The light in the apartment was soft when Willow opened her eyes, the kind of quiet early light that never announced itself with fanfare. It slipped through the blinds in pale, gentle stripes and warmed the edge of the sofa where she had fallen asleep sometime during the night. For a few slow seconds she did not move. Her body felt heavy but rested, her breathing calm in a way it had not been in weeks. The quiet wrapped around her like a blanket and she allowed herself to drift in that half-awake space where the world had not yet rushed in. For a moment she thought she was alone, waking into the familiar hush of her routine.
Then she realized she was not.
