She jolts awake
chest heaving
eyes wild and
gawking
she looks around
tests the waters
but the room is still
dark
and the bed beside her is still
empty
she shivers, and reaches down for the covers
but they're
gone
fallen to the floor
similar to the way her heart
has fallen in her chest
"you don't need to stay tonight."
she had said earlier.
"the dreams have stopped"
and even though
the words came out
she didn't mean them.
She had lied
trusting her long sleeved shirt
to cover the hives
that rose upon
her porcelain
skin.
A piece of her hoped
that her lie would get noticed
caught
like a child stealing candy
because her dreams
have not gone
and she
is not okay
and no amount of telling herself these things
will be able to convince her
or to
change the past
or even
the future
so
she lied
and hoped that Jane
would see through it
as she always used to
but she hadn't
and she went away for the night
leaving Maura
and all her demons
alone
to battle it out
in private
without her watchful eye.
Maura looks around,
as another shiver passes through her
and for a moment she longs for her blankets
and the warmth
that used to come
with Jane
and her arms
but then she remembers
that legends say
that when a ghost comes near
the cold comes with it
so she settles into her
empty
bed
and curls around the
empty
pillow
closes her eyes
and calls for her Jane
who comes to her
in a breath
of
cold
air.