The door is locked and it’s dark. Carla can’t get out.
She’s trapped in the morgue and she doesn’t know how or why she got here, she just knows with all of the certainty of her being, that she has to get out.
“Lisa!” She screams but she knows Lisa can’t hear her. She doesn’t have her phone. She doesn’t have any way to contact her. She just needs Lisa.
And then suddenly she sees there’s a dead body on the table. It’s covered in a sheet just like the one she looked at today. But she thinks she sees movement underneath it. But it’s dark and she can’t see all that well.
She sees it move again.
And quickly she’s walking towards it because she’s sick of being afraid and not knowing and she’s reaching out for the sheet just to catch a peak and just as she makes contact with the sheet, a hand grabs her arm.
She shrieks.
The body sits up directly in front of her and it’s Rob and she’s shocked and she’s scared and she’s confused and she doesn’t know what to do except say “I thought you were dead!”
And he just calmly turns his head slowly and looks directly into her soul and replies “I’m not. But your stupid girlfriend is.”
And she shoots up in bed awake soaked in sweat.
She takes a deep breath and rubs a hand across her face. She glances to her right and sees Lisa breathing softly. The rhythm of it is soothing. She listens to the deep, slow breaths and tries to match her own to them.
She’s spent a lot of this relationship telling Lisa to breathe in times of trouble, the least she can do is take her own advice.
She’s fighting the urge to fold herself into Lisa. She’d fallen asleep that way, with them both as close as possible to one another, clinging to salvation after the day they’d had. But she knows now that they’ve been asleep, if she tries to get that close again or jostle her girlfriend, she will wake her up. She’s quite the light sleeper.
And while Carla would love to wake her and talk through everything, she knows that Lisa needs her sleep. She’s been pulled in so many different directions lately being the support system to Carla but then the protector of Betsy, and the copper on the lookout for a convicted murderer.
In the throes of all of it, she’s still waking up early and making elaborate breakfasts, she’s making sure Carla is eating well, she’s not rushing her about the money Carla owes, she’s handling everything in her daily life, all while worrying about her daughter. She had so many important roles and she wore them so well so often.
But the cracks in Lisa’s armour are starting to show. The stress, the worry, the constant vigilance, it’s exhausting. And it’s not like Rob is the only thing that’s happened this year. Mason had been murdered, and Lisa had been there for Betsy. Carla had kidney failure. The whole Becky case had finally wrapped up. And they’d started a new relationship amidst all of that. And now Carla’s brother is terrorising them.
She definitely needed rest. She might be Carla’s hero but she wasn’t superhuman. Carla wants to take care of Lisa the way she keeps taking care of her.
Lisa had already been so soft, kind, and patient with her today.
Truthfully, she didn’t want to need Lisa at the morgue. She’d pushed her away and assured herself she could handle it. Because that’s what Carla is: a strong, independent woman who handles her business however and whenever required. And she didn’t want to keep dragging Lisa into it any more than she already was. She wanted Lisa and Betsy as far away from Rob—dead or alive as it turned out—as possible.
So, she had rushed out to work without a backwards glance trying to hide how affected she felt and definitely avoid talking about it.
Because even if she was strong, she still felt overcome with so many conflicting emotions. If Rob was dead, then she didn’t need to worry rounding every corner. She wouldn’t need to worry about Betsy leaving the flat alone. Not stress every time Lisa took a little too long to answer a text. But if he was dead, her baby brother, the silly, impetuous little boy who had grown up and done unspeakable acts, well he was gone too. She remembered how conflicted she had felt when Rob first went to jail for Tina’s murder. How she still loved him amidst all of it. Because he had been there for her in so many ways in their history. It was so hard to divide that up.
But if he was alive though… well the real-life nightmare continued.
Instead of dealing with any of that, she buried her head in the white noise of a bumbling Kirk asking all kinds of questions about the latest delivery. A true balm to the soul.
In the end, Lisa kept checking on her anyway. Texting her all throughout the day. She had responded but without much depth. She just hadn’t been up to talking anything through. And again, didn’t want Lisa dragged into it.
But when she finally got the call to go to the morgue, she debated telling her girlfriend at all. She knew Lisa. She knew if she told her partner she’d been called, Lisa would drop everything if she could and rush to be with her. Carla didn’t really want her to have to do that. She didn’t want to require that of her partner.
