The moment she fell into his arms he felt an electric pulse run through his body. For a brief instant he heard and saw the visions from the dreamscape before he forcefully pushed them back and focused on the beauty in his arms. Looking down into those bright blue orbs caused his breath to catch and the smile she gave him caused his heart to skip. Gently brushing a stray hair from her face he smiled back.
"Good to see you again too, Galen." he said softly, hoping Peter was too far away to hear. He looked up cautiously to see that Galen's brother had gone stock still. The look on his face would have been comical if it had not been trained upon himself. His eyes were shooting daggers but it was obvious he was restraining himself from forcibly removing his sister from the strangers arms.
"I told him," Galen whispered to him as she withdrew her embrace to replace it with a soft hand in his own. Braedan looked at her in surprise and then back to her brother. "Last night when I 'woke up'. Although I have to say I'm surprised he hasn't punched you yet." she giggled and pulled him toward the imposing form bursting with protective desire. "Peter, I would like to introduce you to Dr. Braedan Kelly. His favorite color is blue and his favorite food is shrimp spaghetti." She grinned from ear to ear while grabbing her brother's hand and forcing him to shake Braedan's. Braedan had to hold in a hiss of pain when the man squeezed his hand quite a bit harder than was common curtsey, but he met Peter's eye and refused to blink.
"It's nice to meet you more officially, Mr. Lang. I hope I can be of some help." Braedan polity said.
At his comment, Peter's fierce gaze and grip softened and moved to his sister.
"It appears you have already," he said without a hint of resignation. A small smile could be seen at the corner of his lips. Galen went to his side and gave him a big hug which he returned whole heartedly. "So what's the plan today, Ada?" he asked, turning to his friend after a moment.
Ada was looking at the trio carefully. When Galen had run to Braedan she had expected to see him laid flat. When Peter saw the look she was giving them he smiled at her too.
"I'm surprised you didn't tell me about Braedan's dreams, Ada. I assumed you knew after insisting that Braedan join Galen's sessions but I didn't want to bring it up just incase. Galen filled me in last night. I have no idea what it means but I learned long ago not to take anything for granted."
"You never cease to amaze me, Peter." Ada said to her friend with a shake of her head. "With how well Galen did yesterday I had anticipated getting her back on Turbo and working on some more basics but seeing how...alert...you are today, Galen, how does a trail ride sound?"
"Really?" Galen squeaked. "Do you think I'm ready for that?" She had come to stand by Ada expectantly. Her excitement was contagious and Braedan chuckled at her enthusiasm.
"It will be a nice slow ride, nothing you can't handle. Plus, we'll all be here to help if need be." Both men were nodding their agreement and Galen jumped up and clapped her hands together happily. She spun around and Braedan could not help but admire her graceful and lithe form. Even the little light in the stable caused her hair to shine with silver highlights making him ache to run his fingers through it. Clearing his throat he brought everyone's attention to his direction.
"I let Turbo out a while ago, if you'd like, Galen, you can help me bring him in and get him brushed down before we get on the trail."
"That would be perfect," Ada broke in as Galen smiled warmly at Braedan. "Peter and I will pull out three other horse for the rest of us and get them hooked up while you and Galen start on Turbo."
While Ada led Peter to the tack closet discussing which mounts would be best for the outing, Braedan gingerly took Galen's hand in his own. She squeezed his big hand and offered him another smile.
"You are so beautiful when you smile," he said quietly, capturing the stubborn strand of her hair that refused to cooperate in his fingers and tucking it behind her ear once more. She blushed fiercely.
Galen looked into Braedan's warm brown eyes and could not help the shiver that coursed through her at witnessing the desire she found there. She felt lightheaded all of a sudden and the warmth from her cheeks spread, making her limbs feel weak. It felt wonderful. She had been in college before the accident, and although she had led a pretty active social life it did not often involve men. She knew about sex, having lost her virginity at nineteen to her boyfriend of six months. But despite what her friends had told her there had not been any fireworks and the discomfort and pain of her first time, and her boyfriend's lack of concern for her had turned her away from that particular activity. Her accident had not been many months after that and so her experience in anything sexual could be packaged up neatly and put into a nice box. She had thought she had been attracted to her last boyfriend, but never had she felt herself literally go weak in the knees, as cheesy as it sounded, just from someone's heated gaze.
"Umm," Galen swallowed, "shouldn't we get Turbo?"
Braedan could hear the catch in her voice and easily saw the blush that had risen to her cheeks at his compliment. But what got him going to the point where he had to forcibly stamp down his desire was the hardly recognizable quickening of her breath in excitement as she looked back at him. She seemed to be just as affected as he was, and this knowledge was not any easy thing to accept quietly.
"Follow me," he said, his voice having taken on a huskier tone. She shivered once more; he smiled knowingly. "Are you cold?"
"No, just perfect I think," she responded and followed Braedan through the back doors of the barn.
It took a half an hour to get all the horses ready to go. Once everyone was set they led the animals to the back of the property and the beginning of the nearest trail. Braedan had ridden it many times and knew that as long as they remained on the main trail there should not be any problems.
"Stay on the main trail, the side trails narrow and aren't as easy for inexperienced riders." Ada told Peter and Galen, glancing at Braedan who nodded his agreement. "Why don't you two lead the way, Braedan and I will follow. It's a big loop so as long as we take no turn offs we'll end up right back here" The trial was wide enough for two horses to ride abreast and the two siblings did so. Braedan watched as Galen spoke animatedly to her brother. Turning his attention to Ada he asked a question that had been growing for a while now.
"Ada," he said softly, hoping his voice would not carry to the two in front. "You mentioned Peter was not fond of 'medical' doctors. Obviously he and Galen have some history there, what was said about her condition?"
"The bad blood came from their lack of information. Everything they came up with was mere speculation. Countless MRIs were done, electrode readings, they even attempted hypnosis. The only definitive finding was that Galen seemed to be in a perpetual state of REM sleep, despite also being physically awake."
"Like sleep walking?"
"Yes, but no. Sleep walking usually lasts minutes, not years. Although technically that is what she was going through, sleep walking during REM sleep isn't as common as it is during earlier sleep stages. There was another difference as well, a normal sleep walker can be woken up, even if that isn't the first course of action you should take. Galen would never wake up."
"They couldn't find anything else out?" The doctor in Braedan was in wonder.
"The only other thing that sticks out was that in each and every scan that was done the area of her brain that showed she was in REM sleep was lit up like a spot light. The doctors were pretty astonished at the amount of brain activity she had compared to the average person during REM sleep."
Braedan was intensely curious. If he concentrated he could pull back the images that passed to him from Galen. They were still there, in the back of his mind and he wondered what his MRI would look like. Galen was definitely awake now but he was curious whether there would still be readings of REM sleep for both of them. He glanced at the young woman in front of him and warmed yet again at her glowing smile. The morning sun slanted through the trees to highlight her hair and he had to readjust in the saddle to remain anywhere near comfortable. A smile crossed Ada's face when she noticed what he was doing but he ignored it.
