Night Changes

Italy - Day Two & Three

My eyes flutter open, taking a moment to adjust to the sun shining in through the curtains.

The premiere wasn't until later on tonight, but I wanted to get back to my room so I could shower and recoup from last night.

I remove myself from Hero's grasp, thankfully without waking him, and kiss the top of his head before making my way out of the room.

I wince as a sharp pain shoots across my abdomen, my legs feeling weaker than before.

Thankfully the nausea went away for the most part, but I couldn't believe that I still felt the same as I had last night.

There definitely was something wrong.

I take my room key out of my clutch and open the door. Maria is wide awake when I come in, already dressed and ready to go for the day.

"I was wondering when you were planning on coming back." She says flatly.

"Good morning to you too." I grumble as I slowly make my way over to my bed, expecting to hear a lecture about how I spent the night in Hero's room.

She tilts her head to the side when she notices how stiff I was walking. "Are you alright?"

"No actually." I admit.

I hear her stand from the bed and walk towards me. "What's- holy shit!" She gasps, her eyes widening when she looks into my own.

"What's wrong?" I ask, panic filling my tone.

"Jo, your eyes are yellow."

"What?" I shriek before maneuvering around the bed and towards the full-length mirror hanging on the wall.

Surely enough, the sclera of my eyes were now yellow.

"What happened?" Maria asks, genuine worry in her tone.

"Hero and I went out to eat last night, and maybe twenty, thirty minutes after I felt really sick. We just barely get back to the room and I puke my guts up. I can barely move, and I feel like shit!" I tell her.

"What did you eat?"

"Sushi."

"You have food poisoning." She tells me.

I squeeze my eyes shut and run my hands through my hair. I had been lucky enough to never contract food poisoning before, but it made perfect sense. I thought it had simply been the sushi not sitting well with my stomach, but the fact that it has now gotten worse the next day and my eyes have turned yellow, food poisoning definitely seems like a logical reasoning behind all of this.

I shake my head. "Well, I hope it's not contagious. I don't want Anna and Hero-"

"Woah, woah." Maria says, shaking her head. "You can't go out like this. You need to rest."

"What?" I ask.

"Jo, food poisoning is not something to take lightly. If this gets any worse, you may have to go to a hospital."

I roll my eyes. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not. I know you've got this little thing going on where you're not listening to a word I'm saying, but please listen to me now. You're in no condition to go out like this."

"I'm on tour to promote my movie, Maria. I can't let my fans down. I'll rest until we go out, then I'll rest when I come back. I'll be fine."

Before she can answer, there's a knock on the door.

Maria goes to answer it, and I hear her scoff. "What a great idea sushi was."

"What're you talking about?" Hero asks.