Bettes mind moved slowly out of
a dream.  The details slipped away as
she neared wakefulness, but a slight apprehension remained, joined quickly by
an awareness that her right hand was tingling. 
She rolled on her right side and tried to move her hand to restore the
flow of blood to it.  She saw the
outline of Tinas body in the gray light of the room and she remembered that
they were sleeping in the same bed for the first time in weeks.  The tingling in Bettes hand got sharper as
the blood re-entered it and she moved her fingers.   She had been asleep in a way she had not been for so long.  Why was she awake?   She sighed deeply.

            Across the bed Tina stirred.  She turned onto her back and sighed.  Bette looked and listened and then
whispered,  Are you awake?

            Tina didnt move.  Yeah, she said.

            Tina heard a movement across the
sheets and turned her head slightly to the left.  Bettes hand was extended toward her. 

Bette
moved her fingers one last time.  The
tingling was over.  Then a new sensation
took its place.  A warm, soft hand
closed tenderly on hers.

***

The
sound of the door closing woke Bette. 
She didnt remember falling asleep but she did remember the feeling of
Tinas hand in hers.

T?

Tina
appeared from around the wall.  She was
dressed in her running clothes and her face was ringed with sweat-drenched
hair.

Hi.

Hi,
I didnt hear you get up.

No,
you didnt Tina smiled.  She gazed at
Bettes sleepy face and tousled hair. 
How many mornings had she missed? 

I
brought coffee and some of those little cinnamon rolls they have in the lobby,
she said.

Bette
smiled.

Would
you like to join me on the balcony? Tina asked.

Id
love to.

***

The
air was sweet and cool and fresh.  Bette
felt it embrace her when she stepped onto the balcony.  Tina was sitting and sipping her coffee.  Bette walked to the railing and looked out
at the mountainside and took breath after breath of rejuvenating air.  She turned and saw Tina looking up at her.  Instantly, every aspect of the moment filled
Bettes senses.  It was just as she had
written in her letter to Tina.  A
perfect moment of beauty; incomparable and fleeting.

Bettes
eyes welled with tears.

A
look of concern and confusion passed across Tinas face.

Bette,
dazed and speechless, smiled.

Tina
held her tearful gaze and felt, for one transcendent instant, union.