How do you heal?

Annie's Dream - Chapter 79 Part 2

Deleted scene that I have been told needs to be included. Enjoy the emotional pain.

Annie's eyes fluttered open and she squinted in the bright sunlight. She sat up and looked around, her brain for some reason not understanding her surroundings. She was laying in the grass in her backyard, a summer breeze wafting off the neighbors pond keeping her from sweating in the hot sun.

She heard the sliding door open, followed by the clicking of dog nails on the back deck and she turned.

"Well hey there, sugar." Annie's heart cracked at the sound of Charlie's voice.

Why did that hurt? Why can't I speak? Am I crying?

She opened her mouth to speak but Bubba jumped into her lap, nearly knocking her back to the ground.

"Looks like someone missed his mama." Charlie laughed as he came towards them and shooed the dog away from her. "Go on you mutt, get outta here so I can love on my wife."

He reached out a hand to pull her up but Annie just stared at it for a moment. Something was off, like her brain was trying to fill in gaps that weren't missing. Like she should tell Bubba to calm down before he hurt himself, his old bones weren't what they used to be, but when she looked at him he was young and spry jumping around like a puppy.

"You gonna stand up and kiss me or am I gonna have to come down there and get what I want?"

She looked back up at Charlie and as she took his hand and stood, there too her mind was muddled. She thought his beard should have a little gray and when he smiled his face seemed younger too, wrinkles missing from around his eyes.

"See something you like, sugar?" He joked when she couldn't stop staring at him.

She smiled as she shook her head, trying to clear the strange feelings from her mind. "Just you, my love."

Charlie smiled and pulled her in, kissing her deeply. When their lips met Annie's whole body shivered, as if someone had dropped ice down her back, despite the blazing sun above them.

When he pulled back he pressed their foreheads together. "It's about time you came to visit me. 'Course it took you being on the edge of a breakdown to ask for help. Some things never change."

Annie closed her eyes trying to shake the confusion. She didn't understand what he meant by visit. She had just fallen asleep, she'd come outside to... Another shiver rolled through her as a graveyard on a cold September day flashed in her mind. When she opened her eyes again and looked around the yard had changed, a (Red blossom) tree at the back and the patio furniture more tattered, several stray cats lounging on it in the now muted sun.

"No...no, no, no." Annie looked back up to Charlie and he wore a sad smile.

"Sorry, sugar, this is just a dream. Although I did try my best to make it a very good dream."

"Charlie," She choked out as tears began to fall down her face.

"Hey, shhh," he soothed, pulling her in. "Don't cry darlin'. I only get you for a short time and I need to have a talk with you."

"Please," she hiccuped through her tears as she pulled back. "Don't make me go, I can't...I was supposed to spend forever with you and I can't go back."

Charlie cupped her face, his tone growing serious as he forced her to look at him. "No, sugar. In a little bit you're gonna wake up because you got a lot more livin' left to do and me and that ol' mutt are sick and tired of watchin' you live it without your shine."

"But-"

"No buts. You are too damn good and kind and smart and your ass is too damn hot to go through the rest of your life letting a little bit of darkness eclipse all your light."

Annie huffed sadly but smiled as Charlie's hands moved from her face, down to her backside. "Losing you is more than just a little darkness, my love."

"In the grand scheme of your life, sugar, it ain't." Annie frowned and made to argue but Charlie continued. "Now don't get me wrong, my ego is elated that you feel that way but in the overall timeline of your life I'm just a blip. A very bright, marvelous and untouchably perfect blip, but still a blip."

"You say that as if I have some grand purpose, but I don't. I'm nobody special, especially without you."

"You never could see the forest for the trees."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Charlie shook his head and smiled before looking up at the sky, his expression growing somber at something she couldn't see. "Just believe me when I say it's the little things about you that make a big difference. So I need you to promise me that when you wake up you're going to stop hidin' and mopin'. I love you and I want to see you live and live well."

"I don't want to wake up."

"I know," he said and pulled her in for one last long, slow kiss. When he finally pulled back Annie kept her eyes closed as Charlie rested their foreheads together. "But it's time to go, sunshine."

His voice was strange and Annie struggled to open her eyes, her mind growing foggy again as she felt someone shake her shoulder gently.

"Солнышко," Pietro's voice was soft and Annie opened her eyes to find him kneeling beside her, brushing her hair from her face. "It's time to go. It's getting dark."