Hide (Mommy's House 3)

22

Bella slowly peeled her eyes open.

She heard heavy breathing, and immediately, she shot up to an upwards position in the bed. She quickly looked over to find Cole sitting on the side of the bed, his back facing her, and she realized he was the one gasping for air.

She slowly shifted her gaze to the side to find that Elliot was still sleeping beside them. The clock on the nightstand read 5:46 AM.

"Hey," she said, leaning over to touch his back softly. He jumped beneath her touch, and she quickly moved her hand off of him. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

He had his eyes closed as he nodded and exhaled. "Yeah," he rasped.

"What happened?" Bella whispered as she moved to sit beside him. "Nightmare?"

He nodded. He moved his fingers through his hair and stared down at his lap as he continued to take deep breaths. Bella's heart broke in her chest for the millionth time.

"Sorry I woke you up," he said, his voice raspy and thick. He seemed embarrassed as he put his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes.

"You didn't," Bella assured him. "I'll get you water."

She stood up and grabbed a plastic cup from the counter before filling it with cold tap water. She looked over her shoulder and saw him struggling to regulate his breathing. She swallowed hard and looked back at the cup, and realized the cup was overfilling, as the water cascaded over the sides. She shut the tap off and emptied some of the water out of the cup before bringing it over to him.

"Thanks," he said as she handed him the cup. He gulped the water down within seconds. He placed the empty cup down on the nightstand beside him.

She sat back beside him, and the room filled with a deafening silence, aside from Elliot soft and steady breaths as he peacefully slept. She looked back up at Cole and stroked her fingertips gently against his arm, feeling sticky sweat on his skin.

"I'm gonna shower real quick," he said, exhaling as he ran his hands through his hair. "I'm sweating."

"Okay," Bella responded. She crawled under the covers and stared up at the ceiling as she listened to the shower water turn on.

She closed her eyes to try and fall back asleep, but she couldn't.

Bella had many nightmares before about what happened to them. It pulled her right back into the situation, like it had never been resolved, like they had never escaped Rose's house. The scariest feeling was that split second after waking up, desperately looking around, and questioning if the nightmare was real or not.

Her chest felt tight as she continued to think about Cole. A strike of anxiety bolted like lightning through her stomach. She felt terrified. What if this wasn't all over? What if they weren't going to go back to normal any time soon? Or Ever?

The shower water turned off after several minutes, so she stood up and walked quickly over to the bathroom door.

"Cole?" she said quietly against the door, looking to make sure she didn't wake Elliot up.

"Yeah?" he answered from the other side. "Are you okay?"

She wished that he didn't ask that dreadful question. She desperately chewed off a hangnail on her thumb. "Can I come in? Please." She tried to steady her voice.

The door opened, and he stood before her with soaking wet hair, wearing a white t-shirt and pants that looked like they had been thrown on in a hurry. "What's wrong?" His concerned eyes met hers.

Bella walked past him into the bathroom as she started to pace back and forth. The steam from the shower thickened the air. Her throat tightened and her lip started to quiver as she continued to gnaw her nails off. No matter how many times she swallowed or blinked, the piercing feeling of imminent tears still moved throughout her eyes like pins and needles.