Lloyd's P.O.V.:

It had been eight months since I got here in the hospital. I first got here in February so if I was right, I think it would be September now. I didn't know what day it was, but Ryder's birthday was on the twentieth.

I remember that his birthday was never something we celebrated because Harumi didn't care. I always snuck in a little present and a sugary treat or two when Harumi wasn't looking, but we never gave him an actual party. He was so young I don't even know if he knew when his birthday was. Even if he did, I don't think Harumi's gonna serve him cake and ice cream.

My mother and Jay were visiting today. I overheard them talking to each other.

"So where are the twins today?" My mother asked him.

"Everybody's working today so Nya had a lot of babysitting to do so the kids are with her." Jay answered.

"Do you have a new job yet?" Mom asked.

"Not yet but I'm sure something will come up." He said. "And hopefully soon too."

"I'm sure you'll find something." Mom assured.

"Thanks Misako." Jay said. "Hey what's the date today?"

"September 20th."

"Great, so I only have ten days to make rent." Jay sighed sadly. "Nya's gonna kill me."

"Between you and Nya I'm sure you can figure it out." Mom said.

I stopped listening and went to sleep...

"Hi grandfather." I approached him.

"Hello Lloyd." He said. "What brings you by?"

"Well it's Ryder's birthday today and I'm not there to spend it with him." I frowned. "I wanna see him again please."

He agreed and the magic window opened up. I saw Ryder running, well more like limping as fast as he could towards a door. Maybe he was trying to escape. He had almost made it to the door when Harumi picked him up by the shirt and threw him back.

"Trying to escape are we?" She crossed her arms.

"M-Mother I..." He stuttered.

"You know what happens when you disobey me." She clasped her fist together and slowly stepped towards Ryder. That sinister smirk on her face.

Ryder backed up against the wall and quivered in fear. Harumi ended up giving him a black eye, busted lip and who knows what else.

"If I ever catch you trying to escape again, I will make your life so miserable you wish you were never born! Do you understand?" Harumi threatened.

"Y-yes ma'am." He stuttered through his tears.

"Good." She said stepping away.

As if the normal amount of abuse wasn't bad enough, what I saw next made my heart sink.

"Worst birthday ever." Ryder whispered to himself. He was curled up quietly sobbing on the ground.

"Hang in there bud. Daddy's coming soon." I frowned and put my hand near the magic window. It disappeared.

"What troubles you Lloyd?" The FSM asked.

"What troubles me? Do you really have to ask?" I grew frustrated. "My own son got a beating on his birthday! He's going through so much pain and suffering and I am just laying there like a log unable to do anything to help him! He's gonna get killed if I don't do something!"

"Your boy is brave." The FSM said. "He knows he has a guardian angel watching over him."

"But that's not the same. I can't protect him from here." I frowned. "What good would just watching him do?"

"It will give him hope." My grandfather said.

"He's three, he probably doesn't even know what that means." I frowned.

"He has a pretty active imagination." He winked.

"Isn't there anything I can do?" I asked.

"There is a way you can pay him a visit, but it only lasts for a few minutes."

"Visit him?" My eyes lit up. "Why didn't you mention that before?"

"Your body was too injured to go through the process." He explained. "Now that you are healed, the process will not harm you."

"Yes please, whatever that means do that."

"Ok but only someone with the imagination of a child will be able to see, hear and touch you." My grandfather explained. "This means anyone younger than ten years old. They will see you as an imaginary friend of sorts."

"I understand." I agreed.

"Ok, here you go."

The first Spinjitsu Master zapped me into Ryder's presence.

I looked at my hands and they were see through. It's like I was invisible. I noticed Ryder in the corner sobbing and Harumi was trying to find the next thing she would command him to do. I walked over to him.

"Hello little boy." I knelt down next to him.

"W-who are you?" Ryder stuttered and looked up at me.

"My name is Lloooo......gan... Logan. My name is Logan." I said making up a fake name for myself.

I figured if I used my real name Harumi might hear him talk about me and get suspicious. She thinks I'm dead and if she knew I was alive, unconscious, and unable to defend myself, she would track me down and kill me. Maybe even in front of our son. I was not about to let that happen.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"R-Ryder." He said drying his tears.

"Are you alright?" I asked him.

"Yeah, my Mommy just hit me again like she always does." He frowned. "Do you want to hit me too?"

"No, I would never do that." I said. "I'm a friend."

"F-friend?" He questioned.

"Yes I'm your friend. We are friends Ryder, and I'm always here for you."

"I've never had a friend before." He said.

"Well you do now." I held his hand. "I can't stay for very long, but I will come back and visit whenever I can."

"What will I do without you?" He whined.

"Don't worry buddy, I'll always be keeping an eye on you." I winked.

