When I woke up the next morning, I noticed it was still dark outside. I knew the reason I was awake now was the fact that I hadn’t taken my sleeping pills last night. I didn’t feel like I needed to for once. Glancing over at the clock, I saw that it was about four in the morning. Not too bad, I think. Plus I didn’t have any horrible dreams this time so I’d take it.
I closed my eyes in an attempt to try to get a bit more sleep but snapped them open just as quickly. There wasn’t the usual weight of Jess against my side and I was suddenly very aware of the empty space next to me. I sat up slowly, letting my eyes adjust to the dark room until I saw Jess huddled at the edge of the bed which was odd for her. I’ve learned over the past five months of knowing Jess that she was just naturally a cuddler even in her sleep.
I carefully scooted over to her, taking care not to rustle her, and slipped my arm around her waist. Only then did I realize that there was something wrong. As soon as my arm made contact with her waist, I noticed she was breathing faster than normal. I turned her over carefully and moved her hair out of her face, which was damp with sweat.
Carefully, I reached over and turned on the small lamp so that I could see clearly and noticed a lot of the moisture was due to the tears running down Jess’s cheeks. She was crying in her sleep so she was obviously having some kind of horrible nightmare. I was torn between leaving her be and actually waking her up but soon that decision was made for me.
“Elena…” I heard her mumble slightly. She sounded distressed and I immediately started to gently shake her awake.
“Jess, wake up,” I said quietly over and over.
I felt her jump slightly before her eyes opened and darted around, confused. Her chest was rising and falling dramatically as she tried to slow her frantic breathing. She looked almost lost for a moment until her gaze finally settled on me.
“Hey, are you okay?” I said calmly as I continued to brush her hair away from her face.
Wordlessly, she sat up and clung to me. She started sobbing all over again and I didn’t know what to do besides hold on to her. In all honesty, Jess was scaring me. Her cries were loud and it sounded like she could barely breathe in between sobs. I quietly shushed her while I reassured her over and over that it was okay. I knew that she had just had a nightmare, but I, of all people, knew exactly how terrifying dreams can be.
It was a long time before Jess had calmed down to the point where there were just silent tears dripping onto my neck. My fingers were running gently up and down her back in an effort to comfort her further and I eventually did speak.
“Do you wanna talk about it?” I asked her quietly. She did nothing but shake her head and so I didn’t press the matter further. I did, however, move so that we were both laying down again. Jess still hadn’t said a word as she laid right up against my side. I glanced at the clock again and noticed it was now going on five in the morning. I knew Jess only had a gig in the evening so she wouldn’t need to get up any time soon.
“Why don’t you try getting some more sleep, Jess?” I whispered to her.
“You won’t leave right?” she said, her voice hoarse from crying. I was surprised she’d said anything at all to be honest.
“Of course I won’t leave. I’ll be right here when you wake up,” I assured her.
“You promise?” she persisted.
“I promise,” I said, holding up my pinky as we usually do. I saw a small smile form on her lips as she linked her pinky with mine before grasping my hand in hers.
“I love you,” I heard her whisper as she moved to lay against my chest.
“I love you too.”
