Free The Smoke In The Photograph by Kit Tinsley Page B

her hand up his brow to his hair. His eyes fluttered a few times then opened fully. He looked at her, and she knew he loved her more than anything.
    'Hi,' she said, smiling. Her eyes were starting to water.
    He took hold of her hand and pulled the oxygen mask down.
    'Hi,' his voice was more rasping than usual. 'Have you heard the news?'
    'That you're asthmatic now?' she asked.
    Steven nodded.
    'Yeah. Weird isn't it?'
    Julia looked puzzled.
    'I didn't know you could just develop it at your age,' she said. 'I thought it was one of those things you grow out of, not grow into.'
    He shrugged
    'You can,' he said. 'It's pretty rare though.'
    It still did not make any sense at all to her. So much of what had happened didn't make sense. She thought of the clicking sound in the bedroom and the flash of white light just before he collapsed. She pushed this to the back of her mind.
    'Just like you then,' she said.
    Leaning forward she placed a gentle kiss on her husband's forehead.
    'I'm sorry I hit you,' he said.
    She put her finger on his lips.
    'You only slapped me because I was hysterical,' she said, then ran her finger up his face to the cut on his forehead. 'I did that to you first.'
    He looked at her.
    'I don't know where those shoes came from.'
    'You were probably right,' she said. 'They might have been Wendy's. You know how she has a habit of leaving her shit everywhere.'
    Steven laughed, though the effort of laughing clearly caused him pain in his chest.
    'So when do we go home?' he asked.
    It was a stupid question. He was a doctor and knew that more than likely they would want to keep him in for observation. Yet, like she was aware, doctors made terrible patients. It was the same whenever he was unwell at home. She would have to run round after him.
    'I'm going now,' she said, stroking his head once more. 'You have to wait until tomorrow.'
    He pouted, his bottom lip protruding like he was a sulking child. She laughed and shook her head.
    'You would have kept you in,' she said. 'Don't deny it.'
    He shrugged.
    'Maybe, maybe not. We surgeons aren't renowned for our bedside manner.'
    She laughed. This was true. He was useless whenever she was ill. She bent down to kiss his forehead again, but he put his hands on either side of her face and looked into her eyes.
    'I love you Julia.'
    She smiled and moved forward, kissing him softly on the lips.
    'I know,' she said, pulling back away. 'I love you too.'
    They kissed again, and then she stood up straight.
    'I best get going, you need to get some rest.'
    'What are you planning to do for the rest of the evening?' he asked.
    'I thought I might get the stuff for the studio unpacked,' she said, 'so I can be ready to start work again.'
    Steven beamed with pride. He had never pretended to understand all of her work, especially in her darker periods, but he always appreciated their beauty. He would show them off to anyone who visited the house, as though he was extremely proud to be married to someone he saw as so talented.
    'Don't work too hard,' he said.
    'I won't,' she said, and then kissed him a final time.
    After the kiss, she pulled his oxygen mask back into place and headed to leave the room. At the door, she turned around for one last look at her husband. He was already asleep.
     
     
    Julia locked the car and walked along the path to the front porch. The argument with Steven earlier, and the strange events that followed, seemed more distant in her memory than they should have. It felt as though it had all happened days ago, not a few hours. She supposed that it was caused by her concern for Steven, and confusion at his sudden onset of asthma. These shocks had made it a very long evening. She opened the door, and instantly felt the chill inside the house. The heating was on so the hallway should have felt warm and inviting.
    The unexpected chill reminded her of the flashing lights and clicking sounds she had seen earlier. Then there was the whisper, the voice she had heard just before