Chapter 4: Nightmares

That night was anything but peaceful in the Taylor household. Tim went to sleep about 10 pm and Julie and Shelly were asleep by 11. Eric and Tami talked a little and Gracie got her night bottle and they were out right about 12. However it didn't last long.

At 12:15 Tami woke up to Julie moaning in the living room. She went out to investigate before Julie woke everyone.

"Julie baby wake up."

Julie sat bolt upright.

"Shhh sweetheart, it's okay."

Julie blinked several times and looked around. She sighed.

"Oh mom… I'm okay… I just had a nightmare."

Tami sat on the coffee table.

"What was it about hun?"

"The Tornado. The nightmare was that… well… we were trapped for longer. It was scary."

"I'm sorry Julie. Do you want to come in my room? I can make your father sleep out here."

"No no… I'm okay. I'm just gonna go to the bathroom and then try to go back to sleep."

"Okay. Come get me if you need me. Goodnight."

"Night."

Julie went to the bathroom and then splashed some water on her face.

On her way back to the couch she heard Tim making some noise in her room. She checked to see if her mom had gone back to bed then slipped into her room.

Tim was laying on his right side basically the same as when she left him earlier. He wasn't really making a lot of noise but as she watched him he would turn to lay on his back then hiss and roll back to his front. He was obviously uncomfortable but Julie didn't know what would help him.

She chewed on her lip and debated her choices. With a sigh she decided to just go with her gut and see what would happen.

She lifted the cover and slipped in. She pulled the pillow he was hugging out from his arms and instead pulled his left arm around her waist and scooted backwards into him. He reacted immediately by snuggling into her neck and pulling her closer.

She smiled. This was definitely not how she expected to end this night. However with him wrapped around her she felt safe again and hoped the nightmares would stay away.

An hour-ish later Tim woke up. He was hungry and confused and holding someone.

He swallowed. He realizes he is in Julie's bed and he remembers how and why but he does not remember Julie joining him.

He licks his lips and tries to remove himself from her. He does pretty well until he rolls on his back to get up.

"Ahhhh." He moans.

Julie pops up.

"Oh Gosh, Are you okay?" She whispers.

Tim is in a seated position now.

He lets out a breath. "Yeah… sorry I woke you."

"It's okay… what do you need?"

"Uh… I'm just uh... hungry and thirsty and I have to pee."

She smiled. "I can only help with two of those. You go to the bathroom and I'll heat you up some dinner. Meet in the kitchen?"

"Okay."

A few minutes later Julie sets a plate with two Alamo burgers on it on the counter for Tim. She gets a glass of ice water and puts it next to it and then makes herself a glass.

Tim slides carefully onto a stool.

"Mmm. Thanks."

"No problem. Are you okay? You didn't hurt yourself did you?"

"um… I am okay yes. I shouldn't have rolled on my back. I was still asleep and not thinking. It didn't feel very good at all."

"Yeah… Mom has your pain pills but the doctor said not to give you one till breakfast unless you were at a 9 or 10 on the pain scale. What is your pain level?"

"Uh… Maybe a 5. I don't feel bad right now, I think it was just the surprise of rolling and having any pain…"

"Yeah… you uh… you were rolling a lot about midnight… um… that's why I was in there. I was on the couch but I checked on you and you kept rolling on your back."

"So you thought if I cuddled you I wouldn't roll?" Tim asked surprised.

Julie flushed. Embarrassed. "That wasn't exactly my logic but it is what happened. I laid down and was planning to pull you if you tried to roll but you somehow sensed I was there and pulled me into you and uh… yeah… I just stayed there… and you didn't roll at all… but um… I'm sorry." She looked away.

"Don't be sorry. It was just weird to wake up to and then I was nervous your dad would kill me."

"Yeah… um…" Julie looked Tim in the eyes. "Don't tell them. I was not supposed to be in there. I am supposed to be on the couch or with Aunt Shelly."

"Oh…"

"Okay Tim?"

"Yeah… Julie?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we okay?"

