Bang! Bang! BANG! She woke with a start. Her heart was pounding against her chest. She couldn't make out if it were out of fear, jolting out of sleep, or just another bout of anxiety. She sat in her bed and looked around. It was pitch dark outside and raining heavily. The branch of the tree in front of her window was knocking against her window. She stayed still for a few moments trying to gather her thoughts. There was nothing she was thinking except concentrating on her pounding heart.
Every night she skips taking her medicine, thinking she will be able to emerge triumphant against her anxiety today, but alas! This has been happening since her last visit to the doctor two weeks ago. The doctor said she needed to cut down her medicine dosage gradually. She cannot depend on them to lead an everyday life without bouts of anxiety.
She was in a better place since she had started seeing her therapist. She was learning to work on herself by identifying and working on her triggers. She has avoided taking medicine since that night but wakes up with bouts of anxiety and sweaty underarms every night.
Her thoughts wandered to the nights she used to wake up next to him. She would simply turn around and put an arm and leg over him. That was always enough for him to know she had woken up because of her anxiety.
He would turn around and hold her in his arms till she drifted to sleep peacefully in his arms. On the worst nights, he would start distracting her by tracing her sweaty neck with his fingers and resting his other hand on her ass, pulling her close into him. She would giggle innocently, and he would rest his lips against her.
The worst nights would turn into a passionate lovemaking session between them. He would exhaust her with earth-shattering orgasms, after which she would sleep peacefully in his arms, resting her head on his chest. A tear trickles down her eye as she rests her hand on the empty side of the bed where he used to sleep.