Page 73 of Black
CHAPTER 11
Dennis
Cia
It turned out that I’m not the only one with nightmares. The second night after we came back from Ocean Shores Gabriel had a major one, and I woke up when he almost punched me down off the bed in his frantic movements. He was sweaty and muttering about being trapped, and I could tell from his movements that he was trying to break free of something.
My friend Daniel is ex-military and has severe post-traumatic stress syndrome, so I knew better than to try and wake him up. Daniel once attacked a friend who tried to wake him up and although the guy didn’t die, I wasn’t taking any risks.
I got up from the bed and moved away, shouting at him, “G, wake up, you’re dreaming.”
It didn’t help; he was still throwing himself from side to side and it sounded like he was crying in panic.
Then I picked up a shoe and banged it against the closet, hard and repeatedly. I didn’t care if I woke up the whole damn entire camp; I needed to help Gabriel break free from whatever nightmare he was caught in.
I was contemplating throwing water at him when he finally sat up with a gasp.
“You had a nightmare,” I said and moved to stand in front of the bed, still at a safe distance.
He blinked and looked around, pulling his hands through his hair.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, I think so. Why are you over there? I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asked with concern in his voice.
“No.”
“Then why are you looking so wary of me?”
“I didn’t want to risk you attacking me.”
“Why would I attack you?”
“I don’t know… soldiers come home all fucked up and attack their wives in their sleep, thinking they are the enemy and stuff.”
He rubbed his eyes. “I don’t have a wife… you’re not my wife.”
“Nor will I be anyone’s wife if you strangle me by accident, before I’m even able to meet Mr. Right.”
He shook his head. “Come here. I promise I won’t hurt you.”
“All right.” I sighed and crawled back on the bed, where he pulled me into a tight hug.
“Eww… you’re all sweaty,” I complained.
“Deal with it. I need a hug,” he said and so I did. With everything Gabriel had done for me, I could deal with a bit of manly sweat, which actually didn’t smell bad at all.
I relaxed into him but when he squeezed me harder I pushed back. “Hey, big guy, you can hug and touch me all you want but I need to breathe, so hug me from behind, okay?”
I placed myself in the spooning position I knew he liked so much and he pulled me into his arms and rested his face in my hair.
“Sorry I woke you,” he muttered.
“Don’t be… I’ve woken you up plenty of times. Do you want to talk about your dream?”
“Uh-huh… but not now,” he said in a drowsy voice and caressed my arm.
“Stop it, it tickles and I want to sleep,” I muttered with my eyes already closed.
