"Mum? Mum! Wake up!" He said, the concern was evident in his voice

"Declan?" She mumbled

He sat down on the bed beside her and held her hand

"Are you OK, Mum?" He asked

"I think so, why did you wake me up?" She couldn't help wondering if she was still asleep

"I heard you crying, so I came to see if you were alright but you were asleep. You were thrashing about and it was scaring me, so I thought I should wake you" He explained

"Thanks sweetheart" She said with a weak smile

She sat up and patted the bed beside her, Declan got the idea and went and sat beside her.

"What were you dreaming about?" He couldn't hide his curiosity any longer

She sighed

"When you came home I was asleep, I'd been dreaming about Des, but it was strange, he was talking to me, and I could reply as I would normally. Then you woke me up, but when I fell asleep just now he was still there, and he was really scaring me, I tried to wake up but I couldn't, I tried to think about something else but it didn't work. I don't want to go back to sleep" She said, it reminded her of when her children had bad dreams, she'd always tell them that God would be there to protect them, so they would be safe and could go back to sleep.

"Do you want me to stay here, Mum? Then I can wake you up if you get upset again" He said sympathetically.

She didn't know what to say, on the one hand she'd always vowed never to show her weaknesses in front of her children but on the other, she was terrified to close her eyes, and some how the theory that God would protect her didn't seem to ease her worries.

Declan knew the answer, she didn't have to say it. He lay on the bed beside her, she laid back down and turned out the light.

"Thank you" She said quietly

"It's alright, you've done this for me enough times" He replied

Sheelagh fell asleep very quickly, she was exhausted.

"Welcome back" Des growled

"Get on with it then" She said with a worried frown

"Feeling brave now are we, with Declan there?" He asked

"How do you know he's there?" She asked, her voice shaking with fear

"I can see him" Replied Des

She was beginning to get scared, she wished Declan would wake her up but nothing was happening.

"He's asleep, it's just you and me now" He said with an maniacal grin spreading across his face

"Wh...What are going to do?" Sheelagh whimpered, ordinarily she didn't let her dreams get to her, but she knew this was more than that

The phone in her pocket began to ring, she picked it up to answer it, but it wasn't ringing. She woke up. It was her bedside alarm buzzing. She hit it a few times and eventually she got the sleep button.

She rolled over to see Declan beginning to stir, he squinted as he opened his eyes, and yawned.

"No more bad dreams?" He asked, his question barely finished when he yawned again

"No, thanks darling" She said with a weak smile, she didn't want to worry him, and she knew he would feel bad for falling asleep and leaving her to it. Besides, he was exhausted, he'd done the best he could.

"Good, so you're alright?" He smiled

"Yeah, I'm fine thanks" She replied, taking his hand and squeezing it gently

Declan squeezed his Mum's hand back and stood up

"Spose I should get up" He yawned

"Yeah, I'm going to call in sick. You should go back to bed, you look shattered!" She said with a smile

"You don't have to tell me twice, night night Mum" He laughed walking out of the room

"Night sweetheart" She called as he began to close the door behind him