Kate was well aware that if she let herself get worked up, she wouldn’t even be able to sleep it away. There were times over the past few weeks when she was sure that the moment she closed her eyes, the strange, dark shape would steal her breath and drag her to whatever black pit had birthed the expectant specter. She didn’t dare tell Andrew, because doing so would let it know she was aware of it. Maybe, just maybe, if she pretended she never saw it, the wraith would move on.

She reached out to the coffee table, grabbed the cold mason jar of pills, and rested it against her forehead.

“This is all your fault,” she said to the pills. The sound of the refrigerator clicking on almost made her drop the mason jar. “At least I hope it is.”

* * *

Andrew left work an hour early to get Kate to her appointment with Dr. K. It might have been his imagination, but he thought his boss flashed a disapproving look his way as he passed by his office.

He had to wrestle the urge to go back and tell him to go screw himself. Or maybe he could invite him to go outside and tell him to his face what that look really meant.

Calm the hell down. He’s probably just looking over some report that’s not promising to pad his pockets come bonus time.

He stuffed his fists in his pocket and went straight to his car.

The state Kate was in had put him in a dour mood. Kate’s anger had only inflated his own. Except he had to stow that shit real deep. There was no letting that pissed-off genie out of the bottle. Kicking the shit out of his boss would not make things better for them, even though he would feel a blessed release for a short time.

All the way home, he fantasized about being let go and signing his release papers. The first thing he’d do, after celebrating with some champagne – okay, a lot of champagne – was sleep in. He and Kate would sleep whole days away, getting up only for the bare essentials. She loved having him in bed with her, especially when she was feeling sicker than usual. It gave her comfort. Andrew had been bouncing around so much the past few years, making sure every plate was still spinning on its pole, that it would be nice to just let them crash. Even if Kate slept twenty hours a day, he’d lie next to her, stroking her hair or resting his hand on her belly, feeling the soft, warm comfort of her body. She always felt better, slept better, when he was beside her. Maybe his getting fired could be the key to her finally leaving all this misery behind them.