Page 62 of Rookie Days

“Where are you?”

“Ellie?”

“Where? I can’t see…”

Realizing this was a dream, Janet closed an arm around her shoulders, holding her gently.

“Ellie? Wake up, darling, you’re—”

“No!” Ellie jerked away, sitting up in alarm. “Laura!”

Laura?Even in the dark, Janet could see how pale her face had become. Rising to her knees, she put both arms around her in reassurance.

“Hey, babe. It’s okay, you’re dreaming.”

“Don’t touch her.” Ellie’s voice was thin as glass. “No, don’t hurt her!”

She sounded scared, which made Janet frown. She also did not care much for the way that Ellie stared straight through her when she tried to bring her back. Upon checking, she found her pulse racing. Her lover was close to hyper-ventilating now, and the look in her eyes was pure terror.

“Hey.” She took her face firmly in both hands, even as Ellie tried to pull back, and she used the same tone with her that sheemployed with patients in the ER if they struggled to pull out of a comatose state. “Ellie. Look at me, it’s Janet. I’ve got you, okay? Come back now. Wake up!”

Janet was cool as ice in the trickiest situations, but now she found herself fighting tears as well. The energy was contagious. Also, this was not a stranger here that she was trying to help. It was her Ellie, caught in a hurtful nightmare. Janet was desperate to make it stop.

“Wake up!” she yelled, and shook her.

Startled, Ellie finally blinked and focused on her face.

“Jan?”

“Yes.” Janet heaved a huge sigh of relief. “Welcome back!”

As confusion replaced her terrified expression, sorrow, dark and heavy, remained in Ellie’s eyes.

“Uh… I—"

“Come here,” Janet instructed when she hesitated, and she wrapped her up in a tight hug. “Dammit, you scared me! Hell of a nightmare, uh?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.”

“I’m okay now,” Ellie assured.

No you’re not.But she sounded embarrassed and reluctant, and Janet understood. She was not going to argue. She guided her to lie back down, pulled the blanket over them both, and kept her arms around her shivering partner.

“Your heart is pounding.”

“I know, but—"

“Stay still and breathe for a minute, okay?”

“Okay…”

???

Ellie would have given anything in her power to change what had just happened. She was a bit fuzzy on the details,but she knew it was the usual dream.I wonder what provoked it...Hearing Kelly Brooke ask impossible questions about the murder of her friend, perhaps. Or maybe it was the incredible sexual release that she’d experienced with Janet, which left her feeling open and vulnerable. Either way, Ellie was both upset and furious at this show of weakness.

“I’m fine, really,” she repeated, only for Janet to flash her a stern look.