"Oh, my God! Gabriel?" Claire couldn't believe her eyes. "Oh, my God!"
She throws her arms around the still groggy Gabriel, who starts trying to explain why he's being creepy and sleeping here beside her. But there's something about the way she hugs him, a sense of desperation, a neediness, that he has never felt come from her before. He returns the embrace, feeling the softness of her skin, the hair on his cheek, until he realizes she's crying.
He holds her on the shoulders and gazes at her face. It's all wet with tears, and she tries to hide it with her arms, like a child who doesn't want to admit she's crying.
"Why, Claire? I'm here. There's nothing to be upset about."
And like what happened in the hospital, when she sat there waiting for him to wake up, Claire sobs finally, openly, like a dam that is unleashed.
