Graupel Canyon Is spleen a bean?

Ted wasn't going anywhere between talking to Ashley and seeing her. He was laid up in his lovely living room, watching PBS programming with an ice pack over his throat, because it felt nice. He was slightly off-book on his wardrobe, wearing a brown and black bowling shirt unearthed from the back of the closet; he didn't have a better use for the thing than accidentally getting blood on it. He wondered idly, watching Jeff Corwin hold an octopus up to the screen, if she'd need to take the stitches out before she healed, or after. Did he have scissors for that?

He wondered how far she could get it healed, too, in one go. It was strange to think he might go from mangled to fine in one morning. That almost felt inappropriate.

Ashley arrived early. Way too early.

Park down the street and talk to yourself in the car, early. She muttered through something like affirmations: I will only heal through touch. I will stop healing when I decide it's time. I will not heal too much to go to lunch. I will heal only through touch.

The cross would help, she decided, based on nothing but a desperate search for answers on her own misfiring powers. Ashley had stopped wearing her previous necklace and ended up with powers gone awry, plagues of insects, and holes in her hands. It... didn't get much more biblical.

Eventually, she looked at her phone and found that she'd definitely spent longer parked here than she meant to. She hurried the car back to life, puttered down the road, parked, and scurried to the door with her heart somewhere in her throat. It was fine! It was just Ted! She knew Ted. He was so nice. He was the last person who would be angry at her about anything.

Big breath in, puff out. Adjust bag strap on shoulder. She knocked, ready to smile as best she could whenever the door opened. (At least until she'd see the neck wounds.)

Ashley!!! Seeing her all kitted up in the doorway was definitely the best part of his day so far. He went in for a shoulder hug, shooing her in through the open foyer and toward the living room. "Come in, come in! Can I get you anything?" Water? Protein shake? Blood transfusion?

She didn't say no to the hug, her smile brightening even as the wound worried her. Poor Ted. It had to be a vampire. How else did you end up with a wound like that, unless he was attacked by a wild animal?!

It was her initial inclination to incline the offer, and she went as far as to shake her head as she followed him. But then something told her it was probably better to take something! Both better for her and, like. Let Ted feel helpful?

"Actually, um, water would be nice. Orrr juice?" she said, sheepish. "If you have it. But water is good if you don't."

Richard was, for the record, in the bedroom putting away laundry. He had wanted to go and be obnoxiously helpful, insisting Ted stay down on the couch for no reason or otherwise behaving as the able bodied member of the house. But... things were about to get much better, if Ashley was about to prove herself worth the money Ted was going drop on her.

Besides, he hated fussing pointlessly. It made him feel negative and unhappy to feel like interfering in everything when it was going to be just fine without him. It was abnormal and stressful and so he ignored his baser instincts and listened to his personal logic and... it was more than enough that he was home. Just in case.

---

skippable but present if you need him 83

"Hmmmm, all right. I think we ran out of orange juice, but I definitely have water." He bustled his way into the kitchen, loaded a glass half-full with ice and filled it with tap water. Delivering this with a smile, he tried to stay peppy and also tried to remember how they had situated themselves last time. Maybe a kitchen chair would help...he stared vaguely into the room for a second as he wondered. "I'm gonna..."

And he was off again. He hadn't slept all that well, he was distracted. A minute later he was back with a wooden chair, dropping it onto the living room floor and gesturing at it as if it might offer its own explanation. "This work?"

She peeped a "thank you" as he went on his way, and she flipped open her bag to dig through the contents.

And also secretly took a moment to just... breathe. It was good to help a friend. Really. She just had to not mess it up. Everything had been so steady for her until the last few months. Even the dumb bug stuff had been manageable.

A second thanks as he returned with the glass, then blinked as he scurried off again. He had plans! And then he returned with... a chair! Maybe she wouldn't bleed on his other furniture?! Which didn't offend her. It was a risk.

"Um, thank you!" she said a third time, holding a water glass and speaking in a tone of voice that betrayed her slight confusion. "How do we want to, um. Set up?"

Oh, Ashley! He had no idea! He grinned with a panting little exhale, jerking his shoulders but then realizing immediately that that aggravated his NECK WOUNDS. So he swung his arms a little instead. "I couldn't remember how we did it last time. You need to get it wet and put hands on it, right?" A gesture at the chair, as if it was well-known device used while getting wounds wet and putting hands on it. "I figured I could sit down here, but if something works better!"

