Della rolled over, feeling for Perry's hand. In their younger years, they'd slept as a tangled mass of limbs. Now, their physical affection was less demonstrative.
But she didn't find his hand or any other part of him.
The bedroom door was still open and she could see a few fingers of light stretching down the hall, undoubtedly from his office.
She couldn't hear anything, which meant he was either engrossed in his reading or had fallen asleep. More likely the latter than the former. Sighing, she tossed back the sheets and pushed her feet into her slippers before shuffling down the hall.
As she had expected, Perry was asleep in his large leather chair, a book open on his desk and his head leaned against the winged back. She reached forward to gently touch his hand, but paused an inch away. He would put on a brave and stubborn attitude and insist he continue working. She'd have to think of some reason he had to come back to bed.
A nightmare.
After puffing in a few heavy breaths, she reached for his hand again.
"Mmph-hmm? Darling? What's the matter?" he murmured, sitting up.
"I...I had a nightmare," she lied. Despite being sleep-addled, he reached for her hand.
"You're awake now, Darling," he murmured, standing up beside her and pulling her against him. "What happened?"
Della scrambled through her brain for something and grabbed the first thought she had. "You...you were working on a case. Something with the mob, I guess, because they put out a contract on you."
It wasn't too far out of the realm of possibility. They'd both been shot at over the years with varying degrees of success. She had a purse with a bullethole in it, and Perry had a scar on the back of his shoulder where one of the more successful shots had hit.
"Darling," he murmured, rubbing her back.
"I didn't get there in time," she whispered, feeling real tears spill over her nightmare itself may have been a lie, but the premise beside it wasn't far out of the realm of possibility. To think of having him taken away so suddenly…
"Shh, shh," he murmured. "Come on, Darling, let's go back to bed." With an arm still around her, he led her down the hall.
He tucked them both in bed and pulled her up to his side.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.
"No. Please don't go back to your desk."
"I'll be right here, Darling," he promised.
It wasn't hard for her to drift back toward sleep. Perry, too, started to fall asleep. She felt his chest rising and falling slowly beneath her cheek. It had been a long time since they'd lain this close, sharing space and heat and breath.
They were getting older, no doubt about that. But lying with her head on his shoulder and his hands warm against her skin...that transcended time or age. This love…it was ageless.