***

Carmen cried. She cried in the silence of her empty house. She cried when the serene night turned into a stormy one and thunders and rain filled up her ears. She cried until her eyes went dry.

Finally, she stood up, pressed her palms against her eyes and tried hard to conceive what Shane had just told her.

Shane. Shane, why are you doing this to me?

Carmen wanted, she desperately wanted to believe that Shane was a liar or a psychotic. But something was telling her that she had been true, that her words were definitely sincere.

Words.

Just a few words, a damned handful of words, and Carmen’s world was turned upside down with no reason whatsoever.

Carmen was angry, upset, worried, frightened, sad and… desperately in love. Every single cell of her being screamed, yearned for Shane, longed for her, and suffered.

She walked through the dark house, enlightened only by the flashes of the storm, outside. She listened to the rain as she reached for her bedroom.

Earl was laying on the floor, his head resting on his paws. His dark, sympathetic eyes full of compassion looked up, at Carmen, and he wiggled his tail so slightly.

Carmen felt exhausted. She closed her eyes, swallowed, motionless in the middle of the room.

“Shane?”, she whispered to the empty room.

Nobody answered.

“Shane, are you there?”.

A thunder broke the silence but Carmen didn’t flinch.

“I want to see you…”, she murmured, painfully, “…Let me see you…”.

She opened her eyes, glanced around, but no-one was there. And yet, she felt her. She felt her in the darkness, her soothing, reassign, tragically sad aura enveloping her like a blanket.

Carmen sighed, silently, and undressed.

She climbed on the bed, laying on her side, completely naked under the sheets.

“…Just… stay…”, she whispered, closing her eyes again and resting her head on the pillow, “…Just stay until I fall asleep”.

Shane emerged from the darkness, invisible, unseen, unheard. She climbed on the bed and spooned Carmen, holding her tightly.

Carmen didn’t feel her touch, but she felt her mere presence. It was like a heath, like a breeze, like the wind blowing on the spring flowers. When Shane kissed her on the top of her head, she exhaled deeply and fell asleep.

”…In the arms of the Angel far away from here
From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie
You’re in the arms of the Angel; may you find some comfort here”*

TBC

****
SOUNDTRACK:
* “Angel” (Sarah McLachlan)