Oh! Oh! Ted was being very thoughtful, and Ashley was being a little airheaded. She smiled, sheepish, Ted's frenetic energy inspiring her to calm, backwardsly. Had to show him it was okay!

"That is a perfect idea," she said. "Just take a seat and get comfy and I'll get everything ready, okay?"

This was her element. Even if it was alarming that he'd been... that there'd been a vampire attack. If anything, that made her even more determined to handle this with as much reassuring professionalism as possible. She took a sip of the water, then approached the nearest table-like surface to carefully set it down along with her bag to start digging through its essential contents.

Oh, thank god. Once Ashley took the wheel, he settled down some, no longer nervous about the healing stuff and only about the lingering a-vampire-attacked-me stuff. He sat down and started to pull off his bandages, half-wishing Rich would appear. He was so often a man out of his element, but it was a rare thing that he couldn't find some way to enjoy it. This just sucked.

The adhesive pulling at his beard hairs felt like nothing in comparison to The Wounds. He got all the gauze off and dropped it on the floor beside the chair like some oddly-shaped used sanitary napkin. The upside here was that he wouldn't need any of that anymore!

Towel. Bottle. Don't think about accidentally just healing with your mind, Ashley!

She approached with these two items, saw the bloodied bandage, saw his neck, and oh. Ted. It made her chest feel tight. Healing people she knew was always worse than healing strangers. Just harder to separate herself from what she was doing.

"Oh, Ted," she said as she approached to get a closer look. Stitches. Hmm. "Do you have, um. Tweezers and some scissors I could borrow? I'll need to remove the stitches as I heal, but it won't be more than uncomfortable."

Richard had heard most of the conversation. Not perfectly, mind you, as he was down the hall for most of this and not actively trying to eavesdrop. But their house was fairly quiet when there wasn't reason to be entertaining anyone, and words carried well. Besides that, he'd finished with the laundry and had just stepped back out into the hall to consider the next chore when he heard the request well enough to volunteer himself.

Like he'd said, in case they'd needed him! And perhaps he was a little desperate to get eyes on the situation.

"I have some back here, just if you wait a moment, don't let Teddy get up again!"

And he vanished back towards the bathroom to get tweezers and dig out his tiny little sewing scissors he knew he had around here somewhere.

Ted got about as far as waving a hand thoughtfully before Richard swooped in, at which point he craned his neck around to gawk at his husband. Or...again, he craned enough to realize that was a terrible idea and then just wrenched around his torso instead. He settled himself back in as Rich found supplies. "It was, uh, building full of vampires, for the record. Do NOT go to the Seanchai museum in Ridgefield." He made a muppet-frown at her, trying to dissipate any tension right away.

For all that she was tangled up in vampire anxiety, it was hard not to be tickled by a worried spouse voice from another room. Much of her healing was done one-on-one. But every now and then, she got to step into a family space, whether that was two people or six. It always felt a little like an honor to be able to peek her head into someone else's dynamics.

She answered Richard with a slight chuckle, then turned her attention back to a pained Ted. Teddy! That was so cute.

The story they faced was not cute, though. A whole building full of vampires. Why would they even need a whole building? She didn't take a whole building just for... psychics. Ugh. Her own frown back was a bit tighter as she dampened one hand over the towel.

"Did they all try to attack you at once?" she asked, tucking the towel under her armpit to rub two wet hands together.

Richard didn't really want to hear this story again. So it was for the best that he could occupy himself for this single round of conversation with getting the things from his side of the bathroom which was pretty well organized. Made it quick, which was also good because he'd very much like to see Teddy back to whole and hearty in a rapid fashion.

Hahaaaaaha! Scary! "I don't think I would have made it through that! It was just one, and he..." a vague gesture at the slasher effects going on at his neck, "and then a bunch of other ones showed up when I started screaming." He tried to stay splayed comfortably on the chair when inside his heart was now beating into his throat. Owwie. His beard twitched in a nervous smile. "Guess the ole luck paid off again."

That was... terrifying. Her expression tightened. Summoned by screaming, and not for good reasons. What would they have done if he'd stayed? Just.

Torn him to shreds?

"I hate vampires," she said softly, privately. "I don't know if that's okay to say. I know they're people too, but."

She brought a careful hand toward his neck.

"I'm going to heal just a little bit, okay?"

Richard didn't hear any of that because he'd actively chosen not to. But now he was trying to creep back in without intruding. Providing what had been asked for and...

