Choni One Shots pt: 2

262: The One When Toni Can't Sleep In A Bed

CHERYL POV:

I walk into Toni's apartment. "I'm in the bathroom!" I hear her say. I go to her room where her bathroom is. I see her bed neatly made, untouched from the last time I was here. "Still can't sleep in bed?" I ask motioning to the blanket and pillow on the floor. "Even that's to comfortable sometimes." She says quietly. "I try when you're here! But I can't sleep most nights." I nod. "It's ok!" I say quietly. "7 years in a war, sleeping on the ground for that long, makes sense." I whisper. "I remember being at the hospital after the accident and even that bed was to comfortable for me." She explains playing with her hand. "How much longer to do we have until we have to leave for physical therapy?" She ask quietly. "7 minutes, finish brushing your teeth." She nods. "Can you help me change my shirt in a minute?" She ask me. "What about the shirts you've been wearing for the past few days?" I ask her. I look at her shirt and realizes it's the same one. "You've been wearing that shirt for the past few days." She nods. "How about changing your pants?" I ask her. "It's been fine, it's a little hard with my left leg barely works but if I sit down it's ok." She says quietly. "You have therapy tomorrow afternoon." I say quietly. "Like the one where you sit down and talk about your feelings." I add. She smiles. "I know." I kiss her. "How's your arm?" I ask her. "Well, can't put a shirt on. Still trying to get used to the prosthetic." She says quietly. "It's been 7 months and I can't get used to anything." I nod. "I know."

TONI POV:

I walk into the house and see a young girl. I go over to her. "I'm Sergeant Topaz, I'm here to help!" I say putting my gun down. She comes over to me. I pick her up and we start to walk out when a bomb goes off knocking us to the ground. I look over to see if she's ok. "Help!" She calls out. I try to go to her but I can't because my leg and arm are being crushed. I look at the girl. "Hey! It's gonna be ok!" I tell her. "I'll get you out of here! I promise!"

I jolt awake covered in sweat. I look at the tv and turn it off immediately. I get off the floor, and grab my cane. I slowly walk into the living room. I turn on the lights and read for a bit. It's the only way I calm down.

"Did you have a nightmare last night?" My therapist ask quietly. I nod. "What happened?" She ask me. "It was the same one I've been having every night for 7 months!" I say pissed. "What have you been doing to calm down after?" She ask quietly. "I like reading. I've been reading Harry Potter, I finished it last night." I say quietly. "Why's that?" She ask. "Because there are 7 books. Last time I saw you was 7 days ago and I'm a fast reader." She nods. "Has it been helpful?" I nod. "Yeah actually." I smile a little. "Besides the nightmares, how has your sleeping been?" She ask quietly. "Fine, I'm able to go to sleep pretty quickly. Well, once I get on the floor." I explain. She nods. "I can't sleep in a bed still, I try to with Cheryl and I can when I'm with her because she smells nice and she holds me and makes me feel better, not in a sexual way, well she does but that's not what I'm talking about right now. She's worth being to comfortable." I explain. "How's your leg?" She ask motioning to my leg. "It's been better, I was able to walk without a cane a while ago." I say quietly. "I'm not in excruciating pain anymore." I add. She looks at me. "That's good." She smiles. "I still feel really guilty. I know it's not my fault that someone else launched a missile into the small house. I told that girl everything was going to be ok. I was able to keep her calm until she died." I explain. "I went to her funeral. It should have been me. She had potential to change the world. She said she wanted to be like me when she got older." I tell her. "How do you live with that?" I ask holding back tears. "You talk about it in therapy!"

I slowly walk into Pops and sit at the counter. "No Cheryl?" Veronica ask confused. "No, she had a meeting." I say quietly. "How did you get here?" She ask confused. "She dropped me off so I don't have to be by myself." She nods. "Can I just get a coffee for now, I just had breakfast not to long ago?" I ask her. She hands me a cup of coffee. "Thanks." I smile. "I know you've probably been asked this a lot but, how have you been?" She ask quietly. "I've been better." I say quietly. "How the arm?" She ask quietly. "I feel like Bucky Barnes but not as cool." I say looking at my arm. "It's not this whole metal arm thing and I'm not brainwashed to kill anything that moves." I say quietly. She smiles a little. "You can't sleep on a bed can you?" I look up. "Archie had the same problem for a while. You'll be able to sleep on a bed soon, you just need time." She tells me. "Do you know what helped him get back to normal?" I ask her. "Getting a job helped." She says quietly. "Have you looked into getting a job?" I shake my head. "No one will hire me, I'm over qualified for just about everything that isn't the military." I say quietly. She nods. "This is definitely something you're overqualified and so far under what you're used to being payed but if I bet Archie will have you something for you at the gym." She tells me. "I can't really work out or help people." She nods. "Go talk to him." I smile a little. "Thanks." She nods. "Did Cheryl put you up to this?" I ask quietly. "Kinda. She said you might come in here looking for a job and asked me to push you in the right direction knowing you won't listen to her about this shit!" I nod. "Fair enough."