A Forever Christmas(25)

Gabe had always had the ability to fall asleep within three minutes of his head hitting anything that could remotely pass for a pillow. Tonight was no exception.

If anything, he was asleep in two minutes rather than three.

And he would have slept right through until morning—if the scream hadn’t woken him up.

Scissoring apart a dream that evaporated the instant he opened his eyes, Gabe bolted upright, trying to separate reality from any remaining strands of his dream that might have somehow managed to linger around.

Confusion temporarily dimmed his ability to think.

That vanished the moment he heard the scream again. It wasn’t bloodcurdling so much as profoundly heartbreaking.

And it was also not a dream. Both screams had come from upstairs.

Angel!

Gabe’s feet hit the floor, running. He made it across the living room in record time, heading for the stairs. Taking them two at a time, he quickly made it up the stairs and to his room.

It didn’t even occur to him to stand on ceremony and knock, or call through the door. Rules and polite behavior quickly died in the face of Angel’s screams.

He threw open the door. A solid block of darkness met him. He felt the left wall for a light switch. Finding it, he flipped it to the up position.

It didn’t really help all that much.

He blinked, trying to adjust his vision as he looked around. Angel wasn’t where he’d left her. The bed was empty.

“Angel?” he called out. “Where are you? Why are you screaming?”

She didn’t answer.

He found her huddled in the corner on the floor just beneath the window. There was a crescent moon out and an eerie yellow glow touched the windowsill. It seemed to heighten the aura of fear emanating from her.

“Angel?” he said, worried as he crossed to her. “Are you all right?”

Rather than answer, Angel looked up at him with enormous, frightened eyes. Gabe crouched down to her level. What had spooked her this way? If someone had tried to break in, he would have heard them.

He needed to calm her down, he thought. Otherwise, the situation could grow out of control.

“You’re shaking like a leaf in the wind,” he noted. “Why? What happened?”

As he tried to put his arm around her, Angel stiffened and pulled back.

Was she still asleep? He’d heard that people could look awake when they really weren’t. Sleepwalking didn’t just involve walking. It took in all facets of this strange condition.

Was she in the throes of some kind of a nightmare that was holding her prisoner?

“Angel, it’s me,” he told her as softly as possible. He refused to remove his hands from her shoulders. He saw it as the only way he could anchor her. “It’s Gabe. You’re in my house. You’re safe,” he said, then repeated with emphasis, “Safe. Do you understand?”

Angel struggled, trying to pull away again. And then she began to sob. Within a moment, she suddenly slumped against him, her sobs growing louder. And then they began to subside.

“Gabe?”

Did she recognize him, or had her nightmare somehow caused her to forget him, as well?

“Yes, Gabe. You know, the guy who’s been hanging out with you all day, taking you to hospitals and fun places like that.” And then he dropped the teasing tone. Instead, he lightly stroked her hair, still trying to calm her. “You had a nightmare.”

“No, I—” She stopped abruptly. “A nightmare?” she repeated. She looked at him in wonder. “But it was so real.”

Maybe this was the key they needed to unlock her memory. He loathed having her relive something that obviously terrified her, but if it meant that she could start to remember, Gabe felt that he had to try. “What was it about?”

Distress filled her eyes as she looked up at him and realized, “I can’t remember.”





Chapter Seven



The next moment, in a fit of pure frustration as angry tears filled her eyes, Angel fisted her hand and hit it against the wall.

“I can’t remember, I can’t remember, I can’t remember,” she cried, her voice growing more agitated with each repetition.

Moved and almost overwhelmed with sympathy, Gabe enfolded her in his arms. Angel was too weary and too drained to struggle and pull away.

“Then don’t try,” Gabe told her gently.

Desperately searching for a clearing in the fog that had laid siege to her mind, Angel raised her head to look up at him, confused. Was he really telling her to give up?