Helplessly watching your figure run away from the apartment, JB lifted his hand over his heart before his fist gathered the cotton t shirt between his fingers. Pain ached his heart while a sickening feeling settled into the pit of his stomach.

“I still care about you, ______. With my whole heart…” JB whispered while he followed you with his lingering gaze.

Finally turning away from the window, once he couldn’t see your figure through the dark of night, his socks shuffled across the hardwood of the small apartment. Moseying around the lonely apartment, he locked all of the doors and windows, all except for one, the front door.

Turning off all of the lights, he retreated back to the bedroom to gather your favorite blanket and a pair of pillows. Placing the extra pillows and blanket on the couch, he made you up a quaint bed, just in case you decided to return.

Retreating to the shared bedroom, he slipped himself under the covers and eased himself down against the mattress and pillows. Keeping the lamp light on, the light hit his favorite couple picture of the two of you. Nicely framed in black, your smile was charming and your beauty was alluring to everyone who set eyes on you, your eyes captured the sheer elegance and simplicity of the wonders of the world. Encasing you in his arms, your hands rested on his arms as the two of you looked so happy, so free from all of the cares and worries of the world.

Tears slowly skidded down his warm cheeks, uneven breaths followed suit before his exhausted eyes finally closed while his heart tarried over the possibility of losing you.

–

Wandering the streets, you allowed your mind to mull over all that was said between the two of you, the few hours prior. Resting your feet at a bus stop, your eyes slowly dropped as tears flowed down your warm cheeks and onto your humbled hands folded in your lap. Thinking through your options, several buses came and went before you finally stepped onto a bus.

Walking between couples of empty seats, you finally choose your seat in the middle of the bus by the window. Once you were seated, the hiss of the air brakes released and the bus began to move along it’s predestined route.

Riding the bus for a while, your reflection caught each street lamp as your body lightly moved with the shifting of the large vehicle down the maintained roads. Feeling the bus slow to a stop, the brakes squealed upon arrival at the next stop. The bus began to move once more as you watched the once busy streets become lonely and desolate through the night.

Stop after stop, your mind continued to wander. Trying to find some way to work this out, to fix the problem that is at hand between you and your husband, JB.

Reaching your stop, you brought yourself to your feet, thanking the driver for the rider before stepping off and walking down the familiar street to your apartment. Running through your plan, that you formulated on the bus ride, in your mind for the hundredth time, you could feel your heart racing at an uncountable rate with each step you took. Inching yourself closer and closer to another possible fight with your husband, you found yourself at the doorstep of your shared home.

“I am just going to stay for a few hours, leave before the sun comes up and before he wakes up, then spend the next day or two at a friend’s home…” You tried to convince yourself with your own plan, trying to gather your own courage.

Twisting the handle, a quiet ambiance greeted you. Knowing that he must be asleep, you slipped off your shoes. Scanning the area, you made sure that he was nowhere to be seen before quietly moving over to the couch. Rounding the arm of the couch, you eyes fell upon your favorite blanket and two pillows already lining the cushions of your couch. Lifting your eyes, you gazed back at the master bedroom, quietly thanking him for thinking of you in the heat of an argument.

Settling yourself down underneath your favorite blanket, you adjusted the pillows to your liking before your eyes closed. Sleep wrapped its arms around you, sweeping over you for the night.  

–

The next morning, a warm blanket covered your legs, warm sunlight heated the blanket over top of you. Shifting underneath the blanket, your eyes slowly opened to catch a pair of feet traveling across the hardwood from the bedroom to the kitchen. Closing your eyes, you hoped that he would just go along with his own business.

Hearing the cabinets open and something being pulled down from one of the shelves, you opened your eyes back up with a light rub over them. Resting on the couch for a little while longer, the sweet smell of food began to call to your stomach. Grumbling in protest, your stomach clenched with hunger, each call growing in volume and demand for food.

“I made you a plate, if you would like some breakfast” JB’s voice pushed away the silence for the moment as you slowly sat up and looked over the back at the couch. Seeing the two plates sitting on the counter top of the island, you untangled your blanket from yourself and stood up.

JB watched you closely as he took a small bite of food into his mouth. Following your figure with his eyes, he watched you go directly out the front door after slipping your shoes on with haste. Setting down his plate, he picked up his pace with determination to just talk to you about what had happened the night before.

“_______, wait… Please _______” JB called after you, his legs acting like pistons as he raced down the stairs to try and catch up to you.

Tears began to blur your eyes, running faster with his every call and plea. Running from the familiar area around your shared apartment, you began to go a new route as JB kept up pace with you. A burning sensation began to fill your lungs as your saliva began to thicken in your oral cavity, your mouth becoming dry as you parted your lips and began to breath through your mouth.

Rounding a corner in an attempt to lose JB, your foot pinned your untied shoelaces with your other shoe tumbling to the unforgiving tar road below you. Skidding across the rocks that ate up your skin, pain flooded over your body signaling you where you were injured. Precious red liquid began to bubble across your cuts and scrapes. Once enough had bubbled to the surface the warm, crimson plasma streamed down your untouched pale skin.

“______” JB rushed to your aid. Kneeling down, he lifted up your chin and began to give you a once over, inspecting the damage.

“These aren’t too bad, we can get you patched up at home” JB tried to give you some confidence, however you dropped your head once he let his fingers move out from under your chin.

Reading your body language, he knew that something was definitely not right. Running his tongue over his lips, he tried to find the right words to fill the moment, trying to heal what was said the night before and not make the emotional wounds any worse, “Please don’t ignore me…”

Lifting your eyes, you made eye contact with him. Your gaze that was once warm, kind and welcoming was now harsh, cold and unforgiving. Standing up to your feet, you scurried off at a pace you could sustain with your new injuries.

“________ please come back!” JB called into the thick of the air, “_______ please…”

With every call, his voice seemed to get silenced more and more no matter how loudly he screamed into the surrounding air.