Shen Wei sits with her for some part of every day, frequently returning two or three times in a day, to simply sit at her bedside and hold her hand. He can't control his own body temperature any more, can't warm himself to human normal and give her that warmth, but he can at least provide the comfort of touch. That, and the soft cadence of his voice, murmuring to her about the ordinary banalities of his day--what he made Zhao Yunlan for breakfast, what they served in the dining hall for lunch, what books he's repairing or research he's doing, how her bugs continue to go about their business under didi's supervision.

Anything more than that he saves for the constant, gentle, and brutally constrained touch of his mind against hers. Reassurance that all is well and all forgiven, that whatever's been done to her, however she returns to them, she will have his support. His and didi's both. That she is wanted. She is loved. That he will be waiting patiently for her for as long as it takes.