Nightmare warning. No descripton of it, but just a warning.
Gale's eyes blinked open and he rubbed at his eyes, squinting at the red numbers on his alarm clock next to his bed. He groaned internally at the sight of the way-too-early time and rolled over and caught himself before he laughed aloud at the sight before him.
Johanna was laying on her back, one arm crossed over her stomach, the other draped across her forehead and somehow coming out of the sleeve of her shirt. She was facing him with her mouth partly open. The blanket was at her knees and a piece of her hair was tangled in her fingers. She had not gone to bed that way. He wished he had a camera handy to take her picture so he could tease her about it later.
He sat up and untangled the comforter from around her legs as gently as possible and pulled it back over her. She mumbled something in her sleep and rolled over, facing away from him. Gale grinned, shook his head and then lay back down himself, closing his eyes.
He was almost asleep again when a squeaking noise frightened him back into a sitting position.
It was louder the next time. It was Johanna. Her face looked pained and she wriggled a bit, still asleep.
Gale was just about to attempt to gently wake her with a light lap on her arm when she screamed "NO! NO! GET AWAY!" She sounded terrified and her arms were trying to push something back. This was no time to be gentle, that would take too long.
"Johanna," he said rather loudly, shaking her. "Johanna! Wake up! Wake up! It's okay, you're okay. It's a dream! Wake up!"
And she did. She woke with a start and jumped into a sitting position, breathing hard, almost gasping for air as her eyes darted around the room, looking for a threat of danger.
"It's okay," Gale repeated, carefully reaching out to touch her arm. She jumped a bit at his touch. "It's alright, Jo. It's just me. Everything's okay. You're safe. It was just a dream."
After about a minute, she seemed to realize where she was, that it had just been a dream. She visibly relaxed a little, though she was still very obviously distressed.
"It's okay, you're okay." Gale repeated again. "You're safe."
Finally, she met his eyes. "G-gale…" she whimpered, voice trembling and sounding near tears.
He pulled her against his chest and she dissolved into tears. He had never seen Johanna like this. Usually, her nightmares didn't manifest physically. Usually, they'd just wake her and she'd stay up for a while before going back to sleep. It broke his heart to see her this upset.
"Sh," he whispered, combing his fingers through her hair as she trembled against him. "I'm here, I've got you. You're okay. Everything's okay now. I promise."
A/N: What'd you think? Please let me know how you liked it!