Turbulence

Chapter 4

Eda woke up thirsty and with a terrible headache. She barely could remember what happened after she left the bar. She only knew she went with Serkan to the beach but had no idea how she got to her room. 

Eda groaned and put her hand to her forehead, squeezing her eyelids tight. Her head was killing her, and the pain was radiating from the center into her eyeballs. How much did she drink to work herself into that state? It didn't happen for years, and last time, after she ended up sick in the college bathroom, she promised herself never to do that again.

Eda covered her head with a blanket to shield her aching eyes from the sun that was falling on her face through the opened blinds. She dreamed about a glass of water or the whole tank of it but was afraid that if she moved, she would get sick, so she lay still, trying to remember the last night.

She had crazy dreams that night. She dreamed about walking on the beach with Serkan, swimming naked in the sea, and having wild sex on the beach, where he took her in every position she could think of. 

Eda froze at that thought. What if she jumped at his neck or embarrassed herself in any other way? What if she stripped in front of him like in her drunken dreams? 

Eda quickly looked under the blanket. She was fully dressed in the same clothes as yesterday. She exhaled in relief. She probably didn't do anything from her crazy dreams. She had to find Serkan and ask him what happened after she blacked out. He would probably make fun of her and taunt her for the rest of her life, but she had to know.

Eda looked at the watch and groaned again. It was Saturday morning, and she didn't have to be in the office to receive patients, but today, she was supposed to start accompanying Ferit in the hospital wing. She still had two hours to get ready, so she decided not to stay in bed anymore but to shower, get dressed, and eat something to put some life into her hungover body.

When she scrambled out of the blanket, she noticed a glass of water on her nightstand. She reached for it and emptied it quickly, grateful that her drunker self had not forgotten about her completely. 

She got up from the bed and stripped of her clothes on her way to the bathroom. She found painkillers in the drawer, and after taking two pills, she entered the shower. The cold stream of water made her feel a bit better, but the loud growl of her stomach announced that her appetite returned with a double force, and she missed the breakfast hours. It only worsened her mood because when she was hungry, she was cranky and easily irritated, and, in that state, everything was making her mad. 

Eda sulked, glancing at the mirror. She looked as bad as she felt. Her pale face contrasted with the dark shadows that formed under her eyes, and all she wanted to do was go back to bed and not come out until Monday, but she couldn't, so she took a deep breath and tried to smile at her reflection but failed miserably. She quickly brushed her teeth and hair, foregoing any makeup because she would only rub it off during the day and look even worse with odd patches on her face. 

She left her room ten minutes later and briefly stopped under Serkan's door. She couldn't hear any sound coming from inside, and he didn't wake her up with the customary loud music at five a.m. as he did throughout the entire week.

Eda bit her bottom lip in hesitation, not sure if she should knock and talk to Serkan now. To be honest, she didn't really feel up to face him right now, so she decided to wait until she felt more like herself. 

He probably wasn't even there or at the base at all. It was Saturday, after all. Many soldiers were going to spend time with their families during the weekends. He probably went too, Eda convinced herself, and another thought made her freeze in her tracks as she was just leaving the building.