Well, he was still actively deciding what to do with himself during this session.

He mustered up a sigh, trying to rid himself of this tension. "I can't say I'm a fan, either. He wasn't acting much like a person."

His chin dipped down to follow her hand for a second before he corrected himself, holding his head steady like he was getting a haircut. "Ready when you are!"

Wasn't acting much like a person was right. She felt something guilty in agreeing. In how she felt about all of them. Decided it was best to focus on poor Ted instead, except she needed-

Oh! There was Richard! She waved him over with a hand that may have dripped lightly into Ted's hair for her enthusiasm.

"I'll take whatever you have!" she said. "Could you bring me, um. Something to put everything in, too?"

She made a pinching gesture in the air, removing an invisible stitch to set it into an invisible bowl. And when Richard was off, she'd be right back to getting started. Ashley had held bloody stitches in her hands more than once. Many times more than once. You stopped getting grossed out after a while! Though it was impractical to do if she wanted much mobility to do the next stitch.

"Okay, heeere we go," she said. Little snippies in her hand, she brought her finger over one far corner of the wound. Wished she could kind of plug up her nose? Anyway.

"Have you done anything more fun with your power recently?" she asked as healing rushed from her cool fingertip (and her blood, at least for now, lagged behind). It would be a matter of tippy tapping so she could get things healed juuuust enough, then snip a stitch and pull it free, but she felt comfortable with the balance. This was, undoubtedly, The Ashley Zone.

Off to the kitchen this time, trying to decide what he could bother to spare and what wouldn't seem... excessive. Just a ceramic bowl--didn't own much in the way of plastic.

Again he'd come back quietly, unusually subdued. Unsure with how this worked, the last thing he wanted to do was interrupt or distract and make it go poorly. He knew from experience that there were limits to how much you could do with magic before it was no longer an option. And he did want to see this go well. For everyone's sake.

If he got any indication of where to put it from Ashley he'd follow that guidance. Otherwise he would put it reasonably near before backing away to be a very large fly on the wall.

He squinted at the little snip, snips of the scissors. Did he want to watch, or would seeing someone unfeeling his neck skin make him pass out? It seemed like a toss-up.

"Ahh, not really. I’ve been trying to take it easy since I nuked my spleen. But what I really wanna do is drum up a new power. All those party psychics made me jealous!"

He did notice that Ashley had settled in and become calm and confident, which was awfully nice. "What about you? I bet you’re doin’ cool stuff all the time! This is cool!"

Oh, right. Poor Ted. Just... really couldn't use his power at all. Ashley felt she had no choice but to use hers, but lately it had gone out of her control, too. Some days she just avoided people entirely so she wouldn't end up mysteriously bleeding herself half to death.

She understood psychic party jealousy to a much greater degree than she wanted to admit. So many people just... absolutely glowing with adoration for their abilities. Confidence in what they could do. So much supernatural knowledge. And then there was... Ashley!

And Ted, she supposed. And now Richard appeared, and she smiled small and appreciatively at him just in time for a trickle of blood to reach the edge of her nostril. She took the bowl with a gracious nod, and she'd be quick to set it down on the floor given no tremendously better place for it. And that was okay! She wasn't exactly the tallest, and dropping a few pieces of stitch material into it with a lean wouldn't exactly be a big ask.

It was harder with her nose bleeding, though. Down to one hand at a time. She pressed the towel to her nostrils, laughed lightly.

"I do this as much as I can," she said, fingers back to his wounds. "Lately, um. It's started going off on its own? Like I don't even have to touch people. Which is... cool! But. Sometimes I don't even know what I'm healing, walking by somebody."

Alright, time to... hover.

It was a disconcerting place to be. Injured partner, magical healer. It wasn't the first time, no, but it was his first time witnessing it, and it brought to the forefront of his mind the mortality they all had riding on their backs. They did such strange things to keep back from that edge of final failure. To save themselves from outside forces but also their own internal ones. Teddy wanted more from his magic, but Richard was freshly worried over the prices they paid.

Ashley paid in literal blood. Ted paid in broken luck. Richard felt like he got off fairly easy with lost time and confusion for his own, but what was to stop the next from demanding his memories or making his teeth fall out?

Wasn't afraid, he told himself. Just spooked. It was reasonable to be spooked. He was allowed to be spooked by the way this attack had affected his family and the way the solutions seemed just as eerie at times.

