It didn't sound as though she was feeling any more at ease, but he knew better than to say anything else on the subject. That would only make it worse. They just needed to put this behind them and try to move on, and hopefully if she had any lingering doubts about it his last words would have put those to rest.

Gideon bit his lower lip as her hand pressed up against his. He hated being so helpless, without his vision. It was never a good feeling but it was even worse now, because he thought that she was probably terribly embarrassed by this entire exchange and he kept forcing these little moments on her without his even doing anything at all. Her hand holding his was too intimate, and before it might have been fine — just a professional gesture from a healer — but now that he'd moved the boundaries by asking her to read his letters, it felt like more than that.

"... Thank you," he said, taking the potion to his lips to drink.