07: Kate x Claire
(Set after "The End")
Beneath the high, old-fashioned bed, Claire crouches like a little frightened cat. The rough carpet scratches Kate's elbows as she peers at Claire in the dim light. For the past hour Kate's tried to talk her out, but now she's exhausted and out of words. And it's her own damn fault Claire's under there to begin with.
They've been in this safe house for three weeks now. Claire had a nightmare, another one. Her yelling had dragged Kate out of a deep sleep, and in despair she snapped, "It's just a dream. It's not real. Dreams can't hurt you."
That's when Claire bolted.
Now she stares back at Kate with eyes like dark hollow sockets, unblinking in the dim light. On Kate's dresser sits a business card for Dr. Curtis at the Santa Rosa Mental Health Center, but Kate hasn't felt the need to make that call. Until now.
How could I have said something so stupid? she asks herself. She remembers a dream of her own: Claire overlooking a sleeping Aaron, her face soft with tenderness and sorrow. The next morning Kate sensed a whiff of jungle greenery in the room, mixed with Claire's own delicate scent.
"I'm sorry, honey," Kate finally says. "What can I do?"
Claire sniffles a bit. "Stop telling me I'm wrong, that I don't know what I know."
"I'll try to listen better." The words drag out of Kate like a tractor stuck in spring mud, because she wants none of it. Wants to believe none of it. It's the right thing to say, though, because Claire scooches forward a little. The tightly-wound spring in Kate's middle relaxes. The time for a 4 AM phone call to Santa Rosa has passed.
Claire's scruffy head pokes out from under the bed, but Kate knows better than to dash forward or grab her. When Claire extends her hand, Kate helps pull her out. Without thinking, she brushes a few dust bunnies from Claire's hair.
"Kate..." Claire hesitates, as if making a claim for herself is a skill long fallen into disuse. "Will you... will you sleep in here with me?" The room has one queen bed, rumpled from Claire's thrashings.
"Of course."
They climb in. Claire huddles against Kate, little spoon nestled in the bigger one. Soon her breathing slows into sleep, and there are no more nightmares, at least not that night.
That's how it begins.