Judge, Jury, and Executioner - [Jopper]

05. Thin Air

She had awoken in a cold sweat; one of a million different nightmares plaguing her short-lived rest. The first thing her dizzy eyes had seen through her lashes was the slightly open shades of the window. Right next to her bed, the droplets of rain pooled and fell down the glass, drenching the endless patches of grass in her backyard. 

She had trusted herself enough to wake up on time without an alarm. It had become a near-daily practice of being more self-governing. Even on her sleepiest days, the ones where she wanted to melt into the bed and stay there forever, she had retrained her brain well enough to know exactly when to wake up.  There were no alarm clocks in the cribs at the precinct, so she had taught herself to be more aware of time. 

It was four in the afternoon, and she knew that just by the direction of the sun through the rainy window. Her first thought was to reach over to the usually cold side of her bed and feel for Hopper's body. She had expected that he would've inevitably ended up beneath her sheets again, and that he would continue to do so until being alone wasn't so painful. 

But just as it always was, the opposite side of the bed was empty and cold. She rubbed her knuckles against her eyes as she sluggishly sat up. Looking over her shoulder, the sight of the empty spot had confirmed her suspicions. He was nowhere near her. 

With a surprising feeling of subtle disappointment, she slumped back down with her head against her forearm. She was retraining a lot of things about herself lately. Now, she had to train herself not to worry herself sick when he wasn't in her near vicinity. She tried to think back to the moments before her sleep had consumed her. She had made them lunch and then offered her empty half of the bed to him for his own rest. He had reluctantly agreed, telling her that he wanted to clean up from lunch first and that she should get a head start. Her plan was to wait up for him, but she was out before her head hit the pillow. Judging by the frigid and neat sheets next to her, he had declined to join her after all. 

She forced herself back up and out of the bed, knowing that she had a tight thirty minutes before she had to get El from tutoring and then get home in time to make dinner for everyone. While unraveling herself from the sheets, she tried to talk her worries down. He was fine, probably. Maybe he was in his room or in the living room watching television.