His surprise caught her eye and she followed his attention to where she touched him. If he was surprised by it, if he could feel it... maybe it was worth asking about. She didn't take her eyes off of him, in fear of him vanishing; in fear and vague knowledge that this could be the last time she ever saw him. "David... how..."
David's voice sounded haggard, tired, and all together devastated, but he responded nonetheless. "You both have to want it and believe it possible," he explained. "The more you want and believe it, the more real it'll feel."
Rae took a deep breath, bringing another hand up to touch his face, three fingers touching his cheek and pinky sliding across his lower lip. It still didn't feel real, she could still tell that he was a ghost, but there was a slightly realer feeling to it and it both broke her heart and mended it a little at the same time.
It wasn't the same, but it was something. More than she ever expected to have again.
Her eyes closed when he touched her face in an attempt to wipe her tears away, but she still felt them gliding along her skin. That was okay. She could feel him touching her and she'd try to stop crying, if she could.
It was a futile attempt when Elliot told her that he died to protect her. "I know..." she whispered. You died for me... for us... it's my... my fault... she added, thinking of David and how he'd tried so hard to protect everyone. "I know you did. You're a hero. My hero..."
She looked at him, her heart sinking when he explained his reasoning. And even further when he told her that he loved her. The first man to ever really love her, and he was dead. And it was her fault. "I..." she started, but faltered, stumbling over her words as she tried to think of the best way to tell him that losing her father and then losing him in such rapid succession was worse than dying herself. But could she do that to the man who'd sacrificed his life to keep her alive? No. She couldn't. "I love you, too," she told him, her heart breaking at the fact that he first had to hear the words after he died. "I love you more than anything. I wish... I wish..." she wished so many things. None of which were fair to say, simply because they were impossible. "I wish we'd had more time..."
Rae didn't want to be okay. Not if okay meant without Elliot. But... if that was what he wanted? If that was what he wanted her to do? She'd try. For him. "I'll... I'll try. But I want you to know that whoever they are? I don't... I don't think I'll ever love them as much as I love you, Elliot."