I wake up disoriented.
Not in the study.
In bed.
The sheets are cool against my skin, the room is dim except for the light bleeding from under the bathroom door, and I can hear water running.
Shower.
Bael must be back.
I try to piece together how I got here.
The last thing I remember is working… residential density calculations that refused to cooperate no matter how many times I adjusted the ratios. Green space versus parking requirements, circulation flow versus lot efficiency, all of it tangled together in a way that made my head hurt.
I remember staring at the numbers until they blurred, remember my eyes getting so heavy I couldn't force them open anymore, remember thinking I'd just rest my head on the desk for a second.
Just a second.
Then nothing.
He must have carried me.
The realization settles warm and uncomfortable in my chest.
I should probably be embarrassed about that, about falling asleep at my desk like a child, about needing to be physically moved to bed.
