(The scene starts on the Monday following Tina’s revelation on the bridge in Central Park.)

Tina heard dulcet tones of the weather man’s voice filtering into the silent bedroom from the deskphone sitting on the worktable in the corner of their bedroom that Bette and Tina had set up a week earlier.  The pre-programmed mosaic of jewel-toned background lights also began to glow on the edges of the smooth glass screen of the deskphone to announce the start of another workday.

“The freak winter storm late last week will certainly be the last hurrah of Old Man Winter this season.  All the weather charts are telling us the rest of this March week will see much of the same sunny weather we enjoyed over the weekend here in the Big Apple.  And the overall maps are showing we’ll have smooth sailing into spring after that.  At long last, huh Cindy?,” the man was saying to his on-air partner.

Tina groped for the remote control she remembered leaving on the night stand before falling asleep last night.  Her eyes were still shut; her head was throbbing.  Her pinky bumped against a shape next to the light switch; the rest of her hand grasped the object, allowing Tina to confirm to herself she had found the remote.  She felt for the right button, and pressed it, and then allowed her arm to drop clumsily on top of the night stand.  The weather man’s voice began to fade out, just as he was about to announce the traffic report.

Tina turned slowly to her back, letting out a long breath of air.  Her head felt heavy, and she felt deep pressure from the top of her head, pushing downward to the rest of her head.  She pressed her palms on her forehead, squeezed her eyes, and then massaged her temples with circular motions, while bending her neck slowly from side to side.  Her eyelids were encrusted with dried-up tears, and she found she couldn’t open them easily.  Gingerly, she rubbed her lids with her fingertips to clear the crusts.

Slowly, she was able to open her eyes.  As she did, she looked up at the ceiling, and considered the tiny cracks that she saw there.  And then her eyes wandered to the specially designed molding on the edge where the ceiling met the back wall that their bedframe was pushed against.