Mary awoke with her head on Tom's shoulder and his arms about her. She hadn't realized how much she had been shaking, and Tom had held her – even unconsciously – throughout the night. She shifted and looked at George – who was fast asleep, and even having that cute baby snore she loved so much. He was fine. The stitches on his legs looked much less drastic than they had hours ago. He'd have scars from this, there was no denying it… but all things considered that was a small price to pay. And from the looks of her little son she knew he would be strong again in no time.

She turned back to Tom, who's arms were still around her even though he was fast asleep. He had been there for her and for George all night. He had fallen asleep in that chair, unwilling to leave her.

She nestled back down and fell back asleep.

She had a strange dream: someone was kissing her. Intensely. She was still asleep, but he was kissing her. She hadn't opened her eyes, but she knew it was Tom. He was kissing her deeply, and intensely, and she automatically responded, kissing him back. They were more than kissing, they were completely lost in each other… as if under some sort of hypnotic spell. They kissed and embraced for a long time. Finally, as if coming out of a trance, they both collapsed in each other's arms.

There wasn't anything more to the dream… just a passionate spell that made no logical sense… but it nonetheless bothered Mary when she awoke the next morning and found she and Tom had fallen asleep holding hands.

Part of her wanted to analyze what it meant, but the other part of her insisted on moving ahead, and not letting a silly dream distract her. After all, her son had been very nearly killed and this man had saved him, there probably wasn't any further explanation needed for that crazy dream. She was nearly out of her mind with worry, and he had been there. That's all there was to it.

She was not falling in love with Tom. She couldn't possibly.

And yet…

And yet it was nice to have his hand in hers. To have him sleeping beside her. She had felt safe and protected as he lay sleeping beside her. She knew he'd never let anything hurt her or George. Not ever.

And yet…

This was Tom! Sybil's husband! Sybil was the one who should be sleeping next to him, not her!

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, she moved away from Tom so quickly that it woke him up. He rubbed his eyes slowly as he adjusted to the light coming through the windows. She instantly felt bad. After all, it wasn't his fault she had experienced such a strange dream. "Oh, Tom, I'm so sorry I woke you," she apologized.

"Oh, that's alright," Tom said, stretching. "I – um – what time is it?"

"I have no idea," Mary said slowly standing up. She looked at George who was still sound asleep.

"You never changed your clothes," he said, noticing the blood stains on her blouse.

"Oh – good Lord, how did I let that happen?" she was appalled at herself.

"You were a mother, Mary," Tom said with a smile of approval. "You weren't thinking about your clothes."

Mary couldn't help but return the smile. "That said, I'm going to find the loo and change right now. I can't imagine what I look like!"

"You look beautiful," Tom said, more to himself than her, as she had already left the room.