Chapter - 7

A quiet peace had fallen on the DEO medical bay. Maggie and Kara had finally left the DEO to get some sleep a few hours ago. Ashley was working on catching up on some reports from her last mission as well as Alex's patient chart. Dr. Hamilton had requested vitals every hour till she was able to come of the O2. As Ashley finished up the latest vitals check she was happy to see that it looked like everything was finally heading in the right direction. Alex's O2 was still hovering around 97% with the nasal cannula so it would stay on a bit longer but the chest rattle seemed to be improving. Ashley had just returned to the nursing station and sat down leaning back in the chair taking in the quiet when Alex's heart rate alarm went off.

"Really Danvers." Ashley sighed having a feeling she knew what was going on.

Ashley entered Alex's room to find her in the grips of what was clearly a nightmare. Alex was thrashing about the bed and gasping for breath, pulling at her chest and ripping the 02 tubing off her face. "Alex!" Ashley grabs Alex by the shoulders trying to stop the thrashing. "Come on Alex time to wake up, it's just a nightmare." Ashley encourages. Alex is completely locked into the nightmare and continues to struggle against Ashley. "Alex! Hey!" Ashley give Alex a sternum rub hoping that will pull her from the nightmare, it does! Alex bolts upright in the bed eyes frantically searching the room still gasping for breath and starting to cough. Ashley reaches for the 02 mask and holds it over Alex's mouth as she greedily sucks in the oxygen. "It's OK I got ya." Ashley soothes as she rubs Alex's back trying to comfort her as her breathing slows and evens out. Alex take a final few deep breaths and then pulls back from the mask and leans back into the bed still coughing slightly. Ashley grabs the nasal cannula and puts it back in place on Alex's face, gently tucking it behind her ears.

"You back with me, Danvers?" Ashley asks giving a comforting shoulder squeeze.

"Yeah." Alex says barely more than a whisper. Ashley could tell that Alex was desperately trying to get her emotions under control.

"Alex you're safe now." Ashley wiped at the tear that escaped Alex's control.

Alex's breath hitched "I'm...good"

"Actually you're not but you will be." Ashley smiled knowing all too well that Alex was not going to really be good till she dealt with the trauma of the kidnapping and the drowning.

"Really I.." Alex started but Ashley cut her off.

"Alex you have been through a hell of a trauma and you are going to have to let your family and friends into help you get through this. Then and only then will you be good."

"You didn't just use my own words against me did you?" Alex's sniffed blinking back tears.

Ashley smiles as she pulls up the chair close to the bed taking a seat. "Why yes I did and I know exactly what you are thinking now as it was the same thing I was thinking. Go away and let me deal with this on my own, yeah?" Alex shrugs . "Alex this is something you can't deal with on your own and I think you know that too." Seeing Alex slowly begin to dissolve into tears Ashley got up and sat on the edge of the bed, all she could do was embrace her and let the torrent of her tears soak through her shirt.

Ashley was not sure how long they remained like this. Eventually Alex's breathing evened out and she pulled back from Ashley's shoulder. "Thanks." Alex snuffed and laid back against the bed looking emotionally drained wiping at the tears and snot on her face.

Ashley grabbed a couple tissues from the side table handing them to Alex. "You don't need to thank me Alex. But you do owe me a new shirt." Ashley smirked as she pointed at the tear soaked stain on her shoulder.

"When I get out of here I will write you a requisition for new scrubs." Alex chuckled drying her eyes and taking a deep breath. As much as Alex would deny it to anyone it did feel good to just let the emotion out.

"Want to talk about it?" Ashley asked moving back to the chair knowing that like herself Alex needed her personal bubble back especially after that. Alex sighed heavily not really sure what she wanted to do at that moment. Ashley picked up on this and offered. "OK how about I tell you about the nightmares I had after my experience?"

"Ash, you don't-"

Ashley cut her off. "Well too bad Danvers you are going to hear about mine." Ashley smiled but the smile quickly faded as she accessed the memories she had put behind her. "I will never forget how vivid they were. It was like I was there again. The dank smell, the cold dark concrete walls, the constant dripping of water-" Ashley pauses and took a deep breath as even now all these years later her heart race thinking back to being taken hostage. "I could feel the rope cutting into my wrists bound behind me as the large scaly hand grabbed the back of my head forcing my head into the tank. Then there was the burning in my lungs, starved for oxygen. My chest felt like it would explode. I don't know how long that lasts till I can no longer control my body and it tries to take a deep breath only to inhale the metallic tasting water." Alex reaches out to take Ashley's hand as tears begin to form in Ashley's eyes. "I then feel my head being yanked from the water as the burning feeling only manages to intensify as I violently expel the water from my lungs." Ashley wipes the tear that had rolled from her control. "It was the same dream over and over, I tried to not sleep, I tried to drink so much that I would just pass out hoping that it was enough to prevent the nightmares. Nothing worked till you convinced me that I could not deal with it on my own and needed help."

Alex's eyes had began to tear up listening to Ashley's recount. "I'm sorry I did not realize sooner that you were struggling the way you were."

"Alex it's not your fault we were both young and thought the other was indestructible. And let's face it I did a really good job of hiding it at work. I mean I was so good that I was even able to hide it from a mind reading Green Martian, that we didn't even know about." Ashley grinned. "As soon as you realized you were there for me you helped me heal, now it's my turn to help you heal. I know all the secrets to hiding it so don't think you will be able to. Plus that girlfriend of yours is a hell of a detective so getting anything past her is going to be impossible as well." Both women chuckled knowing Maggie was not someone you could keep something from long.

"You're a good friend, Ash." Alex smiled and squeezed Ashley's hand.

"Always, Danvers." Ashley returned the squeeze and stood up. "As hard as it is, remember that you need to talk through this and lean on the people around you. I'm not going to lie and say it's going to be easy but it will be easier letting those that love you in and help you through it. Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Good now get some rest before Maggie and Kara get back." I'll be at the nursing station if you need anything." Giving Alex's hand one last squeeze she made sure the blanket was tucked back around Alex.

"Thanks, Ash."

Ashley stopped at the door and turned back to see Alex already drifting back to sleep. "Anytime, Alex."

Ok I know it was a short one but I really wanted to have a Ashley\Alex conversation without Maggie and Kara being around. We all know that they both won't want to be away long so it only made sense for a short chapter.

Hopefully you guys like it. I think there maybe one maybe 2 more chapters till I close off this story.

Many thanks for all the kind reviews and kudos. It really does help to get the writing juices flowing.