The night dragged on endlessly.
Abby didn’t sleep. She couldn’t. She lay stiff and useless on the futon, staring at the ceiling until the faint shadows above her began to feel like they were closing in. At some point she’d called Norah, her fingers trembling as she asked her to hold the phone to Joe’s ear. Even if he couldn’t hear her. Even if he couldn’t respond. She just needed to talk. Needed him to know she was still there. That she hadn’t abandoned him. That she still cared.
Her voice had cracked as she spoke to him in a whisper, telling him she missed him, begging him to hold on. When the call ended, the silence had felt unbearable.
By the time the first thin sliver of dawn crept through the curtains, Abby gave up on pretending she might sleep. She slipped off the futon and padded
