Night Time whispers

Posted on Sun Jul 7th, 2024 @ 11:51pm by Timothy Reynolds & Serena Reynolds M.D.
Edited on on Sat Jul 13th, 2024 @ 11:21pm

734 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Winter is Coming
Location: Quinn Hunting Cabin, Augusta, Maine
Timeline: 6 September 2010 - 10:00 p.m.

Serena lay quietly in the small living room, the banked fire, they had built to warm the room glowing over the sleeping group. Her son slept beside her, between Timothy and her. And she could not sleep. She had tried, done the whole counting sheep thing but she could not sleep. She placed a hand on her son’s back as he curled into the half ball he had begun to sleep in at night. The rise and fall of his back, denoting his breathing had her eyes watering. She clamped them shut and prayed softly to whoever was listening that her son would be safe and would grow up. Serena also vowed silently that she would do all she could to keep him safe.

Timothy had gotten up to do final recon of the area, then came and quietly laid down with his family. The cabin was secure, windows and door boarded up and braced against any walker approach. Tim had wanted to do more, but it had been decided that, as they were probably only staying the one night, it would be safer to leave as little a footprint as possible.

Looking over at Serena, he saw a dew tears slowly fall from her eyes as she held them tightly shut. Pulling the blanket up over the three of them, he carefully leaned forward, ensuring Patrick was protected on both sides by their bodies, and gently kissed her forehead.

She opened her eyes in the dim light and placed a hand on his cheek. "Sorry," she said in a whisper so not to wake others. "I am struggling to keep it together."

His eyes conveyed nothing but love for this woman as he turned his head and kissed the inside of her palm. "Baby, there is nothing that you need to apologize for. The end of the world is a pretty big deal. Don't you think it's freaking me out too?"

She nodded. "But you don't show it." She said softly.

His eyes softened even more for her as he replied. "A big part of that is because of my training. Then there's my combat experience, watching as our fellow humans destroy one another. However, the biggest reason," he reached over and gently caressed her face, then moved his hand to join hers on the small form of their sleeping son. "...is you two. I can't protect the two of you, if I'm losing my mind."

Serena nodded slowly. She wanted to scream, to rail but she would not. "I am not sure how we are all going to get out of this," she admitted the thought in his ear, keeping her voice so only he could hear. "The teenagers... they are still in shock, you can see it. And Thea being pregnant... no medical facilities to assist if.. things go bad."

He nodded quietly, then replied. "All we can do, sweetheart, is put one foot in front of the other. We can plan for a few different eventualities, but in the end, we can only deal with what is right in front of us. What is going to happen tomorrow is out of our control. Just deal with the here and now."

PJ snuffled slightly and Serena automatically rocked him gently as she rested her head on the pillow. "Sleep is hard to find" she admitted.

Timothy nodded knowingly. "I know, Rena. Just close your eyes and think of PJ, smiling and happy."

She sighed. "Okay, I will try, but it's so hard to picture after everything today."

"I know, baby," he tried to quietly soothe and reassure her as he started to gently run his fingers through her hair. "All that matters, in this moment, is that our little prince is healthy, unaware, and safe. We can deal with the world, together."

She nodded and closed her eyes. She knew they needed sleep. With his fingers in her hair she slowly drifted off.

Timothy stayed awake for awhile longer after Serena had drifted off to sleep. Looking over the two parts of his heart, he knew that his sole reason for being now, was to keep them safe, no matter the cost. Happiness in life was now a luxury. Survival was the main goal that they had to strive towards. He hoped that, one day, some sense of normalcy would return, and Patrick could be happy in his life.

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