When I reached for Vickie the next morning, I found nothing but a cold pillow. I pulled it tight to my chest and drifted off a little longer and then the click of a door handle jolted me awake.
Pushing the blankets back, I got out of bed and walked naked to the bathroom, unashamed for the first time in my life to be seen naked. She wasn’t there, so I turned to face the room, wondering if she was on the other bed, perhaps wanting some space. I felt my way back to the bed in the dark and found the lamp on the wall and turned it on.
Vickie was gone.
Immediately I searched for her backpack, hoping she’d just gone to the convenience store, but my gut feeling was right. My stomach trembled and clenched in on itself. I raced to the bathroom, just making it in time before the contents of my sto
