Emerson was surprised he wanted to. "I-I thought you'd want to stay away from me, because of this. I.. I almost did have Pepper send you away, because I don't want anyone making trouble for you because of me," he confessed. "I just couldn't, though. I suppose that was selfish, but, I wanted you here so much."
Holding him would be tricky. Beneath his shirt, Emerson had dozens of bruises and his ribs were still tender from being freshly mended. "Could you.. lay down with me?" Emerson could position himself comfortably that way. Sitting up was starting to make him dizzy anyway.