Sometimes Dick Rory woke up in the middle of the night screaming. Violent images of death ceased his mind's eye, entrapping him, forcing him to relive the worst moments of his life. Memories of Vietnam flooded his sight, making him lose touch with the present. Occasionally, he would lash out, throwing fists at his wife Allison. He had never meant to hurt her, but his illusions morphed her into one of the enemies from Nam. War did that to a man.

As if that wasn't bad enough, he had a small son, aged six, to worry about. Dick had always wanted a child, and he had been ecstatic when little Micky was born.

However, since the illusions had started, he was worried he would hurt his son terribly. He was already wracked with guilt whenever he hurt his wife, despite her protests that it was okay, (he couldn't help it, after all) but he simply could not live with himself if he were to hurt his boy.

It was eleven thirty at night, when Dick's latest night terror struck. His cries rang throughout the house, echoing off the walls. The screams woke Mick, causing him to begin crying as well. Dick thrashed around on the bed, his arms and legs kicking and swinging wildly; Allison fell out of the bed and onto the floor, eyes wide with surprise.

By this time in her life Allison Rory was used to being woken by her husband's violent nightmares. She knew exactly how to handle them, how to calm Dick down again. Quickly, Allison went to the bed side table and frantically began setting up the record player. She kept a record hidden under the bed's mattress for occasions such as these. Captain Tennille.

It was one of Allison's favorite songs, and it would normally ease Dick back into the present. She placed the record on the record player, starting the album immediately. Once the words began softly playing, Dick's thrashing slowly eased up.

Soon, he was resting peacefully again.

Allison sighed heavily, relieved. Mick could still be heard crying from down the hall. Allison gave her husband one last wistful look, rubbing his arm sympathetically, before turning towards the door and leaving the room. She walked down the hall, heading into Mick's room, where the young boy would be sitting in his bed, sniffling and scared.

"There, there, Micky," Allison said softly, wrapping her arms around her boy. "Everything is alright now. Daddy just had another nightmare. It's alright…" Mick sniffled, burying his head in his mother's shoulder. He didn't say anything. Instead, he simply closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep, as Allison rocked him. She stayed awake for another hour, holding her son.

It was a hard matter to handle, taking care of both Mick and Dick. Often, she felt as though she had to choose between the two. After all, she couldn't console the both at the same time.

When Dick was suffering from one of his illusions, he needed to be tended to at once. If she didn't calm him down quick enough, things could get very ugly very fast. But little Mick needed his mother. He was only a child, meaning he needed a lot of attention. There was school work Allison had to help him with. She had to make sure he had plenty of nice clothes, that he bathed. She had to see to it that he was eating properly and that he was getting plenty of sleep.

Both situations took up a lot of time and left Allison exhausted. She didn't have any time to herself. Things were never quiet around the Rory house anymore, and it made her long for the old days, before Nam. Sometimes, she wished that Dick had never been shipped out there. He hadn't been the same since. He was moody and sad all the time, and he never payed her any attention. And of course, there were the night terrors. (They didn't always happen at night, though.

Sometimes they happened during the day, when they were out with their friends or trying to have a nice evening.) Before, Dick had been the most kind and romantic man Allison had ever met. He'd bring her flowers, listen to her problems.

He would make her food and play music for her. She really missed the old Dick, but she knew that he had had to go. It was his duty as an American Soldier. Still, it would have been nice to have a husband who was sane, to help her take care of their son, to love her and protect the family.

Allison sighed, resting her head back against the wall. She looked down at her son, smiling lightly. She loved him and Dick more than anything in the world. Hell, they were her world.

They were everything to her, and she would do anything to see that they were happy. But the damn war stole the happiness away. It had taken a damn good man and turned him into an uncontrollable beast.

Dick wasn't the only man this had happened to. They called it post-Vietnam syndrome. Nearly all the men who had served in the war had it, but Dick had been discharged five years early because of it. He wouldn't talk to Allison about it, though, so she wasn't certain about the details. She did know, however, that it must have been far worse than most of the others. (Or else he wouldn't have been discharged, would he?)

Allison sighed heavily, leaning her head back against the wall. Her eyes stung as though someone had dumped acid in them. All her energy had left her body, and all she wanted to do was sleep for a thousand years.. Her arms ached, her feet were sore, and her head hurt like hell. She hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in weeks. Dick's night terrors had been become worse and worse lately, and it seemed there was nothing she could do to make them better.

Carefully, she lifted Mick off her and back into the bed, before standing and tip toeing back into the hall. Before she closed the door behind her, Allison glanced back at him over her shoulder. She smiled lightly to herself. He looked so peaceful, his breathing slow and rhythmic. One would never have guessed that he had just been startled awake, sobbing and terrified. In fact, she could almost believe that he had never even woken up in the first place. Almost.

Allison closed her son's door, then proceeded down the hall back to her own room. She stood at the center of the room for a moment, watching her husband sleep. It was strange really, to see how he could change in just a matter of seconds. And sad.

Yes, that was exactly how she would describe this life. Sad. It was a hurricane, with ten-foot waves washing in, filling their home from floor to ceiling. Allison could feel her head going under. She could hardly breathe. Everything had become so…suffocating.

She didn't recognize her husband anymore. Some days he was just as she had always known him to be, but others (which, unfortunately, happened more often than the former) he was someone else. Someone broken beyond repair. There was nothing she could do to help put him back together, and she couldn't express how much it pained her. All she wanted was for him to be okay again, but she feared that may never happen.

With another sigh, Allison slipped into bed. With one last glance at Dick, making sure he was, indeed, fine, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, the soft tunes of Captain Tennille playing from the record player on the bedside table.

I got so excited about posting this I forgot the author's note haha... Well I hope y'all enjoyed this first chapter... Or at least the first part of it. I decided to break chapters up so that they're easier to digest for y'all. I'll try to hurry up and post the next part soon. Lemme know what you think in the comments! Thanks for reading

That's all for now!

Toodles!

~ Elsie