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I feel like my heart stops beating.
Without another word, she turns and runs toward the hallway. I shut and lock the door and then follow her, preparing to call 911. And, no, my hearthasn’tstopped beating—it has taken off on a mad motherfucking dash like it’s trying to outrun my razor-sharp fear of what I’m about to see.
“Please, God,” I halfway pray under my breath. “Please, God,please….”
I swing into Liv’s room after Rae. The light is on, so I can see her, and—
—and oh, thank Christ, she’s not dead.
She’s alive. She’s lying in bed, but she’s moving, making noise. She’s…
…sobbing.
Whimpering.
Visibly sweatingandvisibly shivering.
Weakly begging someone, “Pl-please, no. Don’t….N-no….” even though there’s no one in her bed but her.
All with her eyes shut tight.
She’s having a nightmare,I realize.
A huge breath bursts out of me.
I know I need to handle this, but first, I put my phone in my pocket and let my eyes fall shut, because unbelievable relief is descending on me.
Liv is okay.
She’s having a hell of a nightmare, nothing more. When Rae said she wouldn’t wake up, she didn’t mean she was dead.
I reopen my eyes and look at the kid, who’s wobbling out, “What’s—what’s wr-wrong with her? I could h-hear her whe-en I went to the b-bathroom, and I—I tried to sa-ay her na-ame, but she d-didn’t hear me. I was—I was too scared to—to t-touch her.” She sniffles thickly and grasps at my hand, her reddened eyes frightened.
Shit, this poor child. What must she have thought?
I quickly stoop down to her level. “Oh, Rae, darlin’, it’s okay. Annie will wake up in just a minute, all right?”
“She will?” she squeaks.
“I promise she will. She’s just having a nightmare.”
She gasps, eyes widening.
“A b-bad dream?” she asks like she can’t believe she’s been this upset by something so simple.
I nod. “Yeah, just a bad dream.Reallybad, it looks like. But she’s going to be okay.” Now that I’m no longer running on terror and adrenaline, I take the time to give her a smile. “You were right to call me, though. Do you know that? You did the exact right thing by calling me.”
She wipes at her cheeks as she calms down. “Annie—Annie told me—she told me the other day to c-call you if I need you. She taught me h-how on her phone.” She points at the floor, onto which the phone has been dropped.
I nod at her again. “Good. Do that every time you’re scared like this, okay? Call me every time.”
Sniffling, she nods back at me.
I pat her thin shoulders. “Let’s try to wake her up now.”
She still looks a little nervous about her aunt’s fear and helplessness, but she nods again. I stand up and head to the bed.
Liv’s sweat has dampened her hair and soaked her tank top. Her cheeks are pink, her eyes are leaking tears, and her expression is…well,‘tortured’is the word that comes to my mind. She’s now begging in tear-thickened mumbles for the person who’s hurting her to‘stop, stop, stop.’
