Tina just watched Shane’s face as she continued. “At 5am you
finally stopped crying and had passed out from sheer exhaustion. So I
left Alice’s and went to your house. I knew she’d be there; she hadn’t
been to work in days. I must have sat in my truck for a half hour
before I had calmed myself enough to walk to the front door. I stood at
the door and I saw Bette through the window. She was sitting on the
couch staring at a picture of you.” Shane looked up into Tina’s eyes
which were now filled with tears.

 *****FLASHBACK*****

Shane flung the door open, not bothering to knock, and stormed into
Bette and Tina’s house. Bette didn’t move as the door slammed against
the wall and sent a picture crashing to the ground. Shane slowly
observed Bette who seemed to be lost in the picture of Tina, lost in
the memories of happier times.

Looking at Bette, Shane knew that the women had lost a considerable
amount of weight and was currently wearing clothes that were very much
out of character for Bette Porter. As Shane looked closely at the
outfit she realized that the clothes in question didn’t belong to Bette
at allthey were Tina’s.
*****! She’s wearing Tina’s clothes? She looks so ***** defeated. Why
Bette? Why did you ***** do this to yourself? To Tina? Shane thought.

It was right at that moment that Bette began to notice that she was no longer alone in the house.

It’s not Tina. Tina’s gone. Bette thought to herself as she glanced up and began to speak.

“Hey Shane. Wha” Bette trailed off as she looked into Shane’s eyes.
Bette cleared her throat and whispered, “You’ve seen T.” The fire in
Shane’s eyes at that moment was unspeakable. It wasn’t judgment, but
pure pain. Bette was staring into the eyes of someone who was livid
over the betrayal of their best friend. Bette had known for years that
Shane shared a strong, but unspoken bond with her wife.

For Shane, Tina was the first person in her life to support her and
love her unconditionally without any ulterior motive. It wasn’t a
sexual connection, but instead motherly love. Tina was the mother Shane
had never had. Shane’s life was dependent upon the support Tina
provided and could never imagine living without it.