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I wipe my tears and look down at her. Her big, caramel eyes look at me with worry. “I’m much better now,” I say and manage a weak smile. We walk back into the bedroom, and I sit on the bed, grabbing my heart, trying to control my erratic heartbeat. She crawls up on the bed beside me and leans her head on my arm.
“I heard you screaming, and I didn’t know what to do.”
I grimace and my shoulders slump. Wrapping an arm around her, I say, “I’m so sorry, Lulu. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
She shrugs. “We can’t help what we dream about.” Her arms wrap around my waist. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
We stay like that for a few minutes. I can feel her body getting heavier, sleep pulling her under. “Hey, sweet girl, let’s go back to bed.”
“Can I sleep with you?” She yawns.
When I nod my head, she crawls up my bed and wiggles her body under the covers. I look around once more and then reach behind my side table to feel for my gun. My fingers graze it, and I let out a sigh of relief.
It was a dream, Addison. A fucked-up dream.
It takes Lexi mere minutes to fall back asleep. The dream sits at the forefront of my mind and still feels too real for me to go back to sleep. I grab my phone off the table and turn it to silent and then open the text app.
Me: I need to hear your voice. Are you up?
When I don’t receive an immediate response, I lay my phone on my chest, close to my heart. It’s like my lifeline to Aiden right now. I can feel the thumping of my heart and glance at the phone every couple seconds to see if he’s responded. I softly moan. He’s not going to wake up to my text. Maybe I should just call him. When I see the three little dots, I close my eyes and send out a silent thank you.
Aiden: I’m up. Call me.
I look over at Lexi again before slowly pulling the covers off and slipping out of bed. I wobble into the living room, grab a throw blanket, and sink into the couch. With my feet tucked under me, I try and take a few calming breaths before calling Aiden so I don’t sound too freaked out.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart,” Aiden’s concerned voice greets me.
“I just needed to hear your voice.” My voice shakes with emotion. So much for not sounding freaked out.
“Addison, what’s wrong?”
I draw in a ragged breath. “I had a nightmare about Joe.”
“Oh, baby. I’m sorry. I promise he won’t ever hurt you again.”
“It wasn’t me,” I whisper. It was you.
“Addison, he won’t hurt anyone ever again.”
“How do you know? He was supposed to be dead before and he wasn’t.” Seeing him in my nightmare has brought back the fear I’ve held onto for so long. He’s still alive.
“Because I know.”
“Aiden, what if he escaped—”
“He didn’t,” he says confidently. “I know he didn’t because I was the one who took the shot.” An audible gasp escapes my lips. “I made sure he would never hurt you again.”
“Aiden,” I say slowly.
“Sweetheart, I have no regrets. I’d do it again. That bastard deserved more than he got,” he growls.
I let out a soft sigh and run my hand through my hair. “Thank you.”
“I’m sorry,” he mumbles. I hear his sheets rustling, like he’s sitting up. His apology catches me off guard.
“Why are you sorry?”
“That I didn’t tell you before. And I’m sure this is happening because of what I said.” His comment about my dress crosses my mind.
