Psychosis

Epilogue- The Day After

Akilah woke up that morning with a smile on her face. At first, she didn't remember anything about where she was or what had happened the night before or what problems, if any, she may have had. For a second, she could barely even remember who she was. The morning was still and quiet, and for just a second, Akilah barely existed inside herself. It was as if she had ascended from her earthly problems, and she only existed in that feeling of bliss and tranquility.

But of course, that moment wasn't to last, and she crashed back into herself. But it wasn't necessarily a hard crash. Even after the crash, the tranquility of the moment didn't leave her. It just didn't exist at such a cosmic level anymore. And, slowly, everything began to fall into place. The bed she was in was unfamiliar to her, but that didn't mean she didn't know where she was. She just hadn't been in that bed- or that room, or that house, for that matter- before the previous night.

From where she was, she could watch the window where morning light was just beginning to seep in. She could tell by the level of light in the room that the morning was still fairly new; she could tell that the sun was just beginning to rise. It was no surprise that she was naturally up early. Ciara woke up at 6:30 in the morning practically every day, and on the days she didn't, she was never asleep later than 7:00. Even if Akilah didn't stay awake, she always woke up at least once to Ciara wandering about the apartment.

A look at the clock on the nightstand told Akilah that it was just past seven in the morning, and she sighed in content. She might be able to get more sleep yet that day, but she wasn't sure if she actually wanted to. Normally when she woke up, she was greeted with the sound of whatever Ciara was doing at the moment. But that morning, the room was quiet- the only sound being the steady breathing of the sleeping man next to her.

She reached a hand up and touched the cheek of the man next to her, wondering if she would wake him up. But even as she started to lightly stroke his cheek, he only smiled softly in his sleep, and she laughed quietly to herself. For a few seconds, Akilah just laid there, watching Morgan sleep. That was where she stayed: in that moment of content and bliss and tranquility.

The night before had started out so normal. But, as it played out, it turned into something special that Akilah hadn't been prepared for, but at the same time, she knew she would never forget.

Once they had gotten home from Wyoming, they had quietly discussed what the plan for that night was. It was Friday, the night that had become their usual date night. It was still early in the night, so they had decided that Akilah would drive Ciara home so she could start on her nightly routine and so Akilah could grab/drop off a couple things. Maybe even change into something a little more comfortable- her work clothes were nice and all, but they weren't very suited for a night out on the town.

Once all that was done, and she had said goodbye to Ciara, she had driven to the spot that she and Morgan had picked out in advance, expecting just a normal date. And that's what it had started out as. They mentioned the case they had just gotten home from only once- when Morgan asked if she knew what was going to end up happening to Katelynn now that everything was over. Fortunately, Akilah knew the answer. She was going to stay with Kathy and Frederick for the meantime, and if they couldn't find any other family that would take her, she would just stay there.

That was the only time they were going to mention the case, as they had made a promise not to mention work while they were out. They were doing their best to separate their work and personal lives. There was no need to be muddling that separation with talk of the case and what it entailed. It was over, and they were no longer there. There was no use thinking on it anymore. That was how Akilah survived some of the things they saw: by pretending the cases- those people, those crimes, those horrible endings- only existed while they were, and once they left, they ceased to be.