The doctor sighed and placed his pencil down on his notepad. He rubbed his nose between his eyes and wished for words to give hope. Slowly he looked up at the boy and saw the growing knowledge of what was really going on. He nodded and watched as the despair crawl over the boy's face. She wasn't going to awaken until she was ready to.

Jesse sat down next to her resting body and said, "How long could it possibly take?"

The doctor sighed and said, "I'm afraid it's all up to her. She has taken a severe amount of mental damage."

Jesse looked at her face and whispered, "I'm so sorry, Faith."

His eyes started to burn and he clenched his jaw tight. His fist curled tight until his knuckles were white and the doctor rested a hand on his shoulder. Jesse looked up at him and watched as the man left the room. Slowly he stood and followed the man to the door. When the door was closed, he returned to Faith and held her in his arms.

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Her body hummed as she felt strong arms holding her, but somehow she couldn't open her eyes just yet. She could still hear her pleas as the man touched and hurt her. A chill ran up her spin and she jerked from the wave of disgust. Arms tightened around her and slowly her mind came to ease. She tried to open her eyes, but the muscles weren't responsive.

A fear of being blind ran through her until she forced herself to breathe and slowly pulled the eyelids apart. When she looked straight up, she found herself in a foreign room and then she looked to her side. He rested in a gentle sleep and her hand slowly and shakey traced his jaw.

Slowly her mouth loosened and she whispered, "Jesse."

His eyes flew open at her voice and she wasn't sure if she saw tears of pain or of relief. He pulled her into him and kissed her passionately. When she could breathe, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held tightly to him.

"I was so worried about you. I found you, but you were so far away."

She kissed his forehead and whispered, "I was so scared of being hurt again. I don't ever want to go through that again."

Jesse looked into her eyes and said, "I give you my word. I will never let this happen to you again."

She smiled and he felt his throat tighten. He had missed that simple and light smile. He had missed hearing her voice and feeling her gentle caresses. When she had woken and spoke his name, he thought he had been trapped in an nightmare.

He nuzzled into her neck and said, "God I've missed you."

She kissed him and said, "I've missed you too."

PGS