How do you think?

He leapt off the couch and stared at her in horror. "You what? You fucking took the anesthetic? What- how could you do that? Don't you know how much of a betrayal that is? Of course you do but you don't care, because you're just another-"

His rant was choked off by a loud sob, and he fell to his knees. She rushed to comfort him but he pushed her away. "Don't you fucking touch me! You're not Penny! Penny fucking hates my cooking! Penny get stressed out about money and never made it to the end of The Shining! You're not any of those things!"

She sat beside him silently, waiting for him to get it all out. "Penny complains! When she broke her foot on vacation she bitched about it for weeks! What are you gonna do, just keep walking on it because pain feels good? Fuck me, I thought I had at least one person in this world who wasn't going to turn into... into this!"

After a few moments of silence, she spoke softly. "Ask me when I took it."

He looked at her through watery eyes. At least she didn't have that stupid smile on her face. "When did you take it?"

"My birthday."

He reeled. That was impossible! Her birthday was almost a year ago. There's no way it took that long to kick in!

"What are you talking about? You haven't been one of those things for months! You've been-"

"Normal," she interrupted. "Perfectly normal. That's what I was trying to explain to you. You don't want to lose what you have with me, right? If Penny died when she took the anesthetic then you've been sleeping with her corpse for ten months. But I'm still me, see?"

She put his hand on her chest. Beneath her soft skin, he felt her heartbeat. "I'm still here. I'm the same person I was yesterday, and last week, and a year ago. You don't have to worry about losing me, babe. I took the pill and I'm still here."

He stared at her uncomprehendingly. "But you've complained! You've been mad at me! What about when Lauren got laid off? You were fucking furious!"

She smiled. "Not entirely. I still know what it feels like to be angry or sad or scared, I just don't feel that way anymore. It's easy to slip back into the old patterns of behavior even if the feeling isn't there anymore. It's like muscle memory."

"So you've been faking." Matt spat with venom, yanking his hand back. "You've been sitting around fucking pretending to be my wife. I'll bet it feels pretty fucking good to you too. God, why did you take it? I want Penny back!"

"I don't expect you to understand, and I get it if you want to leave or want me to leave," she said. "But think about it. I'm still her, and I still love you so much. More than ever! And I genuinely don't want you to get the anesthetic if you don't want to. It's your decision, just like getting it was mine. Also," she said with a wink, "keep in mind that I might be a little more accommodating in the bedroom."