"Shay..." she said, this time a bit louder, with a bit more relief. Yet Lia's word were still filled with worry and pain. Seeing him like this... it tore at her and made everything she had ever gone through pale in comparison. Someone had tortured him. They had tortured him the entire time he had been gone. Ten days. She remembered back to her few locked away and couldn't even begin to comprehend his own ordeal, and it just made the tears run down her face faster. But she tried to hold herself together the best she could. He was back. He was alive. That's all that mattered right in that moment.
"It's me, love," she said softly, gently reaching up to stroke his face, leaning over him the slightest bit, being careful to avoid any place that looked extra tender but being unable to stop herself from physical contact. She craved him more than food, more than booze or drugs or even air. All that mattered in that moment was him. That's all that would ever matter again.
"I missed you so much, baby. I'm so, so, so, so, so fucking sorry. I'm so sorry. I looked for you everyday but I couldn't..." her voice broke as a sob racked through her body and she bit her lower lip hard, stopping herself from completely losing it. "You're back now. At the school. In the hospital wing. I'm never going to leave you again, okay? I love you so much..."