Dream a Little Dream (Inception: Arthur/Dom) For Me

Dream a Little Dream (Inception: Arthur/Dom) For Me (Chapter Twenty One)

            I entered my apartment, dropping my bag on the ground. It was nearly two – I had been out all night with Richard, at his request, and I was completely exhausted. I made my way to the bedroom, kicking off my heels on the way there. The bedroom light was already on, so I paused, peering in to see who it was.

            Cassie sat on the edge of my bed, flipping through a book of architecture that Richard had bought for me. I sighed, entering. She barely acknowledged my appearance, merely flipping through the pages some more as I changed into comfier clothes.

            “Why are you here, Cass?”

            “I just wanted to check up on you,” she told me, finally giving me her full attention. I could see on her face that she was tired. She had probably been at the hospital all day. I sat beside her.

            “How’s Chandler doing?”

            “Still in a coma,” she murmured, looking away from me. I winced. I had meant to visit him earlier, but I hadn’t gotten around to it. I vowed to go tomorrow, well, today, and take flowers as well. The doctors were doubtful that he would ever come out of the coma, but Cassie insisted on staying there every day. I wondered if it had something to do with what happened in the dream – none of us knew what had really happened, just that when we had come to, he was unresponsive. That whole day was chaotic.

            “Chandler!” Cassie screamed, tears streaming down her face. She shook the boy violently to no avail. I pulled her off of him with difficulty, worried that she would go into a panic attack. “Let me go, Alexia! LET ME GO!”

            “I can’t,” I told her, watching as Dom and Arthur lifted Chandler into a chair. Eames was on the phone with the police, giving them the address of his apartment. We couldn’t be found in the apartment, else the government be alerted to our inception team. I watched as Eames and Dom carried Chandler out. I held Cassie tightly, closing my eyes as to not see her pain. It took everything I had not to cry, but I felt as if I was out of tears finally. “Calm down, Cassie. He’ll be okay. I promise.”

            “You can’t know…”    

            “Chandler will fight,” I replied, even though I was unsure that he would be able to fight his way out of this. I didn’t want to say it, but he was most likely still stuck in the dream world, not dead, and yet not alive. Richard took Cassie’s hands, looking into her eyes.

            “Cassie, you must be calm. You aren’t helping Chandler like this.”

            For some reason, this got through to her more than my reassurances. She went still, though she still cried silently. She got to her feet and followed Dom and Eames out. Arthur stoo by, head bowed. My hand found Richard’s; I needed the comfort and stability, and after all that had happened, I knew he felt the same, even if he didn’t voice it. What was going to happen to all of us?

            “How is everyone?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood. She shrugged, not in the mood to be cheerful.

            “Eames is out of the country, doing some sort of replication job for someone. He’ll be back within the week. Dom and Arthur are the same as always. They always argue,” she hesitated, as if she wasn’t sure she should continue. “They ask about you a lot, you know.”

            I bit my lip and didn’t say anything. She continued on.

            “No one knows why you just left after. Does Richard even know?”