In Between Dreams (25 page)

“Rodney—” Bailey screamed. She knew the man was coming for her, but she didn’t know why. Rodney quickly pushed Bailey backward and stepped into the man’s path, intercepting him. The man collided with Rodney, and they both fell backward. Bailey screamed for Daniel. She knew he would be able to get the man off of Rodney. She watched as the man pushed whatever he held into Rodney’s side. Rodney, frail and in his seventies, held his own by reaching up to block the knife. The man stabbed Rodney through the hand. Rodney punched the man in the face with his other hand.

The man dropped his head after the punch. Bailey’s eyes widened in fear, and she covered her mouth as a cry escaped. Rodney’s attacker brought his fist up to counter the action, but Daniel came from behind and grabbed the stranger by the shirt. Daniel pulled the attacker off Rodney. Daniel pushed the man against the tree and put his arm to his neck and yelled expletives into his ear as Bailey fell to her knees next to Rodney. She pulled the knife from his hand, and blood gushed from the wound. She wrapped her hand around the wound to keep it from bleeding.

She looked up at Sam who was looking on with wide eyes. “Call nine-one-one,” she barked.

“Oh my God,” she breathed. She pushed his hand into his stomach to help with the pressure. “Are you okay?”

“I think I bruised my ass. Besides that, I’m dandy,” Rodney said sarcastically, then his eyes softened. “You all right?”

Bailey nodded slowly, still processing what happened. “You saved my life, Rodney,” she murmured, and reached down to hug him. “Thank you,” Bailey said, her words hushed and sincere. Rodney was a better man than anyone she’d ever known.

As she parked at the coffee shop a couple minutes early, she was pulled from her thoughts of Rodney. She had something more current to keep her mind occupied. She decided to wait in her car. She didn’t want to seem too eager. She looked down at her outfit. She wore a floral summer dress, her usual attire for a summer in Seattle. But Sam had never seen her in Seattle. She let out a jittery squeal, unable to contain it any longer. The excitement and fear rose in her belly.

Sam walked out of the shop. He used his hand like a visor to block the sun from his eyes as he looked out in the parking lot. Bailey got out of the car and waved at Sam. “I’m right here,” she said raising her hand.

Sam jogged to the car, and they stood awkwardly in front of each other. They were both waited for the other to speak first. After a couple more awkward moments, Sam reached to hug her. “Come here,” he mumbled, and pulled her body into his.

Except for the shorter hair, this Sam was the same Sam. He had the same face, eyes, and build. However, he seemed in better shape than the Dream Sam. She felt the muscles under his shirt. The Sam in her dreams had more bulk to him. This Sam was comprised of merely muscles and bones.

“Wow,” she said, pulling back from him and looking him up and down.

“That about sums it up,” Sam said with a large grin. “I can’t believe you’re standing in front of me. I can’t believe you know who I am.”

“I think we’ve got a lot to talk about,” Bailey said, and she scrunched up her nose. She didn’t want to part from this moment, in his arms. But she knew there was a lot to say, so much to figure out.

Sam nodded. “But not here,” he said, and pointed to her car. “Can we—”

“Of course.”

Sam walked over to the passenger side and opened the door. Bailey noticed the old plastic coffee cups and protein bar wrappers that sat at the feet of his seat. She cringed in embarrassment and reached down to clean as many up as she could in a couple of seconds. She tossed them into the backseat and made a mental note to make sure to clean them out soon. Sam slid himself into the car and shut the door.

Each movement seemed to take longer than normal. She put on her seat belt slowly. She couldn’t quite place why it was taking her so long. She tried to pick up her keys from the center console, and finding the correct key for her vehicle turned into a feat. She finally turned on the car and “Dreams” filled the car loudly.

Sam smiled over at her. “Fleetwood Mac, huh?” he said knowingly.

Bailey bit the inside of her lip, put the car in reverse, and started her decent toward her house. “Yeah,” she mumbled. “Fleetwood Mac.”

The eerie memory of that moment from the hotel room in China seemed to follow them throughout the car ride. Neither party knew what to say, so they said nothing at all.

Within ten minutes, Sam was at Bailey’s apartment sitting at her small and rarely used kitchen table. “So…” Sam said, fidgeting.

“I’m a little confused,” Bailey said honestly. “Do I know you from where I think I do?”

