Her shift ended early tonight which she hated. Normally she welcomed going home early but today she wanted to stay as long as possible to distract from her anxiousness. She stole a glance at her phone, checking for any new messages, disappointed when all she saw was the previous conversation with Nick in which he told her "My flight is landing after eight tonight, should be home by ten, love you."
He had ended the text with one of those kissing face emoticon things that she used to find cheesy but now adored. With that knowledge, she had to settle for working, wondering if he would get home early and surprise her like he tended to do or was he serious this time in telling her the exact details of his flight.
Whatever the case, she drove home; let herself into their shared house, greeted Sam with the usual pets and ear ruffles, made dinner, saving a plate for Nick just in case the in flight meal was unsatisfactory, showered, changed into her favorite Seattle Seahawks shirt then turned on the TV in the living room to watch whatever boring show was on until he arrived.
At ten o'clock however, she was no longer calm. Nick still wasn't home yet and she had not heard from him, no text, no call, nothing. She didn't want to assume the worst, but working the job she did, all her anxiety and worry bubbled up and made her restless. Sam watched her pace the living room, holding her phone, debating whether or not to call him or the airline. She didn't want to seem clingy or needy but based on his text from earlier and a lack of contact since then, she was generally concerned. When she called him and got no answer, she sent a text. Ten minutes passed, still no answer. Her heart began to pound furiously in her chest and she felt her stomach ache with nervousness and fear.
"It's probably just a delay;" she tried to reason with herself "maybe there was a storm or something."
But California was a state rarely thrown by weather delays. That thought did nothing to calm her nerves, it only enhanced her fear.
At ten thirty, she couldn't stand the wait. She felt as if her heart was going to jump out of her chest it was pounding furiously. All her common sense seemed to leave her as she continued to debate whether or not to call the airline for information on Nick's flight. She could feel the anxiety nagging at her but the uncertainty of looking needy for calling too much also ate at her fears making her snarl in frustration and pace the living room more. She tried to distract herself by watching more TV, chewing on her thumb and bouncing her leg up and down nervously. When that failed, she tried texting Morgan about random stuff but couldn't concentrate long enough to keep the conversation going.
By eleven thirty she could feel that crippling post coma exhaustion taking over. She could hear the TV noise coming in and out of her subconscious, her cell phone beginning to slip from her hand as her grip loosened on it. Her eyes grew heavy and the urge to close them and sleep weighed on her overwhelmingly. But she couldn't rest, not until she knew Nick was home and safe. Instead, she went up to their room, gathered up pillows, two blankets and the stuffed toy dog he had purchased for her when she was recovering in the hospital, and dragged it all downstairs. She took the pillows and propped them up in the cushiony reclining arm chair that faced the TV, the one she and Nick spent countless hours snuggled up in watching football games or movies. Then she settled back in the chair, lay her head on the pillows, curled her legs up so she could fit in the chair better, tugged at the blankets, tucked them in around her for warmth, clutched her cell phone in one hand, cradled the stuffed dog in her arms and hunkered down in her nest of blankets, intending to stay there all night and wait for Nick.
He was exhausted, that flight had almost killed him, the security delays were immensely frustrating and the lack of cell phone service, a hindrance in contacting her to tell her where he was and why he was so late. So when he finally carried himself through the front door at twelve thirty in the morning, he was not surprised to be greeted by Sam who quietly padded over to him and sniffed his clothes and luggage.
"Hey buddy," Nick greeted Sam "yeah that's McCarran you smell, four extra hours man."
Sam just pierced him with a brown eyed stare.
"How come you're up so late huh?" Nick asked Sam "where's mommy?"
At that declaration, Sam bolted into the living room. Nick followed and was met with a surprising sight that made him smile despite the airport ordeal. Julie was asleep, curled up in their favorite reclining chair, surrounded by blankets and pillows and clinging to the stuffed dog he had purchased for her when she was recovering at the hospital when the gift shop had been short on teddy bears. He smirked at how she had seemingly tried so hard to stay up and wait for him, but had fallen asleep; like she often did whenever they stayed up late to watch movies despite extensive protesting that she would make it to see the end of the movie.
He couldn't leave her like that sleeping on that small chair so he approached it quietly and knelt beside it.
"Babe," he whispered sweeping her hair back gently, hating having to wake her up but wanting her to know he was there.
Upon hearing his voice, she instinctively started to move under the covers, reaching out for him like she did whenever they became separated from each others embrace in bed in the middle of the night. She stretched out her arms and found him.
"You're here," she whispered tiredly wrapping her arms around his neck and trying to pull him into the chair with her.
"Yeah I made it," he said hugging her.
"What took so long?" she mumbled agitatedly.
"Crazy bag checks," he explained, rubbing her back to try and calm her down "long lines, you know how it is."
"You didn't call," she complained now.
"I know," he soothed "I'm sorry, I tried, but the service was terrible."
She knew he was sincere and he sounded just as upset by the delay as she was. She continued to hold onto him, wanting to pull him to lay in the chair with her.
"Come on," he said, gently prying her arms away from him so he could tuck his arms under her and scoop her up in one motion, blankets and all. He carried her up the stairs, Sam trotting along after him, to their room and set her down in the bed still wrapped in her blankets. When she felt him slip away from her, she let out a small whimper and reached out blindly for him again.
"Sleep," he encouraged her with a kiss to her forehead.
He hated leaving her even for the short time it took him to shower and change into clothes that didn't remind him of that noisy, crowded airport. When he finally made it back to the room he was pleased to see she was asleep, stretched out on the bed, one arm tossed over her head. Sam had crawled up on the bed and nestled beside her, curling up protectively against her.
"Hey now," Nick warned him "you know the bed is off limits."
Sam just gazed at him reproachfully, scooting closer to Julie and laying his head on her stomach in a more protective stance.
"Come on," Nick said snapping his fingers at the dog "she'll be fine."
Sam obeyed and hopped off the bed, circling his dog bed on the floor twice before settling down in it.
"Good dog," Nick praised him, thankful to have him around so Julie wasn't completely alone on nights like this. He settled down in bed next to her at last, exhausted but conscious enough to mumble "You spoil him" to her as he hugged her to him.
"Shut up," she mumbled back, half smirking, knowing he was right but too tired to fight him on it.
With the lights off and silence settling between them, they could finally rest. He hated sleeping without her and he knew she hated it too. Just being able to come home and have her here, snuggled up in his arms at peace with the world was the greatest gift. Despite all the horrors their jobs brought them, the simple pleasure of sleep and the comfort from holding each other was enough to ease their nerves. While the airport delay had been hell, getting home to be with her made it all worth the wait.