Woken By Nightmares

Richard ate in silence. It was obvious that he was thinking of something yet it unknown what he was thinking of.

Lily was opposite him. She had waited for him to come back before serving dinner and she had not eaten too. She threw glances at Richard every two minutes but always found the latter eating quietly.

"I'm not sorry for starving you this morning." Lily broke the silence. She looked up at Richard and was glad that she had finally gotten his attention.

"You don't have to be. I actually got to share Priscilla's lunch." He said.

Lily was now smiling broadly. "Then you should thank me. If I hadn't refused to give you breakfast then you wouldn't have ended up in such a romantic situation!"

Richard rolled his eyes. She will probably send that to his mother as well. "I'll thank you in the future."

"Sometimes I wonder if I'm your cook or guardian angel." Lily beamed as she thought of the different things they might have discussed during that meal. They must have talked, their hands brushed against each other, they smiled at each other, they fed each other….

"None of what you're thinking happened." Richard said calmly as if he read her mind. It was written all over her face that she was fantasising just now.

Lily frowned at him for ruining her fun moment. She felt that she at least had the right to live in her own world of fantasy.

"Maybe you should get a relationship and then bring your fantasies to reality." Richard suggested.

"Not while you still need babysitting."

Richard frowned at the reply. This was one of the rare moments he would glare at Lily. "How much does my mother pay you?"

"Money plus the joy of getting to choose who you'll end up with in the future." She said with a beautiful smile.

"And you have chosen Priscilla already?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

Lily nodded. "Exactly. Can you invite her over for dinner?"

"She's busy."

"I'm sure if you ask she'll say yes."

"No promises then." Richard said and resumed his eating.

"That's great. I'll stock up and make sure that it goes perfectly well." Lily said with dreamy eyes.

Richard looked at her for a while before he said, "don't you dare tell my mother about this or I'll skin you alive. And don't tell her about Pauline."

"As for Pauline I won't mention her but Priscilla?" she tilted her head as if to show that she was contemplating. "Nah, I'll surely tell mother all about this amazing lady that made your head swell."

"When did she make my head swell?"

"I've never seen you receive too many visitors and even if you do they don't sleep over. She's the first woman that you've brought home and allowed to sleep over the weekend and you even gave her money. If that isn't the green light then I'm the dumbest cook ever!"

Richard wanted to retort that she was indeed the dumbest cook ever but refrained from doing so. He didn't want to argue about that and didn't want to raise alarm bells in Lily's head just in case she had any 'alternative' plans laid out.

"Then I'll really skin you alive."

"You can try, Richard." She smiled warmly but he knew that smile had a threat underneath it. Now that he really got to think about it, is puzzled him that he just accepted his mother's arrangement to get him a cook.

What's more? He now realised that Lily was more of a nanny than a cook and she loved trying to boss him around. Another puzzling thing he discovered was that this cook of his was way younger than he was yet she acted exactly like his mother.

All he could do was shake his head with a smile. He quickly finished his food and left.

….

He went to his room and got into bed. He wasn't really sleepy but he also didn't want to sit up. Another thing he had avoided tonight was alcohol.

After a while, sleep finally came and he dozed off.

The moment his eyes closed the nightmares returned. He could see himself amidst soldiers who were running wildly without aim. Some were going forward while others were running towards him. He stood there not knowing which side the danger was coming from.

Series of explosions sounded bringing his consciousness to when he was in the mine field. He was stuck on a land mine and he had to watch as his team members exploded one after another as they tried to escape the mine field. Those who didn't die due to the mine's explosion were killed by the incoming terrorist group they were hunting down.

One by one everyone died till he was the only one left. He cocked his gun and released a volley of bullets that hit nothing in particular. The next thing that happened was a stinging pain to the back of his head.

Everything went black. The next moment, a piercing pain ravaged his lower back. It was so painful that it jolted him awake both in his dream and in reality. He sat up with sweat covering his body. He panted.

He touched his lower back but there was nothing out of the ordinary. He slowly got out of bed and went to the living room.

Surprisingly he met Lily sitting there. "You had nightmares?"

He nodded and grabbed a bottle of beer. "It keeps coming back."

Lily stood up and walked towards him. She took the beer from his hand. "Too bad I can't protect you from the monsters in your dreams but I can protect you from this."

"You know that's the only way I can sleep soundly."

"No. you only think you need it. You have to calm down. You're free; you're not a prisoner anymore. The death of your team isn't your fault."

"I led them to the mine field."

"And I failed in my job to protect you back then." She put the beer away and pointed to the couch, "Let's watch a movie then."

"Aren't you sleepy?" he asked.

"Your screams woke me up and I don't want that again."

Richard nodded and sat down to watch a movie with her.