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As first responders, nightmares were something that was a fact of life. They never knew what type of scene they were coming upon when they arrived. Would it be something that they’d be able to make some well placed jokes about later? Would it be something that would stick with them for hours? Would it be something that would basically scar them?
They never knew. And the triggers each had were different for everyone.
When it came to TK, most of his nightmares revolved not around the scenes that ended poorly, but around the incidents that put his family and friends in danger. He was forever reliving Marjan sinking in the silo (one of his first professional failures in Texas, or Mateo almost falling when trying to take down the flag during the rainstorm. He saw himself visiting Paul in the hospital after his collapse, and Judd and Grace after their car accident. He remembered sitting with this father during his chemo treatments and the aftermath of his surgery.
He always managed to wake himself before his dreams went too far off the rails.
It took him a long while to realize that his nightmares usually happened when the subject wasn't around him. But they couldn’t break him from the nightmares. That gift alone was left in the hands of soft words from Carlos.
The man would snap awake at his love’s slightest whimper and talk TK out of the darkness his mind would create. It would still take some time for the last bits of the nightmares to let go, but that didn’t bother Carlos. If he could help, he would.
If it took years, Carlos didn’t mind. He’d help TK battle his demons in any way he could. If talking to him helped, he’d do it forever more.