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Rae looks at Liv with nervousness, though.
“Are you okay?” she asks her.
To this, Liv gives a slight nod.
The kid isn’t convinced. Her nervousness heightens. “Well, I—I was really scared, Annie. What if it happens again in a little bit?” Her blue eyes brighten hopefully as she glances at me again. “Oh! Can Landon sleep on the couch? Then if—”
“No!” Liv bursts out with vehemence that startles both Rae and me.
We stare at each other, wide-eyed. Then we look at Liv.
She huffs out a breath, sniffles, and slowly sits up from her balled-up position. She rubs at her cheeks with the backs of her hands.
Then she says much more quietly, “I’m—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—to yell.” She reaches out to stroke Rae’s hair with a shaky hand. “I’m sorry, Rae. I love you. I’m sorry.” After a beat, she adds even more weakly, “I’m still—I’m still scared from my dream, that’s all.”
Just like that, my awkward feeling dissipates.
I get where Liv is coming from: someone was trying to harm her in her nightmare, and here in real life, I’m the only one who poses any kind of threat to her. I’m sure she knows I’d never really hurt her, but she’s still shaken, still operating on emotion rather than logic. The way she’s acting is nothing I should take personally; it’s a reaction born of fear she can’t help.
I clear my throat and speak for the first time in the last few minutes.
“Annie is going to be fine, Rae, okay?” When her hesitant little eyes look at me, I give her an encouraging smile. “Bad dreams are hard to forget sometimes, but everything will be fine. And if anything else does happen, you can call me again, remember?”
Liv doesn’t so much as nod in agreement. Still doesn’t look at me or talk to me—she hasn’t done either of those things since she woke up.
I feel a bit wounded by that, but again, this isn’t about me. This is about her and what she needs, and in this moment, what she needs is for me to back away and let her breathe.
I do wish she would let mehelpher breathe, but I won’t force my presence on her. The last thing I want to do is scare her more.
“Okay,” Rae finally says to me.
I give her another smile. “Okay. How about you walk me to the door and lock it behind me?”
She gets off the bed and leaves the room. While I follow her, I look at Liv, whose eyes are stuck on her fisted hands.
“Let me know if you need anything, Liv,” I say softly. “Anything at all.”
Once again, I get nothing from her.
Frowning sadly, I go on to the living room, where Rae is waiting.
As I open the door, she asks meekly, “Can I have a hug bye-bye?”
“Of course!” I crouch down and we give each other a good, long squeeze. Upon standing back up, I remind her, “Everything is all right.”
She really seems to believe me. “Thank you very, very, very much.”
“Anytime, little lady. Don’t forget to lock the door behind me.”
“I won’t.”
In the hall with the door shut between us, I listen for the sound of her bolting it. Then I trudge back down the hall to my own door.
As exhausted as I am, I can’t fall back asleep, even once I’m properly lying in bed with my day clothes off.
I lie here and wonder who was hurting Liv in that nightmare.
Some made-up monster or scary stranger?
