MasukZOREN
I wake with the sun on my face, glittering through the frost-furred window. I push the blanket off, and the cold finds me at once, climbing my spine and down my arms.
The floorboards bite my bare feet. Outside, the lake is a sheet of hammered silver, and the maple scratches against the glass. I pull the blanket over Cassie’s body and smile.
Since that thunderstorm, I’
ZORENI wake with the sun on my face, glittering through the frost-furred window. I push the blanket off, and the cold finds me at once, climbing my spine and down my arms.The floorboards bite my bare feet. Outside, the lake is a sheet of hammered silver, and the maple scratches against the glass. I pull the blanket over Cassie’s body and smile.Since that thunderstorm, I’ve spent every night for the past ten months in the same room with her. Ten months of bliss and torture. If celibacy is the price to feel her body against mine every night, then I’ll pay it a thousand times.My breath fogs as I slide off the bed. The folder I began working on last night is open on the dresser. Enough time has passed for me to know what the company will become.A holding group that will be built quietly. Logistics will come fi
ZOREN“Do you mind…” I glance over my shoulder and trail off.Cassie reaches for the water glass on the table, but can’t fully close her fingers around it. It wobbles. She tries again. But her hand won’t cooperate. She sighs, looking so helpless.Frustration floods her eyes. I close the gap in minutes.“Hey, it’s okay. Let’s ask for help. Like this—” I lay my flat hand over my heart and circle it. Slowly. “Please. This is please. If you need anything, let me know with that sign.”Her hands shake as she places it over her heart. But the sign is unmistakable. I stare down at her with a big smile.“Yes, please,” I say. She’s such a fast learner. I put the glass in her hands and wrap my hands around hers to steady it. &ldquo
ZORENThe days after that incident settle into a fragile rhythm. I start small. Every morning before breakfast, I sit on the edge of Cassie’s bed with the tablet propped open to the same slow videos. Today is no different. I enter her room with the tablet, the screen already paused on the tutorial.“Okay, my love. Let’s do our two favorites again.”Cassie glances at me. I shape the signs myself first so she can watch my hands before she tries. Yes is a simple nod of the fist, while no is two fingers tapping together.“Did you get that?” I ask.She watches my fingers, and her hands twitch in the sheet. I repeat them while I feed her, brush her hair, change the sheets, or bathe her. Every moment is a chance to practice.On the third morning, we’re seated i
ZORENCassie stirs as I’m combing her hair. My fingers freeze on the comb. I wait for her to push me away, but she doesn’t. I don’t think she remembers what happened in the bathtub.“It’s time for breakfast,” I tell her.She says nothing, but I’m used to her silence. While she was unconscious, the chef made breakfast. She doesn’t live with us but comes every morning to make the day’s meal.All I’ll have to do during the day is pop each meal in the microwave. It’s way past the time for Cassie’s breakfast.“I’m going to lift you, okay?” I say. She’s quiet, so I carry her to the kitchen that overlooks the lake. The table has been set up for two. I place her in one chair and spread the blanket over her thigh in case she makes a me
ZORENOur new house sits on a hill above a lake. It’s been one full month since we left the state we called home. Two months since I had that conversation with Adler. I’m still learning how to talk with my hands. How to be a husband to Cassie.Every day that passes reminds me of the easy days when I stayed by her side while she was unconscious. It’s 3 a.m., and I’m in the kitchen. My tablet is propped against the jug and my earbuds are plugged in to avoid waking her up.A woman on the screen signs water. I copy her and get it wrong. Fingers spread, not together. I have been at it for two hours. My hands ache, and the coffee has gone cold.Water. Hungry. Hurt. Yes. No. Please. Two hours, and I only know six signs, which my fingers will forget by daylight.My eyes droop, and I shake off the
ZORENAs if conjured by my thoughts, Adler steps into the room with practiced calmness. I scan his face to know if Cassie being awake now is a good sign, but he gives nothing away.Without a word to me, he produces a penlight from his pocket and holds it to Cassie’s eyes. She winces, and I almost yell at him to stop. Her fingertips pinch one at a time. He says her name, loudly, then softly, then in an old wolf howl, and her head tilts toward each sound and away.“She’s waking,” he says at last. The crack in his voice makes it nearly impossible to rejoice at the good news. “That in itself is…”“Is what?” I ask, impatient.He takes off his glasses. “She isn’t tracking faces. She isn’t answering to her name. And I don’t think she’ll speak for a while.” He pinches the brid







