With his back bared upon her another time, she could not help but feel her conscience grapple with her sense of responsibility. Scars from older days, and newer, fresher wounds decorated his body; all of them she had touched, cleaned, and wrapped in bandages.
This time, instead of mentally reprimanding him, she sat herself behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She could sense the sadness, the burden of having lost something - whether it be a part of him every time this happened, or just not quite understanding where he stood.
The guilt was beyond her.
Even when her lab coat pressed against his wounds, or even if the white fabric would be covered in his blood, she still remained skin to skin. Her lips were close to his ear, when she asked, "why do you keep doing this to yourself?" but she doubted that there would be any direct answer. If he could, he would wax poetics, and return with a question just as heavy as her own inquiry.
Then she slowly pulled back, before pressing her lips against his shoulder blade, then to the back of his neck, before she went lower, and lower towards the big gash on his side.
With a thumb, she pressed on it gently, and he would wince just a little, but the pain - it was as though he wanted to let himself feel it raw again. That same gash, she kissed anyway, before giving it another press, whispering a few incantations and then blowing onto it.
"May your days ahead be filled with ease. May your difficulties no longer reign your heart the way they do. May your strength envelop you and heal your wounds."
And she leaned against his back.
Her red-billed firefinch.