City Of Dreams

Seventy-Six

I pound on the door to the Richard Rodgers Theater.

I smile when I see Emma open the door.

She cringes when she sees me.

I wipe my smile off and cock my head.

"Come here."

She says softly and grabs me by the wrist, pulling me into the auditorium.

I take in the feel.

"What's going on?"

she bites her lip.

"We didn't want you to worry."

I look up at her, as she is taller than me.

"What do you think I'm doing?"

I say as calmly as possible.

Some guy who I haven't seen before enters from backstage.

"Oh good. Come on back, Emma!"

She takes my wrist and drags me through the theater all the way back to the dressing rooms.

I breathe in the familiar smell of hairspray and old fabric.

At least a dozen people are crowded around a door.

Darren's door.

I broke free from Emma's grasp and shuffled over to them.

"He freaked out during The World Was Wide Enough. He just shut down. Jacob helped him into his room and wouldn't let us in."

I inhale deeply.

"Yeah but no one though 'hey, maybe we should contact his wife who has been worried to death for an hour now!'"

The crowd leaves until it's only me and Emma standing by the door.

I knock carefullly and gently, trying not to stir whatever is going on inside.

"D? Honey it's Charlotte. Can you let me in?"

A young man who I've never seen before comes to the door.

"Sorry Mrs Charlotte I just got out of med school and I wanted to help. I'm sorry for any trouble we caused."

I smiled at him.

"Thank you for helping him. And hell, what are you doing here if you just got out of med school?"

He stepped aside and closed the door behind me as I went in.

Darren sat with his knees to his chest with his arms wrapped around them and his head on top of them.

I sighed.

I noticed his eyes darting every which way and his legs shaking.

I knelt down in front of him.

"Darren honey I'm here. See me? It's Charlotte."

His eyes found mine and he relaxed a little.

"Are you ok? Can you understand me?"

He nods the slightest bit and I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding.

I scramble up on the couch next to him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders, causi him to let go of his legs.

"Breathe. One...Two...Three...in...One...Two...Three...out..."

I feel his chest rise and fall but his breathing is silent.

"Good."

I adjust myself for a brief moment to take his hair out of the tight ponytail it was in.

My arms go back around his shoulders and he leans into me.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

He nodded and cleared his throat.

I still could feel his body shaking.

My heart shattered.

"I thought... I was back."

My mind asked a question.

When?

We have had waaaaaaay too many encounters with guns.

Too many for anyone's liking.

Then I realize.

He had a Army flashback.

I held him tighter.

"Oh..."

I couldn't begin to imagine what he felt, heard, and saw.

"But you're not. You're in your dressing room. With me. And I'm not going anywhere."

He held onto the fabric of his shirt.

"You're okay."

I put his head in my lap and began to braid and unbraid his hair, humming a little to calm him down.

Meanwhile I kept mumbling to him.

I don't really know what I said.

But I hope to God it helped.