She didn’t want to be a weight Lisa had to bear. She had seen Peter through his alcoholism enough to know what that role could be like, and she didn’t want to put Lisa through that.
But she also knew that their relationship was different, in that as much as Carla has always carried her own baggage and strains and worries and struggles, she now has someone who wants to stand beside her and share the load. And it’s taken a lot of rewiring of her brain throughout this whole kidney ordeal to accept that for what it is.
To accept that Lisa actually wanted to be there. Not out of obligation, but out of love. That Carla owed nothing for needing that, and instead, just needed to love Lisa in return. And that Lisa didn’t see it as a weight, because it was a shared load, and whatever either of them had to carry, they’d split it up, and handle it.
So, she decided to tell Lisa she’d got the call to head to the hospital. She hadn’t said anything else. Just a quick text, They’ve just called. She didn’t say anything else because she also knew she didn’t have to. Lisa would know who and why.
And so, she headed to the morgue confident in the knowledge that if Lisa could be there, she would be. When she’d come rushing out of the identification room, Lisa had been there and it hadn’t surprised her. Of course she was there.
And how freeing it is to know with that degree of certainty that the person you love knows what you need without saying it, and does it without asking for anything in return.
She’d been falling apart coming down that hospital corridor. Feeling relief, fear, sadness, worry, stress, and just overwhelmed at seeing the dead, decomposing body of some lifeless man. She couldn’t get away fast enough. But she’d seen Lisa just appear—almost out of nowhere really—like the wish she is.
And rather than running from something, she was suddenly running to someone and her pace picked up just that little bit until she could throw her arms around her partner. Suddenly, she felt safe, and held, and grounded. She felt stable arms around her. The calming smell of Lisa’s shampoo, so different than the sterile room she’d just been in.
This level of support was new to Carla. Sure, Peter had been there through her psychosis, and she didn’t want to diminish that. But it was different. Lisa was so dependable, so safe, so attuned to what she needed. There was a reliability in the way that Carla knew Lisa would be there through anything. There’s a predictability to how she keeps showing up and never wavers. And a vulnerability between them in the way that they both need one another that’s just…well, different. It’s unconditional. That’s what it is. It doesn’t have the history of broken promises, and tarnished hope. How wonderful that feels, she’d thought.
So, she’d been grateful for Lisa’s presence, and fallen into her arms a second time to try to gather her breath. Accepted again the truth and the proof that as much as she can do anything alone, she didn’t have to. Not anymore.
In the past, sometimes it has felt like she’s lesser or would lose a part of herself if she shared the load with a partner. She’s always been so self-sufficient, so independent, that the idea of needing someone or letting someone help her felt diminishing…in some way. But she doesn’t feel that way when she’s sharing the load with Lisa. Somehow it makes her feel more. They’re truly greater than the sum of their parts when together.
Lisa had taken her hand and hadn’t let it go until they’d gotten to her car. And because Lisa didn’t know if Carla would want her to be with her after everything, she’d had Kit drop her off, so she didn’t have her own car. She’d told Carla if she wanted to be alone, well she could make other arrangements to get back to the police station. She was always so thoughtful. Always thinking of what Carla might need before she ever thought about it herself.
Of course, Carla drove them back home together. Having finally succumbed to the support Lisa could provide, she really didn’t want to spend a second away from it. She knew she wouldn’t be up to go back to the factory, so Lisa decided to take the rest of the day off work.
When they’d arrived home, another brilliant bouquet of flowers awaited Carla. Lisa had come home on her lunch just to check to see if Carla was there. Just in case. And then when she hadn’t been, she’d set the flowers in a nice vase on the table to make sure they’d be the first thing she saw when she got home.
Lisa always got a little bit bashful whenever she gave her flowers. Her cheeks would turn a soft hue of pink and the tips of her ears would turn that little bit red.
Carla absolutely loved it. Here Lisa was, this very serious, commanding police officer woman, who appeared at least on the outside as tough and in control, but she still got a little bit shy when it came to giving her girlfriend flowers. She was not always shy, and certainly not in the bedroom, but there was something about flowers that made her blush.
What an absolute treasure.
And given how often it was happening, she was going to have the entire city out of flowers at this rate.
It was so endearing to Carla how often Lisa bought her flowers, and why she bought them in the first place. Sometimes for no reason at all. Just because. And today, as Lisa said, just to make sure that if she’d had a hard day, she had something to make her smile when she got home.
