She prayed it was an animal. Because if a woman had made that noise – that fading, horrid scream – someone had done terrible things to her, carrying her into the night.

Rubbing her arms to chase the chill away, Kate got up, her body demanding she sit back down. Biting her bottom lip, she stutter-stepped into the living room and collapsed on the bed.

Andrew snapped awake.

“What happened? Are you okay?”

His voice was gruff, strained, made raw by the booze and snoring.

“Shhh,” Kate said, hand over his mouth.

“What are you doing?” he mumbled.

Whispering, she said, “I need you to open that window.”

“Why did you close it?”

He slipped out from under her hand, rubbing his eyes.

“Please, just do it. And try not to make any noise.”

Andrew looked at her, confused, but did as she asked.

“A little more,” she said.

He opened the window all the way, visibly shivering.

“You want to freeze me out?”

“Shhh. Just listen. Do you hear anything?”

He paused, listened, scratched his head.

“No.”

Neither did she.

“You mind telling me what this is all about?”

Feeling like a fool, she sighed and said, “I…I thought I heard someone screaming.”

“When?”

“A couple of minutes ago. I can’t believe it didn’t wake you.”

He got a bottle of water from the refrigerator, taking a long draw. “You sure it was a person?”

“Yes. No. It was loud and it scared the shit out of me.”

Kate pulled the covers up to her chest, a thin fabric shield against the things that went shriek in the night. Buttons jumped up on the bed.

Andrew looked at the dog and said, “Man, I must have really been out if Buttons didn’t wake me up.”

Smoothing the covers, suddenly nervous to look Andrew in the eye, she said, “Buttons didn’t bark.”

“But you said you heard someone screaming. I can’t imagine Buttons keeping his big mouth shut.”

Kate ruffled his fur. “I know it’s weird, but he didn’t react at all.”

The mattress shifted when Andrew settled in. The look he gave her now made her feel like a world-class ass, not to mention angry.

“Didn’t you put a new fentanyl patch on before we went to bed?” he said.

Her blood immediately went to full boil. “I’m not some addict having hallucinations.”

Putting his hand on her leg, he said, “Come on, you’ve had episodes in the past. It’s not your fault. Those are powerful drugs they have you on.”

Through gritted teeth, she said, “Do I look and sound like I’m out of it?”