Helen jolted awake, clutching her throat, from what could only be described as an incredibly restless sleep. Her breathing was shallow and heavy as she tried to pull herself back from the disorientation of waking up in such a distraught state, once again. As she loosened her hand clutching her throat, she felt the sweat beading on her chest and just how clammy her skin was. He still frantic eyes searched the room that she had woken up in, in an attempt to ground herself from panic that had set in.
The room was dark and cool, with a gentle breeze coming through the wide open window to her left. Ahead of her was the door to the room that lead through to the rest of the house. It was slightly ajar and she could see light creeping in from the nightlight in the hallway, there in case either of the kids needed it in the night. To her right she could feel a large presence, still snoring quietly. She concentrated on the sounds coming from her sleeping husband and trained her breathing to them in a final attempt to calm herself.
She pulled her legs up to her chest as she felt her eyes sting from the tears that were inevitably about to start spilling from them. Her whole body began to shake as she tried her hardest to force away the fear and pain that were still present in her mind. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she wrapped her arms around her body several times, trying to comfort herself further. Her head slumped forward as she took another deep, shaky breathe. "C'mon… Pull yourself together… Please, god damn it…" She whispered to herself quietly, hoping to not disturb her husband.
No such luck, she felt him stir beside her. She sat there, as still as she possibly could while her body was still shaking. A moment of silence passed within the room, the only sound being the gentle pat of her tears falling from her face and onto her bare thigh. In reality, the sound was barely even audible. But, in her head, it was a deafening sound that echoed through her head as she tried with all her willpower to fight them off. Convincing herself that her husband had slipped back into a deep sleep, she allowed herself to contract her stretched arms from around her body as she brought her hands to her sweaty face.
Bad dream again?" The sleepy voice made her jump far more than it should have, before she pulled herself back to reality. Staying unnaturally still, in an attempt to force her still shaking body to steady itself, Helen took a deep breath.
"Uh huh, sorry I woke you honey… I didn't mean to…" She replied far more timidly than she had intended. She heard Bob reach over to the nightstand and clumsily hit the clock on the side, illuminating the room with the bright red glow that it emitted.
"Helen, don't worry about waking me up. I just wish you could get some sleep…" He paused and sighed. "I mean, it's 3.20am and this is what? The 3rd time you've woken up tonight? Will you please tell me what's bothering you?" Helen closed her eyes painfully tight, hoping that it would stop anymore tears from escaping her. She subtlety wiped her face as she turned round to face her sleep drunk husband. She pulled on her best fake smile that she used to try and convince the kids things were okay when she was upset.
"Don't worry, just having a bad night… Think I must have had too much coffee before bed is all…" She was lying. Lying through her teeth. But she hoped Bob was still sleepy enough to not notice. The bed flexed as she felt him roll over to face her.
"Helen, that was the excuse last time… The time before that you ate cheese too close to bed… Which is still don't believe is a thing by the way!" He paused and looked her in the eye. "Please just tell me what's bothering you…" She could see his eyes were full of concern. Sleepy concern, but concern all the same. She placed a hand on the side of Bobs face.
"Hey, honestly, I'm okay… I'm going to go and get some water. You go back to sleep and I'll be back in a minute, promise."
She pulled her robe around her as she headed into the hallway. She knew if she waited a few minutes Bob would go back to sleep and she wouldn't have to go back. Sleep wasn't coming tonight, that was easy to accept at this point.
