[ The sound of her voice broke something in Rick and repaired everything all at the same time. With a quiet sob, Rick carefully pressed his lips all over her hand and the side of her not as damaged face. The lump in his throat felt like his heartbeat and the relief washed over him so thickly it almost exhausted him. But that could have also been the aftermath catching up to him. ]

Yeah, we do. We are. We will. Together.

[ Rick promised the words fiercely, protectively in every possible way. He decided to give up the words from before knowing they didn't amount to much, especially not now after everything. ] They won't get away with this. We're already - I'll tell you later. You got to get better and rest. Got to confess, it took everything I've got to stay in this chair here.

[ He offered her a small grin, running his free hand tenderly over her hair. ]