How Do We Do This?

Twenty Five

The Halstead house was silent as everyone slept soundly. Riley had been lucky to get rid of some of the nightmares thanks to therapy and medications when she needed them. Jay and Hailey kept them locked away and only gave them to her when needed.

A little after 4 AM, a scream of sheer fear and terror woke both parents up. They both jumped out of bed and rushed down the hallway to Riley's bedroom. Jay carefully jumped up on the platform and sat on Riley's bed as he very carefully woke her up.

"Hey. Hey. Look at me. What happened?" He asked, watching as Riley took in her surroundings and then Jay. "What's going on Ri?"

"Fire," she mumbled, hugging her dad as she calmed down.

"It's okay Ri. Nothing happened here. No fire," Hailey told her, rubbing her back as Jay held her tightly.

"I hate this," the teen mumbled against Jay, rubbing tears from her eyes.

"I know you do," Jay nodded, "I used to have them all the time,"

"How'd you get rid of them?"

"Medicine, therapy. Which your mother pushed me into," he told her, letting go of her, "it's all normal. You went through a trauma and this is how your brain is dealing with it,"

"Do you think you can go back to bed?" Hailey asked, squeezing her hand.

"I don't know,"

"Do you want your medicine?"

When Riley shrugged, Jay nodded and got up to retrieve it. They both knew it would help her to take it since she had practice in the next few hours.

"Alright kiddo, take this," Jay told her, handing over a pill and her water bottle.

Riley nodded and took the pill, washing it down with the water before she laid down again. Both Jay and Hailey stayed in her room until Riley fell asleep again.

"She asleep?" Hailey whispered, carefully moving so she could see Riley.

"She's out. Let's go," Jay nodded, both of them quietly creeping out of the room and heading back to their own.

——————

Riley woke up much later than normal, immediately noticing the note on her nightstand left by her mom.

Hey kiddo.
I called you out of
Practice since you had
A rough night. Pais is
gonna do a full day, but
I'm taking a half day.
Be home at 12
Love you
Mom

She sighed and set the note back down, turning on her TV to watch a random show as she stayed in her bed. She fell asleep once or twice but never for very long.

The last time she fell asleep, she was woken up by Hailey jumping into her bed. She had set 2 large cups of pop and the paper bag from McDonald's on the nightstand beforehand, saving the food.

"I brought lunch and I sat in line for 20 minutes, wake up sleepy head," Hailey chuckled, shaking Riley carefully.

"You got McDonald's? I thought you hated it," Riley smiled as she sat up and moved to sit by Hailey.