Chapter 3: The Corollary of One Step Up

She was sound and life. Sweat and breath. Coming hard and leaving slow. Taking that irrational heartbeat and making sense of it somehow. Gathering the disparate pieces of her shattered existence and offering her some of cohesion, some sort of tenderness amid the desolation of the wasteland that was now her soul. The mouth between her legs wasn’t taking from her, but offering to her…sustaining, nurturing… not seeking absolution or integration…just granting solace and peace of a sort she hadn’t really ever known.

"Kim, honey… you left the front door unlocked."

Auburn hair shown russet in the violent moonlight, filtering points of green-gray light as it shone down upon her. A lazy smile creased Kim’s features–she felt it split her skin, hew her skull open and send all the tumult and pain tumbling to the feet of the woman who claimed her heart. "I knew you were coming."

"Really?" A gentle chuckle and slender limbs came to stand between her sprawled legs. "Because I’m off shift two hours early."

"Let me guess. Abby called you and told you it’d be best if you came and checked on me."

Kerry’s concerned frown came into focus as she slipped to her knees and tilted Kim’s chin towards her. "Abby…? Have you talked to her tonight?"

Kim blinked twice and looked around for the receiver that had just been in her hands. She didn’t see it resting darkly in the grass where it had slipped soundlessly. "Apparently not."

Her lover’s eyes flickered towards the bottle resting at the foot of Kim’s chair. "Do I want to ask how big a dent you put into that?"

The psychiatrist took one look at Kerry’s stern features and shook her head, a bemused smile drifting over her mouth. "But to answer your question– in spite of your not wanting to ask– not a big enough one."

"And you’re so certain?"

"Because I can still feel my nose."

"Ah… there’s a good sign."

"Not to mention other things."

Kerry paused, and Kim watched the light flicker off her eyes as they surveyed the slumped collapse of her spine, the graceful skin-and-muscle bevel of her abdomen, the curl of her fingers around the heavy weight of her now-empty glass.She heard the muted intake of her lover’s breath, knew that Kerry was moved in spite of herself, felt the gentle press of tiny hands against her tensed thighs.