The morning light coming through the water outside Rick's room made the same patterns on the ceiling that he had come to associate with peaceful mornings in Meridia. He woke up slowly, with his mind coming back in waves instead of the loud snap of an alarm or emergency.
The first thing he felt was warmth against his side. Nerissa was curled up next to him, and her face was calm in sleep, which he had never seen before when she was awake.
Years of responsibility and decades of feeling nothing had made Nerissa's face tense, but when she slept, those lines softened, revealing hints of the young woman she must have been hundreds of years ago.
The second thing Rick noticed was that he couldn't move.
Not because Nerissa was holding him really tightly; her arm was across his chest. But every muscle in his body screamed for him to stop moving.
His back hurt.
His legs felt like they had run a marathon.
His hips were completely ruined.
