He patted the space beside him. "C'mere."
I shook my head. "You're injured; I'm not going to hurt you to get rid of my fears."
"You won't, I'm not going to break, sweetheart. Besides they got so much morphine going through me that I'm in no pain." I looked at him skeptically. "Please, I need you," he whispered as he gazed at me. I saw the fear and pain reflected in his eyes.
I nodded as I took off my shoes. He held out his hand and I carefully climbed onto the bed, taking care not to disrupt the mattress. I leaned over him and kissed him softly; he put his hand on the back of my neck and ran his fingers through my hair. He kissed me deeply, letting his lips linger on mine. I kissed him again, as I traced the cuts on his face and soothingly ran my fingers through his hair. I then traced my fingers over the bruises on his arm and then his chest, he tensed and he took my hand.
"Sweetheart, you don't need to see all those bruises, I'm fine."
"No, Keith. I want to know." I took a deep breath and composed myself." Those men took you away from me . . . and they hurt you." I went on softly. "You are a part of me. I need to see what they did."
He sighed and nodded as I pushed the blanket back a bit and took in the bruises on his arms, and his torso. There was a boot shaped bruise just below the bandages; barely touching him I traced the imprint forcing back a sob. Keith reached again for my hand, sensing the oncoming tears.
"Hey, hey, it's okay," he murmured softly, wrapping his left arm around my waist and pulling me to him. I rested my head on his shoulder. Pressing gentle kisses to my forehead; he continued trying to soothe my tears, caressing my face with his undamaged hand. Even when he's hurt, he still puts me first. He moved his hand up and stroked my hair. I finally relaxed and my fears subsided. I never want to through this again, something has to change. I could see his breathing relax as mine did and a small smile appeared on his lips.
"Much better," he said quietly and I smiled softly at him. He intertwined his fingers with mine. "You know what got me through today was thinking about you and all our memories. I ignored everything that was happening and focused on you. There wasn't a chance in hell that I wasn't going to make it back to you." He paused and looked at me, that look that always made my heart skip a beat. "I promised myself that when I made it back into your arms, I'd never do anything this dangerous again. As soon as I get better I'm applying for a transfer, I'm done. I never want to lose you and I don't want you to lose me. I want all the time I can get with you. The job means nothing compared to you," he said quietly.