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Spending time in bed seemed to be Bette’s favorite escape.  Once she was inside and had put the groceries away, she climbed into their bed.  When she first put her head down, all she could think of were Tina’s words. She’d be lying if she said Tina’s words didn’t hurt, didn’t sting, didn’t eat away at her.  She had been sure that the two of them would in time come to find the love they had lost or rather, misplaced.  She had been confident that’s what she wanted, but hearing her lover talk tonight, she wondered.  Tina doubted and dismissed Bette’s feelings for her.   It wasn’t just anger she heard in Tina’s voice. It was dislike.  Perhaps the damage was irreversible. 

Bette had been sleeping for hours and it was nearly 9:00 pm when she awoke.  Sleep might have been an escape, but it hadn’t taken away her sorrow.  She woke up lonely and depressed.  A shower didn’t help, a glass of wine had done nothing for her, and browsing art sites on the Internet hadn’t soothed her in anyway.  Everything seemed gloomy and dark and she felt a pain in her heart that was deep down.  Bette was sitting in the living room, channel surfing, and there wasn’t anything on that caught her eye.  With legs were curled under her on the sofa, she monotonously pressed the ‘channel up’ button on the remote control.  Suddenly she felt a wetness on her face and realized she was crying.  She wondered how long she had been and thought that she simply couldn’t do this any longer.  She had cried more in the past six weeks than she had in the past ten years.  Bette sat up, reached for her purse on the chair, and placed it in her lap.  She rummaged through it, looking for the small, white paper.  Something had to give and she knew it.  Bette stood, picked up her keys, clutching them in her hand, and walked out of the house.  She didn’t want this, but she made a decision—she would go to the 24-hour pharmacy. 

* * * * *

There was a knock on Apartment 202’s door.  A moment later, Kit Porter opened the door with a huge smile on her face.  “Ivan?”  Kit stared at her sister in surprise.  “Bette?”