DOOM SAGA I - I'll be home tomorrow

James 1:17 (NIV)

The Fortress

The paper fell to the floor as he stared at the photograph. He was frozen in time, not a muscle moved, even his breath had stopped. Worry grew in her as she saw his face twitch and his eyes started to dart around confused, always coming back to the picture he held in his hand.

"I... I f-found it, and... I re-repaired it...? I... I g-glued it onto another p-piece of paper and then... I made a b-back for it from the hardco-cover of my math book and... I-I didn't want it to get t-torn again... or w-wet or... so...", she explained quietly, but he didn't seem to hear her anymore.
Had it been wrong?
"Uhm... I put some b-book protection film on t-top, like a picture f-frame... and sew-sewed it together with some y-yarn I pulled from my shirt...", she whispered unsurely. Still, he didn't seem to react. She reached out as his body trembled, and his face twisted uncontrolled, his before wide-open eyes finally shutting by force. She winced and fell back against the panel as his knees plummeted to the floor. He slung one arm around his chest in pain, the other hand clinging to the picture and gasped for air violently. Frightened she watched him collapse, groan and roar hurtfully.
What was happening to him? What had she done? It was her fault, wasn't it? She should have asked... Maybe he had already forgotten? And now she was hurting him. She did not mean it. She wanted to make him happy, just gift him something important. What had she done?
She pressed her body into the bottom corner, tugged her feet close as he was taking over all the space in front of her, huddling on the floor weeping. She closed her eyes and buried her head in her arms, yelling at herself silently for what she had done.
She just wanted to help. But he did not need her. How could she be so stupid? She wished she knew how to calm him, to be with him, but would he even want her to? She just wanted to vanish or pass out until it was all over. Now he would never help her get back. She had betrayed him.
She heard the clunk of an object and as she lifted her head a little she felt his fingers brush her ankle, pulling on her softly. His face was still hidden, his forehead pressed into the ground. The timidness of his grasp changed quickly and his whole hand wrapped around her leg, pressing firmly. He was still panting, suppressing his sobs. The little droplets that had gathered in her eyes were let loose as she dragged herself to him, pulling his head as fiercely as possible into her chest, his arms immediately wrapped around her waist.
"I'm here...", was all she managed to say, her guilt and his agony choked her. He wept bitterly and she rubbed her face into his short hair. He pushed into her, strong enough to make her worry since he was very heavy to say at least, enough to suffocate her if he dared to let himself fall on her wholely.
Like that she held him for who knows how long, rocking him softly until he had calmed, as long as she could for the least. She now felt her arms grow weaker and her legs felt cold and numb from kneeling this whole time. A strange feeling after the fever of the past few days. Her body only kept upright from leaning onto his head and his arms were still fixed behind her back. It had been a long and eventful day, and it had been late already. But she was there for him, and she would not let go. Her head got heavier by the minute, and the point arrived where she simply could no longer stay awake. Little did she notice him falling asleep alongside her.