He wasn't sure what made him press his hands against the metal table and push himself to his feet in one fluid motion as he stared at her in complete disbelief. Could this really be the same woman he'd sent to prison so long ago? The woman who had written him, practically begging him to come and visit her; a promise he'd neglected to keep until now? The same scared girl who-

She smiled timidly, which he knew took some effort, and sat down across from him.

"Ten minutes!" The guard yelled, as though Cary was incapable of telling time. One glance at his expensive Breitling watch spoke volumes of his intelligence. But apparently this jackass thought otherwise.

But something else bothered him. The guard's outburst caused Bianca to flinch, as though she was afraid that he'd lay a hand on her. Damn it. He suspected that this was the way she'd been treated every day since she arrived here. And he hated himself even more. Suddenly he realized that he was staring at her. It wasn't intentional, but he couldn't help himself. He was completely stunned by her appearance. Her dark hair was much longer than the last time he'd seen her, which was to be expected. Prisons didn't exactly have barbers, not that he knew of anyway. But it was her pale skin and her tired sad eyes that demanded his attention. And most startling was her weight.

She'd mentioned in her letter, she'd lost a considerable amount of weight, but he'd never dreamed… She was shockingly thin, much thinner than he expected. It was then that he noticed how baggy her prison clothes were, the way they hung loosely on her frail body. He forced himself to look away, ashamed of his staring, but he did so a minute too late. Their eyes met and the pain he saw in her eyes brought a strange feeling.

"Y-you don't have to feel bad… for staring that is. I know I look horrible."

"No." he said quickly. "You don't look horrible... at all. I just-."

She surprised him by reaching across the table for his hand and he took it without question, lacing his fingers through hers. He wanted to hug her; God how he wanted to hug her, to show her some comfort. A small, albeit insignificant sign that someone cared. But perhaps she wanted that too, and maybe that was why she was now holding his hand.

"It's good to see you, Cary. You got my letter?"

Amazingly, he smiled. "Yeah, I did. Thank you. I-."

"I'm sorry if I made you feel guilty. For not coming to see me, I mean."

"I promise, you didn't make me feel guilty, so don't blame yourself."

"Is… is that why you came, though?"

Damn, how was he supposed to answer that without making himself look like a complete jackass? He said nothing, but her eyes told him that she already knew the answer. And it was an answer that he didn't want to admit to.

"It's all right. I'm glad to see you."

"It's nice to see you too. How are you?"

She looked down and her eyes filled with tears before they returned to his face. "I'm-."

Instinctively, he squeezed her hand. "Hey, I'm sorry. I Just-."

She nodded. "I know. I-I'm fine I guess. I don't really think about it too much anymore; being in here. It's hard to think in here anyway with the constant screaming. It goes on all night, but you get used to it. I barely sleep, or eat or…"

He squeezed her hand again. "Hey, if you need anything at all-."

"Two minutes!"

The guard's booming voice startled them both, but Cary was especially shaken. How could so much time have passed so quickly? They'd barely sat down and started their conversation.

"Cary?"

Her voice was broken, raspy. And he was all too aware of the way her thumb was moving slowly across his hand. Or perhaps it was his imagination. But whatever it was, he liked the way it felt. His eyes met hers and he saw the tears on her cheeks; the tears he wanted so badly to brush away. But of course he didn't dare.

"Bianca, I-."

"Time's up, let's go, Price!"

The words made his heart clinch in his chest. Damn. It couldn't be time to leave. He wasn't ready. He hadn't said a third of the things he wanted, no, needed to say. Now it was too late.

Before he realized what was happening, the guard had Bianca by the arm, causing her to yelp in pain as she was pulled, or rather, forced, out of her chair. And as before he immediately became defensive.

"Hey, easy with her, all right?" He shouted. "She's not-." the words that were supposed to follow ("A criminal"), he kept to himself.

The guard gave him a look that Cary knew meant that he'd overstepped his boundaries by a mile, but he really didn't give a damn. He felt a sudden, uncontrollable urge to protect Bianca no matter what the cost.

"Cary, I-."

Still holding onto her hand (he simply couldn't let go, even as she was pulled away from him, he looked into her tear-filled eyes. "Yeah?"

"Um, thanks for coming to visit me. It means a lot. More than you know. I don't get many visitors here."

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner."

"But you're here now and that's all that matters." She squeezed his hand one more time and he watched helplessly as she was dragged away from him by the guard. "Thank you, Car-."

Bianca and the guard disappeared from sight and the door slammed shut, its sound resonating loudly in the small room, therefore jolting him to the core. But it was the silence that followed that was the loudest sound of all.