Nightmare
It was starting again - the rapid mouth breathing, the rigid body posture and the unconscious jerking and mumbling. Ava rolled over to look at her girlfriend, she placed her hand across Sara's collar bone hoping to rouse her gently from her dreams and to provide a modicum of comfort.
A moment later Sara sat bolt upright, her eyes darting around the room. Her heart was pounding, her lungs were desperately raking in shallow breaths, "Its ok, hey," said Ava gently, "I'm right here, its ok." Sara could detect no immediate threats and realised she was in their bedroom, relief flooded through Sara's body and mind, she lay back down.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead and scratched at the sleep in her eyes and when Ava replaced her hand at the base of Sara's throat, Sara gratefully held it, pressing it firmly against her skin glad for its steady warmth. "Here I thought you gave nightmares, not had them." Ava joked hoping to ease the tension of the moment, "First time for everything," replied Sara hoping to put some serious distance between herself and that harrowing nightmare and to stave of further conversation about it. No such luck as Ava asked "Want to talk about it?", "No I'm, I'm fine," said Sara, closing her eyes, but neither woman was convinced.
Ava didn't force the issue, she watched as Sara feigned sleep, just glad that Sara had been relieved of her unpleasant dreams, at least temporarily. She tucked some blonde tendrils behind Sara's ear, and slipping her arm underneath Sara, she rolled on to her back, pulling Sara's head onto her shoulder. Sara turned into Ava's body, nestling in to her side, she slid her leg over Ava's who smiled happily to herself and felt sure that they would both get a little more sleep this night.
Ava was not necessarily a light sleeper but Sara's night terrors frequently roused her from her sleep. She wasn't bothered in the least for herself. She was more concerned for Sara who appeared to be constantly relieving terrorising scenarios, the stress on her body and the obstructed healing powers that sleep could apparently provide. Ava's strategy was to surreptitiously rouse Sara, to disrupt the vicious nightmare and hopefully give Sara a new opportunity to fall into a dreamless sleep. Ava, herself, never had trouble falling back to sleep, especially when she had Sara cuddled up against her.