When the day met the night Part 2

Chapter Twenty Two

Jared's POV - I was almost asleep when I heard her muttering, her whole body started to shake. I knew what would come next and I tried to rouse her before it happened, but she was too deep into the nightmare. I heard her gut wrenching screams of terror, begging for her life and I shook her firmly, "baby wake up it's a nightmare, you're safe" I said over and over until her eyes flew open, filled with fear. She was breathing fast, sweat covered her whole body as she tried to calm down. "They won't stop" she whispered desperately. I pulled her against me holding her close. "It'll pass, you're safe, the baby is safe, I'm here, nothing is going to happen" I said gently, rocking her against me as I stroked her hair trying to relax her. Her body finally stopped shaking as she dozed off into an exhausted sleep.

I slowly made my way downstairs, I was feeling more tired with every passing day. A week or so had passed since it had all happened and I wasn't sleeping well. When I did, nightmares plagued me. As I walked into the kitchen Jared looked up, I could see him taking in my appearance. I was tired, but I was even more tired of his constant scrutiny and I knew it was because he cared, but it was starting to grate on my nerves. "Morning, how are you feeling?" he asked smiling brightly. I couldn't help but give him a small smile back. "I'm okay, I'm tired, the baby is getting bigger, I'm not ..." I stopped, sighing and rubbed my belly. "Sleeping very well" he said gently. I nodded with a frown. "Give it time baby" said Jared coming over to me softly kissing me and pulling me into a hug, "sit down I'll make you tea" he said letting me go. "We have an appointment to see Zack today" he said casually as he made my tea. I glanced up from my new phone, I had thrown my other one away, not wanting to touch it. "Wait, what? We do?" I whined, "yes, he just wanted to check you out, make sure everything is okay" he said. "But.. I don't want to go out, please can we skip it, I'm fine" I said. "No Harper, we are going to go" he said firmly and put the teacup in front of me. I frowned taking a sip. I looked up at him and shook my head, "I don't want to" I said once more. "Harper, you're going to have to go out eventually, you can't stay shut up in here, it's not good for you" he said as kindly as possible. I frowned not saying anything. "Okay so our appointment is at midday and then we can meet up with mom and Bluebell and have some lunch" he said cheerfully. I didn't say anything, I looked back at my phone and drank my tea. "Okay?" he said grabbing my hand. I looked up at him, he waited for me to answer. I nodded, "okay" I said, barely a whisper. He gently brushed my hair off my face and kissed me smiling that gorgeous smile, finally bringing one to my face as well. As I walked out of the bathroom back into Zack's office I stopped at the door listening to Jared's voice. ".... she just screams and I can't wake her, no matter how hard I try and she's exhausted, I'm worried about her, the baby" he said anxiously. "The baby is fine, physically she's healthy, she's lost a fair amount of weight but it hasn't affected the size of the baby, she's just tired. You just have to support her, give it time, keep going to the therapist, use the relaxation techniques we talked about, there's not much else you can do" said Zack worriedly. I made noise as I came back in so they wouldn't realize I had been listening. "It's all great Harper, just try and get as much rest as you can" said Zack. "I can't sleep, I keep... waking up, having nightmares" I said to him, glancing at Jared. "Not surprising, given your ordeal, do you want me to prescribe you some sleeping pills?" he asked. I shook my head, "no I'll be okay" I said. We talked for a little longer, he gave me lots of reassurance and we left. I put on my sunglasses as we got out of the car to meet up with his mom and Bluebell for lunch. I shrunk back as a couple of girls came running up to Jared excitedly asking him for a photo. He obliged, smiling for them and leading me away quickly, keeping the exchange short. We sat inside at the very back of the restaurant, I was on edge, my eyes darting around taking in the other patrons. "Relax Harper, it's okay" he murmured grabbing my hand and squeezing it gently. I looked up at him, his eyes bright, begging me to trust him, I gave him a smile and nodded. As soon as we were back I sighed with relief, finally relaxing. The rest of the day passed quietly, Jared caught up on some projects, he sat with me on the couch while Bluebell played. Everyone had gone home so it was just the three of us there. I had dozed off when I felt him shaking me gently to wake me up. "Come on baby, I've put Bluebell to bed, lets go up" he said, a soft smile on his face. "I'm sorry, you must be almost as tired as I am having to take care of me" I said as we lay together. He frowned, "of course not, I'm fine, I run on much less sleep than you and I want to take care of you. You've been through a lot Harper, don't be sorry, you need to rest as much as you can" he said stroking my cheek. "Thank you" I murmured leaning in to kiss him. "Night baby" he said. My eyes opened quickly, "I, what?" I stammered confused. "You're tired ... I'm not, I don't want to exhaust you" he said with a frown. I got up onto my knees, "No, no, I need you, I need to be with you, it makes it all go away, it makes me forget, I want you, please?" I begged. He looked at me in surprise, "I just thought, I thought, it was making you even more tired" he said reproachfully. I quickly shook my head, "no, please, Jared, don't... it's not I promise ..." I said cupping his cheeks and kissing him, putting everything I felt in that kiss. That was all he needed, for the next few hours he successfully took my mind off every and any negative thoughts in my head. My confession to him must have been something I needed, because for the first time in the days since it happened, I slept, dreamless and peacefully. Wrapped safely in his arms.