. .lekin meine thand rakhi aur kaha.. haa aya tha.. vo newspaper dhundh raha tha.. unhone kaha theek hai.. fir vo mujhse mere college ke dosto aur job...life ke baare mein puchne lag gayi.. aur ye bhi pucha ki “Do you smoke and drink?” ab meine socha ki inse kya chupana.. meine bola haa kabhi kabhi chalta hai.. fir unhone mujhse kaha ki chal aaj pite hain.. Mujhe to yakeen hi nhi hua ki unhone kya bol diya.. meine unse pucha ki aap peeti ho.. to unhone ne bataya ki vo aur mamaji kabhi kabhi drink. All the times we’ve made love, it wasn’t ever like that. Not even close.’ Karen nodded slowly. ‘I meant the way I acted when I came to you,’ she said, then she closed her eyes and a dreamy look formed on her face. She opened her eyes again and said, ‘Yes, I know what you mean, though. What we shared last night was wonderful for me, too.’ She stroked his cheek. ‘You make me feel more fulfilled than I’ve ever felt in my life,’ she murmured, sounding a little sad. She snuggled against him, pressed. "Hello," I said, expecting to hear either Terri's voice (good) or Carole's voice (a lot less good). I heard the voice of Martin, Carole's husband, NOT one of my favorite people."Alan," he said. "You got time to talk?" Sure," I answered. "What's going on?" We need you to take Terri for a while." Uh ... sure. What's wrong?" Carole's ... well, she's in the hospital. You know she's bipolar, right?"I was familiar with the claim. I put up with a lot of stuff over our years of marriage because I was. Black but for the smallest slit of red down the middle that I could scarcely make out only because they were focused on me. Eyes gone dead, without the slightest hint of recognition. But still, they were beautiful."Talon?" I breathed hesitantly, hoping that his name or my voice would bring a response. But nothing happened; he just hovered a scant inch from the spell keeping him imprisoned and let his gaze bore into mine. Trying the link we shared, I found the presence on behind the barrier.