The Dreams That You Wish

Prologue

"Ilgaz!"

The sudden scream wakes Aylin with a start. She lifts a hand to try to still her racing heart.

"Ilgaz!"

The scream comes again and she sighs in resignation when she realizes what's happening. Ceylin's having night terrors again. She sits up and swings her legs off the couch, searching the floor with her feet for her slippers. And she's suddenly very grateful she decided to stay with Ceylin this first night after her divorce. At least she's not alone at a time like this.

"Ceylin," Aylin calls soothingly to her sister when she reaches the bedroom and sits next to her. "Ceylin's, wake up. It's Aylin. You're just dreaming."

Ceylin's wild eyes dart around the room as if searching for something. Or someone. Aylin just sighs again. She must be looking for Ilgaz. Her suspicions are confirmed when Ceylin just curls into a ball and starts rocking, chanting Ilgaz's name over and over.

"Ceylin, stop this. You're scaring me," Aylin demands, trying to wake her sister.

Ceylin leaps off the bed when Aylin tries to rub her back. Running blindly around the room, she knocks several things over until she ends up with her back against the wall. Aylin manages to get her trapped in the corner, and breathes a sigh of relief. The corner is good. The corner is safe. The last thing they need is Ceylin running around not knowing where she is and ending up taking a tumble down the stairs. She's safe enough here until Aylin can get some back up.

Aylin takes a quick look around the room and spots Ceylin's phone on its charging station. She takes slow steps towards it, not wanting to startle Ceylin any more. She picks it up and dials the entry labeled SEVGILI. It doesn't take long for Ilgaz to answer.

"Ceylin?" he asks with a yawn. "Is everything okay? Are you okay?"

"Ilgaz, it's Aylin."

"What happened?" he asks before she can explain. She hears rustling in the background as he pulls himself out of bed. "Where's Ceylin?"

"She's here. She's fine," Aylin tries to assure him.

"Ilgaz!" Ceylin sobs, and Aylin hears him draw in a sudden breath.

"She doesn't sound fine!"

"She seems trapped in a nightmare," Aylin tells him. "She used to get night terrors like this when she was a kid. But nothing we used to do back then is working for her now. I think she needs you."

"I'll be right over," he promises before ending the call.

True to his word, there's a banging at the front door not even ten minutes later. Aylin runs down to let him in. She barely has time to greet him before he's running past her and up the stairs. By the time she catches up, Ilgaz already has Ceylin in his arms and is headed towards the bed with her. He lies with her still in his arms, and pulls a blanket tight around the both of them.

"I'm here, Ceylin. Right here. I'm not letting you go," he whispers over and over, stroking her hair. He keeps up with that until she finally calms down and falls back into a peaceful sleep.

Aylin lets out a sigh of relief, but then realizes she's intruding on something she probably shouldn't be watching. She quietly tips out of the room and goes back downstairs. She knows Ceylin is in good hands.

She hears Ilgaz leaving a few hours later, just as the day is starting to break.

"Ilgaz?" she sleepily asks when she finds him standing over her.

"Sorry to wake you. But I'm going to leave before Ceylin gets up and realizes I was here. I just wanted to let you know so that you can lock up behind me."

She wants to ask him to stay. It hurts to see how much these two want to be together, but can't for whatever reason. But he's right. It would only confuse Ceylin if he is here when she wakes up. When she was younger and had these night terrors, Ceylin never remembered any of her incidents. It stands to reason she won't remember any of this either.

So she watches him go, even though the look in his eyes says he wants nothing more than to stay. Aylin realizes it's one of the saddest things she's seen in her life.