In The Dark

66 - November 7th

Brian yawned and rotated his neck. He had been awake for a few hours, unable to sleep after the previous night's events. He had tried to sleep for a few hours, but gave up, not wanting to wake Melanie with his tossing and turning. He took over AJ's watch and spent the night reading, watching movies with headphones, and filling out crossword puzzles. He'd kept a close eye on Melanie throughout the night. She had mumbled in her sleep a number of times and had a look of distress on her face, but she never fully broke into a night terror or woke herself up.

As the sun started to rise and spill through the window, Melanie woke and sat up, pressing her palms to her temples as her head throbbed. She squeezed her eyes closed and groaned, pulling her knees to her chest. She opened one eye and looked up at Brian who was quietly watching her from his chair.

"Head still hurt?" he asked. Melanie nodded, closing her eyes against the light once more. Brian got up and retrieved the acetaminophen he'd collected for her earlier, passing her the bottle and pouring her a glass of water. She shook two tablets into her palm and quickly swallowed them, chasing them with water.

"Stress?" she asked, letting Brian take the medication and glass from her.

"Probably," he replied, setting the items on the table and sitting back in the chair he'd been occupying.

Melanie waited a few minutes, sitting with her arms on her knees and her face resting on her arms. Once the medication started to take the edge off of the headache, she sat back up and looked from AJ to Brian.

"Were you here all night?" she asked. Brian nodded, looking at her seriously. "I wasn't going to leave," she confessed honestly. "I don't even know how to get there."

"That's not what we were worried about," Brian responded seriously. Melanie cocked her head, looking at him questioningly. Brian observed her closely, taking in her expression and body language. He could tell she honestly had no idea what he was talking about. "We thought you might do something to yourself," he stated finally.

Melanie's expression changed from confused to complete disbelief and she shook her head.

"I don't think I can do that by myself," she confessed.

"You never thought about it?" Brian asked.

"No," Melanie replied, her eyes wide. She looked back at AJ who was still sleeping deeply and she carefully slipped out of bed, trying not to wake him. Brian held out his hand to her, pulling her onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

"You really scared us," said Brian, squeezing Melanie tightly.

"I thought you'd be cross," Melanie replied sheepishly. "I didn't mean for you to be worried. I really hadn't thought of doing it to myself. I didn't even know people could do that."

Brian sighed, relieved he and AJ had worried for nothing.

"You're going to be tired today," Melanie stated softly.

"Don't worry about it," said Brian. "I'll have lots of coffee, and maybe a nap later."

The two sat in silence, listening to AJ snoring softly and the sounds of people starting to get up and walk around in the hallway.

"Can you please not tell Simon?" Melanie pleaded, resting her head against Brian's cheek.

"Not this time," Brian replied firmly. "Simon has to know and AJ and I are going to come with you to talk with Lucy. This was really serious."

"But I wasn't going to do it myself," Melanie whimpered. "And I promise I won't try to go to Otis again."

"Ok," said Brian.