Chapter 8

Lianna shoots up, blinking her eyes at the darkness. She pulls her fingers through her hair as she tries to remember where she is. A sob travels from the other side of the bed, followed by a violent shake of the bed. Her eyes try to adjust to the darkness, and she blinks a few times. William. She shifts closer to him on the bed.

“No, please. No,” he whispers with a broken voice. Lianna freezes.

“William?” she asks, crawling closer to him on her knees. She reaches her hand out to touch his face. He is soaked in sweat, and he is flaring up. It feels like he has a fever. William yanks his head away from her hand as he sobs again. He shivers from the cold air touching his chest. He is having a nightmare.

Lianna gets out of bed and searches for her phone on the nightstand. William mumbles something incoherently and throws his head from one side to the other on the pillow.

Lianna switches her phone’s flashlight on and inspects William. He has thrown the covers off him in an attempt to free himself. His body is covered in goosebumps with a few drops of sweat rolling down his face. Is he . . .

She crouches down next to him and removes his hair from his forehead. A tear rolls down his cheek and falls onto the pillow. He is crying. Lianna puts her hand against his cheek, causing him to let out another sob.

“No, Evelyn-” his voice trembles. It seems like he is having a nightmare that includes Evelyn. Lianna gets up with a soft sigh. She checks the time on her phone and sees that it is 01:51.

Lianna tiptoes to the bathroom to retrieve a washcloth. She runs it under warm water and wrings the cloth before she tiptoes back to William.

It takes a while to untangle him from the covers. She should get the sweat off him. She does not want him to catch a cold. William shivers when the cloth touches his face. He lets out something that sounds like a sob, but he is too exhausted to let out a proper sob.

Lianna rubs his neck, moving down his chest and back. She tries to do it as smoothly and swiftly as possible. Her eyelids are heavy and she has to focus on them to not fall asleep. 

Back in the bathroom she rinses the washcloth and hangs it over the towel bar.  She gathers the covers and throws them over him before tucking him in.

Lianna walks back to her side of the bed and grabs her pillow. She searches through the drawers of the nightstand and finds a blanket in the bottom drawer. She throws everything on the sofa.

She takes the earphones from the nightstand and attempts to put them into his ears, but he jerks his head away. After a few failed attempts, she manages to place the earphones in. She opens a playlist that should help him to sleep calmly. She presses on shuffle and the music plays starts to play softly.

William lets out a tired sigh before he sobs softly. She settles in on the sofa as she does not want to bother William. A yawn escapes her, and she adjusts her position. The music plays in the background.

Why is William having a nightmare about Evelyn? What did she do? Lianna lifts her head to look at William. Her eyes have adjusted to the dark so she can make out the outer lines of William. He is moving around less, and his breathing has returned to normal.

The image of Evelyn in her red dress pops up in her head. She is a beautiful woman. Lianna can understand why William would marry someone like her. But the question remains. What did she do that would cause them to get divorced?

Maybe she cheated on William. Lianna will not put it past Evelyn to do something as horrible as that. Lianna will ask Bianca when she sees her again. Right now, she just wants to get some sleep. She relaxes on the sofa and pulls the blanket over her. She closes her eyes and listens to the sounds of the night.

Lianna wakes up from a pain shooting through her side. She wakes up and realizes she is on the floor. Did she fall off the sofa? She smiles as she sits upright, listening to William. He seems to be calmer.

With a yawn, Lianna stands up and heads to William. She feels around for the phone, but her hands touch William’s arms. He sobs softly and curls up into a small ball.

“Sorry,” she whispers and continues her search for her phone. She finds the phone next to William, under the covers. The time flashes on the lock screen. It is currently 04:22. She navigates to her flashlight and switches it on again.

One earphone has fallen out. William is caught up in the covers. He is sweating less than earlier and he has stopped crying. She tucks William in and places the earphone back into his ear. She heads back to the sofa and falls face-first onto the sofa. She is not going to survive the day with this little sleep.