Page 14 of All of Me

“Shae.” I didn’t whisper, didn’t shout. I didn’t touch him either, as I’d learned the hard way from one of my buddies not to become a physical part of their nightmare, and guilt suffused me as I remembered what had happened when Shae woke me up.

“Shae.”

Nothing. His lips were moving but there were no words, just those god-awful noises from his throat.

Like a wounded animal.

I dropped down on the pull-out bed. “Shae? It’s me, Drake. It’s just a nightmare, buddy.”

He thrashed his arm to the side, and I caught it reflexively, and didn’t let go. “Shae, wake up. It’s Drake.”

Then quicker than I could blink he was across the room to the wall by the kitchen, blinking his eyes and shaking. I knew his ability had kicked in, and I followed him slowly, not wanting to spook him.His fucking heart.

“Shae. It’s me. You’re fine,” I soothed. He focused on me and took a step as if heading my way, but stumbled, and I might not have his speed, but I was still there in a couple of heartbeats, my arm around his sweat-slicked, bare waist supporting him. I led him to a kitchen chair and got him some water, pressing the glass into his shaking hands and not letting go until he’d taken a couple of sips, and I knew he wouldn’t drop it.

“Sorry,” he croaked out, the word barely a whisper.

“Nothing to be sorry for,” I replied, then subsided. I watched him shiver, then got up and grabbed the throw from the chair, draping it around his shoulders. I knew it was reaction and not cold. Weren’t enhanced supposed to be able to control their body temperature? But then I wanted to slap myself as I was pretty sure that was some sort of super-hero movie shit.

Even if the team did call Finn Superman. He wasn’t enhanced, but I was pretty sure most of them thought Finn had superpowers.

“Think you can get back to sleep?” It was a little after three.

“Sure,” he replied automatically. I knew that was a lie, but I guessed I deserved it for asking such a dumbass question. His bedroom was unlivable, but I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that was—and then it hit me.

Fuck.

His mom and gran had died when their houses were set on fire. I was such a prick. It wasn’t just service men and women that got versions of PTSD. And if anyone had been through the ringer, Shae had. First thing tomorrow I was going to see who Rawlings knew. We all had to talk to someone every year and while I went through the motions, Shae really needed it.

But none of that was going to help him sleep tonight.

I got up and walked to the linen closet by my bedroom, pulling out a couple of clean sheets, then remade the pull-out bed.

“I can do that,” Shae said, starting to get up.

“It’s done,” I countered, and switched on the back lighting for the bookshelves I’d helped Jim make many years ago. I gazed at them and noticed one of my favorites on the side table. Shae must have pulled it out. I hadn’t read Mercedes Lackey for years. This was the first book in her Dragon Riders series, and I assumed Shae must have been interested. “This good?” I turned and waved it at him to draw him out a little.

He stood, seeming steadier and walked over. “I read book one years ago, but I never got a chance to finish them.”

I nodded and passed it to him as he reached me, and he perched on the end of the bed and looked at the back cover. I watched him carefully, tossed a couple of cushions on the bottom of the mattress, and sat down.

I could go to bed. Icouldsit in either of the two easy chairs on the other side of the room. But I didn’t do either. And I didn’t really want to question why. There was still three feet between us, so I wasn’t crowding him, I just wanted him to know he wasn’t on his own.

This was a mistake. I knew it was. But I also knew the chances of him going back to sleep were less than zero.

He looked down at the book, then squinted as if he couldn’t read it properly which I definitely knew was insane. Enhanced didn’t need glasses. “What’s wrong?”

He shrugged. “Not sure I feel like reading.”

He still looked pale, and he turned to the bookshelves and narrowed his eyes slightly. But that didn’t make sense. Then another idea hit me. “Want some Tylenol?”

Shae hesitated, but then he nodded, and I called myself a stupid prick for the second time. He didn’t have vision problems, he had aheadache. Hardly surprising. I got back up and rummaged in the kitchen drawer I knew they were in. Shaking a couple out, I grabbed his water, freshened it, and brought them both over.

“Thanks,” Shae said quietly and took them.

Then he lay down and closed his eyes, but I could see tension in the way he seemed to hold every muscle coiled.

“Look,” I sighed. “When I was a kid I got migraines. It didn’t go down well with my mom and dad because I was supposed to be this perfect kid. Not allowed to be sick. The migraines got worse until I passed out at school one day. Despite my parents telling the docs it was an attention-seeking stunt, the doctor wanted me to stay in for tests. There was this nurse on nights, and I didn’t sleep so good.” I paused. Mack had been amazing. I’d gotten some magazine from another kid, and I was trying to read it despite my head feeling like it was going to explode.

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