My fingers ran through her silk hair, twisting the deep brown curls around my fingers. There was a dismal glaze that coated her eyes, hiding her innocent, chocolate brown irises from me. A tear fell from her eye and I ran my thumb over her cheek to swipe it away.  She was looking right at me, but her gaze was far away, as though she were alone, despite my standing directly in front of her. “Emery?” my voice cracked with sadness as I placed  my hands on either side of her face trying to make her see me, to see that she was not alone. “Emery? Emery, I’m here. Baby, I’m here. You’re safe,” My pleas went unacknowledged and she continued to stare through me, into nothing. With each ominous tear that fell from her eyes, I could hear my own heart breaking. Why can’t she see? How can she not know that I am here with her, for her. “Emery, please. Emery look at me. I… I love you. Emery, I love-”
     “No,” her voice was hollow, again deprived of any emotion. It hurt me.
     I pushed a lock of hair out her eyes; wet with tears, the strands had begun to stick her face. I pressed my forehead against hers and whispered to her quietly over and over that I loved her, begging her to believe it. “No,” she spat again. “You love her. You chose her.” I pulled back and looked deep into her eyes. They were now staring intently at me, filled with such hurt that I wished the lonely gloss would return. Anything but the pain that filled them now. She pushed me away suddenly and the loss of contact with her warm skin made my bones ache, begging for it once more. I staggered back in surprise and my eyes swept over her figure, now crumbled to her knees with her hands covering her face as her body shook with each convulsion of tears.
     “Emery!” I called out to her, but my voice was muted out by the sounds of her sobs.
     “Roman. Roman!” It was Terri’s voice that sounded out now. It filled my ears and Emery’s cries went silent. The image of her body, heaved over on the ground,  became blurry and a haze rose between her and I, making her hard for me to reach. I stepped toward her, but the smog only grew thicker. “Roman! Roman, come back to me. How could you do this? How could you leave me like this?” Emery’s voice rung in my ears and I fought to get to her, but the haze pushed me back. I yelled to her, screamed, pleaded with her and the universe and whatever God the humans believed in to let me get to her. Terri’s voice still clouded my ears, swirling in with Emery’s, making it all so much more confusing. Then, all at once the cloud faded and there she sat, alone, only a foot or so from me. Her eyes were suddenly as clear as I remembered them, that stubborn strength piercing out of them. She looked fierce, beautiful. Another tear rolled down her cheek and I reached out to brush it away, but stopped suddenly as she spoke. “You promised to stand by me, to be there for me.”
     “Roman!” Terri’s voice was coming through again, more violent this time. Real.

     My eyes shot open and I sat up violently in bed. Sweat drenched the sheets where I’d been laying, or rather convulsing it looked like. The blankets had been thrown to the floor as though I’d been thrashing about. I could hear the raindrops pouncing off the roof of my pod, but the sting of Emery’s cries still lingered in my ears. Terri’s arm wrapped around my waist and I could feel her cheek press against the back of my shoulder as I struggled to control my heaving sighs. “You had another nightmare, didn’t you?”
     A nod was my only reply, fearing that if I opened my mouth, Emery’s name would be only word to fall out.
     “It was about her, wasn’t it?” I looked at her, knowing she was right, but not wanting to admit it for fear of hurting her feelings. “You were yelling her name.”
     My breathing finally once again under control, I turned to kiss her temple and wrapped an arm around her. “It was just a dream, Terri,” finally trusting myself to speak, I did my best to sound calm, “Go back to sleep.” I laid back down, pulling her to my chest, and within moments the steady sound of her breathing told me she had fallen back into sleep. But I lay awake, my mind racing. Emery’s last words racking my bones and forcing a dull ache to settle in my chest.
      
                                                                           You lied.