And Dream that I am Home Again

  "You okay?" Simon asked.

  "I did it." Harvey smiled suddenly. "I did it."

  "What did you do?" Simon helped the SIU detective to his feet.

  "I spoke with them."

  "They woke up?"

  "Well, no. I was in Jim's dream."

  Simon groaned. Loudly. "It doesn't end, does it? It just keeps on getting weirder and weirder. You've gotten sucked into the Sandburg zone, along with Jim and all of us."

  "Whatever. I'm hungry. How long was I out?"

  "You shut the door about ten or fifteen minutes ago."

  "Is that all?" It felt like he was gone for hours. He needed to call Evan, to let him know he was fine.

  Simon stopped as he steered him toward the door. "What about Jim and Blair?"

  "Let them sleep. I think they'll wake up soon." Harvey pushed Simon out the door and closed it after him. "Is there anything sweet around here? I'm famished. And Jim's going to be real hungry when he wakes up. You might want to order in some more Chinese food."

  * * *

  .

  Harvey was talking to them one second and was gone the next.

  "So what now, Chief?" Jim asked, but his partner was already asleep. "Dream of home." Anywhere with you is home.

  It was true. But this was different. Now that he had an idea of what was going on, he had an equal idea of what he had to do. He curled on his side, drawing Blair closer. For a few minutes, he did nothing, just enjoyed the moment, the closeness. He missed this already. But he could feel his own weariness creeping up on him quickly, and there came the quick fear that if he waited too much longer, he might not be able to get them home again.

  Dream that I am home. He pictured it in his mind. The door opening to the loft. Sunlight angling in from the south facing balcony windows overlooking the harbor. The blue couches, the chair, the plants. He climbed the stairs to his bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, remembering stretching out on it. The cobwebs were still in the rafters, he noticed. One of these days . . .

  He slowly went down the stairs, hovering more than walking. He drifted past the bookshelves, circling the couches and looking back at the table and chairs, the kitchen. It still wasn't fixed up right yet. There hadn't been time to restore everything after he had taken it out so quickly. This week, they'd do it. Put everything back in place. Clean it and fix it up a bit. Maybe he'd have time to build a new bookshelf for Blair. There were Madame Jing takeout containers on the counter, and he almost detoured toward them, then he remembered what he was doing.

  He opened the door to Sandburg's room and froze. He was there already. Sleeping, curled around his partner on the narrow futon. The room was a little stuffy. Someone had knocked a candle over, for green wax was stuck to the wooden flooring.

  He looked at Blair. All in all, he didn't look too bad. A bit of a fever, but not much. Bruised. Cuts. His ankle still swollen.

  Nothing he couldn't take care of, he decided.

  Yes, it was time to go back home.

  He closed his eyes, held on to his partner, anchoring himself with scent and the comforting feeling of Blair's heartbeat against his chest, and the sentinel dreamed of home.

  And smiled.

  * * *

  * * *

  The End