Elisa couldn't sleep. Her leg ached so much and she couldn't bear it.
"Ughhh…" she moaned softly, her eyes watering up already. She pulled out the drawers next to her bed and took the bottle of pills. She took out quite a number and threw them in her mouth in a fit of frustration..
"Let it stop, please….." she cried, as she hastily took water from her jug, but the jug went tumbling in the process of trying to put it down.
Her eyes went shut and she didn't low when she let out a loud shrill.
Miso stood up from his bed, awakened by he sound and came up to her body.
"Meowww" it meowed, rubbing it's face in her armpits in an attempt to check what's wrong.
Elisa couldn't be more bothered about that as she didn't even know she was already crying. It wasn't just the pain. Everything coupled together, reminding her of how she ended up like this. How she ended up dead but in this body.
How her sister betrayed her.. The more she thought about it, she more she screamed in frustration..
Unknown to her, the sounds woke her next door neighbour — Ethan..
He was in the study when he heard her shrill the first time, but thought it was something minor, but hearing her shout, got up and walked to her room to check up on her.
As he got into the room, he noticed the water on the floor and the blankets flung carelessly across the room.
She noticed the poor cat struggling to go up to her face. He walked closer and touched her. Her body was cold yet she was sweating and….crying?
"Hey hey hey" he hushed, pulling her head into his arms.
Mira also heard the sound so she came running with warm water and a towel. As she stormed into the room, she saw Ethan who hushed her and signalled her to drop the bowl and leave.
Elisa had stopped screaming and was only sobbing quietly and muttering words that Ethan couldn't hear. He leaned down gently and picked up the bowl, placed it on the table and squeezed the towel. Then he took the towel and dabbed it on her head gently.
"I just want ….to be happy." Elisa murmured and it was audible enough for Ethan to hear.
When he heard it, it stirred something inside of him that he couldn't quite place.
He just continued patting her head until he could hear her low snores. But even then, he didn't leave.
'What is going on with you, Ashley?' he wondered.
The next morning, Elisa woke up feeling much better than she felt yesterday. As she tried to stretch her upper body, she discovered that something was restricting her movements. So she opened her eyes frantically and realised that she was in the arms of Ethan..
"Ahhh …" she screamed, trying to push him away. But when she saw his peaceful but tired looking face, she stopped and remained in his arms until she fell asleep again..
Later in the day, she woke up and he was gone. 'As expected' she thought and snorted..
As she picked up her phone to call Mira, she saw her emerge from her bathroom. "Good day, Ma'am" Mira greeted with a bright smile.
"Why are you so happy?" She asked as Mira approached her.
"It's a beautiful day" she replied with a low sniff. As she helped Elisa into the wheelchair, Elisa looked at her face closely.
"Mira, were you crying?"
"No" she quickly looked the other way.
"Mira" she stopped her from what she was doing. "Look at me. Is it your son?"
Mira hesitantly nodded. "But I'm fine. It's fine" she replied with a tear rolling down her cheeks.
"Mira, talk to me, what happened?"
"He has weak bones just like his father and he …." She stuttered and broke down in tears. "He's not…responding to treatment."
"Then why are you here?" Elisa asked with creased brows. "You should be with him"
"I…I couldn't…"
"Mira" she called her name with all seriousness. "I said, GO"
Mira looked at her with tears in her eyes and hugged her. "I am… so lucky… so lucky to have met you, Miss Ashley."
Elisa patted her back, feeling a tiny bit emotional. Her name wasn't Ashley though. She needed a work around and her brain quickly found one.
"I am lucky too." She whispered into her ear. "No, go,"
Mira got up, wiping her face with her palm. Then she turned to the door.
"And, by the way, Mira.. no need for Ashley, just call me Lee" and Mira nodded before walking out the door.
Elisa discovered that the name Elisa and Ashley has something in common. 'Lee'
This way, she is not constantly reminded that she wasn't Ashley.
Elisa wheeler herself to the bathroom and attempted to bath herself.
She got into the bathroom successfully and realised she couldn't do it. So she had to brush her teeth and wash her face.
Later in the evening, Elisa, with the help of some of the maid got downstairs and was about to have break, lunch and dinner all at once when she had a visitor.
"Mother?"
"Heyyyy," Ashley's mum moved to hug her. "How are you feeling?" She asked.
"Uh…I'm good." Elisa replied as casually as she could. This wasn't something she could get used to, anytime soon. She felt uneasy around her.
"how are they?" She asked. " My siblings, I mean"
"Ahh, they're fine. Lucas is still asleep stubborn as always"
"Right" Elisa chuckled dryly.
The silence in the room was deafening. "I just came to see how you were doing, and to bring some dishes for you. I'm sure you probably can't cook since the accident.."
"Thanks…mom," Elisa stared at her, while grumbling inside of her for the owner of the body to help her.
"Nah, it's fine" She waved her arms in the air.
"Have you spoken to dad?" Elisa asked without realising it and scolded herself mentally fr such a weird question.
"I… I don't want to … bother him while he's at work, Ashley," she responded. But why is so….tense?
'Maybe they fought' Elisa concluded.
" Okay. Well then"
"Uh…what about you?" she asked.
"Yeah, I haven't either"
"Well, I better take my leave then.. I have an appointment with my…hair stylist " she got up hurriedly and left.
Elisa felt bad. She probably left in such a hurry because of her. The conversation was so awkward.