Re-entry

         

     My husband has taken free range of the house again. He said, “I’m feeling much better!” as he stifled a cough, and then another. But he looks better. His color is up.

              Yesterday, he stripped the sheets off the bed and I ran them through the sanitize cycle. We made the bed. We slept in it, or tried to. He woke me up in the middle of the night, taking a walk-about, with the lights on, to check on the cat. When he came back to bed, he put a wall of pillows between us, defeating the purpose of my being there, I felt. And in the morning, he complained, saying I am loud when I sleep. Loud, like Darth Vader. Perhaps we rejoined each other too soon. Or perhaps we were away from each other for too long.

              Last night, before bed, he got himself an ice cream out of the freezer--one of those Drumsticks with nuts. He left the wrapper dripping on the counter, and a trail of nuts on the floor. I swear to god, it was easier when he just stayed upstairs and I fetched him things.

              He got his test results today: Negative. I thought this would make us laugh, but it mostly made us feel confused, and worried that something is not right with the whole system. But whatever. Green light and nowhere to go.