The Cherished Wife

"Charles, I..."

"Oh, Noelle." Charles chuckled softly, pulling her into a warm embrace and gently rubbing her back. "I'm right here, and I always will be."

Feeling the warmth of his hug, Noelle's anxiety began to melt away. She nodded against his chest. "Yeah." She knew he would always be there for her.

"Ready to talk about it now?" Charles's voice was soothing, like he was comforting a little kid, and he was drawing calming patterns on her back. However, Noelle stayed quiet.

He glanced down and caught the turmoil in Noelle's eyes. He got the message. "Can't figure it out yet? That's okay. Just sleep on it. When you're ready, you can tell me, alright?" "Thank you, Charles," she whispered, grateful for his understanding.

on the corner of his lips. Then, she heard him whisper, "Go

in his heart seeing her so scared and vulnerable, but all he could do was hold her close. It was not until she

annual bout of insomnia he always got around New Year's. He had tried everything to fix it, but sleep was a rare guest, and a

a nightmare-a woman, drenched in blood, gripping his arm in the snowy night and gasping out the words with the last

Residence was so silent at night that you could

tonight, the craving was hitting him hard. He toyed with a cigarette for what felt like forever before finally giving in and lighting

upstairs broke the silence. Sean narrowed his eyes, and just like that, the room

looking like

tomado, was walking towards him. He looked just as tired as Sean felt. Sean pulled out a cigarette and offered it to Charles's eyes widened just a