After two long days, Mari was finally discharged.
The doctor reassured her that physically that there was nothing wrong and that she just a need for rest.
"Make sure to think positively," the doctor advised, "drink plenty of water, get some exercise. Even a little sunlight can help ease your mind."
A short walk wouldn't hurt, they said, almost as if it were a prescription for her thoughts rather than her body.
When Mari stepped back into the apartment with Mary, the familiar scent of home hit her, but it didn't bring the comfort she expected.
As soon as the door opened, she paused, scanning the room with an almost foreign sense of scrutiny as if she were entering a place she had never known. The couch, the small coffee table and the stack of books by the window… everything was exactly where it should have been, yet it felt wrong.
The truth settled in slowly, twisting in her chest because she hadn't really been here for such a long time.
Not truly.
