RIVER

When the main door opens again, I am already drifting into sleep, not because it is comfortable but because I am exhausted and have decided that sleep is the only way I can survive through the pain. If I were alone, would I be expecting any help? Would I not pull myself together and try to survive? I can suffer later as long as I am alive, I declare internally and clutch my stomach as I roll into a ball on the bed, my forehead almost touching my knees.

"River?" Taylor knocks but does not ...