PTSD was something that still affected Red Forman, even years after the war. It never really went away. Sure, it got easier to deal with over the years, but he still woke up from nightmares. He still got night sweats and he still got anxiety in crowded places, much to his embarrassment.
That night marked the first nightmare in a long time. He had fallen asleep a couple of hours before with his wife resting her head on his chest. He still had his arm wrapped protectively around her when he startled himself awake, letting a yelp out and waking Kitty up as well. Beads of sweat were rolling down his face, his chest was heaving up and down while he tried to catch his breath. He couldn't remember what the dream had been about, all he knew was that it had something to do with the war.
"Red?" Kitty asked groggily. "Are you okay, sweetheart?" she asked as she came too and realized how shaken Red was.
"I'm fine," Red said, trying to brush everything off so he didn't worry Kitty. Kitty sat up so she could get a better look at her husband, who still had sweat running down his face. He looked like whatever he had been dreaming about had really shaken him.
"Was it another nightmare?" she asked softly. Red stayed silent for a few seconds and those few seconds spoke to Kitty more than anything he could ever say. She knew he still dealt with PTSD. She had become accustomed to it. Not just because she was a nurse, but because her husband still dealt with it religiously. Because the walls in the Forman house where thin, Eric had heard the yelp from his father and he knew immediately what it was from. He knew Red dealt with PTSD. He also knew how hard it was for his father to admit to people that the war had had such a big effect on him and he worried about Red, so he got out of bed and walked to his parent's room, softly knocking. He then let himself in.
"Is everything okay?" he asked. Kitty's head immediately turned to her son and she smiled at the teenaged boy.
"Everything's fine, sweetheart," she replied. "Go back to bed." Eric nodded his head, knowing that it was best to listen to his mother. He closed the door and went back to bed.
When Red knew that Eric was back in his room, he sat up in bed and rested his head in his hands.
"It never gets easier," he said in a shaky voice. Kitty's heart broke at the confession. His nightmares usually didn't affect him this bad, which told her that this one was particularly bad. She then crawled into his lap and straddled his legs. She pulled him into a tight hug, not speaking a single word. He wrapped his arms around her waist and his emotions started flooding to the surface. He nudged his face into her neck as she rocked him back and fourth, like she did when her kids where little and they where upset about something. He didn't even try to hold his tears back. It only made dealing with his PTSD even harder trying to act like he was some macho guy who wasn't affected by PTSD.
"It's okay, sweetheart," Kitty said soothingly as she continued to rock Red back and fourth. Red continued to cry and Kitty stayed straddling his lap while he did so, knowing all he needed was for her just to be there for him and nothing more. No more than a few minutes passed as they stayed in said position until Red pulled himself together enough to pull away from his wife. When he did so, Kitty smiled sympathetically at her husband as she cupped his face with both hands and wiped away his tears with her thumbs. "I love you so much," she said. "You know that, right? Nothing will ever change how much I love you." A smile appeared on Red's face at that comment and Kitty's smile widened. "Come here, Penguin," Kitty said, reminding Red of how he proposed to his wife. She leaned in to her husband and kissed him on the lips lovingly. Red wrapped his arms around his wife's waist again and kissed her back. He then pulled away and gave her a look he only gave his wife.
"I love you," he said while Kitty unstraddled him and sat directly next to him. They both leaned up against the many pillows as Red wrapped his arm around Kitty's shoulders while she rested her head in the crook of his shoulder.
"I love you too, sweetie," she said as she cuddled happily into Red's side, the heat from his body putting her slowly back to sleep. He kissed the temple of her head and both of them fell back asleep, forgetting the entire thing the next morning.