowl. the other campers sat with their food and started eating. Max watched the dog dig in before heading to get himself some food. he sat down and started eating before he stilled. immediately Ratchets head snapped up and he growled lowly, catching the entire mess halls attention. the campers knew they shouldn't stare but were curious as to what was about to happen. there seemed to be an air of relief when Max sneezed and shook his head, turning back to his food. immediately the other campers went back to their food, but watched the new addition quickly. Ratchet stared Max down a moment longer before turning back to his food, though he now positioned himself to eat and watch Max at the same time.

"so Max, where's he gonna sleep?" Neil ask curiously.

"in the tent with us." Max rolled his eye's. "I'm not going to make him sleep outside." Max snapped.

"right, I just meant, did you get him something to like, sleep on or is he just going to sleep on the bed with you? those beds are kinda small and he's.... kinda not." Neil said, looking over at the dog. Max paused slightly, looking over at the dog.

"eh, he'll be fine on the bed." Max shrugged. as dinner came to an end they all threw away their trash and headed out, Max putting the patch back on Ratchets vest. "on." Max mumbled. Ratchet wagged his tail and stood beside him.

"alright campers tonights bon fire night." David smiled. bon fire night should have been the night Daniel attacked, but he'd put it off, hoping to wait until Max felt better. he cast a glance over at his adopted son, hoping to see some sort of positive reaction, but he saw nothing. just Max's usual scowl. he did look at Ratchet though, who had been specially trained with Max for months to read the boys body language, and the dog was relaxed. David nodded slightly.

"I'm going to take Ratchet to the tent." Max mumbled, heading for his tent. he never participated in Bon fire wood gathering so David wasn't surprised.

"alright have fun." he smiled. Max winced slightly and rubbed his chest. his wounds were healing, but still hurt. Ratchet followed him to the tent quietly, watching his charge stuff Mr.Honeynuts under his pillow. the dog was trained to keep an eye on Max's 'special item', and item that was sometimes required to help with his episodes. Max looked over at Ratchet, who wagged his tail at Max.

"wanna go for a walk?" Max ask. Ratchet just watched him and Max nodded, heading back out of the tent. the two headed for the lake, Max liked to look at the water. he couldn't swim, but he loved to look at the water at night. he stood quietly watching the water with a small smile.

David smiled putting the wood together, watching the campers gather wood and enjoy time with each other. smiling and talking and enjoying time like they hadn't since Daniel. David paused though as Ratchet came bounding for him.

"hey buddy." David smiled. the campers watched Ratchet circle Davids feet and the smile slipped off the usual happy counselors face, to be replaced with a serious expression. when Ratchet took off, David immediately followed. the campers looked confused and followed him. Ratchet raced for the water with David hot on his heels.

Max was rigid staring at the water, frozen.

"Max? Max!" David shouted, kneeling into the water. he didn't care he was getting soaked. he gently grabbed hold of Max's shoulders. "buddy? Max! hey! it's okay." David said. the boy wasn't breathing. immediately David blew into his face. Max flinched slightly but didn't breathe. "breathe Max damn it!" David shouted. he took a deeper breath and blew into Max's face. Max gasp immediately and started coughing, his body trembled. the other campers stood back watching silently. "breathe Max." David said. he fell forward into Davids arms and the counselor sighed in relief. he held the boy tightly. "it's alright just breathe." David soothed. he barely noticed Gwen ushering the other children back to gathering wood for the bonfire. "it's alright." he soothed gently standing with the boy in his arms.

"is he okay?" Gwen ask. David nodded. he patted Ratchets head.

"good boy." David murmured. he carried Max back to the main camp. the boy held tightly, face buried in David's neck. David was grateful for Ratchet, Max could've fallen forward in the water and drowned! Max held tighter to David, fisting his hand in Davids shirt. "it's alright Max." David said gently. the boys ragged breathing had calmed at this point. he carried the boy back to the counselors cabin and sat him on his bed. Max blinked and looked at him, though he still looked a little dazed. "hey buddy. you okay?" David ask gently. Max blinked at him again, sitting quietly for a moment, before he nodded.

"m'okay." Max mumbled. David relaxed at hugged him gently.

"okay, are you going to be okay to keep going with the bonfire?" David ask. Max loved bonfires. well, he loved to burn his marshmallows in bonfires. Max swallowed slightly and nodded.

"yeah. I'm going to be okay." Max mumbled. David nods and lets him go sitting back. he gently rubbed the boys cheek.

"I didn't hurt your chest or anything?" David ask.

"no, I'm fucking fine." Max snapped, glaring at him.

"okay good." David said standing up. "alright I'm going to go light the fire." David said. Max nodded and got off the bed. Ratchet licked the boys hand and cuddled to his side.

"I'm okay." Max assured, petting the dog gently. the three headed out of the cabin. the other campers didn't look up from their stick gathering, they didn't want to piss Max off.

"alright campers! ready for a bonfire?" David grinned. though his smile didn't reach his eye's. the campers cheered immediately and he lit the fire. Ratchet laid under Max's feet when the boy sat down. he put a marshmallow on his stick and started cooking it. David sat beside him, like he always did, cooking his own marshmallow and chatting with the campers. he checked on Max occasionally, until the boy growled and waved a flaming marshmallow in his face, threatening to light David like the marshmallow. David laughed and ruffled Max's hair, going back to talking with the other campers. everything was going to be fine. Ratchet would keep an eye on Max when he couldn't. things would be fine.