The Affair

Chapter 17.2

"NOOO!".

William violently awakens from his nightmare with a terrified scream, and he thrashes in his position in bed before crashing onto the floor. With tears in his eyes, he scans the room for any indication that he was still trapped in his horrendous dream. His adrenaline was pumping, and he struggles to control his rapid breathing; the anxiety was overwhelming, and he begins to sob from the panic. His uproar startles Fallon from her sleep and she frightfully looks towards William as he cowers on the ground against the dresser along the wall of the bedroom.

"Mr. Reiner! What's wrong!?", she asks, sitting up in bed.

William was too stunned to explain himself, he could only mutter single word responses to Fallon's worried inquiry.

"Aah! FUCK!", he stammers, feeling out the surface of the dresser behind him.

"Sir! Oh my god, what is it!? Talk to me!", Fallon cries out as she throws the blankets off her body.

She then jumps from the bed and onto the ground, she crawls to William and attempts to wrap her arms around him to comfort him. Still in a frenzied panic, William flinches and yelps from her touch.

"Mr. Reiner, it's me! It's Fallon, sir! You're okay! I'm here with you.", she soothes, holding out her arms to him.

A few tears trail his cheeks as he turns to face Fallon.

"F-F-Fallon?".

"Yes... it's me, sir... Come to me.".

William crawls into Fallon's arms and he buries his face into her chest as he tries to steady his panicked breathing. With William in her arms, she softly rubs his back with one hand and massages the back of his head with the other. Despite her warm embrace, William could not remove the horrific images of his dead wife and daughter from his mind. After a couple of minutes of Fallon's comfort, William was able to normalize his breathing and he stands to grab his phone.

"Mr. Reiner... tell me what's wrong... Please.", Fallon asks with a worried pout.

"I will, darling, I will.... I-I just need to make a call.", he says as he picks up his phone from the nightstand by his side of the bed, "Please be quiet for now.".

"Sir, it's three in the morning. Who are you going to call this late?".

William waves his hand at Fallon, gesturing her to stop talking. "Fallon, please! I need you to be quiet right now.", he repeats.

"Okay! Can I at least make us some tea?", she timidly asks, fiddling with her fingers.

"YES, FINE. Now please hush.".

Fallon did not like William speaking to her so rudely, but she understood that he was stressed about something. "He must have had some kind of night terror.", she thinks to herself concerned for William, "Ugh, I know all about those.".

With his phone in hand, William steps into the living room as he attempts to call his wife. The phone rings several times before cutting to her voicemail, and he hangs up to call once again. "Come on, June, please pick up.", he thinks to himself. On the last ring, June picks up and answers with a groggy tone.

"W-Will?", she answers.

"June! Sweetheart, are you okay?", he asks, relieved to hear her voice.

"What? Will, I was sleeping...".

"June, just tell me you are 'okay'... please.".

June sighs through the phone. "I'm fine, but I've just been woken up so I'm not in the best mood.".

As William spoke with his wife, Fallon was in the kitchen searching for a teapot to begin boiling water. She opens the cabinet above the counters and spots a stainless-steel teapot among several other kitchen items, she stands on her tiptoes and stretches her arm as much as she could to grab it.