The Dreamworld

Chapter 15.1-Nightmares Bring the Truth

Granger had slipped in a clean t-shirt while Ashlyn was showering. She knew he didn't stay long enough to see anything, quickly opening and slamming the door, tossing the clean shirt on the floor of the bathroom. Ashlyn smelt like Granger now, from his clothes to his shampoo. She really was uncomfortable with the situation she had been placed in and knew that Granger was probably equally so.

She fought off a yawn as she slipped out of the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel. Granger leaned over the bed, struggling to get the fresh sheets on. Ashlyn tensed at the sight of his back, noticing all the scars spanning the length. White bumps, once red welts showed more of the story to what catapulted Granger into diving headfirst into this world.

Granger hadn't heard her, he was too busy grumbling curse words under his breath over a fitted sheet. His body tensed as Ashlyn's fingers found themselves tracing the largest scar spanning diagonally from his left shoulder blade to his bottom right lower back.

"Who did this to you?" Ashlyn swallowed back her tears. Her gaze flicked down to Granger's arm at the sight of red seeping through the bandages. He needed to apply more pressure, not worry about changing the sheets.

"If you recall, I kind of don't remember."

Clay probably knew. Ashlyn frowned at the thought. Clay had left out some key details he had pulled from Granger's memories. Some things just couldn't be repeated, and the story of Granger's back was one of them.

"Go, sit down, I'll fix the sheets."

Granger huffed, walking over to the chair in his room. He crossed his arms in retaliation watching Ashlyn make his bed. Ashlyn glanced up, eyes sparkling with frustration as she glanced at his arm. "It's still bleeding. Is there a doctor we can take you too?"

"It will eventually stop," Granger snapped.

Ashlyn finally finished struggling with Granger's sheets. She took the dirty ones to the laundry room to begin soaking the blood from them. "Just toss them," Granger ordered.

"You can get the blood out!"

"It's too much trouble, I'll just buy new ones."

Ashlyn ignored him as she worked on his sheets. She turned to see Granger had followed her, angry she wasn't listening.

"I said to toss them!"

Ashlyn felt clustered pinned against the washer. She shook her head in protest, letting the machine fill up with water to leave them soaking. Granger cursed again, wobbling slightly on his feet as he stood there.

"You need to lie down, you lost too much blood," Ashlyn protested.

She shoved his protesting self back to his room. Granger shook his head, arguing that he was fine. He wasn't. Somehow, Ashlyn ended up falling into the bed with Granger, tripping as he struggled.

She caught her breath as she lay on his chest, her face cushioned against it in the fall. Granger had tensed too, his eyes widening in shock.

"I'm sorry," Ashlyn muttered. She began to get up, but Granger grabbed her waist, preventing her from leaving.

"Dorothy-" Granger gulped.

Her face softened at his nervous tone. He was scared of his nightmares, scared they would return if he fell back asleep. His voice revealed the truth despite his face trying to appear angered and indifferent.

"I'll keep watch over your sleep so this doesn't happen again," Ashlyn reassured.

"I'm sorry about earlier, you know with the-"