Carla doesn’t know what she’s done in this life to deserve the love and adulation that Lisa constantly bestows upon her but she does know that she will do everything she can to return it right back to her partner. Because Lisa deserved it all and more.
At this point in their relationship, she can confidently say Lisa would do anything for Carla. She would help her through whatever she faced, and she would take care of both her and Betsy as best she could.
Carla also knows though that as much as Lisa didn’t often admit it, she needed those things too. She needed to be cared for, have someone shoulder some of her burdens, to be loved, and supported, and taken care of, and Carla would do that gladly. Even if she had to kick Lisa’s legs out from under her to do it.
She’d cheekily told Lisa then and there that the flowers, although wonderful and beautiful, would never make her smile as much as the woman who brought them for her at the end of any day.
Betsy, sitting on the sofa as they’d had this conversation, began to fake being sick and Carla had stuck her tongue out at her as Lisa’s ears got a little more scarlet.
Then she’d made a brew, and they’d chatted about their days, and what had happened. That’s when Betsy had made the comment about the efforts the police had been making to catch Rob.
Carla had seen the stress and guilt pile on to Lisa. She was right—she was trying her best. Carla could see it. It just wasn’t fair. She had wanted to hold her, and reassure Lisa that she knew she was doing absolutely everything she could, and also that she didn’t need to carry the weight of the world on her own.
But, of course, Kit had interrupted. Even then, with Kit on his way up, Lisa had checked in with Carla. Again. Constantly checking in.
After Kit had left, she had even wandered into the bedroom to find Carla.
“Sorry if I’m interrupting any serious knickers business.” She said as she opened the door. Carla was resting with her back against the pillows and her legs stretched out in front of her on the bed. Her brow furrowed and she had her tongue stuck out as she’s thinking.
“Well, these orders don’t sort themselves you know.” Carla playfully replied looking up from her paperwork.
“Kit’s gone.”
“He wasn’t here very long.”
“No, well, he just had to provide me an update. Besides that, I wanted to be with you.” Lisa sits down on the edge of the bed with her body turned towards Carla. “I’m sorry he interrupted earlier.”
“Me too. I quite enjoy having my missus in my arms if I do say so.”
“I do enjoy being there.”
“Then what’s stopping you?” Carla asked as she quickly pushed her files off the bed and to the side and pulled Lisa on top of her.
Lisa settled against Carla with her head on her chest and her girlfriend’s arms wrapped around her. Lately, her world felt in constant flux, but in these quiet moments, listening to her partner’s heartbeat, Lisa felt it all slow down, like she could finally breathe again. She felt her shoulders unclench, releasing all the pent-up stress of the past day.
“I’m sorry you went through all that today.”
“Not your fault, love.” Carla responded with a soft kiss to Lisa’s temple.
“I’m still sorry for it. It’s not easy, the business side of death.”
“No, I suppose not. You must deal with that a lot.”
“Part of the job.” Lisa shrugged.
“Well, as much as I have always known you’re amazing, I have a newfound appreciation for all that you do. I’m so lucky to have you.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.” Carla replied. “Thank you for today. For understanding. For being there. For being you.”
“Of course, what else would I be doing?” She says, using the same line she had just days ago when they’d had the break in.
“But seriously Lisa. You could be doing anything else. And you’re choosing to be here. With me. I want you to know how much it means to me.”
“Yeah, well you and Betsy are the world to me.” Lisa responded.
“I feel the exact same way.” Carla said taking Lisa’s hand into hers and kissing it.
Carla knows she hadn’t taken the worry away from Lisa, but she had given her a safe haven if only for a little while.
And they’d stayed like that for ages. Just holding on to one another. Carla running her hands through Lisa’s hair, gently massaging her scalp. Urging her partner to relax.
Until finally they’d decided on having an early bedtime. And they’d done their nightly hygiene routine together. Brushing teeth, brushing hair. Changing into pyjamas. All the while sneaking little glances at one another.
Carla had come up behind Lisa and wrapped her arms around Lisa’s neck and gently kissed along whatever skin her lips could reach. Lisa had reached up and grabbed at Carla’s hands, holding them in place. They’d smiled at each other in the mirror.
