The morning came sluggishly. Celeste, who had fallen asleep slumped over her dressing table, slowly opened her swollen eyes.
The tears she had spilled the night before were gone, yet the faint salt-stained tracks clung stubbornly to her cheeks.
Her lips parted weakly. "Ahh…" A sound slipped out, fragile. She clutched her head as if to keep it from splitting open.
A sharp, pulsating pain throbbed against her temples, drumming in maddening rhythm. "Shit… I cried a lot yesterday…"
The words were a croak, her throat raw and dry. She let out a bitter laugh that quickly twisted into another groan.
The headache persisted, unrelenting, pounding and thrumming.
"Fuck." She hissed the word between clenched teeth, pressing her palms harder into the sides of her skull. "I can't even get meds here… I should have put some in my damn inventory."
She tried to stand, but the chair she had been resting on toppled with a heavy thud, its legs scraping across the floor.
