Hope

Chapter Six

I awoke from a terrible nightmare that I couldn't remember, crying. Everything was hurting and because of the dream I was terrified to stay in my bed. I was wearing one of the tank top and short pajama sets from Daisy's store, so I hobbled out into the kitchen and grabbed another pain pill. When I looked at the clock, it was barely past midnight and I knew that I didn't want to go back to bed alone.

Walking to Danny's door, I saw that it was slightly open. I pushed open the door and said softly, "Danny?" I didn't hear anything from inside, so I pushed the door open all the way and walked carefully into his bedroom.

He was fast asleep on the bed, but when I got close to him I must have made a noise because his eyes opened. "You okay, Rose?" he said, his voice gravelly with sleep.

"I had a nightmare." I felt myself start to cry again, tears dripping down my cheeks, "I just don't want to be alone right now."

"Come here," he lifted the bedspread and patted the mattress next to him. I climbed onto the giant bed and laid next to him under the covers. Danny turned on his side and pulled me up next to him, wrapping his arm around my waist, "Go back to sleep, I won't let anything happen to you." In the warmth of his arms, I fell back into a deep sleep.

The next day, I awoke refreshed and in considerably less pain than the day before. A quick glance at the clock had me scrambling to get up. It was one o'clock in the afternoon, I had slept for over twelve hours. Not bothering to change, I went into the guest bathroom and freshened up before going out into the living room to try and find Danny. He was nowhere to be found, but there was a note taped to the refrigerator.

Rose, You were sound asleep with I left this morning. You looked so peaceful when I got out of bed, I didn't want wake you up and disturb that peace. I have to leave for a while, there is a really bad fire a couple hours away so they called in all available personnel to try and stop it before it hits any populated areas. Hopefully, I'll be back in time for dinner, but in the meantime there is a plate of food in the fridge for when you get hungry. It's just some leftover steak and potatoes, but it should be enough until I can cook you some real food. Also, when I was at the store yesterday I bought you some bubble bath, because I know from Daisy that women like that sort of thing. She says it's very relaxing. Feel free to make use of my tub. There's a switch right by the tub that turns the jets on. Enjoy, Danny.

What is it about small towns? Danny is such a sweet guy, he will make some woman very happy one day. My eyes moistened with unshed tears, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for myself. A small memory popped into my head and it wasn't of me being loving and caring like everyone here was being to me. I have a feeling if it weren't for my memory loss, I would never be in a situation where a guy buys me bubble bath without me having to ask him to go to the store for me. Danny is probably even the type of guy to buy a girl tampons when it gets close to her time of the month, without making a big production of having to do it.

I shook my head, trying to clear those depressing thoughts from my head and grabbed the food out of the fridge. After microwaving it, I sat down at the counter and took a deep breath. Even the simple fare of steak and potatoes smelled marvelous. I couldn't figure out if it was just because Danny was that good of a cook, or because I had been eating so little food for so long I forgot what real food tastes like. Quickly, I inhaled the entire plate, then rinsed it off and put it into the dishwasher before heading to Danny's room.

In the light of day, I could admire the huge four poster bed that I had only gotten a glance of last night. Feeling bad about commandeering his bed last night, I made it quickly, grateful that I remembered how. Then I opened one of the doors in the bedroom and saw the bathroom. When Danny had said that he bought a new tub, he hadn't said that he had redone the entire bathroom to the same level of opulence as the Jacuzzi bathtub.