Ours.
Gone.
Taken by a monster who wanted to send a message.
Something breaks inside me.
I don't know if it's the face I don't recognize or the scar I'll carry forever or the empty space where my ring should be.
Maybe it's all of it.
Maybe it's none of it.
Maybe it's just the weight of everything finally crashing down.
I sink to the floor.
The cold tile bites into my bare legs.
My ribs scream at the movement.
I don't care.
Can't care.
Can only sit there with my back against the cabinet and cry.
Not the quiet tears I've been shedding for three days.
Real crying.
Ugly crying.
The kind that comes from somewhere deep and primal and broken.
I don't know how long I sit there.
Long enough for my legs to go numb.
Long enough for my throat to go raw.
Long enough that I don't hear the bedroom door open.
Don't hear the footsteps crossing to the bathroom.
"Ingrid?" Astrid's voice.
Concerned.
Then she appears in the doorway and her face crumples.
"Oh, honey. Oh, Ingrid."
She's on the floor beside me in an instant.
Pulling me against her.
Holding me while I fall apart.
