Ichabod jerked awake with a gasp, sitting upright in the large bed, the sheets falling away as he reached out to grasp at the air in front of him. His fingers closed around nothingness, but there was something there. Something he hadn’t felt in far too long and in his dazed state he couldn’t quite figure out what was different.
The sun was still high in the sky and Ichabod dropped back down onto his pillows, feeling like a lead weight was pressing down on him, making his eyes want to shut but he struggled to stay conscious, needing to know what it was.
Ichabod wanted to rub the sleep from his eyes and force himself awake so that he could think this through, but it was so difficult. He was too young still to be able to stay awake during the daylight hours and he was shocked to find her had somehow woken up at all.
His hand reached for James, finding the warm body beside him easily and Ichabod rolled over to curl around the human who stirred beside him. Did it matter? Really? Whatever had disturbed him obviously wasn’t a threat, it didn’t feel wrong at all. Quite the opposite in fact. It must have just been a dream, although it had been months since Ichabod could remember dreaming. And none of them had been good; it made a nice change.
His body slowly relaxed and Ichabod began to sink back towards unconsciousness, a small smile playing on his lips. He was almost too close to the brink to clearly register it when he finally worked out what it was and there was no going back from the call of slumber.
With his last ounce of alertness Ichabod pressed a thought into James’ mind, wanting to spread his joy and worried that it might disappear if he didn’t share it. Then he slept again, without stirring for the rest of the daylight hours, knowing that he was whole again, truly feeling peaceful for the first time in eighteen months.
It was just a little thought, one which couldn't be true, he knew that deep down. But for those few seconds, in the space between awake and sleeping, it was there.
He’s alive. Kerr’s alive.
