Chapter 6

Cathy had a sense of déja-vu as she wandered into the hospital, but felt at peace knowing it wasn't her fault this time. Everybody else seemed to assume that after he had recovered, Greg would just bounce back and get straight to work again, as though nothing had happened. Cathy on the other hand was seriously concerned for Greg on a psychological level. She knew how Lindsey had been after the split up with Eddie, and could only wonder about the effect of Greg's violent childhood. It had certainly had an impact on Rachel, and she hadn't even been the recipient.

She thought deeply about the Greg people saw at work. He didn't seem to be the result of years of abuse, so how did he deal with his past? Cathy had pondered this long and hard ever since the explosion. She wondered if Greg had a counsellor.
Finally a lift came along that she could get into. The 'hospital smell' was even more pungent in the small squashed space of the lift.
Walking towards Greg's room, different thoughts spun like a hurricane in Catherine's mind. They stopped dead when she reached the room.

She stood in the doorway and stared. Greg was having a nightmare, tossing and turning with tears streaming down his face, he showed no signs of waking. Should she? Catherine hesitated for a few seconds only before rushing to wake him up. She touched him, jumping back when he yelled

"Get away from me!"

She recovered quickly though, and doubts passing through her mind- was it that you shouldn't wake people from a nightmare?- she went back to trying to wake him.

"Greg, it's Catherine - wake up!"

Greg jolted awake suddenly, startling her.

"It's ok, it was just a nightmare, Greg it's me- Cathy."

He looked down, apparently a little embarrassed.

"I thought you might want some company."

She stated, trying to break the tension. Greg didn't look up and didn't say anything. To say that he seemed down would be an understatement, as the two sat in silence for a moment.

"You wanna talk about it?"

Greg didn't respond. Cathy waited patiently.

"It was just a nightmare."

He said at last. He sounded different. There was no hint of cheeriness at all- his tone was completely serious.

"How often do you have nightmares Greg?"

He didn't look up but gave the impression of being uncomfortable. He coughed and then asked

"Well...how often do you get them?"

Catherine could see Greg wasn't used to talking about things like this.

"Rarely. About twice a month maximum."

She replied, and tried to judge the look on his face.

"What about you?"

She prompted, as Greg fidgeted.

"About..."

He seemed reluctant to tell her, but tiredly gave in.

"Every other night."

Cathy tried her best not to show the shock she felt within. Although she had partly expected the answer, this side of Greg was still new to her, and she was still chilled by the answer.

"Greg..."

"Please don't. I'm tired and I don't want to listen to all of the 'you need help because I say so' speeches, ok?"

Catherine sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"It helps to talk about things. I won't laugh at you or pity you if you tell me what the nightmare was about."

Greg sighed. He looked back down to his 'oh-so-interesting bed sheets'. Another long pause whilst Greg decided whether or not to tell her, and Catherine worried about whether she was going about this whole situation in the right way. Greg sighed.

"Fine....It started off with my mom and dad hitting me, but then they sort of...merged, and suddenly it wasn't them hitting me but Rachel. Then all of a sudden there was this huge explosion, and I fell down my apartment block stairs, although for some reason...I.I landed outside the lab. And then..."

He hesitated.

"...well my parents and Rachel were yelling at me to get up, but I couldn't; they just kept yelling anyway. Then my father walked towards me, whilst I was lying on the ground and he looked so angry...and then...then you woke me up."

Greg finished. He looked somewhere between ashamed and embarrassed.

"Do you ever talk to anyone about these nightmares?"

Catherine asked, genuinely concerned.

"No..."

Was Greg's mumbled reply. Cathy couldn't help it- She had to ask

"How do you do it Greg? Stay cheerful, make people laugh, I've never seen you angry let alone violent- how come you didn't end up like your parents?"

Greg answered her forcefully, looking straight at her.

"Because I hated my parents. I promised myself that I would never end up like them."

Cathy nodded, not quite sure how to respond to this, so she moved on instead.

"How do you deal with the nightmares?"

"I don't know. I've always had them I guess. I can't remember a time when I didn't have nightmares so they don't really...bother me that much any more. I'm used to them."

Greg closed his eyes. Cathy could see he was tired and felt a little guilty about keeping him up. But she didn't believe Greg and told him as much.

"It's not like a sore arm which you can get used to- because nightmares change."

"Not always."

Greg added, immediately regretting it.

"Not always? Do you have recurring nightmares?"

Greg coughed.

"Sometimes. But I really *do not* want to talk about them. Please Catherine, I really appreciate you coming but I need to get some...proper sleep."

Cathy was reluctant to leave, but the pleading look in Greg's eyes finally became too much, so she made a compromise.

"Get some sleep...we'll continue this conversation later."

Greg didn't look happy about the situation but was too tired to argue.

TBC please please please R and R!