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Thermostat The bedroom heater whirred till, reaching its set temperature, it cut out. He woke to leg pain. She was crying again, quietly so as not to disturb him. The two dogs on their beds nearby also stirred, one whimpered - some doggy dream. He, though always there, knew what broke her was her solitude, her loneliness. His hand reached her shoulder, she answered his touch, a sort of company, if not much. The bedroom heater registered a drop in temperature, and whirred again, warming all four in the room till reaching its regulated stop.