Then the silence descended, broken only by the scanner, wind, and rain.
It wasn't uncomfortable, exactly. It was a quiet that came after too much adrenaline and not enough rest. The generator hummed outside. Rain rattled the windows. The scanner continued its endless low murmur.
Ok, Wayne, you hit a line drive and nailed it with this one. I've been here. I understand the 'quiet' that descends during a storm. Only instead of a tornado, mine was a hurricane. More than once. Its weird how the brain filters out everything but one sound and that sound becomes a silence that's too loud.
But worse than the lack of sleep was the fact that Taggert had refused to even look at him. Not once.
And it hurt more than he thought it could
Ash, my man, Taggert needs more time to download information and reboot.
James ran his tongue over his teeth. "I… am pretty sure Taggert's motivation was a bit different."
Quite the observant fella.
Ash stared at him. Because suddenly he did. Not fully. Not all the way. But enough to feel it washing over him in waves from Taggert.
Aaaaaaannnnddddd the lightbulb goes on!
There's other passages that jumped out at me too but I'll rein myself in lol.
Aftermath is the perfect title for this chapter. Never mind the storm. You gave us a few more pieces to the puzzle. Whatever happened to Taggert has had a lasting impact..
Ash is starting to figure out some things about himself that he never contemplated before:
Ash stood there looking at him. At the softened face. The exhaustion. The trust in sleeping this deeply with someone still in the room. With him in the room.
His chest tightened again.
Softly, so softly, Taggert never heard it, Ash murmured, “Sleep well, cowboy.”
Taggert is starting to realize that his past reality doesn't have to continue into his future:
His chest felt tight again. Not panic, exactly. Something worse.
Hope.
And God, that was scary.
Thanks for a great chapter.