“You’re in my dreams,” Sam said. Bailey’s jaw dropped. She thought he was in her dreams, not the other way around. “You hair is longer now, and you’re a little skinnier. But it’s you. Same name and everything.”

Bailey nodded, her stomach tying in knots. “You too.” She scrunched up her nose. “This is beyond weird.”

He looked around the apartment. Sam and Bailey both trying to think of what to say next. Bailey rubbed her lips together absently. Sam’s eyes made their way back to Bailey, and he caught a glimpse at her shoulder and inspected it. “Your scar?” he asked. “It’s gone?”

“So they’re the same dreams,” Bailey whispered in disbelief. The nausea reentered in her stomach. The anticipation of what was coming seemed to fill every inch of her.

Sam opened his mouth to speak, but his ringtone filled the room. “Sorry.” He took out his phone and silenced it. “I’ll call her back.” The ringtone stuck out to Bailey. “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac. They both had an attachment to that song.

“Did our dreams combine?” Bailey wondered aloud. Sam was just as rattled as she was, and she knew he wouldn’t be able to answer any of her questions. But that didn’t stop her from asking them.

“Quite frankly I don’t know. It appears we’re both out of the loop.” Sam clearly had the same list of questions Bailey had. They could speculate but that would be discussion that would get them nowhere.

The teapot on the stove whistled loudly. Bailey stood and grabbed two mugs from her cupboards and filled them with the hot water. “Earl Grey or green tea?” she asked.

“Earl Grey,” he said, and rubbed his hand over his mouth. Drinking tea was the most normal thing in the world, but today was anything but average.

“What was the last thing you remember?” Bailey asked, handing him a Santa Claus mug. He snickered at it.

“Sorry, I haven’t done the dishes in a while,” she admitted timidly. She sat across from him again.

“It’s fine,” Sam said. “I like a little Christmas in July.” Bailey was grateful that they could just sit together, that he could lighten her mood so easily.

“What happened after I left?” Bailey queried. “Daniel and I went in the room, and he began to choke me and apologize at the same time. It was really weird. I woke up back here in Seattle in my bed.”

“Such an ass,” Sam mumbled under his breath. “I can tell you what I know. I talked to Hui,” Sam began.

“And you really know Mandarin?” Bailey asked in disbelief. The utter shock seemed to come in waves. One moment, she’s accepted it. Yes, of course he has dreams. Of course he has the same dreams as her.
Then, moments later, the undeniable skepticism reared its ugly head, and bewilderment was all she could feel.

“Yeah. After my first experience with you and Rodney, I thought maybe it was a sign, a sign that I was supposed to become a linguist. So I threw myself into language studies at UT Austin,” he explained. “I used to live in Austin until a couple years ago. But then it seemed like the more languages I knew, the more I was taken away from my real life and brought into the dreams.”

Bailey let it sink in for a moment. Sam had been having the same experiences she had. The sleep attacks. She felt less alone in that moment then she had in years. The man in front of her knew exactly what she had been going through.

“What’d the doctors diagnose you with?”

“Chronic mono,” he explained. “I have doctor’s notes for my jobs, but I usually get fired a couple times a year. I haven’t been able to hold down a job,” he said frankly. He shook his head in frustration. “I’ve been living with my parents. It’s sort of a mess. I’m not seen as reliable, because my resume is a joke. And potential employers are very reluctant to give me chance no matter how well I interview, assuming I get an interview.”

Bailey looked into Sam’s eyes as he recounted his struggles. She could see that it had not been a smooth path for Sam. He was caught in the same disjointed life because of his sleeping condition.

“I’m sorry, Sam. Is your family supportive at least?” Bailey put her hand on his to show she was there for him. It was odd, but it felt good that he was there, in her apartment. She was happy she could put her hand on his. She was glad that she had his phone number on her coffee cup. She was strangely, awkwardly, enigmatically happy.

“It really is fine,” Sam said, dismissing her concerns. “I can’t believe it’s you. You’re real. You don’t know how many times I’ve wished I could call you. God, after that ending with Mei last time…I felt so helpless. I haven’t been able to get back to normal. And then this dream ended so abruptly too.”

Sam met Bailey’s eyes. “This is weird,” he said with a nervous laugh. “Right? This is all really strange.”