She was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I just…I feel like a lot happened today both to us and between us. I want us to be okay and not weird."

"Oh yeah. We are fine Tim. You saved my life…"

"Jules, you saved me."

Julie stared into Tim's eyes again.

"I did not. You literally put yourself on top of me to protect me."

"Yes… and you kept me calm and made sure I stayed awake and drove me to the hospital and you protected me from rolling… you did a lot too Julie."

She thought about what he was saying.

"Okay… so we saved each other?" She smiled.

He smiled too. "We saved each other, supergirl."

She shook her head.

"I'm glad you're okay"

"I'm glad we are both okay." He said finishing his last bite.

Julie picked up his plate and put it in the sink. They each headed back to bed.

At 3:45 AM Julie had another nightmare. This time she woke herself up and was crying and having trouble catching her breath. In this horrible nightmare, Tim had bled out and died while laying on top of her.

Julie sat up and tried to take deep breaths.

Suddenly Tim was sitting next to her on the couch.

"Are you okay sounds like a stupid question when I can see that you aren't okay. I'm here though." He said.

Julie carefully hugged him and let her hot tears run down his chest.

Tim wrapped his right arm around her and pulled her in closer.

"It's okay… I'm here. You're safe."

"I… it wasn't… I… You…" She tried to express it but it wasn't coming out right.

"Shhh Julie. It was just a bad dream. Everyone is okay."

She nodded and he kissed her head.

"Thank you." She whispered several minutes later when she finally got control of herself.

Tim didn't know what to say so he just pressed another kiss to her head and rubbed her back. He had heard her crying and then he heard her erratic breathing and knew he had to help her so he came out.

"Do you want to tell me about the dream?" Tim asked.

"NO! I uh… I mean… no thank you, it was just about the Tornado. I'm better now." She didn't want to tell him she was dreaming of him dying.

He could tell she wasn't telling the truth but he wasn't going to push.

"Okay… I get it. It was a scary night."

"Yeah it really was." Julie sat up and Tim removed his arm, he put his hands on his thighs.

Julie interlaced her fingers with his.

"Thank you for being with me. I feel safe with you, Tim."

He smiled. "I like making you feel safe."

She giggled. "Superman huh?"

"I mean… that's superman's job right Jules… keep all the ladies safe."

More giggles. "I think superman keeps everyone safe… not just ladies."

"Yeah well I guess I'm off to a decent start at least."

Julie stared into Tim's eyes and then her eyes darted to his lips. She licked her lips and then bit her bottom lip and looked back into his eyes.

Tim knew where this was leading and wasn't sure he wanted to go there. He cleared his throat.

"Um… if you are okay now... uh we should probably both try to get some more sleep since its 4 AM."

Julie nodded and pulled her hand away gently.

"Goodnight supergirl."

"Goodnight Tim." She smiled.

A half hour later Julie woke herself again with another nightmare about Tim dying.

This time she was able to soothe herself and she buried her face into the couch cushions and forced herself back to sleep.

Thirty minutes after that, Tami was up feeding Gracie Belle and heard Julie moaning again. She checked on her and found her with her face shoved in the cushions saying. "No no. wake up. Stay with me."

"JULES. Wake up!" Tami whispered in her ear.

Julie woke up startled.

"Mom?"

"Yeah hunny… another nightmare?"

"Um… yeah… basically every hour all night."

"What was this one? You were saying for someone to stay with you?"

"oh… I was talking?"

Tami nodded.

"Well it was just the tornado again… I just keep going back over it. I don't know who I was telling to stay with me… Tim I guess… I dunno… I mean he was there, he never left."

"Okay hun. Well, it's just after 5. Try to sleep for another little bit and then we can have breakfast before school."

"Mom?"

"Yeah Julie?"

"Can I stay home today? I'm just really tired and I swear I don't have any tests or anything. I just want to sleep. Maybe I'll sleep better if it's not dark out like the storm."

Tami's eyebrows went up.

"Um… I'll talk to your dad when he wakes up. Just try to sleep some more hunny."

"Okay."

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