~CAKE~
I wake up to breathing. Wet, shallow breathing. It’s close. Too close. Like someone is lying beside me, fighting for air.
That sound, that exact sound.
The hollow wheeze from last night. The way his lungs kept trying. The way his body wouldn’t give up even when it should have.
I sit up too fast, heart slamming into my ribs. No one is here. I glance at the clock by my bedside.
4:15 a.m
It's still dark outside.
The breathing doesn’t stop, because it isn’t in the room. It’s in my head.
I press my palm to my cheek before I even realize I’m doing it. Half-expecting warmth, but nothing there.
Just my skin.
I rub it anyway. Just in case.
I must have slept at some point because light is leaking through the curtains when I finally drag myself to the bathroom.
I look like I’ve be
