In Her Sleep

I Got You

"Caleb…"
The sound of his name from her lips fuels the stream of tears that flow freely from her eyes.
Knowing he can hear her finally after calling his name for weeks on end without so much as a response, makes her sob like a child.
She turns to him and buries herself in his chest. Not caring that she is soaking up his shirt with her tears.

"Shh…It's okay, I'm here now." He whispers.

The sound of his voice makes everything worse and her sobs get louder. She's feeling so overwhelmed she can't control anything that's going on with her now. She just wants to get lost in him.

"I was so scared when I couldn't find you." His voice is barely a whisper, the pain in it causing more of her tears to roll down her face freely. And the memories about the day she was taken makes her bury herself more in his arms.

"I shouldn't have left you alone." He holds on to her tighter and that feeling comforts her in ways she can't begin to describe. It's all she wanted all these past weeks. To be right here in his arms. For him to tell her that everything would be okay.
"I shouldn't have gone to the stupid E.R. It's all my fault."

She looks up at him when she realizes that he blames himself.

"I'm so sorry for not doing anything for so long. For not coming sooner." He cups her cheeks and looks at her intently. His glossy eyes making her heart ache for them both.
And now that she can see him, she realizes she is not the only one who has suffered. 
With dark rings under his eyes that she never saw on him even when he overworked himself, it's clear the past weeks must have been terrible for him too. In a way that too comforts her. Knowing he felt her absence just as much as she did his.

"You are here now." She whispers back and lays her head on his chest. For a moment...just for one tiny moment she refuses to think about anything else but him. And as if he understands what she needs, he pulls her closer to himself. 

"I waited for you everyday..." She speaks a moment later, wanting to let him know just how much she wanted him to come for her. Her voice is barely a whisper, cracking with each word that leaves her mouth. "I hoped…" She breaks down once more when her feelings of hopelessness she had earlier at the thought of never seeing him again stare her in the face.

"Shh..." He holds her tighter still and they stay like that for a moment. Him rocking her to calmness and she taking in his scent and warmth just to remind herself that it's not a dream.

"I missed you." She confesses.

"I missed you too, so very much."  

She closes her eyes at his confession,
forgetting about their troubles that are right outside this changing room. Forgetting about the world beyond this tiny changing room. 
It's just the two of them, wrapped up in a world of their own. Their two hearts whispering words of comfort to each other in a language that only they understand.
But that comfort soon ends when he pulls back and holds her gaze. For a moment he just stares at her and she doesn't know what to make of it.
"Is he afraid?"
She can see it in his eyes and she panics. Seeing the man who stares death in the eye literally everyday of his life shakes her.

"What is it?" She finally asks knowing she will definitely not like what he has to say.

"Damn it!" A string of curses leave his lips instead of answering her.

"Caleb...you are scaring me." She is beginning to realize that her ordeal is far from over. And when he takes both her hands in his and takes a deep breath, she braces herself for some unhappy news.

"Can you hold on just a little longer?"

"Stay with him? No." She shakes her head as tears quickly make their way down her face. "anything...ask me anything but that." She looks back at him through teary eyes. 
"He is crazy Caleb,you have to get me away from him." She holds on tightly not wishing to ever let go of him.