The End.
He came out of the bathroom to find her pulling off the sheets and replacing them with new ones. He knew she didn’t realize it, but he took more notice of her than he realized. She climbed into bed, and he followed her lead. He pulled out his book to do some reading as she lay on her back staring at the ceiling. The routine was pretty set in this way. Every night she counted down the seconds until he turned the light off and left her to fend for herself in the dark. He gently kissed her good night and reached over to cut the light off, and she exhaled slowly with her eyes tightly shut to try and focus on the light that would come back in the morning. Hours passed and the fight was becoming harder and harder. She was certain that he was sound asleep, as she made her way down to the floor beside the bed. Her body frozen with fear, she turned to face the window. She couldn’t help but wonder if this would ever end, or if maybe she should just give up on the hope that things would change.
He noticed. This was the routine for her. Every night around the same time he would feel the sheets move and without her knowing, he had watched for the past few weeks as she grabbed her pillow and made herself at home on the floor. And every morning he would find her back in bed beside him. But he was no fool. His eyes followed her as she quietly hit the floor and the sound made his heart shatter. He couldn’t let another night pass by like this.
As her thoughts began to occupy every ounce of her head, she felt his arms around her. His body was pressed against hers, and it left her dumbfounded. He had left the comfort of his bed and found her. Pulling her towards him, he covered her with his arms. They lay there in silence. She couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t questioning her. Nor was he disgusted with her. What was wrong with him? Did he not see her for what she was? She couldn’t verbalize the thoughts and questions that were occupying her head, but they came out instead, in the form of salty tears. Tears that had fallen night after night, alone. He pulled her closer and she could feel his heartbeat. “I want a new heart” she whispered into the darkness. A moment of more silence and she felt his tears hit her neck at the same rate that hers hit the pillow. She felt him take a deep breath and respond, “I love the one you already have.”
