The Flip by Michael Phillip Cash

body of his wife next to him. They were cheap sheets, not the Egyptian cotton ones Julie liked to buy. They smelled new. They had a chemical odor and irritated his skin. He wrapped himself around his wife, inhaling her scent, closing his eyes with contentment. She purred, stroking his naked chest, and he stilled her bandaged hands with a smile. Julie fit perfectlyunder his head. Gathering her close, he kissed her, enclosing them both securely in the cocoon of the blankets.
    Tessa watch in rapt silence as Brad took care of his wife.
    “They are a pretty couple,” Gerald observed.
    “She’s a mouse. She’s not woman enough for him.” Tessa dripped with jealousy.
    “And you are speaking from your vast store of knowledge of him?” Gerald lit a cigar.
    “I hate those things.” She attempted to grab it, but Gerald ducked out of the way.
    “Leave them alone, Tessa. You are onlygoing to anger the Sentinels.”
    “They are a myth!” she shouted back.
    “Oh, you think so, my own?”
    “I am not your own!” Tessa spat. “Go away. Leave. I didn’t want you then, and I don’t want you now! Why don’t you just scurry away if you don’t want to watch?” Her voice was filled with venom.
    Anger turned Gerald red. He started to respond and wondered indeed what he was still doing here. Bristling with frustration, he dissipated into a cloud to dissolve into the night.
    Tessa eased under the covers, sliding up against the two bodies, settling on the warm flesh of the woman, to fade into her skin.
    Something woke Brad. His wife was writhing against him, her hands clutching, pinching his skin. Julie grabbed his face, her bandaged hands holding him immobile, her mouth opening aggressively over his. She rolled on top of him, her legs sliding around him like tentacles.
    “Jules,” he whispered.
    She bit his lower lip. He kissed her back, holding her tightly. Her mewing sounds became growls. She ripped at her clothes, her eyes closed, the darkness hiding her face. She sat up, pulling the scrubs from the hospital over her head. Her small breasts looked like marble in the night. She slid out of the pants, wordlessly mounting Brad. Bending over, she locked her face to his, kissinghim rapidly, panting.
    “Are you up for this?” he asked between her desperate kisses.
    Julie didn’t answer with words. She slid down the length of him, shocking him with her heat and aggression. She was insatiable, rocking against him violently. Brad grabbed her, trying to slow her down. He cupped her face, pulling her to him for a soul-searing kiss. Her eyes opened, glowing red, and Brad’s breath caught in his throat. Grabbing her shoulders, he forced her flat. Her hair caught in his fingers and he heard her hiss as the strands parted from her skull. “Sorry. Slow down,” he urged. She fought with him, sloppily hitting his imprisoning hands. She suddenly stilled, her hands falling uselessly to hersides.
    “Jules,” he whispered. She was out of it. He heard her shudder, her breathing becoming so deep that Brad rested his head on her chest to hear the slow thud of her heart. Scrambling out of the bed, he forced his own breathing to calm. She wasn’t herself. It had to be the drugs they had given her. He looked back at her frowning face. She rolled into a ball, her hands under her cheek, looking young and innocent. Brad stood, shaking his head. Walking to the camping lantern, he crouched down to dim the light. A few long hairs were tangled in his fingers. Putting them up to the light, he sat down heavily. They were reddish-gold.
    Brad dressed, too troubled to sleep. Herolled the hairs into a small knot, fitting them in the pocket of his tight jeans. He wasn’t going to be able to close his eyes. There had to be an explanation for the red hair. Maybe she had put in extensions and he hadn’t noticed. Throbbing with unspent energy, he decided to use it toward cleaning one of the many bathrooms. It was silent in the house; his brain was in