“You’re safe it was just a dream”
Ben was feeling a lot of guilt right now.
Last week, he succumbed to the annual Pawnee flu. And of course, Leslie, being the amazing girlfriend she is, insisted she’d be there to take care of him and cater to his every need.
And of course, within days he was feeling better. But unfortunately, yesterday, Leslie came down with his bug. She came into work yesterday clearly feeling very ill, and thankfully Ron caught on and brought it to his attention, and he was able to coax her into going back home, so he could stay with her and take care of her, just like she did for him.
He didn’t want to leave alone in this condition. She had been running high fevers, stuffy nose, headaches, an awful, gross cough, and a new one he thankfully, hadn’t experienced: fever dreams.
Last night alone she had atleast 2 of them. And they were pretty scary. She would start to stir a little, and then she would start yelling pretty loudly, and it scared the shit out of Ben.
It was almost 2am, and Ben was scared to go to sleep incase she would have an episode. He was half asleep when he heard Leslie begin to groan.
He looked over at her as she began to yell. “No Ann! Don’t go with groffle waffle! He’s gonna eat you!”
Ben starting shaking her shoulder in an attempt to wake her up. “Leslie, wake up,”
Leslie starting groaning louder. “No!” She yelled.
“Leslie!” Ben yelled.
Leslie shot upright in bed and began hyperventilating.
“Leslie, shhh it’s okay, I’m right here,” he pulled her into his arms, and began rubbing her back. “Deep breaths,” he instructed.
“Ben,” she gasped and began sobbing. “I was so scared,”
“Shhh, you’re safe, it was just a dream,” he whispered.
He continued rub her back, until she calmed down and was back to breathing normally. “You okay?” He asked.
She shook her head into his chest. “ it was really scary, a giant waffle was chasing Ann and-“ she paused. “It almost ate her,” she said, bursting into tears.
Ben pulled her back into his chest and began rubbing her back again. “Hey, hey, it’s okay, it wasn’t real, Ann’s perfectly fine,”
“Can we call her?” She asked.
“I think she’s sleeping honey, it is 2am you know,”
She pouted at him, tears filling in her eyes again. “Can we call her in the morning?” She whimpered.
“Of course baby. We’ll call her right away in the morning,”
Leslie began crying again. “Oh honey you’re okay,” he put a hand to her forehead. “I think you’re a little delirious right now,”
Ben just held her close and let her cry it out. When she was done, she looked back up at him.
“You okay now?” He asked.
Leslie furrowed her eyebrows. “My head really hurts,”
He frowned. “I’m sorry babe, do you want some more ibuprofen?”
She shrugged her shoulders, and nuzzled closer into him. “I just want to lay with you,”
“That I can do, my love,” he pulled her closer.
Within minutes, she was fast asleep once more. Ben pulled the covers up to her chin, and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. He hoped she wouldn’t have another nightmare, and that she could finally get the rest she needed.