"Oh, Eli."
He cups my face, leans in, and kisses me. It's soft, but he lingers for a moment as if I'm soothing the memory for him, helping wash away the pain of it.
"When I came here to do my physical therapy, I got some of my own counseling. Living here and becoming better, the nightmares stopped. And I think part of that was you. My sunshine kept the darkness away. But then I left, and they started creeping in again. I know that it was the stress and hurt that brought all the insecurities flooding back in. But mostly, I was sad because I was without you."
My heart hurts for him.
"My first night back here, they were gone. I don't know how you do it, but you light up my world."
"Eli—"
"Don't do it, babe." He gives me a kiss on my nose and pulls back. "This is a good moment for us. We
