Written for the April two-day drabble challenge on the discoveredinalj livejournal community

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Doyle's ears rang. They hurt with the ringing, they screamed in unison with the ringing, until his head pounded counterpoint and his heart thrummed nearly and his nerves stretched to their limits. Too much noise, in the un-sound that was all he could hear, and...

Except...one word, over the madness of it all.

It was a whisper of a word. A caress of a word. It was hands on his face, it was closing his eyes, it was giving up the cacophony of how for the glory of why. It was lips against his temples, cool and soothing.

Missed.

-- THE END --

April 2008