I couldn't sleep with her next to me. The smell was making me crazy. She dead to the world, breathing her breath, rustling the covers, each movement sent her smell across the bed. Sour. Sick.

For weeks she wasted away in front of me. Now she didn't eat and her body was starting to draw on what little reserves we left. All fat gone, now her muscle. I was afraid to touch her. Afraid to look too closely. Afraid to see her slow wasting death.

But we still shared this bed. She and I, as always. The only difference now...

Sweating, her false horn started to slip, inch by inch down her forehead. "Damned glue! They said it would last 3 hours!" She lifted her nose and tried to balance the horn. "I hope no one notices."

She gathered her courage and stepped into the room, nose in the air, eyes darting from face to face. "Do they see? Will they notice?" Blinking greetings at those around her, she forced herself to smile. Better h