x. Jericho

"Reese!"

The sheets were soaked in sweat, and I sat up, panting.
Another dream.
Another faux-happy ending…

She climbs into bed with me.
Kisses my forehead, then slips away…

I turn a little to hold her, to know that she's there…
And then I see her eyes.

Hollow. Cold. Dead.
Her mouth somehow set into that pleading, angelic, beautiful pout.
Her precious little body…broken.

It's all I can do to keep from being sick.
How do you shut that kind of picture from your mind?

I tried in vain for a couple moments, then glanced at the Polaroid on the nightstand.

Those wide-set blue eyes.
Baby-faced pout.
Dark hair that fell haphazardly over her shoulders.

An angel…

Sleep, though I couldn't understand how, had started to close in, and I sighed.
She had to be alive…

Had to.