Caroline woke before the alarm. For a few seconds, she lay still and listened to Thorne's breathing beside her, steady and slow. Everything sounded ordinary.
Her stomach tightened, slow at first, then sharp.
She slipped out of bed without waking him. The bathroom door clicked shut. She turned the faucet on high, letting the water roar so it would swallow whatever sound came next. She gripped the edge of the sink, jaw clenched, eyes fixed on the drain.
The nausea rose anyway. It didn't negotiate.
Caroline bent over and vomited hard, emptying herself until her ribs ached and her throat burned. She stayed there a moment with both hands braced on porcelain, breathing through the aftershock as if she could outlast it by will alone.
Not now, she told herself.
She kept the water running. S
