The continued illness and mounting exhaustion that plagued Melody for weeks caused her to be nonfunctioning in the mornings. Most of her day was spent in a strange haze of alertness with no steady stream of conscious thought. She napped when able, though she often couldn't find a comfortable enough position to last in a nap for more than a half hour or so. All in all, Melody was miserable with no end in sight.

Keeping up on Witch Weekly when so sick was a difficult task. Ever since her marriage Melody had ceased putting such focus on the tales told, but after the most recent article detailing her mother and sister she knew she had to be aware of what was being said. Which was why when she reached for that day's edition to see her husband's face front and center Melody's stomach rolled with such intensity she was sick once more.

Someone knew she was sick, potentially dying. More than that, Ben was preparing for her death by visiting with old flames. Everyone knew of the drama with Bella by now, but the Mexico tale was new. She read the article thrice, each time growing more distressed by the words of Meredith Watchword. He said he loved her, but if that was true then why rekindle old flames? Why was he not making more of an effort with their relationship as he promised he would? She realized it might've seemed that she was avoiding him out of disinterest in fixing their relationship, but such wasn't the case. Melody was simply too sick to function normally.

She eyed the delivered potion on the nightstand. Supposedly, it would help her sleep without being so miserable, and, if she was to have a conversation with Ben about the article, she needed to rest. The last time she confronted him he left with no indication of when he would return. The last time they argued he had told Arthur Pettigrew about the last pregnancy they had. Briefly, she considered not speaking to him of it at all. Perhaps it would be better to pretend the article didn't exist. Though, if he didn't read it himself then he wouldn't know what was being said of him. At the very least, Ben deserved to know why people might suddenly have a renewed disinterest in dealing with him.

She uncapped the vial and downed the potion in two large gulps. If it worked and she slept, then she would be better able to figure out the right way out come morning.

Only, morning would not come as easily as she believed.