"Ryder who are you talking to?" Harumi turned to him.

"Shh. She can't see me, only you can. Don't tell her about me or she'll make me go away." I told him calmly. "Do you understand?"

Ryder nodded. "No one Mother. Just myself."

"Well stop it, one of you is annoying enough." She rolled her eyes and walked away.

"Thank you." I said to him. "I have to leave now, but I'll see you later ok? Oh and remember this, I'll always be looking out for you."

"Thank you." Ryder smiled and hugged me.

"Oh and happy birthday." I winked.

It felt so good to hug him again, to talk to him again. It wasn't the same as being there myself, but at least he knew he wasn't alone now. My grandfather was right, I could give him hope now.

I was taken back to my grandfather. I was happy I got to visit my son.

"Thank you." I smiled at my grandfather.

"You are very welcome Lloyd." He nodded.

I was taken back to that boring hospital room. Still just sitting there, unable to move or see. I heard the sound of my mother sleeping in the cot that Kira got for her. Last month I overheard Kira say that the other doctors were getting angry I had been there so long. Many of them almost threatened to quote: "put me out of my misery" and since then my mother was so scared to leave the hospital that she basically moved into my room.

I don't blame her though. With my dad who knows where, my uncle gone, and not knowing she had a grandson, there wasn't much else keeping her going. I was just glad my friends who came to visit me were always talking to her. They made sure she was never alone and it was really nice of them, especially since they all had their own kids to care for.

As time went on, I would visit Ryder anytime I could. It was my favorite part of the day. I started to see improvement in Ryder's moods and every time we talked, he'd get a little bit more confident. Yes he still took beatings from Harumi, but he was getting braver and stronger every day.

I was so proud of him for being so brave and I was happy I got to see my son again. Even if it was only for a few minutes in his imagination, it was the best few minutes of my day. I could see him, hug him, talk to him, let him know there's someone who cares about him. And the best part was Harumi would never know what I was doing, so she couldn't stop me if she tried.

Four months later...

It was hard to keep track of time in my state, but I must've been in that hospital for more than a year now. I heard my friends talking about plans for Blake's first birthday party when they had come to visit me, which as you might've guessed was not as often as they used to. There was usually Kira, my mother and one other person in the room to accompany her.

Kira still healed me regularly and I was pretty sure that all my physical injuries were healed. However being in that bed for over a year meant that Ryder had been living with Harumi that long too. It killed me everyday that I couldn't do anything about it, but it made me feel better that I could at least visit him.

The FSM said that he only had enough energy to send me there a few minutes a day, so I spent every minute I could with him. Our little chats were only thing keeping him going, and the same to me.

I was in my room again and I heard something out of the ordinary.

"Logan, I need you!" Ryder's voice echoed in my head. He sounded scared and upset.

I immediately fell asleep, worried something was wrong.

I zapped into the realm with my grandfather and he knew what I wanted. He immediately sent me to visit Ryder.

I arrived by Ryder's side and saw him struggling on the ground. Harumi was yelling at him.

"Come on, get up!" She yelled.

"I-I can't." He whined.

I looked down and Ryder's knee was swollen and he looked like he was in a lot of pain. I didn't see what happened but I guessed it was nothing good.

"Relax buddy, I'm gonna help you." I whispered to him.

I gently grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him back up, making it look like he stood up on his own.

"That's better." Harumi said smirking.

She walked away and looked at Ryder. He was in bad shape and almost collapsed on the ground as soon as she was out of sight.

"I can't do this anymore." He hugged my leg and started to tear up. "She's so mean."

"Just hang in there a little bit longer buddy." I knelt down in front of him. "One day a man in green will come and he'll take you out of this place."

"He will?" Ryder looked up at me.

"He will." I assured him. "And when he does, he's gonna take you somewhere where you'll have a new life, a better life. A life where you will never have to be beaten up ever again, one where you'll have plenty of friends to play with and he'll take you to the park where you can play catch with him. You'll be well taken care of and you won't have to be hungry anymore."

"Is the green man nice?" He asked.

"Oh yes he's very nice." I smiled. "And he can't wait to meet you."

"When is he coming?" Ryder asked.

"I don't know, but he will." I told him. "And he needs you to be brave until he gets here. Can you do that for me... I mean for him?"

"Mhm." He nodded. "Tell him I won't let him down."

"I'm sure he'll be happy to hear that." I smiled and realized my time was almost up. "I have to leave now, but don't forget about what I said. Ok?"

He nodded again and gave me a quick hug before I left.

I reentered the realm, gave a quick goodbye to my grandfather, and reawakened in that room again. I still wasn't any closer to waking up, but I was happy that I had a way to communicate with Ryder. I was just hoping that I'll be able to keep my promise and that I'll be reunited with him for real one day.