Take My Hand, Just Hold On

That night Robert convinced me to stay in his room with him. I agreed on the condition that I just stayed on the couch and he would take the bed. He reluctantly Okayed the arrangement and headed off to bed around 11. I stayed up with the TV on low in the other room and Robert left the door between the rooms open.

Around 3 AM I force myself off the couch and creep to the en-suite off of Robert's room. I close the bathroom door before turning the light on, and do my business. Luckily it was one of those low-flow, super quiet toilets so I knew I could flush without making too much noise. I didn't need to jeopardize Robert's sleep just because I couldn't sleep.

As I leave the bathroom, I glance over at Robert on the bed. He is sleeping far on the left side of his king-size bed and I wonder if he'd notice if I just stole the right side. Not that I would fall asleep I'm sure, but it just looks a lot more welcoming than the couch at the moment.

I decide to sneak in and wrap myself under the warm covers, a queen-sized bed of space between Robert and me.

***Robert’s POV***

I woke to a blood-curdling scream of “NOO! Please stop,” coming from right beside me. I turn the bedside lamp on and look to my side. Brenna was laying on the other side of the bed screaming in her sleep. I could only imagine what it was she was dreaming of. She had curled up into a tiny ball in her sleep and even then her face reflects a look of pure torture.

I move closer to her on the bed, unsure the best way to wake someone up from a probably realistic nightmare. I take a deep breath and decide to just shake her awake lightly.

My hand touches her arm lightly and she jerks and starts whimpering in her sleep. I try again to wake her, holding on to her arm slightly tighter so she can’t shake me away again.

“Brenna, love, wake up,” I say while shaking her lightly. Her eyes finally open and she jumps away from me. I drop my hand from her arm and move further away from her.

“I… I’m sorry I moved to your bed. It looked really comfortable, I never thought I’d actually fall asleep,” she explains, looking down at her hands in her lap.

I feel an uneasy, queasy feeling in my stomach as I respond to her, “That’s okay, I’m glad you did. You at least got a couple hours sleep.” The knot in my stomach grows as I begin to ask, “What, uhm… Were you, uh, dreaming about the…” I trail off, not sure if I should even have brought it up.

With her head still down she nods, “At least my mind’s re-enactment of it… I’m sure it’s not as bad as I remember it now.” I see a tear roll down her cheek and I make a move to hug her before thinking better of it – I’m sure she would prefer me to stay away from her.

***Brenna’s POV***

I can’t look at him once again. I can’t believe I fell asleep. I can’t believe what I had to dream about. How did he know what was happening? Was I talking in my sleep, or just moving around a bunch?

“What time is it?” I ask after we were both silent for a minute.

“6:30,” he responds.

“Really? I probably got 3 hours of sleep. I’m sorry I woke you up so early on your day off though. I feel like an ass.”

“Hey, don’t. You needed the sleep more than me.”

I nod in acknowledgment, still unable to look at him. Probably out of shame or some other lame emotion. I sigh, and with a lack of anything else to respond with I say, “I’m going to have a shower. Is that okay?”

“Of course… I’ll order us some food, do you feel like eating at all?”

I shake my head, “Not really. Maybe just some toast, I’ll try to eat something…”