I woke up to the weak light of day filtering through the gaps in the crooked blinds. The pale brightness of the London morning brought no warmth at all, just a reminder that the world kept spinning... even when everything inside me felt stagnant.
I turned slowly in bed, stretching my sore muscles. My body screamed for more rest, but reality didn't give me that luxury. The mattress sagged beneath me, and the absence beside me, in the space where Roger should have been, was so constant that it no longer hurt. It just was.
I got up slowly, grabbing the thin blanket I had kicked to the foot of the bed during the night, and wrapped it around myself to muffle the cold rising from the floor. My slippers were freezing, but I walked to the kitchen anyway, stepping lightly to avoid remembering the
