TWELVE McCoy woke sweating, with a pounding headache over his left eye and some queasiness, the legacy of three double gin and tonics the night before.

She dreamt again and again of Fincara - the taunting song, the green eyes full of cold laughter - and woke sweating.

I woke sweating, gasping for air.

Someone had killed his dog and he found him by a tree and he woke sweating.

Arran woke sweating.

He woke sweating.

When he managed to sleep, he tossed violently and woke sweating, tangled in his sheets.

That was where I grew up, he thought, and all the nights I woke sweating, dreaming I would not be able to get them out of the trucks.

I woke sweating, shivering, my back stiff and painful.

Anticipation of what may happen next makes you wake sweating - to find your pet shaggy dog asleep on the bed with you.