She doesn't know exactly how to handle Elliot's homecoming, how to handle the injuries painted clearly over his skin in angry reds, sickly yellows, and violent purples. Nothing prepares someone for seeing a friend in that state.
Approaching him wordlessly, she hesitates before carefully wrapping her arms around him, afraid to cause him any addition pain. But once she's hugging him, she finds herself burying her face in his shoulder and clutching the back of his shirt.
It's more difficult than it should be to pull away, to look into his eyes.
"Elliot. When I heard--" Paige has to steal herself against another too-tight embrace, but it's hard because suddenly she's too young and too scared all over again. "I thought we lost you."
I can't lose you, too.