Not Letting Go

Chapter 42

Max woke sobbing.

She was already sitting up and Kate had her hands on the brunette's shoulder and looked anguished as she rapidly spoke. Max couldn't comprehend her at first, then she became more awake and tried to hold back her tears.

"Max! Em! Max, Max!" the blonde shouted, trying desperately to get through to the other.

The freckled girl was still crying as she looked wide eyed around the room in confusion. Her eyes darted around and then back to Kate, as the blonde said, "Em!" once more.

Max's breathing was still ragged, but Kate had jolted the brunette out of her panic, delaying her tears for a moment until a pitiful whimper came out. Max shut her eyes as she slumped down into Kate's arms and continued weeping, but more calmly. She didn't even notice they were both still naked.

The blonde move her hands up and down the freckled girl's back as she tried to whisper reassurances to her, saying, "Shh, it's just a nightmare, I'm here, shh...you're okay, it's okay..." She kissed the side of the brunette's head over and over, but it did not instantly stop her tears as it did before.

After a minute more of crying as Kate continued her whispered reassurances and gentle caresses, Max was finally done. It was at this point she realized her head was pounding. She pulled back and took a moment to focus on Kate. When she did, the brunette saw the intense concern on her girlfriend's face. She wasn't just looking at her though, but a specific part of her face. Max touched under her nose felt a warm wetness. When she pulled it back to look at her hand, Max saw more than a little blood mixed with snot collected on her finger.

"Shit..."

"It was the worst I ever saw you..." Now Kate seemed about to cry herself. She shakily continued, stuttering, "Y-you kept s-saying you could s-see it, you could see in-inside." Max could tell Kate wanted to ask, but was too afraid.

Max wasn't sure she had much to say, but she tried to answer the in asked question, saying, "I only remember blackness...or emptiness, I'm not sure. I...was...in our house..." Her eyes looked distant as if she was trying to picture her dream. "Then I saw..."

Max looked over to her bag as she parted from Kate.

"No..." the blonde said with quiet dread.

She put a hand out, but did not grab Max as the brunette got off the bed, almost stumbling over the covers as she removed herself.

"Em, let's talk first...don't just..."

Max wasn't listening though. The brunette did pause a moment before reaching her bag, seeming to suddenly realize she was naked, but then she kept moving. She grabbed the camera, but it was stuck in the bag, caught partly behind something. Becoming frustrated, she screamed and violently shook the messenger bag until she was only holding the camera. It made her headache worse, but she didn't care. Now that she had it out, Max seemed to hesitate, but then she turned it to face herself and took a selfie. She said, "You don't have to be a part of it, I can still save you...if I need to..."

"Is that why you do this?" Kate looked heart broken. "I don't want you hurting for me..." She slipped out of the bed and stepped towards Max, but waited for her reponse before completely closing the gap.

"It's not doing anything to me...it's just a camera...just nightmares...fucking shitty nightmares..."

"But they're making you bleed again..."

"I'm probably just trying to rewind in my sleep or something, trying to save my dream self from whatever the fuck is going on...this real camera has nothing to do with it." The brunette stared at the device in her hand and decided she didn't want to hold it anymore, despite her words. She put it down on her bag that lay on the ground.