Taking Faith by Shelly Crane

some of her own effort if she wanted to stay alive. Smothering herself in the pillow and never waking up just wasn't an option anymore. It was the strangest thing.
                  It felt like Amy had been asleep for days and was finally awake.
                  She lifted from the bed and inched her way to the door. She smelled coffee and…bacon? She made her way down the hall through the dining and living room to the kitchen door. He was dressed for the day in jeans and his work shirt once more. He was sipping his coffee and staring out the window in a way that told her he was long gone somewhere.
                  She decided today she would be bold. "Hi," she said and he jolted so hard, he spilled his coffee all over the counter. "Oh, I'm sorry."
                  She jerked the hand towel from the oven handle and ran to clean it up. He held his arms wide sporting a big spill on his shirt, too. "It's all right," he said and laughed a little. "I can't believe I did that."
                  "You were pretty gone," she mused and finished the job. She turned to him and saw the spot on his shirt. She wasn't touching that spot, uhuh. She turned away and went to get some coffee. He pulled his shirt off on the way out the door and returned quickly with a new one already on.
                  She sipped her black coffee and couldn’t help but grimace. He laughed, the smile sitting on his face. "There isn't exactly any chick food here is there?"
                  She glanced over at the three slices of bacon on the counter on a plate and back to him. No, there was definitely not chick food here. He seemed to understand her glance and nodded. "Store, today. We'll get you some clothes, some of the food you like, shampoo, whatever."
                  "You can do that?" she asked softly.
                  "You're my wife," he said wryly. "It's my job to clothe you, right?"
                  "In a chauvinist world, I guess that would be true," she answered back and sipped more coffee. His eyes laughed at her over the hand he had placed over his mouth. He was in a much better mood today. She wondered why?
                  "Regardless, I think it's time I got you some clothes."
                  She nodded, looking down at his sweats she was still wearing. Yes, new clothes, like now.
                  She showered once more and put on more of his sweats, charcoal this time. They went into the office and he showed her how to answer the phones and take orders. She wrote whatever the person said they wanted along with their name and number on an order form. It was pretty simple, but the thing she hated was being stuck to his side literally all day. She wasn't allowed to be left in the office, dirty as it was, so she had to sit in the shop with him once again as he worked.
                  It was hot, so Amy wasn't surprised when he took his shirt off again, but it still made her uncomfortable. After a repeat of the same work day they went home, or so she thought. She'd forgotten about the shopping trip he promised. It was her first trip into a public place and she tried not to stare, but it was awfully hard. The women were nothing but shells of their former selves in this place; zombies, numb, lifeless. So this was what Amy had to look forward to.
                  And she had almost forgotten that with Roger's happy attitude this morning and his protective spirit. But that didn't mean her life would be any different that these women. She felt the little spurt of light that had begun to grow within herself die out into nothing.
                  She followed him around the store as he picked up some things he needed. Then he began to ask her questions about shampoo and soap. She just said the first thing that came to her mind to get him to stop asking her questions.