They still hadn’t slept together again, the surgery wound not yet quite healed, but the sizzle and electricity between them was slowly gathering more energy and Carla knew that as soon as she was able to, she’d have Lisa naked moaning underneath her.
But for now, she was content just to have Lisa choosing to be with her. Hold her. Be present in the in-between: when moments aren’t loud or memorable, just constant, routine, and every day. There was something so incredibly peaceful and joyous in the mundane. Their lives had been so volatile the entire year so far. The quiet easy moments were the glimmers of hope for the future.
And as they’d settled back into bed, cuddled into one another, Carla had lightly run her nails along Lisa’s back to calm the frayed edges. And after just a few moments, Lisa had fallen asleep.
So no, there was no way that Carla was now going to wake her over a dream. No thank you.
She would just get up, make herself a brew to calm her nerves and then try for sleep again.
She throws on her dressing down and heads to the door. As she opens it, she can hear the soft white noise of the telly and a soft glow luminating the sofa.
Betsy is slouched across the sofa with her eyes closed and her mouth wide open.
Carla takes a minute to absorb the scene in front of her. The poor thing must have fallen asleep watching one of her favourite shows. She’s such a force of nature, Betsy, and it’s so rare to see her with her guard down and her innocence on full display like she is right now.
And it strikes Carla how vulnerable she really is, and how much she has been through. The poor girl is exhausted too. She’s dealt with too much in her young life and now just because of who her mum is seeing, she’s back in the thick of chaos. If Carla could, she would ship them both off somewhere to be safe until all this settled. But she can’t.
But what she can do is take care of them. So, she quietly tiptoes to the sofa and unfurls a throw blanket so she can cover Betsy with it. She steps around to turn off the telly when a hand reaches out to stop her.
Carla nearly jumps out of her skin. After the dream she’s just had a hand reaching out of the dark touching her leg is the last thing she needs. “Bloody hell!” She exclaims throwing a hand over her heart.
“Sorry.” Betsy says quickly pulling her hand back and sitting up. “I was just going to ask you to leave it on.”
“Right well next time maybe say something before you go grabbing at me in the dark.” Carla suggests, her heart rate not yet back to normal.
“Are you okay? You don’t look well.”
“Of course I’m not! You just took ten years off my life.” Carla responds. “What are you even doing out here this late?”
“I fell asleep watching telly.” Betsy says, knowing that the answer is partially true but not the whole story.
“Well, I can see that but why? You usually head into bed early and watch something on your phone.” Carla’s heart is slowly returning to its normal pace.
“Just…let’s not make a big deal of it, and don’t tell mum, but I’ve been having a little trouble sleeping. Figured I might be able to fall asleep better with the telly on.”
Carla understands that. Growing up, they didn’t always have the money for a telly but when they’d had one, she could recall trying to drown out the noise of her mind with whatever show she could find. She still does it to this day. “I get that. Something louder than your thoughts.”
“Yeah. So.”
“Do you want a cuppa? I’m going to put the kettle on.”
“Wait why are you awake and making tea? It’s…” Betsy squints to see the clock in the dim light. “Half past two.”
“Well, you’re not the only one struggling to sleep. Or stay asleep. As it happens. So, going to have a mug of chamomile. Works wonders for me. I’ll make you some too.”
Carla steps into the kitchen and begins preparing their tea.
“Did you want it to be Rob? Or not want it to be Rob?” Betsy asks. She has been wanting to ask the question all day, but she wouldn’t dare ask with Lisa there. Her mum was so protective of Carla, but she and Betsy had their own relationship and she knows she can ask the question and it won’t upset Carla. Or at least not so much that she won’t answer it.
“I don’t know, to be honest.” She answers as she quietly pulls mugs out of the cupboard, looking over her shoulder back at Betsy. “I know that I don’t want him causing you to lose sleep, and I don’t want him haunting me in my dreams anymore. But death? I dunno.”
“I don’t want to be scared anymore.” Betsy says earnestly. “Not just for me…when mum leaves..or when you do…I just…I…” and she cuts herself off because she’s starting to tear up and she doesn’t want to be overly emotional.
Carla puts the mugs down and walks back to the sofa with her arms extended as she pulls Betsy into a tight hug and sits down right next to her. “I know love. I know it’s scary. But we’re going to be okay. We have to trust that your mum and the police are going to handle it, and until then we’ll take care of each other.”
