The remainder of the evening passed in a blur with Delia retiring to her room just before midnight. The girls settled in their beds for sleep with the thought of Valentine's Day floating through their minds.
Patsy could not believe how lucky she was to have found a girl like Delia. The first few times they had met she had been overwhelmed with attraction for this small bundle of energy. It was through this constant energy and encouragement to socialise that Patsy found herself happier than she had been for years.
Delia had been the first person she had spoken to about the terror that had plagued her every waking moment since the Japanese internment camp. She was the only person to know, to some extent, the horrors that she had faced. Patsy had not been able to bring herself to explain everything, many feelings still felt too raw, but Delia knew of the important traumas; the loss of her mother and sister to typhoid, and the fact that she had helped out in the camp hospital in any way that she could.
Fear stuck Patsy's heart as she lay within the comfortable warmth of her bed, the sound of Trixie's steady breathing in the background. Delia had never seen her physically bare. She had seen her emotionally so, but Patsy had not wanted to worry her over the physical marks of the camp. Patsy realised that it was likely that tomorrow would be the time when Delia saw her for what she was. The unwavering, confident midwife shell that encompassed the cowardly, scared, lonely little girl of Japan. Patsy had never outgrown that state of mind, she had merely learnt to control its power over her.
Patsy fell into a restless sleep, the anticipation and fear of tomorrow playing on her subconscious mind. With her emotions at the forefront of her thoughts, her dreams transported her to Japan. She relived warped memories of losing her mother, then her sister. The dream flitted quickly and confusingly between thoughts. She was huddled in a corner under the overbearing arm of a Japanese guard, when the guards face suddenly morphed into Delia's. Screaming in broken Japanese, the grotesque version of Delia brought the cane in her hand down multiple times against Patsy's skin, causing Patsy to bang into the wall in an attempt to dodge the oncoming wrath.
The banging grew louder and suddenly Patsy was torn from her nightmare to find Trixie stood at the door to their room conversing with Sister Mary Cynthia in hushed tones. Switching on the nightlight on her bedside table, illuminating her bouquet of flowers beautifully, Patsy sat up and rubbed her eyes, attempting to get rid of the remnants of her hell. Standing, she stumbled slowly to join the discussion.
"Sorry to bother the two of you, but can someone please cover the phone while Nurse Crane accompanies me to the Bell residence? The twins have decided to time their arrival into the world a little earlier than expected," Sister Mary Cynthia asked in quiet tones so as not to disturb the rest of the House.
With a glance at Patsy, Trixie offered to man the phone, stating that she would have been up in a few hours anyway. Patsy knew from the concern in her eyes that she might not have recovered from her nightmare as gracefully as she had hoped to. Holding the door open for Trixie while she got changed and gathered her things, Patsy's head turned to the room across the hall when she heard the creak of Delia's door opening. Her head popped out into the corridor with sleepy eyes attempting to focus on where the noise was coming from.
"Everything alright Pats?" She enquired while trying to stifle a yawn.
"Y-yes Delia, just Mrs B-Bell's little ones are j-joining us in the world a bit e-earlier than a-anticipated."
Patsy flinched at the uncontrollable trembles and breaks in her voice, she hated feeling as though she was exposing cracks in her fake shield of confidence. Delia's hesitant eyes roamed over Patsy's face, seeing straight through her façade, and becoming increasingly concerned by the minute.
"Thank you Patsy," Trixie whispered as she passed her roommate in the doorway, "sorry to have disturbed you Delia. These babies really have no regards for sociable time-keeping."
Delia smiled, "not to worry. I'm just glad it's not an emergency is all."
Nodding to her two friends, Trixie made her way downstairs with a book to help ease her into her earlier than expected start to the day.
Delia and Patsy looked at each other for a long moment before Patsy bade her a hasty and insensitive goodnight and closed the door. With her back pressed against the wood she let out a huge sigh and stretched out the muscles of her body that had been tensed since she had woken from her dream. She could not let Delia know about the nightmares. They happened so little nowadays that it hardly seemed relevant and she didn't want to worry her. Patsy returned to her bed and fell asleep quickly.
She was awoken from her fitful slumber by the faint creaking of the door opening once again, however before Patsy had the chance to turn over and switch on the light, she felt her covers being pulled back and the dip in the mattress as Delia slid in beside her, swiftly wrapping her hands over waist, moulding her body behind Patsy's with practiced ease.
"You were whimpering in you sleep cariad, I could hear you when I came back from the bathroom." Delia breathed, "I could not bare to return to my room and leave you in here so alone."
There was a moment of silence as Patsy thought about the words. Had she really been whimpering? Had her body and mind defied her in such a way? She was horrified to think that this might not have been the first time that it had happened, but she was grateful for Delia's presence. Patsy's body automatically relaxed whenever she was near. It was as if the worlds problems had been lifted from her shoulders, even if only for a short reprieve.
"You didn't tell me you were still having nightmares my love," Delia began drawing small circles with her thumb on Patsy's bare stomach underneath her nightshirt in an attempt to comfort her. "Patsy, you are not alone. You will never be alone again. You don't have to go through everything by yourself."
Patsy sobbed at the words that came from Delia's lips and turned herself round in the bed, with some difficulty as it was only a single, until she was able to nestle her head under Delia's chin. Her hands wound round Delia's waist and gripped her in tightly. Delia's arms under Patsy's head and on her waist allowed her to be soothed by hands that softly stroked, simultaneously, on her scalp and at the bottom of her back.
The two of them had not been able to be so physically close for so long, however, the position came so naturally to both of them that it was as though the past year had never happened. The safest place of each of them to be was in the other one's arms. Delia knew that her statements would not illicit a response from Patsy, and they did not need to. The fact that Patsy knew Delia was there for her was all that the Welshwoman needed her to know.
The explanation of what had disturbed Patsy so much could wait until another time. Delia knew that she would get the answers eventually. For now, it was important for them both to just hold each other and for Patsy to know that she would never have to feel as though she was alone in the world ever again.