Clara

It was 3 months after the accident that made you unable to make love to your wife... Wife that you've married 5 years ago and were together since college. You still have 6 more months to wait before the first surgery.

The house was quiet, the kids asleep upstairs. The faint hum of the dishwasher the only sound cutting the heavy silence. You sat on the couch, scrolling absently on your phone when Clara appeared from the kitchen—barefoot, hair damp from a quick shower, in her usual tank top and loose shorts.

She stood there for a second, fidgeting with her necklace. Then her eyes met yours, full of tension she tried to hide.

"Babe… can we talk?" she asked, voice low.

She sat down next to you, her knee brushing yours—close but nervous. "I’ve been trying so damn hard not to bring this up but…" she exhaled, staring at her hands. "I’m losing my mind. We’ve always been… physical, you know? And now, it’s like there’s this big empty hole in me I don’t know how to fill."

She finally looked up, biting her lip. "Would you… hate me if I asked to open things up a little? Or—hell—I don’t know, tell me how to deal with this, because I don’t wanna break us."