Smitten

SMITTEN PART 1

Imagine rusty pliers squeezing too hard on your eyeballs and gouging it out from your brain stem awfully slow.

That's what this hell felt like as I clumsily rummaged through the medicine cabinet, just before I finally got my hands on those two last magic capsules of Excedrin that I have. This whole thing is such an unfunny f*ckery.

My whole stomach turned upside down the moment I found the medicine, so I flimsily rushed towards the toilet bowl, swear glued to my forehead and my eyes watering as I vomited my guts out. Soon, I flushed away all the puke before helplessly crawling back to the nearby sink, gulping down a good amount of water with the caplets. Alas, I collapsed to the bathroom floor with a hard grimace on my face. I rolled into a ball in defeat, my hand holding my head as I groaned, enduring the excruciating pain hammering inside my whole head.

It went on for what seemed like forever until the medicine finally kicked in. I panted as relief slowly washed through me. I go through this everyday but I never got used to it.

"F*cking migraine." I groaned, reaching for the sink for support while I pulled myself up from the floor. I met the bloodshot gaze of my reflection from the sink mirror, staring back at me with those dark pathetic circles underneath the eyes, emphasized by a pale, ghostly skin and bushy eyebrows. My long, brown bed hair emphasized how unkempt I look at the moment. I let out an empty chuckle. Who could ever love that?

I shook my head and washed my face with the cold sink water.

A soft fur then brushed on my calf, along with a purring sound. I looked down to see my wide-eyed furry friend, my only companion in this house. I bent down and picked her up.

"Why, yes, Moishe." I sing-sung, lovingly holding her up like a baby. "You love your unbelievably helpless Daddy Sól, do you?"

She just purred in return and I smiled at her.

I held her close to my chest and walked to my bed. I sat while she lay there on my lap, purring contentedly. I flopped back on the bed, heaving a deep sigh before closing my eyes.

"𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸..." the music blasted through my cellphone just across the room. I quickly got up and peeked. The screen says "Honeybunch".

Ah, it's my honeybunch, Jacia. The love of my life.

"...𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥—" the music was cut off as I answered the phone and her soothing, angelic voice came through.

"Sól," she says. "I just called to remind your forgetful ass about our date later at the coffeeshop, 5pm sharp. Don't be late."

Typical Jacia.

"Of course, I-" I say, cutting myself off mid-sentence with a frown building up on my face. "Wait, you didn't call me by our callsign."

"Sorry," she giggled. "I forgot, my sweet honeybunch."

She said that lovingly, yet I can't help but feel as if something is off about her. I sighed as I just brushed it off since I didn't want to cause another fight, not today when we'll be celebrating our very first anniversary.

I ignored the sinking feeling in my chest, and just replied:

"Okay honeybunch, see you later."

And then my honeybunch 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 up.

I don't know, maybe I'm just imagining things about her changing her attitude towards me. Maybe it's just the insecurities talking again. After all, she's my first love. I just heaved a deep sigh and shrugged the thoughts off before I got off my bed and prepared.

It was about 3:46 pm when I was all dressed up and decided I'll fetch her from the farmhouse. I'm pretty sure she'll be surprised. Maybe my sweet darling will appreciate the gesture.

I excitedly grabbed my keys, bid goodbye to Moishe, and opened the door.

"SIR." A voice called out. "SIR ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

I blinked, feeling slightly nauseous and dizzy as if I just recovered from a hard concussion at the back of my head. An aproned person was there, right in front of me, with a concerned look on his face.

"Sir?" He waved a hand on my face. I just stood there, confused.

I frowned. I can't remember anything. Why am I here? Is this the coffeeshop? Where's my Jacia?

"Where's my girlfriend?" I asked the apron guy.

I can't recall.

"Where's my girlfriend?" I felt heavy hands dragging me outside.

I'm confused. I can't remember. What the hell is happening?

I can't help but ask the same question over and over, seeming to not get my thoughts out of it.

What am I doing?

Where is Jacia?

My heart ached, looking up as a heavy downpour of rain greeted me.

"Bro, what are you doing here?" A distinctive voice called me.

I turned, and there stood Nash, my best friend.

"Have you seen my girlfriend?" I asked.

He frowned, worry evident across his face. I still can't recall.

"Let me bring you to the hospital." He said, and I felt a shove and then the comfort of a car cushion on my body.

Jacia. Where is she?

I can't recall what happened, but I know my best friend took me to the hospital— check up? I don't know--

Jacia. Jacia. Where are you?

Nobody knows. He tried to explain about this 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘮𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘢— TGA thing to me, yet I still can't understand. I don't have amnesia.

"Where's my girlfriend?"

I am thoroughly puzzled and distraught. I can't remember how, but soon after, I recall being in the comforts of my home— and then all the confusion and exhaustion slowly lulled me to sleep.