Chapter 5

The dinner went on in silence, while she was feeding Drew that couldn't sit down calm and eat his dinner.

"Drew, please be a good boy and eat your dinner. It's very yummy for this little tummy," Maddie said while she was tickling his belly, "who's a good boy?" Drew opened his mouth and ate what Maddie was giving him with applause in his hands. Maddie and James were laughing at the way Drew was acting with them.

"Does Drew always act like that at dinnertime?" Maddie turned her attention from Drew to James and when she wanted to answer him, Drew threw on her the spoon that had the mashed potatoes she prepared for him, and it landed on her blouse. James saw his son doing it and laughed. "That was not nice, son! Are you OK Maddie?" James tried to contain his laughter but failed to hold it. Maddie looked at him with laughing eyes but passed him Drew's spoon.

"If you think this is funny, then you finish giving him the food and I'll go to my room to shower and change myself from this dirty clothes, and you little master… Well," she sighed while she looked at Drew, how can she be mad at him "next time just tell me you want my attention to be only yours, OK? And you mister, feed your son and put him into bed!" Maddie got up from her chair and went to her room, she was happy to see James smiling, even if it's on her count.

After a good shower, she changed her clothes into pajamas and braided her hair. She was nervous because it will be the first time, they'll be alone in the living room and the first time that he's going to open to someone about his traumas.

She took a deep breath and left her room to be greeted by James, that just came out of Drew's room. "Is he sleeping now?" she asked with a lower voice and went down the stairs along his side.

"Yeah, apparently he was already tired after we played in the kitchen while you were taking a shower." Maddie looked at him. Oh GOD, please tell me that the kitchen is not in a mess. She didn't even want to think about it, but if it was a mess, she'll make him clean it by himself. "Don't look at me like that, Maddie. I've cleaned the kitchen after Drew's brief war there." Maddie sighed in relief that she didn't have to clean after them.

When they arrived in the living room, Maddie sat at the armchair and James lay down on the couch so he wouldn't have to look into her eyes. She understood his action because she would have done the same thing if she was him.

She heard him take a few deep breaths and then his question. "What do you want to know?" she could feel that he was nervous talking about this theme.

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James was nervous about this talk, but he didn't want to tell a total stranger about his traumas and having a panic attack. He took a deep breath and lay down on the couch that was next to her.

"What do out want to know?" He was nervous but, he felt he had to tell someone about these nightmares that are disturbing his sleep ever since he came back injured from the war.

"I don't want you to be pressured about it. Maybe just tell me about those nightmares, I know you're not ready to share what you went through there, that's why you should tell me about these nightmares that make you scream at nights." James looked at her "Don't look at me like that, I've tried to ignore it like you told me, but I can't. So just tell me about them, please?" She looked at him with begging eyes, that he just wanted to wipe down the sadness that she had hidden inside of her, but he hoped that one day she'll trust him with her story like he's doing now.

He took another breath and said, "These nightmares always start when I was in the cabin with one of my fellow guarding and watching through the monitors to check if the enemies were any close to the base or note. We were talking randomly about our lives and his family, that moment I had to go to the bathroom, so I left him alone to monitor." He stopped for a few minutes and drank a little of water, because this is where his actual nightmare begin. "When I was finishing washing my hands, I heard noises outside and went to investigate it and that's where I saw the enemies were inside our base and attacking us. We all fought them, we killed most of them. When I went to look for my friend at the cabin, I found him dead on the floor with his eyes open, I'll never forget those eyes that looked at me with no soul, that's also where I was screaming because I wanted to save him but then there was a shot, and I woke up because of it." James knew he will soon have another panic attack, but he didn't want it to be in front of her, he didn't want to see her pity eyes looking at him like everyone looked at him after he was sent to the hospital in the plane. He sat down on the couch, he tried to reach the bottle of water, but his hand was trembling as the result of his fear, he tried to reach again and then he saw her hand with his bottle reached to him, so he lift his head and looked at her eyes.

