Leave No Trace

Chapter 27

Nolan

After everyone had left, she noticed that Ally was practically asleep in her wheelchair. She walked over quietly, kneeling in front of Ally.

“Ally?” she asked softly.

Ally jerked awake, clutching her precious Pegasus to her chest. “Wha-!” she asked, before seeing who it was.

Nolan said softly. “It’s almost ten.”

“I don’t want to sleep” The horror had retreated from Ally’s eyes, but it wasn’t totally gone.

“So what do you want to do?” Nolan asked. Probably not a good idea to encourage her. But she had to help.

“I want to watch another movie” Ally said softly “You can go to bed, and I’ll sleep here on the couch.”

“Ally” Nolan reprimanded gently. “You can watch another movie, but I want you to go to bed after. I made up the guest room for a reason.”

Ally nodded, and grabbed Robin Hood out of her bag, sliding it into the DVD player, and putting Hercules back in its case. She proceeded to crawl out of her wheelchair and onto the couch, curled up in a ball. The animated tale played out, but within twenty minutes, Ally was sound asleep. Dead to the world. Nolan kept watching the movie, unable to help herself. Poor man. Princess. Evil king keeping them apart. Typical love story. But… different. When the movie ended, her own eyes were becoming heavy. She was unable to help herself, dozing off. She forced herself up and into her bedroom, forcing herself through the motions, before throwing herself on the bed. She didn’t even bother with blankets.

She was woken up not a half hour later by the screaming.

She raced into the living room, flicking on the light as she went, before shaking Ally, who was the source of the screaming, awake. When she placed a hand on her, she could feel the back of Ally’s shirt was soaked in a cold sweat. “Ally. Ally. Please wake up.” She begged, shaking her.

Ally jerked up, clutching the Pegasus in a death grip. She’d knocked the blanket over, and she’d started shaking as her eyes flew open. “K-Kate?” she asked, staring in fear.

“Yeah, Ally.” Nolan sat beside her. “Yeah it’s me, honey.”

Ally visibly relaxed, but her eyes were still full of her fear, primal and raw.

“What was your dream about, sweetheart?” Nolan asked, wrapping her arm around Ally’s shoulder.

“Dean was chasing me, with a gun, and he tried to push me over the side, but he couldn’t and then he shot me in the back….. and when I was trying to crawl away, he ripped my dress open and he- he-.” It was too much for her to handle. She burst into tears.

“Did you relive the rape, Ally?” She asked gently. Ally stiffened at the question, but said nothing. She just sobbed a bit louder. At last, came a nod. And that worried Nolan.

“The doctors… they need to still do a pregnancy test.” Ally explained miserably. “Because Dean didn’t use protection. But they’re waiting another week, before they do the test.”

“Oh Ally.” All worries about injuring Ally pushed aside, she wrapped Ally in a hug. When she pulled away, she asked. “What are we gonna do?”

“I don’t know.” Ally had stopped shaking at least, and that was a start. “I want to watch something. I missed the end of Robin Hood, didn’t I?”

“Yeah. You fell asleep, you silly girl.” Nolan felt a surge of affection for the frail creature in front of her. “Do you want to watch NCIS?”