For the C.J. Cherryh fans- A Bren dream

This is set in C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner Universe:

Bren Cameron had a girl, a young woman, who was not his daughter or anything but maybe worked for him? Hell, it was probably me, and my brain tried to make it seem like Bren's always had me in his household. You know dreams.

At one point, the girl/I went to the store, and there were marquis bulletins saying to go to the nearest hospital and be tested for a deadly virus that was sweeping the nation. I didn't think much about it, and was just hoping I didn't have it I guess, but Bren went down and was tested and he had it. They had a cure for it since they caught it so fast (suddenly wasn't very lethal, was it?). Everyone else was tested but they didn't have it. Tabini called Bren on the phone (I'm so sure) to reassure Bren that Tabini didn't have it.

All I really remember is that there were only humans in the dream (boring) and that Bren was working in some sort of very cluttered apartment as his office, with books and materials stacked everywhere. I don't remember why I was sent to the store...

At one point in the dream, I must have realized that this didn't go along with any storyline CJC had published, and suddenly I was me, and I closed the book I was reading (as if my dream to that point had been the story of the book) and checked the title. I think it was something Two and Light, maybe Two Points of LIght??? It was a collection of short stories by various authors, and this was one that CJC had written herself. So it was okay. So I opened the book again and the dream resumed from where it had paused. :p

Had to authenticate my escapism, there.

Bren Cameron is, well, something of a bridge between the human and the atevi on his world. His job is to maintain the peace through a careful balance of give and take between the two peoples, in a way that respects and empowers both, and most of all prevents unfortunate misunderstandings (or, misfortunate understandings, as I keep trying to say). In this dream he seems beleaguered, working in a closet with work piling up all around him, and only me as an assistant. Plus he has apparently contracted a lethal virus (but is saved- yay).

I imagine this dream is trying to tell me something about how I connect with other people, or keep a delicate balance between two worlds (perhaps potential and actual)(self and other)(typical and autistic). Being sick usually means there is a kind of breakdown, either physically or emotionally. I am taxing poor Bren to the limit. He needs more helpers and he needs to take a rest and take care of himself instead of being a workaholic hero.

Bren and I have a lot in common (very much too much sometimes), so he's probably me. And I only have me as a helper. And I still have to authenticate the situation by checking on someone else's say-so. ;)

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