Big Sleep

Chapter 2: A Shift in the Wind

It had been a week since the accident, but the memory of it was still vivid in Amanda’s mind. One moment, she was laughing with Nelson, driving down the familiar road, the windows down, the warm air rushing through her hair. The next, the world had tilted violently, the screeching of tires, the deafening sound of impact. It was as though time had frozen, leaving her suspended in a world of flashing lights and blurred voices.

Amanda had been lucky. The doctors said she would heal, that it was nothing more than a few bruises, a concussion, and some torn muscles. But when she woke up in the hospital bed, something felt different. The familiar warmth in Nelson’s eyes as he sat beside her, his hand gently holding hers, felt distant. Her daughters' laughter, which had always been her favorite sound, seemed muffled, almost foreign.

Now, a week later, she was home—resting, recovering—but something was off. The woman who had once been so full of energy, so full of life, seemed to have faded into someone else. Nelson noticed it first, though he hesitated to say anything. The small changes were subtle at first: the way she had begun to avoid his touch, the way she no longer laughed at the things that once amused her.

The way her eyes, once warm and inviting, now seemed clouded, distant.

“Hey, Amanda, you okay?” Nelson asked, his voice laced with concern as he entered the living room, where she was sitting on the couch, staring blankly out the window.

Amanda’s response was flat, lacking the usual enthusiasm. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.”

He sat down beside her, studying her face closely. “You’ve been saying that a lot lately. I don’t know, it just feels like... you’re not really here. Is everything okay?”

She turned to him with a faint smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m fine, Nelson. Really. I just need some space to recover.”

The words felt strange coming from her mouth. Amanda, who had always been the heart of their family, the one who radiated warmth and light, now seemed like a stranger. Even Lily and Ava, who adored their mother, were noticing the change. Lily had asked Amanda twice if she was okay, her young voice tinged with worry, but Amanda had brushed it off both times.

A week ago, Amanda would have held her daughters close, reassuring them, laughing at their antics. Now, she felt... detached.

The small acts of affection that once came naturally—holding hands, quick kisses on the cheek, shared moments of joy—were becoming increasingly rare.

As the days wore on, the change in Amanda deepened. She spent more and more time alone in the bedroom, curled up in a corner, staring blankly at the walls. Her mood swings became more unpredictable. At times, she was distant and cold; at others, she was volatile and angry, snapping at Nelson or the girls for the smallest things.

“Nelson, stop acting like everything is normal! It’s not. Can’t you see that?” Amanda yelled one evening, her voice trembling with frustration. The words had come out of nowhere, shocking him. She was never one to raise her voice.

He stood frozen for a moment, trying to process what was happening. “What do you mean? You’ve been through a lot, we just need time. I’m here for you.”

She shook her head, her eyes flickering with something he couldn’t quite place. “No, I don’t think you understand,” she said softly, as if realizing she had said too much. “Maybe I don’t even understand.”

The woman he had loved for so long was slipping through his fingers, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He didn’t know if it was the accident, the trauma, or something deeper that was driving this change, but he could feel it—Amanda was not the same person she had been just a few short weeks ago.

That night, as they lay in bed, Nelson tried to reach her again. “Amanda, talk to me. Tell me what’s going on in your head.”

Her gaze met his, but the warmth was gone. “I’m not sure who I am anymore,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “I don’t know if I can feel anything like I used to.”

Nelson swallowed hard, the weight of her words settling in his chest like a stone. The woman he had built his life with, the woman who had been his anchor, seemed to be slipping into a shadow of herself. He didn’t know how to bring her back.

As the days passed, Amanda’s transformation became more pronounced. She seemed less interested in the world around her, her once vibrant energy fading into something darker, something unreachable. The love they had shared, once unbreakable, now felt fragile, like a thread that could snap at any moment.

But Nelson was determined. He refused to give up. He would fight for Amanda, for their family, no matter how far she seemed to drift away.

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