GERALD

On the stool, she sat near the counter, taking a sip off a steaming mug. She hadn't noticed I had gotten, nor had she seemed to hear the door closing.

Mom kept the mug on the counter and then heaved a deep breath and sighed. She flutteref her hair with her hands and I noticed her wedding ring, which she had never taken off since I was old enough to remember, was gone. She had taken it off.

"Mom," I called out to her and she immediately tilted her head sideways to look at me approaching her. Immediately her eyes rested on me, she rolled them and huffed.

"Not...