The Guest Bedroom

Brit was always the one who fixed things. When Cass's dorm ceiling caved in, Brit taped it. When Cass's wedding had no caterer, Brit found one. When Brit got out of rehab with nowhere to go, Cass opened the guest bedroom without a second thought. Now Brit makes the coffee. Brit knows how Cass's mother takes her pills. Brit is better with the kids than Cass is, and Cass is fine with that. Except Cass has been late to work for three weeks, and her alarm sounds off. Except her husband keeps taking Brit's side in arguments Cass doesn't remember starting. Except there are journal entries in her own handwriting about days she cannot locate in her calendar. And in the guest bedroom, on the pillow that smells faintly of hospital soap, there is a bottle with Cass's name on it and a number on the label that keeps counting down. Cass opened her home. Something borrowed it.