“I know.” Bailey rubbed her hands over her face. “We’re just sitting here talking about our dreams that for some unknown reason are the same dream like it’s completely normal.”

“It’s not normal,” Sam said, leaning back in his chair. His face in an exaggerated shocked expression.

Bailey put her hands up to her cheeks and sunk into her seat. “Is it also kind of weird that it feels right? Like I was supposed to meet you?”

Sam bit his lip. He looked Bailey over, trying to read her. “No,” he said, shaking his head and the madness of it all. “That’s the weirdest part about it. I feel like we should be freaking out.”

“We are kind of freaking out,” Bailey argued.

“I mean, more so.”

“I know what you mean…” she trailed off. She looked down at her feet, then at Sam’s. Dream Sam always wore converse. This Sam, Seattle Sam, was wearing navy boat shoes. “Do you find that you’re dressed differently in the dreams then you do here?”

“Yes,” Sam said, his voice bordered on realization. “I have noticed that. My hair is so much longer in the dreams; it’s always in my eyes. And I’m always wearing sweatshirts. Without fail, every time.”

“Me too,” Bailey said. “The things I wear as Dream Bailey I would never wear in real life.”

“And how vivid the dreams are, it’s eerie, right?” Sam said, almost excitedly. They were both so excited to have someone to share these things with.

“Does no one believe you?” Bailey asked. “Because everyone thinks I’m crazy.”

“I’ve stopped telling people.”

“Me too. What’s the point?”

“Exactly.”

“Exactly.”

The moment of complete understanding was surreal. And after it passed, Bailey didn’t know what else to say. Sam was there, in her apartment, and he was the first person in years who really understood her. Understood what she’d been going through. It felt amazing.

“How’d the dream end for you?” Bailey asked, reminding herself of her curiosity.

“I was talking to Hui, trying to convince him to stick around, and Daniel came out of the room alone. That should have been my first clue something was wrong. So then he said, ‘I don’t think I really need a translator’ or something and asked to talk to me in the other room. We went in the bedroom, and I noticed you were asleep on the bed. I stood over you, and then I woke up on my parents’ couch.”

Bailey covered her mouth for a moment. “Sam,” she whispered. A sudden realization swept over her like a fog. It made everything else seem temporarily blurry. “If you’re real, and I’m real, and we’re both plagued by this strange disease…is it possible that everyone in the dream world is real?”

“Perfect. Awesome,” Sam said sarcastically. “You want to look up Daniel. Of course.”

Bailey realized in an instant his dream life was the center of his world. His real life in Seattle was a train wreck. It was clear to Bailey that Sam’s dream life was his purpose for living. He had a life of substance there. His Seattle life was to be endured, whereas his dreams gave him relief from his personal prison. His decision to learn languages were based on the need in his dreams, not his life.

Bailey hit him on the arm in frustration. “No, no. You don’t understand. If you’re real, and I’m real…is it possible that
Mei
is real?”

“And Halene, and Katherine,” Sam added, his jaw slacked in shock, and worry was painted all over his face. “We have to find her. Or we have to go back.”

“How, though? I’ve never been able to make myself have a sleep attack. They seem random. It’s like they are controlled in the dream world. Not in this one.” Bailey realized she had an opportunity with Sam to find some answers. This realization was exciting and frightening.

Sam closed his eyes and thought hard, his forehead creasing between his eyebrows. “I need a piece of paper.”

“Huh?” Bailey asked, dumbfounded. His question seemed out of place.

“Paper. And a pen.”

Bailey reached in her purse and grabbed a pen and a grocery list and handed it to him. With his eyes still closed, he wrote down a number. “What’s that?”

“I heard Halene give Daniel this when we were in France. If this is all real, we can get ahold of her.”

eighteen.

“H
ello?” a familiar voice answered tentatively.

“Halene,” Bailey shouted. When she dialed the number Sam had given her, she fully intended for it to be a dead end. She looked at Sam with wide eyes; he mirrored the same expression back to her. It was all unreal. How was this happening?

“What’s going on? Where’s Daniel?” Halene asked, her voice frantic.

“I’m in Seattle,” Bailey said the words slowly, as if she still didn’t believe them herself. She pressed her lips together anxiously and looked at Sam, who chewed on his cheek. Her nerves overtook her stomach.

“What? How the hell did that happen?” Halene’s tone climbed, the fear in her voice obvious.