Jared placed another rag, this one wet and cold, on my forehead, wiping away the sweat and tears. My eyes felt swollen and tight. Although the dream was over, I couldn’t stop crying. Jared’s expression was heart breaking. It was the same expression he had when he let go of my hand in the emergency room, as if I were dying before his eyes.

“I can’t fix this,” he said, his voice breaking. “I don’t know what to do to help you.”

“You’re helping,” I said, my voice raspy and faint. I left the bloody rag on the blanket, and touched my hand to his face. Too tired to hold up my own arm, it fell to the mattress. Streaks of blood marked Jared’s cheek, prompting me to turn my hand palm-up to see the oozing tears in my flesh.

“I’ll take care of that,” Jared said, reaching under the bed to fetch the first aid kit.

My head rested against the headboard as he tended to my wounds, kissing my fingers when he finished each hand.

“Jared?”

“Yes, Sweetheart?” he said, thick with agony.

“Would you make some coffee?”

“Yes,” he said simply.

He left me alone, rushing down stairs. I looked down to my red-stained hands, and then to the clock. It read three-thirty. Rubbing my eyes, I struggled to block out the shrieking that still rang in my ears.

Jared returned with a steaming mug of dark, bitter caffeine. He sat beside me on the bed with renewed hope. “Okay,” he said, carefully passing the cup to me, “let’s talk about this.”

“No.”

“No?” My answer caught him off guard. It took him a moment to recoup. “Nina, there has to be a reason for this.”

I took a sip and sighed. “I told you. I’m at Titan every day. I’m surrounded by Jack and memories for hours at a time. Think about it. The dreams didn’t start long after I started my internship.”

“That doesn’t add up, Nina. You should be comfortable being there by now. The dreams should lessen, not get worse.”

An attempt at rational thought proved futile. My mind was clouded by fatigue, and it didn’t take long grow frustrated and give up. “I don’t want to think about it, Jared.”

“You must be exhausted. But, let me try. Tell me about the dream.” Jared smiled when I conceded with a sigh. “Please?”

“It was different this time. I tried to control it and let it happen without me being there to watch, but it kept pulling me back.”

“What pulled you back?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. The dream? I would stand still and concentrate on staying in place, and then I would get pushed to the next scene. But once…I stayed for a while. I saw something I haven’t seen before.”

“Yeah?” he asked, anxious to find answers.

“The d—,”