Ennis aches deep in his chest each time he sees the scars. Sometimes Jack will be facing away from him and he'll turn and Ennis is shocked every time to see the dark pink lines. One extending from beneath the right eye, across the bridge of the nose, ending at the left ear on the jawline. Another running vertically from nose to chin, bisecting the upper lip on the left side.
Jack will look at him and smile, eyes tender, and the weight of everything he could have lost crushes down on him. He has to touch, to make sure that Jack is real - not still lying by the side of that road, slowly drowning in his own blood. He crowds Jack against the nearest surface (table, wall, refrigerator) and traces the scars with his fingers, first the ones on his face then the hidden ones under his clothes. The ones that only the nurses and Ennis have seen. Jack lets him, before the "accident" these moments of adoration were rare.
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The first time Ennis did this Jack flinched, pushed him away, and escaped. Yards away, felt like miles to Ennis. Jack was healed physically but mental wounds remained. The scars served as a reminder, a talisman of human cruelty, and Ennis' obsession fueled this, brought back the flashes of men's faces twisted in hate and violence, the glint of wielded metal. But Ennis pursued him, held him firm, and worshipped him. First with his eyes, silently communicating everything inarticulate boiling under his skin. Then with his mouth, barely there kisses brushed against skin, soothing and calming, until Jack's defensiveness melted and he allowed this, let Ennis make new associations for his scars. Ennis had released his wrists then and Jack had wrapped his arms around Ennis' shoulders, keeping himself trapped and supported.
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Now when it happens only the barest traces of the trauma remain. The scars have a new symbolism. He was attacked but he survived, he overcame, and now he has the only thing he ever really wanted. If it takes a few scars to get him Ennis, then all the pain was worth it.
So Jack lets Ennis crowd and stroke him, to reassure him that he's still breathing, to reassure himself that he's still here. With Ennis.
End.