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"Depends on what it is…" he answered her question.
"Could you please hold me?"
"Are you sure you want that? I mean I'd love to hold you but do you think that this is a good idea?"
"Yes, I'm sure. If I wasn't I wouldn't have asked!"
"Okay, of course I will hold you!" he sat down behind her and put his arms around her waist. They she laid back on his chest and listened to his heart beat. "Honey, please tell me if you feel uncomfortable, okay?! In this case we could always change the position or I'll leave you alone in bed…"
"I'm fine. I want to feel you close. I guess I just need a hug right now."
"Okay, but still tell me if you need anything or if I can help you."
"Right now you would help me a lot if you wouldn't be so soft on me."
"Okay, I'm silent before you're going to kill me."
"I won't kill you! Where's Aiden by the way?"
"He's at home. My mom picked him up and brought him there because he was tired and fell asleep and the doctors wanted us to leave you alone here. But I just couldn't leave. Not now, not ever."
"Why did they say that? You're just the best, Jim."
"Because of the examination and stuff. I didn't really get their point. All I know is that I can't leave you here on your own. The past five weeks were so hard. You know to go to bed, knowing that you won't be in there the whole night."
"Well, that's what I have to go through when you're on a night shift."
"Yeah, well, I've never been on a night shift for 5 weeks, Mel. I get your point though. I promise you I'll do my best not to get the night shifts too often."
"Don't promise anything you can't influence…"
"I will talk to my boss and ask if that would be a problem… I'll do it first thing in the morning, I promise!"
"Okay…" Melinda said and moved to comfort her a bit more. After a few minutes Jim noticed that Melinda had fallen asleep. Her breaths were heavy and her head was moving to the right on her shoulder. Jim put it back on his chest. Melinda was in a deep, dreamless sleep. For Jim it was a miracle that she was sound asleep. If he'd been in her situation he wouldn't have slept for months afterwards. He couldn't understand how someone could ever hurt her the way Gabriel did. On that thought he put his arms a bit tighter around her as if it would protect her from the past. They stayed in this position for three and a half hours until Melinda woke up again. When she started to move her feet Jim immediately looked at her.
"Good morning, honey" he whispered in her ear. She didn't answer what seemed odd to him. Then she looked up to him and kissed him softly on his lips.
"Morning" she finally answered.
"Did you sleep well?" he wanted to know.
"Yeah, I guess so. I didn't have a dream… Neither a bad nor a good one."
"That's good. Wanna eat something?"
"No, I'm not hungry. Thanks."
"But you have to eat something. You didn't eat proper in 5 weeks now."
"You're right, I should eat something." She said.
"Wow…"
"What?"
"You didn't even try to fight with me about it?!" he was stunned.
"Why should I? There's no reason to fight with you. I get your point."
"That's new" he smiled. "Okay, I'm gonna go and get you something to eat."
"Okay."
Jim stood up and left the room. He went downstairs to the cafeteria and got some pasta and a piece of chocolate cake. Then he went back to Melinda's room. There he knocked at the door but didn't get an answer. Because he thought that she might be in the bathroom, he entered the room. He looked around and found her asleep in bed. She seemed to have a nightmare. She was kicking and murmuring. Jim put down the pasta and cake on a table next to the bed. He couldn't decide if he should wake her up or let her sleep. So he lifted her up a bit and sat down behind her again. Suddenly she stopped kicking and murmuring and snuggled up to him. He gave her a strange look on that sudden change. He made the decision that he had to call his boss now. He grabbed his phone and dialed the number.
It rang a few times until he hung up.
"Hello?" his boss, Jerry, answered it.
"Hey Jerry, it's me, Jim!"
"Oh, hey Jim. How's your wife?"
"She's… Let's say okay… She would say that she's fine but actually she isn't."
"What do you mean by 'she'd say'? Did she wake up?"
"Yes, she woke up of the coma today and sleeps a lot. But the thing is… I just witnessed that she can't sleep well if I'm not around. I didn't talk to the doctors about it yet but I wanted to ask you if it would be possible that I won't get the night shifts anymore? Not just now… I mean like forever…"
"First of all, that's a great thing! About your question… That would destroy the whole shift schedules… But we're here to help people and if Melinda really can't sleep when you're not around it definitely isn't healthy."
"What does that mean?"
"I guess I won't schedule you on the nights anymore. But the same rule as usual… If we need every man in an emergency I can't let you stay at home, okay?" Jerry offered.
"Sure, I understand that. Thank you so much, Jerry. You can't imagine how much you're helping us!"
"I guess I can't but the way you're acting right now tells me that it was really important for you."
"Yes, it really was."
"Okay Jim. I gotta go now. See you around when your holiday is over."
"Which holiday?"
"The one you just earned. I guess Melinda and Aiden need you right now very much, don't they?"
"I guess so…"
"So I don't want to see you here until Melinda has completely recovered, okay?"
"Okay… But in case of emergency don't deny calling."
"Sure I won't. See you. And tell Melinda to get well soon."
"I will. Thank you. Bye" he hung up the phone.
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