"Thanks for listening to me, Maddie, but I don't want you pity. Yes, you're right, I said that I want to tell you about my nightmares, but I don't care how everyone is looking at me, from you I don't want any pity just a company of a friend, help me around the house and with my son." James got up slowly from the couch and so is Maddie "You don't have to do it; I want to be alone right now. Thanks for listening to my nightmares, but I prefer to be alone. Good night, Maddie." James left the living room and went to his room. When he closed his door, he just collapsed on the floor, trembling like a leaf. He tried to breathe slowly to calm himself, but he was not having it, and it was becoming hard for him to control it, he knows he needs help to calm himself down, but he wanted Maddie to be beside him, to hear her voice. He lay down on the floor completely and held his screams, so he won't scare his son or anyone else.

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Maddie knew he wanted to be alone, but she didn't want to do it because she knows he was trying to block his panic attack. Maddie got up from the couch and run up the stairs to his too.

"James? I know you're having the attack right now, so please open this door. You don't have to hide from me. If you don't open this door right now, I'll call your parents! James? Can you hear me?" Maddie waited for his answer but received nothing. Maddie was worried about him. She tried to open his door, but he locked it from the inside. "James… Please open this door before I knock it down! JAMES!" She was getting too nervous, so she peek through the peephole where the key was supposed and saw him on the floor.

Maddie ran down the stairs and dialed the number of the ambulance.

"911, what is you emergency?"

"My name is Maddie, and I need an ambulance to James Davis's resident right now! He's on the floor in his room and I don't have the key to open his room. Please, I need your help." Maddie was crying on the phone for them to come and help her.

"Don't worry, Miss, the ambulance will be there in 3 minutes. Just hang on." The operator on the other line told her and tried to stay on the line with her until the ambulance came.

At exactly 3 minutes they came, and they ran with Maddie beside them up the stairs to James's room. They opened the door with a forced and found him lying on the floor unconscious. They gave him medical treatment; they've put him on a stretcher. "Don't worry, Ms. Davis, we are taking him to the hospital. Are you coming with us?"

"I'm not his wife. I work for him, plus his son is upstairs, so we'll follow you with my car and along the way I'll call his parents and let them know." Maddie went to Drew's room and lift him slowly from his crib and put on him a blanket, so he doesn't get cold, then she went downstairs with him and took her key to drive beside the ambulance to the hospital.

While they were on the way to the hospital, Maddie put her phone on speaker and dialed his parents.

"Hello?"

"Terry, this is Maddie. I'm sorry for calling this late, but we are taking James to the hospital, he had another attack, but he tried to hide it from me after he told me about his nightmare, please come to the 'Saint Patrick Hospital' I have Drew with me in the car."

"Don't worry Maddie, we are on the way" Maddie and Terry said their goodbyes. She was afraid, but she didn't want to cry in front of Drew. She had to be strong for him until his grandparents come. After 30 minutes of driving, they finally arrived at the hospital. She parked it behind the ambulance and took the sleepy Drew out of the car and run inside with the paramedics. Maddie saw them take James to the ER, and the nurse stopped her.

"I'm sorry, but you can't go inside there so please sit done on in the hallway and the doctor will be with you after he checks your husband so don't worry." The nurse helped Maddie to sit down on the bench in the hallway and went inside the ER to help. Maddie wanted to say that she was not married to James, but she was gone already inside.

Maddie was sitting on the bench waiting for new about James, meanwhile his parents arrived in 20 minutes after they talked on the phone.

"How's James, Maddie?" Maddie shook her head and handed Drew to Albert because she had no strength in her arms anymore and sat back down with her head between her hands.

"I don't know, Terry. After we arrived, they took him to the ER. I'm sorry if I failed you, I've promised you to take care of your son and his son and…" Maddie couldn't help James when he was showing the signals that he wanted her help, and she didn't even reached out to him. She felt ashamed of herself that she got up from the bench and, saying nothing to them, she left the hospital back to the house.