EVE
I take half a tranquilizer after supper, knowing I need to relax. Michael and I curl up on the couch and watch an adventure movie on my laptop, each of us with a cat on our laps. The movie excites Diogenes, who comments obscenely and once gets into a mock-argument with Michael.
Berry is wandering. Now and again I have to set Freya aside and pull him out of a cabinet or off a light fixture. Outside, the temperature keeps dropping; the heater struggles to maintain the room at sixty five degrees despite our constant refilling of the pellet stove.
Michael and I hold hands a lot. He’s taking the painkillers, and they still aren’t strong enough. I see him wincing now and again, and feel a mix of concern and distress that he’s still in pain.
“How are you feeling?” I ask once the movie’s o