Betsy rests her head on Carla’s shoulder and just breathes in the comfort she’s being offered. Carla’s hand is softly stroking her back, calming her down.
Carla holds Betsy trying to calm the fear she can feel vibrating underneath the teen’s skin. It isn’t lost on Carla that as Betsy expressed her fears just a second ago, she said she feared for her mum and Carla. She knows that she’s come to mean something to Betsy. But that’s not something they really verbalise, and it’s even rarer still that she would let herself be held like this.
Betsy pulls away first as the kettle boils. “Thanks.”
Carla smiles at her. “Any time, love.” And in fact, Carla’s feeling calmer and better too. “So, what are we watching?” She asks Betsy as she gets back off the sofa and returns with their tea.
“Do you fancy watching Bake Off?” Betsy asks.
Carla smiles back at Betsy being thoughtful. “That sounds absolutely perfect.” She sits down next to Betsy and puts her arm on the back of the sofa, half wrapped around the teen.
Betsy leans in then, and rests her head on Carla’s shoulder. Carla glances down at her and smiles as she feels the young woman’s body relax into hers.
It has been a long day. And she isn’t glad she’d had a nightmare, but she certainly is grateful she can be here right now in this moment.
At 4am, Lisa’s full bladder wakes her. She opens her eyes and blinks slowly into the darkness. She turns her body and immediately shoots up out of bed. Carla’s not there. And she isn’t in the en suite either.
Lisa’s system immediately goes on high alert and all sleepiness leaves her body as she gets up and rushes to the bedroom door but the sight that greets her when she opens it stops her in her tracks.
Carla and Betsy are wrapped together in a blanket on the couch, with her daughter fast asleep on her partner.
All the panic dissipates at the disarming picture of the two of them before her. Lisa’s heart expands with the joy of seeing her two favourite people bonding and loving on one another.
Everything had been so much lately but… these quiet soft moments of joy, they really lifted her spirit.
Carla must have heard the door open because she turns her head and smiles at Lisa with such a wide happy grin. She just looks so pleased. And Lisa can’t help but make a similar smile back.
“Did the noise wake you?” Carla whispers to Lisa, trying to reach for the remote while not jostling Betsy.
“No. I just needed a wee but you weren’t there so…I came to find you.”
“Here I am. We are.” She says gesturing with her head at Betsy.
Lisa raises an eyebrow in question.
“Seems we were both having a bit of bother sleeping but she’s been out for a little while now.”
“Well, I was asleep but hard to stay that way with yous two nattering in my ear.” Betsy says waking up and stretching. “I’m going to head into bed anyway.” She says as she gets up off the sofa.
“Are you sure?” Carla says wanting to make sure Betsy feels comfortable.
“Yeah. I’m knackered. Thanks though. For everything.” She says and she heads off into her room.
Lisa watches, taking it all in. Carla’s relationship with Betsy warms her heart and makes it stretch and ache in all the best ways. It makes her feel so pleased that they have each other. “You’re so good with her. She really opens up with you.”
“Yes, well. I love you both, so.” She shrugs as if it’s obvious, but hearing Carla say it out loud makes Lisa’s heart struggle in her chest. It just all feels like so much. So much joy and calm, and peace. She isn’t ready to talk about that yet, and so just let’s the statement land without saying much of anything. Accepting it for the truth that it is.
“What about you? You going to come back to bed with me?” She asks Carla who is still sitting on the sofa.
“I reckon so.” She responds as she stands up to follow her partner to bed.
Lisa heads to the toilet and Carla turns to the bed and gets in waiting for Lisa to come back. When she does, Carla wraps herself around her girlfriend pressing tightly into her arms.
“Is everything alright?” Lisa asks Carla, recognizing the desperation to get close.
“I feel safe in your arms, that’s all.” Carla responds.
“Well, they’re always here for you. Why are you up anyway?” Lisa inquires.
“I had a dream.”
“Okay. And it woke you?”
“Well, more of a nightmare really.”
“Ah. I’m sorry. Do you want to talk about it?”
“I was just back in that morgue.”
“Oh, was it Rob this time?” Lisa asks, trying to gauge what had been scary.
“Well, yes. But that wasn’t what…it wasn’t that. It was what he said. He…said he’d killed you.”
“Oh.” Lisa says pulling Carla even tighter. “You could have woken me you know.”
