Tim immediately stood up and ran inside, looking around until he spotted you. You were laying face down on an operating table, three large cuts going down the length of your back, and two equally large cuts going diagonally starting at your left side and tapering off just past the center of your back. You had nothing covering your upper half, the only thing keeping you from being fully exposed was a blanket placed over your lower half. Ann had stitched you up, but the damage had been done. You were unconscious, and Tim hesitantly walked over to you, reaching out to touch your back. Ann slapped his hand away, glaring at him.

"Don't you know not to touch a freshly stitched wound?!" Ann huffed, as she walked over to her drawer to grab a roll of bandages.

"I'm going to bandage her up, change the bandages every 24 hours, and don't get her wounds wet or dirty for 48 hours." She handed Tim a roll of bandages.
He was silent, just staring at your disfigured back. He felt overwhelming guilt, he should've never sent you away, he should've known not to send you alone. He wanted to pull you into a warm embrace, and hold you forever.

"When will she be awake?" Ann turned to Tim, and then looked down at you.

"Anytime now, but she's naked aside from that blanket, I don't know what stage in your relationship you two are in but I'm just warning you." That was the last thing on his mind right now, all he wanted was for you to wake up and come home with him. He learned his lesson, he'd never send you alone in the forest ever again.

"For now I suggest you just go home, I'll send for you when she's awake." Tim nodded, and walked out of the room. His mind was racing, every moment felt like an eternity waiting for your return, silently praying you'd come back to him soon, and he'd hold you in your arms forever.

Unbeknownst to him, the operator was well aware of your spur of the moment surgery. He was acutely aware of everything that happened in his domain. He decided to pay you a visit himself, after all any resident who lived anywhere was required to pay some sort of rent.

~~

Your eyes fluttered open, and you panicked, quickly getting up from the operating table. Your wounds were tender and sore. You fell to your knees, you felt weak, the only thing covering your naked body was a surgical blanket. You tried to catch your breath, sitting on the cold tile floor of the operating room. You looked up, and suddenly before you stood a tall, imposing, presence. He was inhumanly tall, he had no face, just a white head. He wore an all black tuxedo, and had long arms and legs. You were overcome with an intense feeling of dread, and felt bile rising in your throat. You became dizzy, and there was a powerful ringing echoing through your head.
The figure reached out to touch you, and you backed away, whimpering with panic.

"Do not be afraid, my child." His booming voice filled the air, and his cold fingers touched your forehead. There was an intense ringing in your ear, and then silence.

Suddenly the feeling of overwhelming sickness and dread disappeared. You were standing in a black void, directly in front of the dapperly dressed creature. You attempted to cover your naked body with your hands, your face heating up.

"Do not panic child, I have no sexual attraction, a body to me is just that... a body." His voice was deep and loud.

"W-Who are you?" You stood in front of this being, seemingly one of a higher, supernatural power.

"I go by many names, but you may call me 'The Operator'." You nodded, not taking your eyes off him.

"I noticed you've been living with Timothy, he has brought you here without my permission." He didn't sound angry with you, but you couldn't quite tell.

"I am acutely aware of everything that happens in this forest, it is my domain. I know you tried to leave but one of the inhabitants made that difficult for you." You nodded.

"I'm very sorry, I didn't know I was intruding." You were utterly terrified, but tried your best to be civil.

"That is exactly why I've come to chat with you, I won't stop you if you want to pursue a relationship with Timothy, but I need something from you if you want to stay here." You nodded.

"Anything sir, I know I've been kind of an unwanted guest." The creature walked toward you, standing close to you.

"I appreciate your cooperation, your willingness to obey my commands bodes well for your future." He reached out and grabbed your wrist, and a burning sensation spread through your entire body. You winced, trying to pull away.

"Y-You're hurting me!" He gripped your wrist even tighter, searing your skin.

"It will be over in just a moment." The burning was unbearable, and suddenly it stopped. Your eyes adjusted to the light and you were back in the operating room. The figure was gone, and you had a thick black ring around your wrist where he grabbed you.

"I see you've regained consciousness." You jumped and looked up, meeting eyes with a woman who appeared to be a nurse.

"Here's a change of clothes, Masky is waiting for you outside." She walked out of the room, leaving the clothes in your hand. It was a generic pair of sweatpants, and a black shirt. You slipped on the clothes and slowly made your way outside. You locked eyes with Tim, and he rushed over to you, wrapping his arms around you.

"I'm so sorry sunshine, I should've never sent you away." You gently hugged him back.
"Tim, I want to go back home." he pulled away, holding on to your shoulders.

"Of course, let's get you back on track." He held your hand, leading you out of the mansion. Tim didn't know whether or not you meant you wanted to go back to the cabin or back to your original home. Either way he wanted to help you in the best way he could, but he desperately wanted you to come back home with him, an incident like that couldn't happen again.
He walked with you until the two of you reached the outside, and Tim paused, wanting to give you a choice.

"Do you want to go back home, or back to the cabin?" You paused. You wanted to go to your real home and put this mess behind you. This was the final nail in the coffin for you, and you opened your mouth to speak but for a brief moment all you saw and heard was static. You quickly snapped back to reality, and looked over at Tim.

"Really? Well if you insist." He led you deeper into the forest. You looked around in a panic, you had just told him you wanted to go home and he was taking you to the cabin? Was he ignoring you or did he just misunderstand? You opened your mouth to object, but no words came out. You felt a burning sensation on your wrist, and looked down at the black ring left by the operator.

"What did he do to me?" You were too weak to try and just run away on your own, and Tim seemed to be in a good mood bringing you home. When you recovered you'd try to go home, but for now you needed to get some rest.
Your back ached and itched, you felt lopsided from all the blood you lost. Yet you weren't tired, you had been knocked unconscious more times then you could count. All you wanted to do was sit on the couch with a big hearty plate of classic comfort food and watch a Disney movie. All you wanted was a relaxing recovery period, then you would be on your way.

Tim helped you inside the cabin, gently holding onto you as you gingerly sat down on the couch.

"I got told to change your bandages every 24 hours, so when we swap out your bandages I'm gonna put bacitracin on your wounds." Tim wrapped a blanket around you.

"Try not to sleep on your back for at least a week." Tim sat on the couch near you, glancing over at you. He noticed your (e/c) eyes staring at him, and became flustered.

"Can I help you...?" Tim tried not to make eye contact with you. His cheeks became rosy the more your beautiful eyes stared into his soul.

"How do you know so much about wound treatment?" You looked at him with a genuine curiosity, and Tim found your innocent spirit of inquiry quite amusing.

"I've been injured quite a few times." He shrugged, saying it as if it was nothing. You thought back to the very few times you've seen him shirtless, and do recall seeing very faint scars. Tim turned on the TV, watching whatever was on the current channel.
The two of you sat in the quiet cabin silently watching TV, enjoying the company of one another. Tim put his arm around you, and you laid your head on his shoulder. Tim turned his head and planted a kiss on your forehead. You smiled, and your face heated up, the sound of the TV was the only one in the room. That was one of the most beautiful things about Tim, there didn't need to be conversation to share a tender moment.

Quick A/N:
I'm very sorry for the lack of updates ;; I've been dealing with some really heavy family issues for almost a month now, this past week I finally got the opportunity to take a small break.
But I'll be cranking out more chapters for you guys <3