Sam pauses at feeling Pel tense up, but when she moves to lean against him, he resumes rubbing his back gently. Not crying, but obviously upset about this thing with Merrick.

She's struggling because she couldn't be there? He can relate to that, not being able to do something for someone you cared about. He would have said something about it too, but at the mention of demons, Sam stops. "You're having dreams about fear demons... or there are fear demons in your dreams?"