“Not a chance. You need your rest. You’re running yourself ragged trying to be everything to everyone. And you’re succeeding, don’t get me wrong, you are a wonderful partner, and mother, and police officer, but that takes a toll, and I won’t be the reason you don’t have enough sleep to be able to do everything you want.”
“What if part of what I want is to be there for you when you need me?”
“Don’t be all tricksy with me Detective. You know what I meant. I am and was fine. Just an overactive mind while sleeping.”
“Promise me you’ll wake me if it happens again? I want to be able to hold you.” Lisa asks softly.
“How about you hold me now and if I wake up again, I promise to cuddle into you instead?”
“Carla, please?”
“Lisa despite how exceptional at everything you are, you’re still only human. You need sleep.”
“I know. I just want to be there for you. I will feel worse if you suffer alone than if I don’t get a full night of sleep. I promise.”
Carla shifts a little and Lisa turns so that they’re looking at each other in the dark.
“How are you real?”
“What?”
“You’re just perfect to me and for me. In every way. How is this even possible?” Carla asks into the dark.
“I ask myself that every day.”
“Oh you.” Carla says gently shoving Lisa, thinking that she means she wonders how she herself is so amazing daily.
“No, I’m serious. I was so lost before I met you. And even when I met you, I was still kind of floating. You’ve helped me find my way back to myself. I feel like me again. And you helped me find reason to get out of bed every day. And I don’t want to put all that on you, or us, or any kind of pressure. It’s just true. You make me feel alive. You make me feel centred. I feel like I can take on anything with you. It’s just important to me that when we have struggles, we face them together.”
“Okay, well I really can’t say no to that. I wouldn’t want to.” Carla says, because there’s really nothing else she can say.
“You also make me feel so blessed with how you are with Betsy.”
“She’s a good kid.” Carla swallows thickly. Because it’s more than that and they both know it. She has always had a bit of a soft spot for the teen but since they’ve moved in that relationship has blossomed into something much more than that.
“Yes, but she’s given you plenty of reason to turn her away and you don’t, you just let her in so effortlessly and take care of her. I’m just so grateful to have you for both of us. We need you. Our lives wouldn’t be the same without you.”
“Well, you’d be a great deal safer.”
“Listen. Everyone has questionable family members. You just happen to have a psychopath murderous, stalking brother. That doesn’t mean we don’t still choose you. If you’re a package deal, you’re still worth it.”
Carla smiles. “A two-for-one, are we?”
Lisa chuckles at Carla’s joke. “Something like that. And I’ll have you know, that my life is plenty safe with you in it. Weren’t you listening? I just said you’ve saved me. And no matter what happens, we’ll get through it, together.”
“You know, when you say it like that, I kind of believe you.”
“Well, then I’ll keep saying it. Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it, Carla. I promise. Now how about you let your big wettie of a girlfriend hold you while you fall asleep?”
She laughs at that. She loves when Lisa engages in play. But also, she believes her. Lisa doesn’t make false promises. She means what she says and does what she says she will. And as scary as Rob on the loose is, she’s seen firsthand what a terrified Lisa will do, and she likes those odds.
“You’ll be my big spoon, will you? All one hundred centimetres of you?”
“I may be small, but I am mighty, you know.”
Carla turns to face Lisa and gives her a long, slow kiss that hints at a little bit more than a kiss goodnight. “Well, I definitely know that. I can’t wait to see that might again soon.” Carla says with a hint in her voice as she shifts on to her side and backs up into Lisa’s protective arms wrapping around her. She makes sure her backside comes directly into contact with Lisa’s centre and feels her girlfriend’s hips jerk forward a little bit unintentionally.
Soon. They’d get back there soon. For now, it was enough that the darkness of the nightmare was gone, illuminated by their future together and all the possibilities it would bring.
They’d still have to wake up and face the threat of Rob in the morning. But just as Carla was certain the sun would rise tomorrow, she knew that whatever the future held, they’d get through it together. And it’s not that she didn’t know that before today, she certainly had known. It was just nice to be reminded in times of trouble that as much as you might feel alone, you weren’t.
She closed her eyes safe in the warmth of her partner’s arms. She exhales and gives in to sleep.
And despite the weight of it all on the three pairs of shoulders in that flat, spread amongst them, it all felt a little lighter. They all slept soundly until the sun came up the next morning.