Open Arms

Chapter Four

"Shhh...shhh...it's alright, you're alright..."

Shadows hit the wall with a sharp, black, clearness, the lamp on the bedside the only bright thing in the room. The tape had ended hours ago, both parties fast asleep when it did. There was no clock on the wall to tell the time, and no blue in the sky to explain being awake. Hannah kept her face hidden in her knees, shaking violently. Angus grabbed a blanket from the bed and placed it around her, holding her still from her shaking. This wasn't the first time this happened and Angus knew it was far from being the last.

"He-was there-"

"Shhh..."

"H-he was th-there, I saw him-" she gasped. 

"Calm down, sweetheart, he's not here anymore." Angus did his best to reassure her. It seemed his words fell on deaf ears. Hannah shook her head, unable to stop the tears rolling down her cheeks. Angus grimaced at the sight. A whole year gone by and still several months more, and that man still haunted her. While his presence was accepted in jail instead, his impact had left both of them huddled on the floor in the middle of the night, one drowning in her own tears.

And Angus hated to see women cry. 

"It was real, I s-saw him!"

Angus kept quiet, knowing she'd calm down in a few minutes. Telling her it wasn't real never worked; simply sitting next to her and holding her still harbored the favored result. He learned the trick the fourth time it happened a month ago. The third, two months ago. The second, five months. The first falling on the night she moved in with him. He would never forget it. 

"The back row...looking at me...he wouldn't leave, he-he meant to hurt me again..." She gasped again, her face by now soaked. Angus' shirt soaked it up as she turned her head to hide into him, hoping he would block out any view or memory of that man.

"He's gone now," Angus said, deciding this was the best thing to say. "I'm here instead, alright?You're safe now, sweetheart." He pulled her up on his lap, stretching his bare legs out on the carpet. She wasted no time burying her head between his neck and shoulder, hoping to block out everything: sight, sound, touch... Angus adjusted the blanket around her and rubbed her back, drawing endless circles, countless pictures. Maybe the motions of his fingers would distract her from the pain of her nightmares. His neck was warm, and wet with tears, her muffled gasps and shaking scaring him. 

She should have calmed down by now. 

If this hadn't been her fourth one, he would have thought she couldn't breathe, or had a sudden onset of asthma or the like. Moving one hand to her hair, he pushed some stray bits behind her ear, running his fingers through it. He hummed a bit, not quite sure which song, just loud enough so only she could hear him. Second by second, minute by minute, until surely an hour had gone by. Hannah's shaking had begun to subside, her whimpers and gasps turned to a steady breathing. Angus turned his head as much as he could, before his lips brushed over her hair. He finally removed his hand after smoothing it down.

She fell asleep. Angus kept to the floor, knowing she needed the sleep more than he did. 

The sun was beginning to come up anyway.