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She blinked awake. The room was dark, cicadas buzzing away outside. Her legs felt stuffy under the doona so she untangled one to stick it outside the sheets to feel the cool relief of the crisp air from the fan. She tried to roll over, to shift into a comfier position, but a surprised “mruup?” And soft fur squished into her back and prevented her from moving any more.
A dull throb radiated from her right shoulder. Ah. That’s why she was awake. An old injury, supposedly healed but still a pest on occasion.
She frowned and shifted again, an attempt to relieve the discomfort. She grit her teeth. Pain she could handle, but this weird sensation? This feeling of her shoulder being “off” and “not quite right”? Yeah that peeved her off. The minor relief washed away as she settled into the new position, forcing her to move again and adjust. Her hair tickled her face and she roughly brushed it out of the way, swallowing the huff that threatened to escape past her grinding teeth. The sheets rustled until an arm rested over her torso and warm breath fanned over the crook of her neck.
“You’re wriggling” his voice was gravelly, words slurred with sleep. Tears pricked her eyes.
“I’m always wriggly” her reply was snarkier than intended. Her apology conveyed through a gentle squeeze of his arm which he returned, understanding.
Both were silent for a while and she thought he had fallen back asleep, his breathing deep and slow against her neck, but he then moved, his hair tickling her face. She couldn’t see but she knew the sleepy face he would be making.
“My shoulder is stupid” she confessed. “Ah” he replied “neurofen?”.
She mentally kicked herself for not thinking of the simple solution sooner. Her cat snored softly as she gently attempted to extract herself from the tangle of sheets, limbs and fur. Once standing she straightened her twisted pj shorts and made her way blindly to the bathroom.
Flicking on the light was a bad idea, making her hiss and squint as her eyes stung. She went searching through the cabinets, holding each bottle close to her face so the blurry labels could be read without her glasses. Finally the painkillers were found and tossed back accompanied by an awkward lean to drink water from the sink tap. The light flicked off and she trudged back to the bedroom.
She climbed into bed, stifling her surprised sound when she found that things had been rearranged. There was now a pillow lying horizontally. Soft squidgy gratitude cracked through her frustration and she bent down to give him a gentle kiss on the cheek, careful not to wake him up.
She lay down, feeling around for her head pillow in confusion. “You don’t use your head pillow anyway” his voice was deep and fond and she giggled in response, her heart swelling with love at how well he knew her. She shuffled around and he waited for her to get comfy, her iffy shoulder supported by the pillow, before he moved closer and wrapped her up in a hug. A joint sigh was heaved, sleepy heartbeats slowly matching up.
“Thank you” she whispered, the only response was a soft snore.