There were many times he and I had sat in the dark and listened for our captive or captor. Sometimes the fear was great and we would hold each other, pretending not to of course, and though heat could not cure darkness, nor contact alleviate silence, something negative usually disappeared and we were strong again. The weight of his hand on my shoulder displaced some other heaviness, or else I knew that if I touched the back of his neck just so I could make him loosen up his entire spine.
Though, I think that never touching his heart to see if it was still beating was a kind of faith.