From Barcelona To...

Chapter 118 - Sleep Pattern

Leah's P.O.V

Archie and I have been back home with Ellie a little while now, I'm back in training and Ellie is finally back on her feet, she is still wearing a cam boot but is now in rehab after getting the all clear from the surgeon to start physio again. Although she said the first week was painful, she seems to be doing a lot better this time around after the second operation, it's not swelling as much and she has been able to continuously work on physio, without the stopping and starting she had previously. Despite it seemingly more positive this time around, I can tell she's struggling, not just physically but mentally too. She's distant. She's fine with Archie but with me...with me she's distant. And she has been since I came back after spending a week at my Mums.

Things haven't been completely right between Ellie and I since she first broke her ankle, people always say how hard it is for couples when one suffers a serious injury. And they aren't wrong. It's hard. We have been here before, Ellies TBI, my ACL and we even had to deal with Ellie going off to Australia for the World Cup, but it was different then. We hadn't even been together for a year at that point, plus we obviously didn't have Archie then, we only had each other to think about, our own little bubble, this time it's completely different. I did think once Ellie started to get back on her feet and restarting physio it might have started to get better, but I was wrong. I was worried. I am worried. Not just about Ellie. But about us. The biggest giveaway was not the distance or the lack of affection, it was Ellies sleep pattern.

Ellie has never been the greatest sleeper. She wakes early, always. And once she's awake, that's it. Me on the other hand, I can fall to sleep anywhere, although I never sleep as well as when Ellie is next to me. Even though I don't always wake up when she gets up early and takes Archie downstairs, I think subconsciously I can tell when she's not there.

Over the last week I've caught Ellie a few times just as she was picking Archie up out of his cot in the morning after he had awoken. Nothing wrong with that, right? Except, there was. One morning, once Ellie had left the room with Archie, I reached over, her side of the bed? Freezing. There is no way she had just got out of bed. Of course, I asked her, but as expected she brushed it off and said she was probably just on my side of the bed, cuddled into me. Cute? No, because I knew it wasn't true. Normally as soon as Ellie and I get into bed, we would always wrap ourselves up in each other, often Ellie ending up being the big spoon, usually both of us falling to sleep, sometimes one of us wouldn't be comfy so we'd adjust, like normal, but generally we would still have at least some part of our bodies connected, very rarely would we sleep with our backs to each other, unless we went to bed on an argument, but even then it would always end up in one of us caving.

Of course, we weren't completely glued to each other in bed all night, one of us or both of us moving in our sleep. So, what's the problem? Well, the problem is, we'd get into bed, wrap our arms around each other, Ellie being the big spoon, but then once she thought I was asleep, she would roll over. And I don't mean roll over in her sleep. It was like she was waiting for me to fall to sleep to move away from me and not just because she wasn't comfy. And i'd never, in all of these years had that feeling before.

It was starting to get to me, I had this nagging feeling inside of me that something just wasn't right and I knew if I asked Ellie, she would act normal, and act like she has no idea what I'm talking about. The cold side of the bed was the final straw. So, I switched the security alert notifications on, on my phone. The following morning, I woke, no Ellie and no Archie. Normal. I reach over to my phone.

Notification: 4:02am Motion Detected Downstairs

4am? No way did Archie get up that early.

The next morning...