The night was still, shrouded in darkness as Julie lay in her bed, her breathing labored and uneven. She tossed and turned, caught in the clutches of a nightmare that refused to release its grip.
In her dream, fragments of memories flashed before her eyes like scenes from a movie.
She saw herself lying on the pavement, disoriented and confused, as someone lifted her gently and offered her a sip of something. Confused voices echoed in her ears, mingling with the sound of her mother's devastated cries.
Then, the scene shifted, and Julie found herself sitting on a bench in a church, amidst a sea of mourners, dressed in black as they gathered to bid farewell to her father. Timothy was sitting between her and their mother, holding both of them in his arms. She could feel the familiar smell of his aftershave, the same as their father. Teddy was next to their mother, then May sitting nearby between him and Angela. At her left was Carol, offering silent comfort while holding her hand.
The nightmare intensified, and Julie awoke with a start, tears streaming down her cheeks as she cried out in anguish.
In an instant, Shelagh was by her side, her motherly instincts kicking in as she enveloped Julie in a tight embrace.
"Julie, my darling, what's wrong? What happened?"
Julie buried her face in her mother's shoulder, her sobs shaking her body as she struggled to regain control of her emotions.
"It was... it was that nightmare again, Mum. I... I saw... I saw everything."
Shelagh held her daughter close, offering words of comfort and reassurance as Julie poured out her heart.
"It has been a long time since you've had such episodes, has anything happened today that could have upset you?" she asked her.
Julie failed to tell her the truth. She wasn't ready to bring up the past with her since she had never revealed to her family what had really happened between her and Patrick.
Instead she made up a story that on her way home, they played a song on the radio that made her think of her father and she went to sleep with that thought.
Shelagh listened intently, her heart breaking for her daughter as she realized how deep Julie's pain was yet. She knew there was more to the story than Julie had let on, and she gently probed, her voice soft and comforting.
"Julie, my love, is there something else? Something you haven't told me perhaps?"
Julie hesitated, her breath catching in her throat as she struggled to find the words to explain the truth that had been weighing heavily on her heart.
"No, Mum...it's just that. Let's go back to sleep, I need to wake up early tomorrow."
"Ok darling. Are you ok?"
"I am, but can you stay here with me for tonight?"
Shelagh nodded, smiling at her. She knew she would have asked and she climbed under the sheets holding her daughter close to her heart.
In that moment, as mother and daughter clung to each other in the darkness, Shelagh offered up a silent prayer to God, pleading for Julie's pain to be eased and her heart to finally find some relief.