Chapter Twenty-Five

The first thing I did the next morning was make sure Charles was in the apartment. I crept to the living room and found him still asleep on the couch, which was also reassuring in another way; Charles finally seemed to be settling down enough to put in a solid night's sleep. Pretending I didn't feel somewhat like I was babysitting a child, I sneaked back to the bathroom and got ready for the day.

Remarkably, the night before had maintained the lighthearted attitude set by my first-kiss confession. Charles and I had joked back and forth for another hour or so before resigning to our separate beds. I had amused him particularly with the story leading up to my kiss with Tracy and how much I had learned about unicorns in that time. As it turned out, no, they couldn't fly: that was ridiculous.

I wanted to keep Charles' spirits up as much as I could, so I decided to avoid mentioning anything about Dr. Lee or the shadows or anything that might trigger an adverse response. He was already starting to look a lot better than he had since he arrived, and I could only imagine a good night's sleep would do that much more for him. He seemed to be on the right path, so today was just going to be about keeping him from thinking about the situation.

With a towel around my waist, I stepped into the hallway and headed back to my bedroom when I heard a sound from the front of the apartment, a clunk of two hard objects coming together. Looking back over my shoulder then down at my towel, I slowly turned around and made my way back down the hall. I peeked around the corner to see Charles awake, setting the dining room table for breakfast. He looked up at me.

He had put out bowls and spoons for both of us and a carton of milk. He was walking back with a box of cereal when he saw me. "Oh," he said, "I made breakfast." He looked down at his handiwork. "Kinda."

I gave him a light laugh. "Thanks, Charles. Be out in a second." I walked back to my bedroom, thinking that things really were starting to look up, that maybe this was better for Charles than any plan Dr. Lee would come up with. Immediately, though, I wondered how long it could last. I had already traded away as many shifts as I could, and I would have to go back to work soon. Would Charles keep himself together when I wasn't around? And even if he did, were we just going to live together for the next - what? Year? Five years? Could I ever really be sure he was going to be okay on his own?

But today wasn't the day to think about that, I told myself. Today was just about keeping Charles from thinking about the situation, everything that I knew would now be filling my mind. Doing my best to ignore the responsibilities I was now shouldering, I got dressed.