"Wow!" He popped out the word and then was silent for a minute, thinking about...what that could mean. Her healing power taking off on its own, getting stronger, also literally making decisions of its own accord. That was...actually...deeply frightening! "That sounds like fucking bullshit, actually, I'm sorry." He blinked against the feeling of plastic stitching tugged out of his skin. "Does that happen a lot?"

Wow, yeah. It was... wow for sure. Ashley supposed she could have, and should have, looked at it as the miracle it was. Except Ted followed up very differently, and.

Honestly, that was a lot closer to how Ashley felt! To the point where she threatened to get a little tearful. Because. Honestly, she'd been doing just fine before everything else had to appear and mess up her life! Her face felt a little warm, and she laughed, tight.

"It does kind of suck," she admitted, maybe for the first time. "It happens pretty often. I've been going out a little less while I get it under control, but. I'll get there."

Optimism was... important! It was kind of all she had. She was trying to re-learn how to be optimistic from Jamaal. But if she was being really honest with herself, hearing someone say that it totally sucked (maybe especially with the vocabulary Ted used) helped a lot, too.

She gently tugged at one of the snipped stitches, watching it pull through his skin before she set it loose into the bowl Richard had provided.

Trapped home by her own errant ability. Well, that made Richard glad she was able to come here, then. Not even for the sake of healing Ted, but just for the company.

Thought... maybe she'd want to stay a bit after. Have a snack or just a chat... He had half a mind to ask her, but actually didn't want to distract her.

Ted's face scrunched in indignation for Ashley as he wondered at the idea of so many people just walking around with...healable injuries. Or was Ashley healing cancer??? WHOA????? She could become one of those worshiped con artists except NOT a con artist, with a commune in South America and like a million-plus dollars in revenue?

Except, Ashley wasn't the type to be excited by that. She probably just wanted to go to the store and buy her single-serving microwavable brownies in peace. Which led back into the tricky territory of how, how to learn to do something with invisible, mutable rules. "You learned to do all this already. You'll get it." And boy, did he mean it! No one he'd ever met had the air of a dutiful piano student like Ash did. She would practice and practice through the bad stuff, and end up a fucking superhero. "How do you practice at it?"

Heal, bleed, snip, tug, drop, repeat. But slow, careful. She was in no hurry, and in the company of someone she knew relatively well, and in such a nice setting, it was easier to work at a relaxed pace.

She smiled to the reassurance, though it was hidden behind the hand towel mashed against her nostrils and hanging over her mouth.

"I'm still figuring that part out," she said. "Like, um. Today."

A pre-emptive laugh, a little embarrassed. She brought the small scissors up again, imagining he'd feel the metal on his neck. Sorry, Ted!

"I just like. Gave myself a pep talk before I got here. Because I was afraid I'd start healing you as soon as I walked in," she said. "And just kept thinking 'Okay, Ash, don't heal him until you're ready.' So I guess part of it's, like, vigilance? Which is harder to do when I'm not... like. Planning on healing someone. But. I'll get it!"

Hopefully, hahaha!!

Richard listened, eventually found somewhere to sit instead of hovering like a heron. On hand but not ready to bolt to action in an instant as everything progressed well. He did not watch closely, feeling both alarmed by the speed of healing and entirely too conspicuous, putting his nose into Ashley's work like she was a performer. You didn't watch a normal doctor at work, so... Magic wasn't always about magic shows--this he had learned.

Though the conversation took a road he could understand. Quietly but without hesitation he piped up. "It's the unintentional stuff that makes me feel like I'm still half-witted about it all."

Ted coughed a small laugh out for Rich, thinking, quarter-witted! Just making stuff up. Ashley had gotten so powerful that her healing just turned on like a broadcast signal, like wireless internet, and somehow what worked was her giving herself a fucking pep talk! What a world. "Well, the good news is it's working, right? That's so cool." He paused and stared vacantly over Ashley's head for a moment, searching for a metaphor. "I guess it's like building up a muscle? Like toning your Kegels!" Kind of an off-color reference, huh Ted! He felt his cheeks prickle slightly, a single instant of embarrassment, before he was off again. "D'you think being in a pact would help?"

Richard's voice caught her by slight surprise at this point in the process. But it wasn't a bad surprise! It was comforting, even, and she did a spirited little nod, towel swaying beneath her hand.

"Me too," she said, muffled by the fabric. Because it really was that, those surprised when you felt you had it.

Ted was right. It was working, and that was cool! As cool as giving yourself a pep talk could ever be. She just had to keep- ummmm!

