he beckoned Jack to join him. "What makes you think your question will make her sad?"
Shrugging, he climbed up next to Eric and curled in to him. "I dunno but she's been kinda sad lately."
"Are you being good and keeping your room clean?"
"Yeah" he nodded solemnly.
"Okay," he agreed. "It's just between us guys for now."
#
After Sarah picked up Jack, he reflected on their conversation and there was a part of him that wanted Nathalie to know that his son knew who she was; that he thought she was pretty. And then before he could stop himself, he walked to the hospital and headed straight for her room.
He had no clue what he was going to say when he saw her. There was no plausible explanation for him to be there other than he wanted to see her but telling her that felt almost cruel.
Low moans emanated from her room and as he pushed open the door to her room he was stunned by what he saw. Nathalie, clearly asleep, was in the grips of some kind of nightmare. She was thrashing about the bed, crying out with tears streaming down her face.
Crossing the room in two easy strides, he gently shook her trying to wake her. "Nat! Nathalie, wake up! You're having a bad dream"
"Jack" she whimpered. "Don't let them hurt Jack"
He tried again, in vain, to wake her but she would not be pulled from her nightmare. At a loss but feeling like his heart was in a vice grip as he watched her flail at imaginary aggressors, he did the only thing that came to mind. Sliding his arms underneath her, he pulled her to a sitting position and wrapped her in his arms. She fought, at first, her body rigid and trembling but he continued to hold her hoping the heat from his body would soothe her. Her body was racked with soundless sobs as her tears splashed against his shoulder.
He rubbed her back and pressed his mouth to her ear. "Jack is safe," he whispered. "He's not hurt, he's safe." It was risky for him to say anything about Jack - she could wake up at any moment and everything could unravel - but her anguish was so great that he was willing to risk anything to console her.
"Th-the h-h-house" she stammered, gulping for air as she gripped his shirt. "It's on f-f-f-fire. I h-have to g-g-get him."
His own heart hammered inside his chest as another piece of the puzzle fell in to place. He knew there was a link between the scar on her back and Jack but he had not quite imagined this. Murmuring against her hair, he continued to rub her back.
"Jack is okay," he repeated. "He's safe. You're safe too," he added.
She slumped against him, exhausted. The soft exhalation of her breath against his shoulder told him that the nightmare, or the terror, had receded back into the darkness. He was beginning to understand what Keith meant about the nights being hard for her. With infinite care, he leaned her back against the pillows.
Moving to stand up, he realized she was still gripping his shirt. He gently extricated her hands from his shirt but paused as she started to whimper at the loss of contact. Once again his heart raced in front of his head and he climbed on to her bed, gathering her in his arms.
Bringing her head to his chest, he softly stroked her hair and whispered reassurances hoping they would keep the darkness at bay. Memories of nights spent tangled together reverberated in his mind as she instinctively threaded her legs through his and sighed softly, her cheek pillowed by his chest and her head tucked gently under his chin. A lump formed in Eric's throat at the familiarity of the position. She had fallen asleep like this countless times in the past.
"Oh, babe." He said deeply, as he placed a gentle kiss on the crown of Nathalie's hair and closed his eyes. "What a mess."
Chapter 10
He had not even realized he had fallen asleep until he felt her shift against him. His eyes flew open in a panic as he heard her groan; looking down at her, he realized she was still asleep. Glancing over at the clock he could scarcely believe he had been there for four hours already. Holding her, feeling her breath on his skin all felt so achingly normal. Eric smirked to himself as he noticed his fingers entwined through hers - old habits