“No, it’s okay, it was time for a break any way.” She moved closer to him, turning so that he could have her injured arm.“Yeah, a break.” Ann rested her head on the open book and closed her eyes; Maria leaned back in her seat, one hand supporting her head, the other covering her eyes. “I can’t wait for summer.”Lee turned to look at him as he gently secured her arm in the sling. He looked glum, like something was wrong, “We have finals in two weeks,” she offered, searching his face, for another clue.“That’s good.” His face was still down, his expression unchanged.When he was done, she pushed him a few feet back. She wanted to find out what had changed his mood so suddenly. “Ash, what’s wrong?”“Where is your new bed?”“I didn’t take one.” She found it strange that the bed had gotten him into the foul mood he was in

Lee’s new sleeping habit had disrupted her whole day’s schedule, and to make things worse, she still spent her mornings with her head over the toilet. For some reason, she still slept half the day away, and with only a week left, she had to spend every waking minute studying, leaving no time for a social life or work. Ann thought the meds were still in her system; Maria however wanted her to go to the hospital for a checkup, which she took every opportunity to avoid. Ash tried to make her go but she always stopped him with questions about the diner.“Lee, please go to the hospital and get checked out.”“I’ll go if you tell me about the diner.”“I can’t do that.”“Then I won’t go.”That always made him guilty, he felt responsible for Lee’s stubbornness and therefore her sickness. As much as she hated hurting him she was determined on riding his guilty conscious until

Dave was on the rooftop opposite Lee’s building. He could see into her house. He had been at that spot since she moved into the building. Ash’s fight with Lee had him on night duty again. He sat there, contemplating Ash’s decision. He wasn’t ready to tell her, he was worried about her reaction. He was scared she would hate him for staying away, for letting her suffer foster care when he could have looked after her. How was he going to explain himself? There was no good excuse for abandoning her. But he wanted to hold her again, talk to her, comfort her when she was sad, and laugh with her when she was happy. He wanted to be with her, he wanted to stop hiding. All he had to do was build up the courage to do it. **** It had been a week since Ash left, since Lee’s visit from the mysterious woman. She felt embarrassed, angry. Ash had a girlfriend, that’s why he was never fully hers. The thought broke her heart all over again. She should have known. If Steve had a girl on the side why sh

Ash stared at her, his arms itching to hold her. He saw how hard she was fighting sleep. Whatever her nightmares were, she was scared to face them. He tried to read her mind to see exactly what tormented her but she’d kept it blank thinking about everything else except that. Then her mind roamed to him and Sabrina, and then she thought of herself and how she didn’t fit in that equation comparing herself to Sabrina. Ash felt heated. He wanted to kill Sabrina for what she had done to Lee; turning her into the frightened little girl she was all those years ago.“Lee, you need to sleep.” Ash moved to sit much closer to her but he kept his hands folded on his lap. She could see the restraint it took not to touch her, if he only knew how much she wanted to be in his arms.“Not now. I want to be too exhausted to dream before I dare close my eyes.” She leaned her head back on the couch, fighting the sleep that was taking over.“Lee, what do you see in your nightmares?” His voice was flat, but

She was in their home in New York. She ran from room to room trying to zero in on her dad’s voice. But this nightmare was different, she wasn’t five anymore. She got to the living room, there was blood splashed all over and there were several men staring at her moving closer to her. She ran out of the room when she heard her mother scream. She ended up in a redder room alone then her father started calling out for her again.Merilee run!Daddy…Run Merilee!I can’t see. There is too much red. Daddy, where are you? Daddy the red is scaring me, where are you!Before it could get worse she heard Ash’s faint voice in her head, and it got louder each time he called her name pulling her out of the red room. “Lee, Lee! Wake up!” Ash’s anxious voice pulled her out of the red hole she was in. “Wake up!” He held her tight, r