Once again, thank you so much for your lovely reviews. I love you all for reading my story and giving me your thoughts, and I'm keeping those thoughts safe in a jar on my bedside table.
Well, not really... but you get my point.
As he opened the door, he came face to face with the woman he often saw in the middle of the night. He sighed, this was going to hurt when he woke up.
"You again," he whispered. "I see you're back. I'm dreaming, aren't I?"
Kate looked back at him, confused.
"You're not dreaming."
Tony laughed an empty, hollow laugh. "You usually acknowledge that I am, and tell me that I need to let you go. Of course, you also usually turn up in some kind of gorgeous dress and you don't look this... injured... battered... hurt. I guess my imagination is getting wilder, what can I say?"
It was always like this. Awake blurred with asleep and he'd see her. Her smile... her beauty... he felt that somehow it was what he owed her, to keep her memory alive. To see her was to continue to love her.
Then he would wake up. Remember she was gone. Feel like shit all over again.
He was trapped by her. He was haunted by her.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Kate whispered, her face still blank.
Tony resented this. It seemed that she was trying to make him feel some kind of doubt. Doubt that she was actually gone. He knew that if he let himself forget that she wasn't real, it would be so much harder to accept it again in the morning.
"Kate, every time I see you, I want to touch you, feel you near me, but every time I try to reach out to you, my hand just goes right through you. Then I wake up."
"You can touch me." Kate's voice was small, and she held up her hand to Tony, who hesitated. This dream was different from the others.
"Touch my hand. I'm here."
He looked at her hand. There was a healing cut on her palm, which continued down to her elbow. He began to realise just how bad she looked, the bruises on her face, how thin she looked, the tiredness in her eyes. She was still beautful, she just seemed so... broken.
Slowly, he brought up his hand, bringing it to hers. The tips of their fingers touched first, then their palms. The two of them looked at their touching hands, and Tony felt Kate's hand against his.
"This isn't a dream." Tony whispered, his voice barely loud enough for Kate to hear.
Looking up at Tony, Kate's eyes were sad and pleading and a tear ran down her cheek.
"Please, Tony... help me?"
Hope the story's not moving too slowly... send your thoughts my way and I'll put them in that jar I was talking about... :)