She blinked, made a little involuntary laugh sound. Kegels, Ted?

Ash puffed blood and air into the towel, pulled her hand away to adjust as she considered the question.

"It might. I get scared about how making one would go, though. Like. How much I'll bleed."

Richard smiled in that private way, knowing way as Teddy gently embarrassed himself in front of too-sweet company. It wasn't a terrible analogy though... he supposed. And Ashley did not balk visibly, clearly so focused on her craft that it probably hardly mattered.

A small flex here or there until you're built up... though against Richard was struck by the fact that they were dealing with truly dangerous things here. Pacting was a matter of interest to him but he was worried enough about how he'd feel during the effort. Ashley... well, it most certainly wasn't worth it if she bled to death first.

He kept this to himself, and finally convinced himself to slip away to the kitchen, thinking he was going to bring back some chips and the french onion dip he'd made this last weekend. Good thinking. This was like physical labor in a way, so she'd be hungry, right?

That wasn’t really the answer Ted wanted to hear. After all this time, his whole life, he didn’t want to find out that he was part of something amazing, capable of doing more than he ever had…except not really, because if he tried to do it he would die.

He didn’t want that to be true. But at the same time, he’d had too many brushes with his own death to be able to pretend. His mustache twitched as he digested these thoughts. "I guess that’s my worry, too. I’d love to try it, but. Some of us have our powers and I guess some of our powers have us, huh?"

All the same, he was going to pester Grace about it, get a firsthand account of the whole thing.

Wasn't that the truth. Ashley laughed, gentle and nasally and with deep, deep understanding.

Poor Ted. He would be so good in a pact, she felt like. He was energetic and supportive and- and he has Richard! They could pact together and it was just. Perfect! It didn't feel fair that it had to be such a risk.

"I got invited to try to pact with two other healers I know," she admitted. "But one... when she uses her power, you know what happens?"

Maybe Ted made her storytelling a bit livelier. Lively enough that she briefly pulled her hand away from the steadily closing wound to gesture a bit.

"Her hands get numb. That's it! Not even, like. For a long time. Just for a little bit. And the other psychic- he doesn't have anything bad happen at all. It just seems, like- we all have the same powers! So!"

Oops. Her voice was a little high. Pull back, Ash.

"Um. Sorry. You get it. It's not fair. You'd be perfect for a pact."

Richard, in the kitchen, did not hear so well even in a mostly quiet house to really make out what they were saying. But he could hear the soft tones of conversation, the raise of emotion in voices. Felt his own feelings for a bit, and planned on going back only when the job was done or... if upset struck. He hoped for the former.

Sienna. The redhead with the twang, he remembered her. With her numb hands, while in the meantime Ashley had sacked out on his couch for four hours. In that way, at least, it was cruel to meet other psychics. Ashley would be happier knowing none of them. He smiled and gave her a soulful look, wishing he could make things fair for Ashley. "For the record, I've met at least one of those two, and it's no contest for me. You're my favorite healer." His eyes crinkled as the dippy smile broadened into a more Tedlike grin. "And hey, you never know! Maybe those sons-a-bitches are giving themselves liver failure and just don't know it yet. It wouldn't surprise me!"

That was very, very sweet. (The first part, to be clear!) Enough that she felt some of the stupid tension going away. Be cool, Ashley. Beeee cooooool.

Back to healing, just as Ted said a very real possibility she hadn't actually considered. What if Gabriel was doing that?

Gosh. She wouldn't envy that one bit. How would he ever know until it was too late? Spooky!

"I never really thought about that," she said. Sniffled, a wet sound, and regretted it. Swallowed some blood boogers.

It was best probably not to speculate too much about it. Like she might jinx it. Back to healing, and gently tugging loose another stitch.

"This is going to heal really well, I think," she said. "I don't think I can clear up all the scar tissue today, but. You'll be stitch free!"

Wow, scars! He hadn't thought about scars. And he hadn't thought about how Ash had wiped them away last time, a literal miracle worker! "Stitch free sounds good to me!" His feet tapped off some excess energy as he fought the impulse to scratch his healing neck. "You know, another thing about the nosebleed. You've really got a lot more to work with in terms of showmanship, you know? Like, I take you a hell of a lot more seriously than I do someone whose hands just fall asleep. You should definitely be charging more than her. And if you cultivate clients, they're going to want to keep going to you because it's so serious." A pause, as he realized none of this was solicited. "From a business perspective, anyway."

