Those Who Remain

Chapter 18

I sat up in bed with a gasp as I swung my arm out to the side, trying to hit whatever I thought was coming at me. When I realized no one was trying to sink their teeth into my shoulder, I relaxed, letting out a quiet sob that I tried to cover with my hand.

"Gem?" Ridge said groggily next to me, and when I didn't answer, he looked over and saw my shaking shoulders and covered face. "Hey, come here," he said, pulling me into him, "It's okay, nothings wrong, no one is here but us."

"He almost bit me," I sobbed out as Ridge ran his hand up and down my back, "in the car, he almost bit me."

"But he didn't," Ridge said as he pulled away to wipe the tears off my face, but I refused to meet his eyes. "Gemma," he said softly as he titled my chin up, "look at me."

I let my eyes gaze into his as he gave me a reassuring smile, "You're okay. We're at the lake with your parents, Lily, and Dean. We made it here, and if we did that, we can survive this."

I slowly nodded my head as Ridge pulled me back into a hug, "Try to get some sleep okay? We are taking Lily to the beach since she didn't get to go last night."

"Okay," I said as I let Ridge pull me back into a lying position on the bed, and I closed my eyes to try and let sleep consume me.

-----

"Come one!" Lily said as she bounced on her toes by the front door, "Let's get to the beach!"

"Okay," I said, trying to must up the best smile I could, "Just let me grab the beach bag." Ever since my dream last night, I had felt a bit off. I don't think I realised how much almost getting bit by that runner affected me until now. I was constantly looking over my shoulder and checking on everyone, which I can only accredited to my paranoia from my dream.

"Gem," Ridge said walking into the entryway, "I can take Lily to the beach. You can stay here and get some rest."

"No," I said back immediately, "I should go with you guys to the beach. I think it might help me relax."

Ridge looked skeptical, but said, "As long as you're sure." He grabbed my hand, and we headed out the door after Lily as she skipped her way down the sidewalk in the direction of the beach.

I held on tightly to Ridges hand the whole way to the beach as I let my mind wonder. I couldn't help but let it wander to dark places which it really hadn't been in a long time. I started to feel like I was alone, stuck in my own mind. Saying goodbye to my parents before they left for Florida, the last time I hugged Realynn, the last words I said to Ridge's parents, and the look on Ridge's face after I woke up after surgery were the things that played through my mind on the way to the beach.

I'm only broken out of my thoughts when Ridge let go of my hand and took the beach bag from me to lay out our towels. Since he was keeping himself occupied setting up the beach supplies, I walked out to the little dock on the beach and sat down on the edge, letting my feet dangle down into the water.

I wanted to break myself out of the dark loop my mind seemed to be stuck in, but in the moment, I wasn't sure how. The world was going to shit and every dream I had in life seemed to be slipping away. My eyes teared up as I realized so many things in life were never going to be the same.

Before my mind was able to go down that hole, I felt a hand place itself on my shoulder and a body sit down next to mine. I didn't have to look over to know it was Ridge.

"Gem," he said softly trying to get me to look at him, but I knew if I did he would see the tears in my eyes, "is there anything I can do to help you?"