He watched her start to drift, and relaxed slightly. He could feel nothing but the urge to see her safe and warm. His body slowly calmed, sanity returning to him, and he smiled genuinely. When she began speaking, he actually laughed. She sounded stoned out of her mind. It meant she was out of pain, so the sound thrilled him.<br/><br/>She mentioned the meadow outside and he nodded. She was right. He owed her. He owed her a great deal. He was tired of her sleeping on this retched couch, tired of her pain. Tired of a lot of things. It was time to make things right. As she started to wilt farther, his mind was starting to work on the solutions to the things he wanted to fix.<br/><br/>And her words brought him right back full circle. She described the way he'd looked when he entered, told him she thought she'd messed things up, and he couldn't help it.<br/><br/>"I'll tell you what... sleep, and recover tonight, and I'll have a surprise waiting for you. I promise. Okay?"<br/><br/>He leaned forward, without waiting for an answer, and kissed her again. There was no hesitation this time, and no animalistic need. It was simply him, kissing her because she deserved it, and because he cared about her. His hands once more touched her soft skin, one of them caressing her cheek, the other threading his fingers through her hair. The kiss was warm, soft, and soothing. He allowed himself to ride along with the kiss, let her set the pace, and waited for the drugs to take her from him.