Heat
Elizabeth sat upon her bed, her knees drawn against her chest, in semi-darkness, a single candle being the only source of light in the room. Night. The vicious time once again when thoughts and images haunted her, and she grew cold, despite any warmth the cotton sheets may provide. Now, however, it was different. She need not be plagued from the cold any longer. Yet for so long she was frozen; she had become so accustomed to the ice.
She lifted her head at the sound of boots upon the wooden floors, and a small knock sounded at the door.
"Come in", she called softly.
The door was opened, and there he stood, her husband, his face aglow, and his eyes instantly sparking as she looked at him. Instinctively, she rose, her smile widening and the ice melting rapidly at his happiness.
"Oh, Elizabeth", he murmured, his breathy words and tender caresses as he wrapped his arms about her soothing her in the way nothing else in the world could.
"Thank you for letting me tuck him in."
She drew back to look at him. "He is your son, Will."
He was silent for a moment, amazement in his eyes.
"Our son, our beautiful son", he suddenly gasped in elation.
"Yes", Elizabeth uttered, nigh inaudibly, her hand raising to stroke his bristly cheek.
He sighed, his eyes fluttering closed, overwhelmed with the effect of such affection.
"Will", her voice softly trembled, as it had in his dreams, countless dreams whence all he could hear was her beseeching murmurs—she was lost to sight and to touch.
He opened them, drinking in her appearance as she stood before him, a profound beauty to eyes which had seen only death for a decade; eyes which had witnessed no souls, yet here, within fingertips' reach, existed a soul.
"Will", she whispered again, filled with concern. It was her voice again, her ethereal voice….
With a rushing urgency, he grasped her, brushing his thumbs across her moistened cheek bones before capturing her lips in a heartrending kiss.
"Oh God, you're real", he gasped, zealously drawing her close.
"Of course I'm real", Elizabeth breathed, comfort churning through her within her husband's embrace. "Everything is real….everything is alive", she reassured him.
She weaved her fingers through his thick waves of hair, pressing her forehead against his.
"You, our son, have made me alive", she smiled. "He is you, you know—everything about him reminds me of you."
Will chuckled, happiness once again gleaming in his previously distraught eyes.
"Thank you", he said simply, kissing her quickly and lightly. "You and our son have enlivened me. Without your love, I would forever be trapped amongst the dead."
Flames instantly flared within Elizabeth's chest, consuming the ice violently, and filling her with pure warmth.
To speak without words is a fine thing. Warmth that heals the heart, heals the soul; the body is filled with radiating heat, undying embers which burn for a love eternal. So much there is to say--speaketh them voicelessly, thus forever remaineth them in memory.