Page 103 of Aftersome
A few times I had to dodge her from hitting my shoulder, but luckily I was able to grip her hands in mine and hold her down.
“Wren, listen to me, baby. It’s just a dream.” I tried the best I could but she still wouldn’t wake up. “You’re just having a bad dream.”
Fuck, this wasn’t working.
Panic was starting to kick in and soon, I just took ahold of her face and brought her close to me. Tears and all, she looked beyond wrecked.
Beyond the woman I knew.
“Doe, it’s me. It’s Mal.” I gently shook her head. “I need you to wake up for me, please.”
She stopped moving. Stopped thrashing, but her eyes were still closed.
“There you go, Doe,” I praised. “It’s me. I’m here.”
Slowly her eyes began to open. It took her a second to adjust and when she finally did, her lips wobbled as she met my worried stare.
“Mal?” Her voice cracked as she searched for something in my eyes.
“Yeah, Doe. It’s me. I’m here.”
With her face cradled in my hands, I used the pads of both of my thumbs and took away the fountain of tears that stained each cheek.
“You just had a bad dream, but I’m here, though. You’re safe.”
She let out a painful cry that made my heart clench in the most agonizing way. Immediately I dropped my forehead against hers, clutching onto her tighter as I let her cry.
The painful sounds that ripped through her were like a knife to the chest. I could barely handle seeing her like this.
I was the broken one. Not her.
Never her.
I wouldn’t allow it.
With her forehead still pressed up against mine, I almost didn’t notice that she ripped off the blanket covering her, and was now climbing into my lap. I would have been shocked if the feeling of her in my arms didn’t feel so natural.
She belonged here.
Just like this.
Where I instinctually wrapped my arms around her waist and she fell into the crook of my neck. I didn’t care that she had fallen into the side of my shoulder that was injured. I couldn’t fight through the pain, but I couldn’t stand to see her like this.
“Doe, you need to take a breath and calm down,” I tried to soothe.
Splaying my palm on the back of her head, I kneaded my fingers through her scalp.
“I’m so sorry, Mal.”
Jesus, she was apologizing.
For something she had no control over.
“Listen to me, you have nothing to apologize for. You had a bad dream, that’s all.”
She then pulled herself from the safety of my neck and wiped at her face.
“It’s been so long since I’ve had one and I hate that you had to see me like that.”
