𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙏𝙃 - 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙨 𝙎𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙗𝙮

ELEVEN

ELEVEN

Grace showed up at her door the next day. During the days they worked together, they walked to the Garrison together. The girl barely had the strength to pull herself out of her bed, the events of the day before still lingering in the back of her mind. She'd wanted to stay in as if to shield herself from the world. Her weak limbs pulled her out of her bed. Achara wobbled down the stairs feeling as though her legs were about to snap. The knocking got louder the longer she took in getting to the door. The girl let out a chesty cough, sending her lungs into a spiral, gasping for air as she held tightly onto the stairs, awaiting her fated collision with the dusty floorboards.

"I'm coming, stop fucking banging!" She shouted across her hallway. She carefully placed her feet on the floor, scared they would cave in from the weight girl. The banging slowly stopped as she walked towards the door, the outline of Grace lining her field of vision.

She unlocked it and looked up into the woman's hazel eyes, she'd forgotten she'd had work, more so didn't want to go. She could feel her bones scraping against each other with every move. The unending pain that was lingering in her heart, as she looked across the road to the Shelby residence, she gulped before turning to the elegant woman in front of her.

"Are you ill?" She asked, worry seeping through her words. "Do you want me to tell Harry you're not going to be in?" The girl didn't have the strength to answer so she just nodded, and let out another nasty, phlegm-filled cough, her body crashing on the hinges of the door. She whined, the girl didn't get ill often so when she did, it hit her hard. The older woman continued to ask about medicine and just checking up on Achara, she scoffed, she'd always hated people worrying about her. She felt as weak as she was physically.

"I'm gonna be fine Grace," She stated, her voice was low and her throat burned as the words spilt out of her mouth. "I'm just gonna rest," and with that, she bid her goodbyes to her friend and headed to the kitchen, she made some soup and brought her food up to her room. When she reached her bed she collapsed, pure exhaustion sweeping over her. She closed her eyes in an attempt to regulate her fever but her body had other plans, her head crashed into the pillow, and her body was lulled into a sleep. The first sleep in many days. It felt rewarding, yet disgusting at the same time, she was incredibly happy that her mind had allowed her to sleep, yet felt as though she'd had to make herself ill to do so.

She lost sense of the world around her as the sweet nothingness swallowed her whole. For once in weeks her mind of empty, with no nightmares or memories, just empty. Her breaths deepened as she sunk even further into her sheets. The world around her disappeared as she spiralled deeper into her dead sleep. Everything slowed as the sounds of the outside world drifted further and further from her ears. 

She woke to her shaking violently and sweat beads rolling down her body. She moved to get up but got lost in a coughing fit, suddenly the door swung open revealing Polly and a worried Ada. Polly moved across the room towards the girl and caressed her back as she choked on her coughs, placing a cold and wet cloth onto her forehead. Her hands pulled into her chest as tears welled in her eyes, god she hated being ill. Sweat rolled down the side of her face as she pulled herself up on her elbows. She looked around her and saw her blinds open, with the window slightly pulled open giving a slight chilliness and breeze through the room.

"Why didn't you tell us you were sick!" Ada exclaimed, placing a cold cloth onto the girl's forehead. "We were worried when you weren't behind the bar." Her coughs slowed, she pulled her body up, using the headboard to steady herself and sat up, her long legs dangling off the bed. She looked to the window, it must have been late in the afternoon. She'd slept almost all day. The girl sighed before answering the woman in front of her, who was staring sternly at her.