Obsession: Callie Douglas, Book One

Chapter Thirty-Five

Two hours later, I was in the middle of a nightmare and Gabe was rubbing his thumb across my cheekbone. "Callie, darlin', wake up. You're having a nightmare. Shh. You're okay. Everyone is okay", he repeated over and over. "Better?" he asked as I woke up.

"Yes, thank you", I said, voice thick with tears as I started to cry.

"Not better", he said as he heard my tears. He drew me up into his arms and gave me a hug, and shifted so that his back was leaning against the headboard and I was cuddled into his chest. I listened to his slow heartbeat and let it calm me down. "Can you tell me about it?"

"It was horrible. There was an explosion and everybody burned. Everybody I know and love, and all my patients as well. Even Ethan and Sophia and the children were there, and they all burned as well. My patients were burning and running towards me, begging me to help them, and my family were all saying that it was my fault, that if I'd moved to Pebbleton or if I'd stayed with Michael this wouldn't have happened."

"This would've happened to someone. Sam is obsessed, unhealthily so. I was bound to pay attention to someone sooner or later, and she would've become unbalanced then. The lucky part for you is that you have the whole police force behind you. That might not have been true for another woman. Also, because of your job we've figured out who's responsible for the notes and the threats. We wouldn't have been able to do so as quickly if the victim was someone not associated with the police department." I listened to his heart and smelled his citrusy scent, and the jerkiness of my weeping smoothed out until I was no longer crying. Gabe was rubbing my arm, up and down in rhythmic comfort.

"I'm sorry for breaking down again. I'm not normally a crier."

"It's been a little much this time. You have been through a lot over the last couple of months, and more recently, over the last week. Your feelings have to come out somehow. I'd be more worried about you if you weren't crying."

"Thanks." I stayed cuddled in and, lulled by his fresh scent and the slow rhythmic sound of his heart, I fell back to sleep again.

I woke up the next morning to gritty eyes, Gabe's arms around me, and the sound of my alarm going off. I shifted, carefully trying to extricate myself from his arms before he woke up. He started to speak to me as soon as I moved, laying testament to the fact that he was already awake. "You fell asleep in my arms last night after your nightmare and I didn't want to wake you as I shifted out of your bed. So I just stayed here. I was trying to figure out how I could get free without waking you when the alarm went off." He shifted and reached over, turning off the alarm. He sat up as I snuggled back into the duvet. "How about I start the coffee and finish up in the bathroom while you wake up?" he suggested. I think I nodded my head before I fell back to sleep.

In what could have been hours but could have been minutes later, I woke to the scent of coffee wafting by my nose. I sat up, eyes still encrusted in sleep, and held out my hands. Gabe laughed quietly and wrapped my outstretched hands around the coffee cup. I took a sip gratefully and, letting the scent of the coffee and the caffeine kick start my neurons into firing, I opened my eyes fully. "Thank God for coffee", I mumbled.

Gabe laughed and picked up his own cup, taking a sip.

"My God, you've already showered?" I asked, taking in his work attire of black khaki pants and a white polo shirt. "What time is it?"

"Relax. You don't have to be at the office for another hour. Why do you have your alarm go off so early in the morning?"

"It usually takes me a couple of hours to wake up, and then I stumble around for half an hour once I get out of bed. I'm not a morning person. Did the alarm wake you? I'm sorry."