Patiently, Bravely and with Open arms

A week had passed since the day that Noah had walked out of that room and her nightmare had become a reality. Laila could still feel the pain from that moment, she could still hear him say "I'm sorry" and she could still see Noah's back facing her and closing the door behind him as he left.

Since then they had been living together like two ghosts. Passing each other in the halls but barely acknowledging each other's presence. He wouldn't sleep in the same room. He wouldn't eat dinner at the same table. And would spend whatever free time he had at the office or locked in away in his home office. Drowning himself in his work. Though she desperately longed for his touch, for a trace of his love, she was afraid to be rejected again. Afraid to make matters worse if she tried to push him. So, with all her strength she held herself back along with her urge to talk to him. Wondering how much longer this would last and how much more of this she could take.

The first two, three days were the hardest. Those were the days where she was working hard to keep her sanity. Being trapped between hope and despair. Though she had no appetite, she forced herself to eat a few bites of each meal for the sake of their son. Through her tears she would force the food, which had lost all its former vibrant taste, down her throat. Other than that she would just stare out of the window all day, watching Noah leave for work and watching him come back home. During the hours in between she would think about what she could have done differently. What she could do to change the situation. Praying that he would forgive her and come back to her. Many woken hours were spent this way, mind lost in thought but never resting. Sleep had become a thing of the past. She was lucky if she could get in four hours of sleep a night during those days.

But by day four she realized she could no longer continue like that. Though it was hard, she couldn't let herself fall apart like that. She needed to stay strong for Noah, for herself and for their unborn son. While there was still hope, she needed to stop feeling sorry for herself and give Noah the time he needed. No matter what, matters were out of her hands right now. There was nothing she could do to help Noah make sense of everything or understand his own feelings. So, since there was nothing she could do to help, she would wait. Patiently. Bravely. And with open arms.

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Today was day eight of her waiting. It was sunny day and despite it being later in the afternoon, the sun still had plenty of warmth. Laila was sitting in their bedroom in the windowsill, looking outside at the trees, the birds and letting the sun give her the warmth she was missing in her life at the moment. As her skin was warming up, she tried to take a nap to compensate for her restless nights. Leaning against the wall between the two large windows in their bedroom, a small blanket over her legs, Laila closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She tried to empty her mind and focus only on her breathing, otherwise falling asleep was practically impossible for her at the moment and even with this, she was lucky if she could sleep for an hour or two but every little bit helped. After a few more deep breaths, she felt herself drifting off.

A short twenty minutes later, in a subconscious state, she could hear someone entering the room. Being asleep, Laila could only process this sensory information in her dreams along with those that followed. The person who entered approached her, looked at her and let out an almost soundless chuckle as their hand brushed her cheek. She could feel their cold touch against her warm cheeks, which had gotten red from being in the sun. That touch felt so familiar, so comfortable, that Laila smiled subconsciously. Something which she hadn't done in a long time. At this point the other person took a seat on the windowsill as well and continued to look at her for a little while before letting out a sigh and getting back up. Shortly after she was carried from the windowsill and was placed in bed. After that the person left and she was alone once again.

When Laila woke up almost four hours later, the sun had already set. As she was opening her eyes and rubbing the sleep out of them, she looked for her phone to see what time it was. This was when she discovered how long her nap had lasted and wondered how she had been able to sleep for so long. That is when she noticed she was no longer lying in the windowsill but lying comfortably in bed underneath the covers. Slowly memories of what she had heard and felt came back to her in a blur.

While she was wondering whether those things had been a dream or a part of reality, she heard a light knocking on her door before it was slowly opened. The person who came in was the person she had hoped for, the person she had been waiting for and the person she didn't allow herself to dream had come. Standing before her was Noah, asking her "Can I come in for a moment?" Before laughing and saying, "Though I guess I have already come in, making my question a bit useless."