Panic

'Liv!'

John woke up shouting her name. His body was shaking. He'd never had such a vivid dream before. But it'd just been a dream. Nothing more. With trembling breaths, he tried to calm yourself.

When the pain in his heart becomes a bit more bearable for a moment, Josh stood up to take a shower. He let the dream play over in his head again and again.

Liv had felt so real. She'd been so ... herself. Her old healthy self.

'Fuck!' He slammed his fist against the wall. Whatever his therapist said, he would never learn to cope with this. He'd tried to accept it. He'd tried to pick up his life again. But he kept seeing her face in strangers. He kept thinking about her. And now this dream.

After his shower, Josh went down to get some food. At least his mother had gone back working now he'd gone back going to school again. He didn't think he would be able to handle her pity right now. Ever since Liv was gone, the house had become more lifeless than the hospital she'd spent her final days in.

'Come, Skippy, we're taking a walk.'

Skippy had been Liv's dog. Her parents had offered to take the old shelter dog, but Liv had explicitly asked him to have it.

Even though at the time, he'd hated the little beast, he had silently accepted.

Skippy was a ridiculous name for an old rottweiler, but Liv had liked it. And despite himself, Josh had grown kind of fond of Skippy.

His mind went back to the dream while he runs. Liv had always complained about him not putting enough care into his body. But these last months, he'd started running. Not very fast at first, but now he was running multiple hours a day.

It made Skippy happy, and it kept him sane.

Today, he took the shorter route. His therapist was expecting him at 14:45 and he didn't want to be late again.

It was 14:35 when they came out of the forest again. Josh put Skippy back inside and quickly stepped into his car.

It was a half an hour drive. Mom would be furious when she'd hear about it tonight.