Basil stirred in his sleep, unsettled. He blinked rapidly as his eyes adjusted to the blackness of the room. He knew immediately that something wasn't right even though he wasn't sure what it was yet.
He peered into the darkness in complete silence for a moment, attempting to gather his thoughts, wondering whether there had been a knock at the door with an emergency that required his attention or a noise coming from one of the guests' rooms. He focused all of his concentration on listening hard to try and work out what the disturbance had been.
Then he heard it again.
The distinct shuffling sound coming from the bed next to him had awoken him from his slumber. The sound of sheets being kicked and the faintest sound of erratic breathing and soft, distressed whimpers. Sybil.
Basil jumped out of bed and crossed their small bedroom to her side. His hearing hadn't been his strongest sense in the recent years, but a dominant instinct and reflex always seemed to kick him into high alert where she was concerned, something for which he was always thankful for. Going right back to their early years together, one of the very first things Basil had ever learnt about his wife was that she often experienced disturbed sleep and nightmares when she was anxious or had something weighing on her mind.
The curtain had been left open just an inch so that moonlight trickled into the otherwise darkened room and illuminated Sybil's small body curled up on the bed. Basil felt his heart lurch inside his chest as his gaze fell upon her lying there. Her tossing and turning increased, her breathing escalated to a frantic rate that usually indicated she was about to wake up, Basil sat down on the edge of the sheets beside her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Syb," He whispered softly into the darkness to try and ease her distress and let her know he was there. In between sleep and consciousness, Sybil let out a soft cry before her eyelashes fluttered open. All of her natural defences down, the tears that had already begun forming in her eyes slipped down her cheeks as she gasped a few shallow breaths as Basil quickly wrapped his arms around her, gently holding her head to his chest as he stroked his other hand along her back in slow, soothing circles.
"Shhhhh, it's okay, everything's okay dear." He comforted, knowing that in her sleepy, disoriented state it was exactly what she needed to hear. Her body shook as she clung to him, he kissed the top of her head, cherishing being able to hold her and realizing just how much he missed having her so close.
Basil held her as she cried for a small while longer, rocking her trembling figure until, much to his relief, she slowly stilled against him and fell silent. The gentle sound of her slowly adjusting breathing filled the room and Basil felt her body begin to relax in his arms.
"Do you wanna talk about?" He asked quietly, and although she couldn't quite bring herself to respond, Sybil was grateful for the comfort it brought.
Basil took her silence as a 'no' in answer to his question, and as he held her he wondered regretfully to himself whether he had been the subject matter of whatever dream had gotten her into such a state. Their arguments had gotten even worse lately, leaving the pair of them constantly stressed and whenever they tried talking about it, they ended up having yet another unnecessary dispute.
Several minutes of silence passed before either of them spoke again.
"Can you stay here tonight?." Sybil quietly mumbled in a small voice that few others beside her husband would ever recognize as her own. Basil's face must have shown that the question had caught him off guard because she quickly added clarification, "Just tonight. If you want."
She avoided making eye contact with him now, toying with the fabric of her nightgown as she tried to resist her body's need to fall back to sleep as she waited in uncertainty for his answer.
"Of course I want to," He reassured her, his hand reaching out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Their eyes slowly met in the dark, the white moonlight cast shadows over the features she knew so well, outlining his silhouette in front of her. "Thank you," she whispered. Not wanting to talk anymore, eyelids already feeling heavy as she settled herself back against the cool cotton of her pillow and pulled the bedsheets back up over her body. Basil followed suit and climbed in next to her, listening to the soothing sound of her breathing as he slowly inched closer and closer to her, wrapping his arm tightly around her waist as he gently kissed her shoulder blade and settled beside her.
Maybe, with a little more effort from the pair of them, their marriage could improve for the better.