In the Meantime

[DrDMatthews 0]

The days were rough......the nights were even worse.

While on duty, Deb usually had enough to do to keep her mind preoccupied. There should always be something going on in Sickbay. Although, truth be told, the ship's state of the art medical facility was rather empty these days. So, instead of treating patients, Deb was catching up on reports and a trying desperately to concentrate on various journal articles that she should have read months ago.

Reading was something of a problem. Aidan's condition was never far from the center of her thoughts but, after a while, she was able to discipline herself to worry about him only once or twice every couple of minutes.

But the nights....oh the nights were a different story altogether.

Once she was back in their quarters, there was no getting away from the problem. Aidan was right there.... in living color...trying desperately to remember the last nine years of his life. And included in those nine years was his marriage to Deb.

He'd had a few flashbacks. Apparently they involved his wife...in a rather intimate manner. So, although he confessed to the flashbacks, he stubbornly refused to divulge the details. Deb opted not to force the issue. She could only hope his flashbacks would start expanding into other areas of his life as well.

In the meantime.....

She'd returned the hideous nightgown to Gracie....laundered and neatly folded. She'd even managed to keep to herself any snide remarks about how ugly it was. After all, it had been an emergency and she had roused Gracie from a dead sleep. It was quite likely the poor woman wasn't fully awake when she snatched that awful thing out of a drawer and shoved it into Deb's hands. Also, she had a feeling she might need Gracie's assistance in the future.

Now she had a couple of cute yet modest pairs of pajamas to sleep in....something she wasn't embarrassed to be seen in. But the pajamas had no effect on her inability to sleep. She had tossed and turned every night since Aidan's injury. There had been nights in the past when she'd suffered from insomnia but those occasions were few and far between. But now, she had to be so exhausted she could barely hold up her head before she could even consider sleeping. Even after she nodded off, she'd wake up an hour or so later, tossing and turning.

This night was no different from the rest. She finally fallen asleep and now she was again awake. She rolled onto her side, her back to Aidan. A minute or so later, she was on her stomach and then back on her side. She was still moving around trying to get comfortable when she felt something on the small of her back. It was a hand.....his hand....lightly patting her much as a parent would a child.

Deb couldn't even breathe. This was her husband's hand. This was what her husband used to do to comfort her on those nights when she tossed and turned until the wee hours of the morning. She forced herself to remain perfectly still anxiously waiting to what, if anything, would happen next.

A couple of minutes later, he removed his hand. Deb waited a full five minutes before slowly and quietly rolling onto her back. Aidan didn't stir so she risked turning onto her side, facing him. His hand was palm down on the bed between them. She watched him for another few minutes. His breathing was slow and even. He appeared to be asleep. She assumed his actions had been governed by his subconscious. But that was a good thing, wasn't it. The memories were there....not so far away...hiding just below the surface....waiting patiently to escape from their prison and flow freely once again into his consciousness..

She had no idea why, but she reached out and rested her hand on top of his. He immediately pulled it away. Her disappointment was palpable. Then, much to her surprise, he covered her hand with his and wrapped his fingers around hers. She was stunned and far more pleased than she had a right to be. She stole a glance at his face. He was still sleeping. She watched him fro a few seconds and then again turned her attention to their hands. That's what she was looking at when sleep finally came and there was no more tossing and turning that night.