Into Darkness

Chapter 20

Rob didn't feel right that he had slept so well the night before.  Sure, it had been a long day, and there had been no sleep the night before.  It had made him more tired than he had thought possible when he had gotten home last night, and he knew it would be no exaggeration that he would be asleep by the time his head hit the pillow.

Knowing that, he had expected the nightmares.  Even if there weren't new nightmares, he had expected maybe one or two of the old ones.  He had quiet the list that tormented him, always there, in a rotation like a playlist, nightmares in a queue.  Between the meth lab fire he had barely escaped, the burning bodies, that creature, those z-things he still refused to name, his dreams had an endless list of boogeymen that it liked to pick from regularly, and after the last two days, he expected something new to be on that list.

So when he woke up with the early morning rays of light just beginning to peak through the window, he was amazed that it was his bladder that had awakened him and not wet sheets.  Of sweat or course, he hadn't pissed the bed, well he wished it had been since he was a kid, but there were some nightmares worse than others.  

Robyn was still asleep next to him.  That wasn't a huge shock.  She'd grown accustomed to sleeping through his thrashing, and it was more a surprise that she still was willing to share a bed with him than slept through the night.  She still hadn't fully forgiven him for taking their son up into the woods the previous night, but she had warmed up enough to not make him sleep on the couch.  He didn't know what he would ever do without her.  She kept him sane, and that wasn't easy.  It seemed like all the crazy shit always seemed to happen around them, and they always got pulled into it.  

He eased himself out of the bed and silently tip toed down the hall, to the bathroom.  He guessed it was probably a little past seven, the sun wasn't too high yet.  The house was quiet and it felt like even the most quiet of noises was going to raise them.  

And yet, he did't know why, but after emptying his bladder, he couldn't help himself.  With all the running around, the sewage mishap that he still felt covered in slime, the non-stop rummaging through woods, everything just seemed to coat him in some kind of grime.  It didn't matter if the dirt was in his head or not, it was time for the longest shower in history.  He cranked the hot water, and let it blast him.

* * *

Rob pulled himself out of the shower and looked at the reflection looking back at him.  The water had felt good, his tired muscles had ached him more than he had realized and the hot steam had loosened him up.  Now he just thad to try and stay that way.  Last thing he needed was any more cramping.

The man who looked back at him needed a lot less of many things.  Less wrinkles that were starting to crease his face, less gray hair that seemed to be multiplying daily, and more hair on his receding hair line.  Maybe this was why he avoiding making eye contact with that man in the mirror so often.  That man was getting old.  

He quickly toweled himself off, and hurried out of the steam filled room and enjoyed the presence that met him in the hallway.  It was the comforting morning scent of the brewing coffee.  Robyn must have gotten up while he had been in there.  In a way, he was a little sad she didn't come and join him, but he knew he would thankful for the coffee.  Though it had been awhile since she had done a morning shower with him, and he wondered if he ever would.

Had their marriage started to fall apart?  Were they losing their romance and the love they had once shared with one another.

He thought of himself in the shower, feeling that warm bliss as the water slammed against his sore muscles.  His eyes closed as it washed over his face.  A hand reached out from behind him, long sleek and feminine as it ran across his chest.  It ran down, lower, and lower.  He turned around to face it's owner, a smile and a twinkle in his eye happy for the morning congeical visit.  He stopped when he saw the woman from the flower store, naked in front of him.  She was pushing herself forward, forcing her breasts towards him, wrapping her arms around him.