Grief is in two parts. The first is loss. The second is the remaking of life. - Anne Roiphe

What should have been a 10-minute walk took 20-minutes. As they left the park, Spencer noticed the way Ray had a backpack on one of her shoulders, the same shoulder that she was currently cradling. Not only that, but Spencer noticed that Ray was limping.

"Ray, can I take your backpack?" Spencer asked.

Ray stopped walking for a few seconds before she nodded slightly and handed it over.

"Thank you," She whispered.

Spencer nodded and carried on walking, making sure that his pace was slow enough for Ray to keep up with. They continued walking in silence until Spencer told her that they had reached a small restaurant, opening and holding the door for Ray.

Ray gave a small smile and quietly said thank you to Spencer and walked through. They were guided by one of the waitresses to a table.

As she sat down, Ray held down a groan as pain shot up from her ribs. When she was mildly comfortable, Ray picked up one of the menus and began looking through it. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the prices of each meal and noticed how all the meals were roughly the same price. Despite this, Ray decided she would get the cheapest thing on the menu. It was only when she put down the menu did Ray realise that Spencer didn't even pick up the menu.

"Ready to order?" Spencer asked.

Rachel nodded. "Can I have a small lasagna with some water, please?"

When the waiter came and took the order Spencer tried to spark a conversation. "You want to know more facts about butterflies?"

"Do you know any facts about elephants?" Ray asked quietly.

Spencer nodded. He was slightly concerned that Ray was only whispering to him rather than speaking at full volume.

"Did you elephants can distinguish languages? Researchers at Amboseli National Park in Kenya played back the voices of speakers from two different groups. One that preys on the elephants, and another that does not. When the elephants heard the group they feared, they were more likely to act defensively. They grouped tightly together and smelled the air to investigate."

"I didn't know that," Ray said. "Elephants are one of my favourite animals."

"I don't really know what my favourite animal is," Spencer said. "Ray, how old are you?"

"Just turned 24. You?"

"25," Spencer replied.

When their food came, Spencer noticed Ray took small bites out of her food almost as if she was in pain as she ate.

"Ray you okay? You look like you're in pain," Spencer asked as he noticed Ray wince for the third time.

Ray nodded. "I'm okay thanks though." And Spencer didn't say anything else about her pain as they ate.

Ray sighed to herself. It was obvious she was in pain, but she had too much dignity to ask a stranger for help. Even though Spencer did seem willing and looked like he would help, Ray couldn't risk taking more of Spencer's time.

"Are you some sort of law enforcement officer?" Rachel asked. "I only asked because I saw your gun earlier."

Spencer looked down to where he kept his gun, and low and behold, his gun was there. "Ah yeah, I work in the FBI. I can show you my badge if you want."

"No, it's okay. I believe you." Ray said.

Once they had finished eating, Spencer pulled out his wallet to pay. Ray handed him $10.

"I don't have enough for the cost of everything or even my meal, but take $10 to go towards the cost."

"Ray, I offered to take you to get something to eat. Let me pay the whole price. It's fine I promise." Spencer said, giving the $10 back to Ray. "Next time you can pay if you want."

Ray nodded, taking the money back from Spencer, putting it in her coat pocket. Once the bill was paid, Spencer stood up.

"Let me walk you to your house, so I know that you get home safe," Spencer said.

Ray nodded and stood up only for her to be hit with a dizzy spell causing her to sit back down again.

"You okay Ray?" Spencer asked worriedly after watching the whole incident.

"Yeah, just got up too quick," Ray whispered again.

Spencer just nodded, took Ray's backpack and motioned for her to lead the way walking behind her.

When they started walking on the road, Ray noticed that her vision was becoming more blurry and her breathing was becoming laboured. Her head started to feel like someone was continuously punching her in the head. Every sound, every bright light and even the wind caused Ray to whimper in pain.

Spencer noticed Ray was beginning to walk even slower and that she was starting to sway while walking.

"Ray, I think it would be a good idea for us to stop to take a breather or something," Spencer said.

When Spencer got no response, he called out to Ray again.

"Ray, can you hear me? I don't think you're ok. Can you stop walking?" Spencer said more frantically.

Ray could hear a sound that sounded like Spencer's voice, but she couldn't hear what he was saying so she kept walking. Her body was screaming at her to stop walking, but Ray kept trying to walk. With every step that Ray took, it felt like she was carrying about 4 pounds on each foot.

Someone, who Ray believed was Spencer, grabbed her good arm and pulled her towards them. Knowing Spencer would take care and wouldn't leave her on the road, Ray allowed herself to close her eyes and welcome the peace that the darkness held.

And for the first time that night and for the first time in a while, Ray felt safe.