His hand skimmed lightly over the cool metal bumps. His brow furrowed as he struggled to remember the meaning of the pattern, feeling the warmth of his girlfriend pressing close to his left.

"D-down?" he asked softly, biting his lip as his fingers lingered, heating the Braille with his own touch. Braille. Just another sign, along with the sudden paranoia for his safety, that he was no longer the young man he'd been before the accident. Just another sign he was no longer going to be independent, not really.

Just another milestone.

"Yeah," Jessica replied even more quietly, her voice nothing more than the barest of whispers across his throat as she moved closer, her hand suddenly riding his against the door of the elevator, her slender fingers winding between his, folding in like the closing petals of the morning glory, and just as soft. Locking her hand to his like she could keep him from slipping further away.

Like she could pull who he'd been back again.

He hadn't known he was crying. Not until the door pinged softly and the doors slid open and Jessica slipped in front of him, shifting her body close to fit against his, kissing the salty tear from his cheek.

For a moment, he imagined he could see the sea blue of her eyes, dark with emotion. The peach of her skin, the gold of her hair, and even the glisten of the tear on her lips.

Then it wasn't quite so bad. The ache...