“I know you’re not going to leave her side, so I’m going to force you to do it. I’ll be here first thing in the morning tomorrow. You’ll be off and I won’t hear any arguments about it.”
“I appreciate it. I would like to be cavalier and say I don’t need your help, but I know I will. If this goes on another day, I’m going to be dead on my feet tomorrow. Assuming I can even get to my feet.”
She reached out and touched my shoulder. “You’re good for her. She’ll come around soon.”
“I like her,” I admitted. “I love her. I probably shouldn’t tell you that, but I do.”
“I know you do.”
“Did you know Nate?” I asked, knowing I was way overstepping.
“Of course.”
“She said his name. A lot. She was having a nightmare and she kept calling out for him.”
She scoffed. “Probably yelling at him.”
“Was he abusive?”
“No. He’s a self-serving asshole, but he wasn’t abusive.”
That gave me some satisfaction. “Okay.”
“You sure you don’t want to grab a powernap? I can stick around for a while.”
“I’m really okay. I used to pull forty-eight-hour shifts. I’m out of practice, but I’ll be okay. I should probably go check on her.”
“Okay. I’ll be here in the morning. Hang in there. She’s going to get through this. It’s a rough patch.”
“How often does this happen?” I asked.
“Not often.”
That was only a little reassuring. I walked her to the door before going to check on Bree. She was tossing and turning. I watched her sleep. Lisa’s words echoed through my mind. Mel had said this episode was essentially Bree’s own doing. I wasn’t sure I had it in me to be with someone that was in an emotionally fragile state.
I didn’t want to compare her to my mother, but damn, there were a lot of similarities. She was struggling with her own emotional demons. She didn’t want meds. She didn’t want to talk to a therapist. I couldn’t help someone that didn’t want to be helped.
I watched her head roll back and forth on the pillow. She wasn’t my mother. Unlike my mother, Bree had been through a serious trauma. She had a good reason for her problems. I couldn’t transfer my feelings for my mom onto Bree. Bree was struggling and I wanted to be there for her the best I could.
Chapter Twenty-One
Bree
I POPPED OPEN ONE EYE. For a brief second, I had convinced myself the accident and subsequent blindness had been a nightmare. When I saw nothing with the one eye, I opened the other, praying I would see something.
There was nothing. I couldn’t stop the tear from sliding down my cheek. It was all real. I was blind. I lived at home. I reached up, wiping my face and wished for it all to go away. I was afraid to ask Alexa what time it was. I could tell I hadn’t been asleep all that long. I would have liked to wake up and discover it was Monday.
“Alexa what time is it?”
She told me it was nine. I groaned, frustrated to discover I had only slept for forty minutes. I was going to die if I didn’t sleep. Maybe not quite that dramatic, but I felt like hell. I was so damn tired. I had gone through the high and the low that always followed when I was stuck in one of these no sleep cycles.
Throwing off my blanket, I was pissed at myself and the world. I stumbled into the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. I hoped Luke went home and got some sleep. The last time I had heard from him was around five when I insisted he go. He was such a sweetheart. We had talked for hours last night. I heard him dozing off and knew he was struggling.
I wasn’t sure if he would be in the kitchen or maybe still sleeping. I hoped it was the latter. The man needed to sleep. I promised myself I would shower after I had some coffee. A lot of coffee. I smelled coffee and smiled. He was back.
“Hello,” I called out.
“Good morning, sunshine,” Mel’s voice rang out.