Fiction

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Two hours had passed, and Angie and Jeremiah were still at the hospital sitting on Charles's bed with him. They had wanted to spend the night in the hospital with him so they could be there when the doctor had news about when Charles could be released and how long he would need to rest until he could get back on his feet. The Williams family was asleep on Charles's bed. Angie's head leaned on Charles's shoulder, and Jeremiah was curled up in Charles's lap. Charles was propped up on his bed, leaning against his pillow. His mouth was open, and he snored softly. His snores soon turned to moans and groans as a nightmare entered his dreams. In the nightmare the man wearing the mask came back to his house to rob his house again. Charles tried to stop him yet again, only in this dream the man did not attack Charles. Instead, he went upstairs and attacked Angie and Jeremiah! He loomed over each one of them and covered their faces with their pillows...

Charles woke up from the dream, breathing heavily and sweating. He was breathing so hard that he woke Angie and Jeremiah up. "Charles, what's wrong?" Angie asked, concerned.

Charles was still affected by the dream. He looked carefully at Angie and then at Jeremiah sitting on his lap. Though he still ached from the attack and his broken ribs, he reached out and wrapped both his wife and son in a big hug. He kissed them both on the top of their heads several times and said, "Oh, thank goodness you're all right!"

"Daddy, what's the matter?" Jeremiah asked.

"I had a nightmare," Charles answered, putting his hand onto his forehead. He was still breathing hard. "The robber came back and hurt you guys," he said, gasping. "Oh, my gosh, it was awful!"

"But you weren't scared of him," Jeremiah said. "You ran after him with a baseball bat and hit him with it."

Charles hugged Jeremiah again and said, "I was really scared as I did it, though. I was afraid of what he might do to all of us."

"So even daddies get scared?" asked Jeremiah.

Angie gave his hand a squeeze and smiled at him. "Yes, honey, both mommies and daddies get scared if someone breaks into their home. They don't want anyone hurting their babies." She leaned over and gave Jeremiah a big hug and a kiss. Then she turned to Charles. "It was just a dream," she said. "Jeremiah and I are here, and we're all right. There is a lot of security around the hospital, so the burglar would have a very tough time getting in here. We'll call the police when we get home and ask them to drive by our house frequently day and night and leave lots of lights on so the burglar will be too scared to come back."

Charles smiled at her and kissed her on the lips. "That sounds like a great idea. Thanks, Angie," he said.

"Anytime. In the meantime, we'll stay in here with you in case you need anything else." Angie leaned her head on Charles's shoulder again, and Jeremiah curled up on his dad's lap again. Before long, everyone was asleep again.

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