Katherine Louise woke up in the middle of the highway. 

She didn't want to. Dean was about to get to the punch line.

The sleep walking has been getting worse. She used to not remember the dreams at all, and Charlie would fill her in...sometimes. He'd say that she's okay, that she's allowed to talk about it, but...she never did. Maybe because it wasn't actually what happened, it's who it happened to.

How do you explain that one to your husband?

She wondered what was going through his mind when he woke up in the middle of the night and she was having an episode. Was he afraid? Probably. What did she say? What did he know?

She used to not remember the dreams. That would offset the exhaustion...a little. But she remembers everything lately. 

Dean's screaming as the Hellhounds tore into him. The squish of Charlie's blood and flesh as he was beaten to death over something he knew very little about, something Katherine didn't even have, hadn't seen for years.

She asked Rufus to drop a line if he heard anything about anything. He hasn't called yet. 

No one's called.

She and Sophia might not be friends anymore. She came to the Taylor house—because Katherine's house was an active crime scene— with fried chicken—because that's what she made Katherine when she was apologizing. It turned into a fight, somehow. Katherine really doesn't remember it all that well...she was so numb, but so angry...Sophia was upset because she found out about Charlie's death through the morning news, and Katherine didn't answer her phone. 

Imagine seeing the faces of your best friends on the 6 o'clock news; one of them is dead, and the other is a suspect in the murder.

Katherine started bleeding in the doorway. She'd been having stomach pains since the day before...two days after Charlie's beating. 

Haley is a small town. Charlie's wake drew a crowd. People Katherine hadn't seen since she was young came up to talk to her. People who gave her the side eye after moving back to Haley in 2007 gave her hugs and offered her prayers and bible verses they found comfort in during dark times.

Your times may be dark, Barbara, but I saw the love of my life ripped to shreds in front of me, and a week and a half later witnessed the brutal beating of my husband. Shove your fucking prayers where the sun doesn't shine.

But she shouldn't be so angry at them...but she should. It's performative, isn't it?

No one knew what to do with Charlie's ashes during the wake, so...the urn got put up on the mantle, right underneath a picture of him that always made Katherine smile...and she stared at the urn the whole time. After a while, people stopped trying to talk to her on the sofa. They sat with her for a few moments, sometimes awkwardly patted her knee, sometimes gave her a hug—during which she absolutely didn't know what to do, because being touched was the absolute last thing she wanted, but she was in autopilot and thought it might bring comfort to the others.

Charlie's mom, Grace, came to sit with her about halfway through the ordeal. She held her hand, and Katherine put her head on her shoulder. And they fell asleep.

Katherine was sleep walking in their house, too. Poor Phoebe screamed so loud it snapped Katherine out of her episode.

She was holding a pair of scissors so tight her hands were bleeding. She was cutting the rope around her wrists to help Charlie. Phoebe thought she walked in on Katherine...you know...which is funny, because Katherine is confirmed Catholic. Which is also funny, for a lot of other reasons that mostly include her not following the rules. 

Katherine's episodes have escalated quickly. Innocent grumblings in the night to walking into walls, to waking night terrors, to talking in closets, to holding scissors, to driving.

Katherine rests her forehead against the steering wheel and lets out a sigh through her nose. Her eyes are so tired. 

It smells like Charlie in here. It could be because she's wearing his favorite sweatshirt...but even before that, she could smell him in the leather. She still doesn't know if it's comforting or she wants to scrub the surfaces until it smells like leather again.