He can feel the barest hint of a tremble in her fingertips, and the way her breath pauses in her lungs is a dead giveaway to exactly why her voice sounds the way it does.

Doc shifts underneath her as he opens his eyes, taking her face in his hands, running his thumbs over her cheekbones.



"I'm still here. They may think otherwise, but...but m'still here. With you. S'no matter what they say, because m'alive and m'here."