"NO! STOP! GET OFF OF ME!"

Jeffrey jerked awake when he heard the screaming. He'd fallen asleep on that damn chair again. "Sandy…" he mumbled, looking over to see Sandy moving on the bed. "Sandy… Wake up…"

"PLEASE… STOP IT!"

"Sandy!" Jeffrey said, shaking him slightly. "Sandy wake up!"

Sandy's eyes snapped open, almost immediately shifting to survey the room, looking for anyone or anything that might jump out at him.

"Sandy, it's OK…" Jeffery said.

"Jeffrey…" Sandy whispered.

"Yes…" Jeffrey said. "I'm right here baby…"

"Jeffrey…" Sandy whispered again, too afraid to say much else. He was still panting and shaking, and could barely make out Jeffrey's form in the darkness.

Jeffrey moved to turn on the light, but instantly regretted it. The glare of the hospital light was so bright that it hurt his eyes at first.

Sandy closed his eyes, the sting from the light only making him tear up more than he already had been.

"It's OK Sandy…" Jeffrey said. "You were just having a bad dream that's all…"

The light had been enough to shock Sandy awake, and he had managed to calm himself down somewhat. "Just… Turn it off…" he said, still blinking back tears.

"Are you sure?" Jeffery asked.

"Yes…" Sandy said.

Jeffrey shut off the light and felt his way back to the chair. "I'm sorry…" Jeffrey said. "I probably shouldn't've done that…"

"Then why did you?" Sandy snapped. "I'm sorry…" he added with a sigh. "I'm just… So jumpy right now…"

"It's OK…" Jeffrey said.

"I wish that I could just stop dreaming about it…" Sandy said.

Jeffrey grabbed Sandy's hand and squeezed it comfortingly. "Do you think that you could manage to get back to sleep?" he asked.

"I don't know…" Sandy said. "I'm not sure that I really want to…"

Jeffrey glanced over at the clock. "Well…" he said. "It's 4:00 a.m., what else is there to do?"

Sandy buried his face into the pillow. The last thing that he wanted to do right now was cry… Again… But unfortunately he felt the overwhelming urge to do so.

"Sandy… It's OK…" Jeffrey said, hearing Sandy's attempt to stifle his sobs. "It's OK, Sandy… It's OK to cry…"

Sandy turned to face Jeffrey, even though he could barely even see him through the darkness. "I don't wanna cry…" he said. "I'm so sick and tired of crying…"

"It's OK, Sandy…" Jeffrey said. He knew he'd already repeated the phrase to death, but he didn't know what else to tell him.

"And then when they subpoena me… I'm so weak, Jeffrey… I'm going to fall apart on the stand… What if… What if I… What if I start sobbing like this… And then the jury thinks I'm crazy… And then they don't believe me…" Sandy said, almost beginning to hyperventilate.

"Calm down, Sandy…" Jeffrey said. "Just calm down. There's a very good chance they won't subpoena you anyway, all right. So just calm down, please…"

"But…" Sandy said. "Gus made it sound like…"

"Forget Gus…" Jeffrey said. "All right? I told you, he was overstepping his bounds…"

"But if they have no other witnesses…"

"They do have another witness, Sandy. They do. I was the one that took his statement… I got his confession…"

"Confession?" Sandy asked. "What do you mean confession?"

"Well…" Jeffrey said. "He…"

"Don't tell me you brokered a deal for one of these guys!" Sandy said, completely incensed.

"Sandy there was no other way to keep you off of the stand and still make sure that Jack got put away…"

"Jack?" Sandy said. "Jack? Oh, so now he has a name?"

"Yes…" Jeffrey said. "His… His name is Jack… And… I had to make sure that he got put away for life…"

"And what about the other guy?" Sandy said. "He hurt me too, Jeffery!"

"Sandy, I know… He'll be in prison for three years…"

"THREE YEARS!?! THAT'S IT?!?"

"Sandy… Please… Try to understand…"

"Oh, I understand!" Sandy spat. "I understand completely! You were just doing your job! Your job that is so damn fucking important!"

"No, Sandy! I was trying to protect you!"

"Protect me? He's getting out in three years… Do you wanna tell me how the fuck that constitutes protecting me?"

"He isn't a threat, Sandy…"

"How can you say that?" Sandy cried. "How can you even say that to me after what that man put me through?"

"Sandy… I know how to read people… When he spoke of you… There was nothing… Not even the slightest hint of emotion in his voice… He recounted the whole thing like he was reading numbers out of the phone book… He saw what he did to you as a job for his boss and a favor for his lover… Nothing less… And nothing more… He's done with it… I can tell…"

"Green eyes…" Sandy whispered.

"What?" Jeffrey asked.

"He's… He's the one with the green eyes, isn't he?"

"Yes…" Jeffrey said. "Yes he is…"

"The other one wanted to kill me…" Sandy said. "I still don't understand why he didn't…"

"Sandy… Do you understand why I had to do this?"

Sandy nodded slightly. "Because the one with the blue eyes wants to kill me…" he said. "And what if he still doesn't get put away? Then what?"

"He will, Sandy… He will get put away…"

"Promise me…" Sandy said.

"I promise you that I will do everything that I can…"

"That's not what I asked you!"

"Sandy, you know I can't promise you a verdict…"

"Why not?" Sandy said. "Why would you cut that man a deal if you couldn't?"

"Because! It makes it that much more likely."

"The one you cut a deal with… You… You're sure that he won't hurt me again…"

"He has no reason to, Sandy…" Jeffrey said. "Both of his reasons are going to spend the rest of their lives behind bars… He's just a lackey… A follower… He would never initiate anything on his own… He's just not the type…"

"How can you be so sure?"

"I've made a career out of being sure…"

Sandy sighed and rested his head on the pillow.

"Just try to go back to sleep…" Jeffrey said. "We can talk about it some more in the morning if you want…"