What Comes After

Evangeline has been with Isaac for six days. She spent the first few days sleeping, enjoying the clean comfort and safety of the house. Isaac’s tendency to sit silently and stiffly for hours in the evening disturbs her, so she goes out in the evening. Rufus is the main reason why she stays: He sleeps in bed with her and makes her feel safe. She dislikes the darkness at night and the chair propped against the upstairs door. She asks Isaac to change these things, and he does, after a couple of hours of thought. The night before her appointment, she tells Isaac that she knows Daniel is dead.

She goes to the doctor and finds out that she’s roughly six weeks pregnant, which means that she was right about when she got pregnant. She tells the doctor that she intends to keep the baby and is surprised to find Isaac waiting for her after the appointment. She tells him about the pregnancy and sees a change in Isaac.

Isaac returns to his job teaching at the high school on the same day that Evangeline is supposed to start classes. She insists on walking, and he panics after she leaves, driving all the possible routes to school and believing that she’ll never come back.