Page 77 of The Gathered Fragments of Us
He responded, "We'reright."
I smiled, leaned in, and laid my cheek against his chest. After a minute I stepped back, told him I would get ready for bed, and headed into the bathroom to wash up and dress in my least sexy pajamas possible—we're talking full length pants and long-sleeved top, zero cinching, extra baggy.
I walked back into the bedroom to find Caden walking in from the other side at the same time. He told me, "I did the rounds, made sure everything was locked up, and I set the alarm."
I don't know why, but I was comforted by that more than usual. He always does the last walkaround, it's routine for us, but tonight, it felt a thousand times more soothing on my nerves than normal.
I climbed into bed, wrapping myself in all the layers. I like to be warm when I sleep, so layers are my best friend. Caden likes to be cold, so we are perfect at sleeping since, by morning he has kicked the covers off and I have stolen all of them into my cocoon.
He made his way to the other side and under the covers. Pulling me close, he nuzzled his face into the side of my neck—making me giggle. This. This feeling and this moment—I wish I could stop time right here. Our breathing evened out as we both fellinto a comfortable quiet. Soon, I felt myself drifting off, safe in Caden's arms. I sensed him doing the same. Glad Caden was never a snorer, I contented myself in the feel of his body heat warming me down to my soul and allowed my dreams to take me.
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A blood curdling scream rocked my world and ripped me out of my sleep. Glancing around, the room was silent and pitch black except for the Echo where I could see the time in dim blue showing it was 3 a.m. My heart was pounding and Caden was sitting up now too.
"What happened?" he said.
"I don’t know. Maybe I had a dream? I could swear I heard screaming, but now I don't know if it was me or if I actually heard it—everything's so quiet. I want to go check on Macy." Just then, the scream happened again—it was Macy, and I hadn't dreamt it. That scream was very real.
Caden and I rushed to her room, Caden turned the hall light on as he passed it. The night light in her room added enough lighting to see her clearly. I ran to her bedside and dropped down to my knees. She was thrashing and whimpering, her movements putting her arm at risk of getting hit against the nightstand. I firmly grabbed her shoulders, at least to stop her from hurting herself.
"Macy. Macy. We're here." Caden was on the other side of her bed brushing her hair back from her face.
"Honey, wake up. Can you hear us? Wake up."
Her body movements started to slow, and her eyes began to open. She jolted awake—covered in sweat and holding her cast as if her arm was broken all over again.
"No, no, it's okay. It's just us," I said, putting my hand on the other side of her head to gently hold it.
She was crying, tears running down her face.
"I—I was bas back in the room and Mom was falling on me again. I swear I felt my arm break again." She started to sob, and I climbed in bed with her, engulfing her in my embrace.
"I'm going to go get her some Tylenol and warm milk. She loves the milk, maybe it will help."
"Good. Good. Yeah, good idea," I responded.
Making soothing sounds as I rocked her, I felt myself tearing up with her as she sobbed. How to help a little girl who went through everything she experienced. How we got here, was beyond me.
I felt her body start to relax and her sobbing ease just as Caden returned with her milk and meds. They gave her prescription strength acetaminophen for her pain. She took the pill and held her mug of milk close to her.
"Thanks, Daddy."
Leaning his head into hers, he kissed her forehead and said, "you're welcome, honey. Are you feeling any better?"
"Yeah. A little."
"Okay good. You want me to stay the night with you in here?"
"Yeah—would you both stay with me?"
We looked at the twin bed and I responded, "I'm not sure we'd both fit with you, honey."
"Oh… yeah, I guess you're right."
"Why don't we have a slumber party," Caden said. "I can throw some blankets on the floor next to your bed. You and Felicity can share the bed together. How does that sound?"
"That sounds great!"
