It's a Nightmare

Chapter Fifteen

Riley

Lucas' breathing settled down as I hugged him. His heart- which had been beating so rapidly that I could feel it through his shirt- slowed down.

"How are you?" I asked after he had seemed to calm down.

Lucas shrugged, "I'm okay. I'm sorry about the second panic attack. Too many questions." His face fell.

"Hey...hey..." I placed my hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. From now on, we'll take it easy on the questions. Okay? Would that make you feel better?"

His eyes met mine. His lips curled into a soft smile.

"I'll be okay. Thanks Riley."

"Okay..." An awkward pause. "Would you like me to get Isaac set up in here?"

Lucas nodded. "I'll help. Where is he?"

"He's still in the kitchen, in his high chair." I explained. "I left him in there. Because I came after you. Right after you left. Would you like me to go get him?"

Lucas nodded, "What would you like me to do?"

"Isaac's crib is set up in my room. You can go get it if you want. My room is right next to yours."

After a quick nod of agreement, Lucas went into the next room. I snuck into the kitchen and grabbed Isaac from his high chair. Luckily, Mom and Dad and Auggie had gone off somewhere, probably to the movies. After checking the calendar, I was right.

Tonight was the night that the Good Dinosaur was playing. Auggie and Dad had wanted to see that movie since they first heard about it. Mom had probably gone with them to give me and Lucas time to calm down.

"Hey buddy," I tickled him under his chin. "You wanna go see Lucas?"

Isaac giggled, which was taken as a yes.

Placing an arm under Isaac's stomach, I flew him like an airplane down the hall into Lucas' room. Lucas wasn't there.

Placing Isaac on the floor, I went off to search for Lucas.

I found him in my bedroom, sitting under the bay window, staring out at the balcony.

I sat beside him, "A penny for your thoughts?"

He jumped,"R-Riley, I didn't hear you come in. Please don't startle me like like that. Please."

"Sorry," I bit my lip, feeling really bad. "Isaac's in your room. I put him on the floor while I came to find you. Are you okay?"

Lucas shrugged, "Okay is a weird word. It can mean many things. It's also not very... I'm rambling. Never mind me."

He looked so sad.

"Hey," my hand came to rest gently on his bicep. "If you set want to talk about anything, I'm here for you."

"Thank you Riley." He stood up. "Now, let's get Isaac's crib set up."

Together, we lifted up Isaac's crib and brought it into the other room where Isaac lay, sprawled out on the floor in a starfish position. Chuckling softly under his breath-so softly that I almost didn't hear it- Lucas picked his brother up and lay him in the crib.

Lucas has a really nice laugh, I thought. He should do it more often. Note to self: try and make Lucas laugh more often.

"Do you need anything else?" I asked. A shake of the head.

"Okay then. I should probably get to bed then. Goodnight Lucas. Goodnight Isaac."

"Good night Riley," was what I heard on the way out. It was so soft that I almost missed hearing it. "Thank you for everything."