Finally got to see The Conjuring 3 with my bestie, so I figured it was time for an update. Just a warning, if you haven't seen the film, there are slight spoilers for it in this chapter. You have been warned. I hope you enjoy!!

   Lorraine kissed Ed hard on the lips. His hands shook as he reached for her face, his fingers brushing gently against her cheek. She pulled away for a moment. Her beautiful eyes were filled with tears. "Here," he said, returning the rosary to her palm. His eyes met hers briefly. His lips touched her forehead. "I'm so sorry, Lorraine. So sorry..."

   She helped him stand, then drew his head to her chest. "I love you so much," her voice wavered slightly, and yet, he was reassured as he listened to the steady thumps of her heart. "We need to go. I'm tired of this place."

   Judy had left with some friends to go to a movie. Ed was relieved. His head bobbed as he started to doze. Lorraine was already in bed, asleep.

   He lifted the sheets slowly so as not to wake her. She'd gotten so little sleep in the past month. Visions of people in trouble had filled her days. When they'd received word of what would become the Johnson case, her insomnia grew worse. He'd find her in his study, or standing in the hallway, staring at something he couldn't see.

   Of all things to happen during this case, he'd been stricken with a bad heart. And, although Lorraine never said a word, Ed later learned that she'd slept in a chair beside his hospital bed during his unforeseen two-week stay. It had only gotten worse from there.

   He didn't remember much from when his vision went black, but when he woke, he was crouched over his wife, gripping a kitchen knife, ready to watch the blood flow from the vessels in her throat...and then he recognized her soft, brunette hair, her worried, rounded features, fresh tears in her eyes, flooding her cheeks-- her eyes, an image of terror, directed at him, no less-- tore his chest in two. He didn't remember if he dropped the knife, or if someone took it from him, all he could manage was, "I'm sorry."

   She knew it wasn't really him, but that didn't change the fact that he'd almost killed her-- twice, for that matter. What bothered him more...she hadn't said a word about the case to him since their return home. No discussion of what happened. No wise, comforting words. No admittance of fear. She rarely spoke of her premonitions, even to him-- that he was used to. But to have endured what she did, and say nothing? He'd lost sleep over it.

   He wanted to hold her, to tell her that he was sorry over and over again, but aside from that single kiss, she'd withdrawn herself from him. Judy hadn't said anything to them about it, but Ed saw their daughter's occassional worried glances. She'd made herself scarce, too-- insisting on going to lunch with her boyfriend, to the movies with her girlfriends, or leaving to visit her grandmother. He wondered if Lorraine noticed in her troubled state. He wanted to reassure them both, but he wasn't sure how. He just-- didn't know what else to do.

   Regardless of the thoughts that plagued his own unsettled mind, his eyelids drooped as he fell into a much-needed rest, his body no longer able to fight the need for sleep.

   He didn't notice her twisted appearance and clenched fists. All he heard was a shrill, ear-splitting shriek that tore him from his fitful sleep, beckoning him to her aid immediately. "Lorraine? Lorraine, Honey, wake up! It's alright--"

   Her eyes shot open, yet instead of calming upon meeting his gaze, her bloodcurdling screams broke off into sobs. "Get away from me!" She wrapped her fingers around his shoulders, shoving him away violently and falling off the bed in an attempt to distance herself from him.

   "Lorraine?" His voice was dripping with shock. Her widened eyes bore into his own as her sobs resounded against the room's walls. His head dropped pitifully. "I'll be on the couch."

   He received sobs in response. Ed stood gingerly. He risked one last glance at Lorraine before he made his way to the living room. He knew when he wasn't wanted.

   "No."

   He paused. "Lorraine?"

  He moved to the edge of the bed cautiously. She was propped up on her hands and knees like a wild animal, still crying. "Lorraine, Sweetheart--" He tucked her underneath him in a warm embrace. "I'm so sorry. You have to know...I would never hurt you. I'd rather die than to ever strike at you like that again."

   Her chest heaved with another dreadful, drawn-out sob. Lorraine finally held him in her arms again, although her body involuntarily convulsed. He loosened his grip on her, witnessing her panicked appearance. "It's okay. I'm leaving. I'll sleep on the couch for as long as I need to."

   "Please-- don't go. I don't want this to happen to us. Please stay."

   "Lorraine, look at yourself...I can't--"

   "I'll get over it. I'll be fine. All I know is that I have to be near you. I must get over this."

   He nodded. "Okay."

   Ed waited patiently for her to settle into the bed before climbing in himself. At first, his wife turned away from him, and his heart panged with guilt and agony.

   But then, as he calmed, so did she. She gradually curled herself around him like a kitten, allowing contented sighs to escape her body like purrs against his bare chest. "I will never hurt you again."

   Her eyes fluttered open once more. "You can't promise that," she stated simply.

   "I can only hope you can learn to trust me again after all this."

   A soft smile formed despite her tired eyes. "I trust you, Ed. My faith in you grows every day. I knew you would do what was right, and I know you love me...

   You're going to hurt me so much more after your death than you ever could now. It won't matter how long you're gone from this earth...I'll love you long after, and it will hurt worse than anything you could ever do to me."

   "Oh, Lorraine..." She melted under his embrace, and now, he was the one crying, although he would never admit it. "I love you."