Ted was such a thinker. Like. These were things she'd never really considered? If anything she'd always assumed her nose bleed made people take her less seriously. It felt like something children got.

But it was a good idea, if she was more business minded. Except, like. One bit. She dropped the little piece of threading into the bowl Richard had provided with a soft sound.

"I don't even think they charge," she admitted. "Which. Sometimes I feel bad about? But."

Emboldened, maybe, by Ted's ability to tell it like it is.

"I can't life that life, even if I'd like to."

Whoa! That was...fucking stupid! He made some blustering sounds to that effect but tried to hold still. "Lucky them, I guess. I could give away all my art for free, but I don't. It's not like we owe the world...community service hours." That was such a ludicrous, vaguely threatening idea. And it was such...gender-coded bullshit that Ash could feel that way. "The money-free world is not happenin' anytime soon, sister. I hope you don't feel bad about it."

That was an interesting comparison. Art to... healing magic. Ashley would never expect Ted to give away his work for free. It did cost him things to make, and- beyond that, it took time and energy and talent.

Was healing the same? It didn't cost her anything, not... monetarily. Well. Sometimes it did, when she was too tired to work. Which was a lot of the time. Ashley was tired all the time. She took so many naps. Spent so many hours curled up in bed or on the couch, not even doing anything. Not watching Netflix, or playing on her phone, or anything.

So it did cost her something. It cost her a lot. So that justified charging, she supposed. Though if she was Sienna and just got numb hands? Ashley knew she'd never be able to justify charging. But.

Ted was right. There was something unfair about that. Art and healing weren't one to one, though. Maybe if it was just... cosmetic healing. But. Some of it was more serious, and.

Shake it off, Ash. Ted was right.

"I try not to," she said. Took a breath in, puffed it out against her face through the towel. Working toward the last few stitches. Then she'd need to do another once over of everything else to make sure it was healed more than superficially.

"I really appreciate, um. The way you view things. And your confidence in me and- yeah. It helps, like a lot."

He was so busy feeling indignant on Ashley's behalf that it took a little while for the sincerity of her comment to sink in. It made HIM feel oddly guilty, as if...maybe he hadn't been paying enough attention to Ashley before this? Not quite that, but something like it. It kind of made his nose twinge and his eyes water up, infinitesimally. He sounded phlegmy when he spoke. "Well, I mean it, kid. I think..." What did he think. What were the thoughts swimming around in his feelings. "I think the idea you owe the world something is a scam that people without your best interests in mind are selling. If you put other people ahead of yourself, you're gonna get left so far behind that life's not worth living."

How on earth did they get to something so heavy. He looked coyly across the room as she plucked at his neck. Ashley was the kind of person to deny her value so vigorously, with her words, her demeanor, her choices, that other people missed it too. Ted saw it, though. "You're one of the best people I know. I just wanna make sure you're still happy in twenty years."

Kid. More than once she'd heard that term used to describe her dismissively, but she understood it more kindly here. Ted was doing exactly the opposite, after all.

She wished she could pause to write down exactly what he said, because it would be easy for her to lose the words later. But it was important. It felt- even though some part of her resisted it, the part that respected Ted as a person older and wiser than her (but still very kind, which was important) won out.

If healing took her focus, it would have stopped for how hard she thought about it all, tried to etch this idea permanently into memory. Everyone in the world was very enamored by what she could do. Very impressed. Very proud of her. What a gift, you could do anything with it, how could you do anything else!

But all that could pile up in such a terrible way. Left her so tired and guilty. Going to church and shuffling back out because she felt like she wasn't actually living what she was hearing. It was so hard.

Even that felt like a lot of self pity. It was. But when she crawled out of it, she could listen, and she could listen to Ted making good points. Her fingers holding the bloody towel to her nose felt trembly, and she blinked hard, tightening up a pouty lip.

"Thank you," she peeped, very small but very sincere, afraid to say anything else. She tugged gently at the last stitch, briefly lost her grip for twitchy fingers. Did it again, surer this time. She thumbed it against her palm to press healing into the wound and close the last of its ugly mouth.

Ugh. He grinned, bringing the heel of his hand up to wipe the corner of one eye. He'd never had kids, never particularly wanted them, but with Ashley...well, you could see the appeal. Maybe he got a phantom impression of what it would be like. "Any time." She was making all this effort to put him back together, the least he could do was try to return the favor.