48. Wake Up in Pain

Ashley woke up just as the pain in her body returned to her.

Last night, she managed to sleep after the medicine she took worked on her body-drastically reducing the pain and making her sleepy. But perhaps now the effect had faded and perhaps it was almost gone because Ashley felt the sensation that slashed and burned her skin again attacking her relentlessly.

Her forehead was in a deep frown. And a low moan she couldn't help but let out of her mouth.

The lighting in the room was still dim. And when she looked at the sofa by the window, Josh was still sleeping in a position that looked uncomfortable. The sofa was not long. So that man had to lie curved while hugging his own knees, exactly like the fetal position.

She then reached out her hand to move the table clock to allow her to check what time it was. With all her might, Ashley tried to move even though her body was crumbling. It was a thousand times more excruciating than a few days ago when she slept sitting up.

Her eyes squinted to see between the minimal lighting. And the cube-shaped clock showed 9:05 am.

Apparently she had managed to get enough sleep due to the effects of the medicine, but not long enough to relax her muscles that were again tense from the bumps and scrapes on the road surface. It felt like her efforts to make herself comfortable by spending time at the massage place until that night had been in vain. The relaxation effect had now completely evaporated without remaining.

Ashley thought if she had to take the medicine again to get the pain-relieving effect in order to rest again comfortably. It would be great if she could continue to sleep peacefully again without interruption and without interruptions from those senseless bursts of pain.

So immediately, she tried to rise very carefully and very slowly. For every time she moved, the pain, which was now accompanied by a stiff sensation tugging at her skin, would intensify. She even needed to stop several times to let the pain evaporate on its own. After the pain subsided, Ashley tried again to make herself sit up by supporting her body with her wound-free hand.

She turned her head to look around for the whereabouts of her medicine from last night. As she remembered, Josh took care of it as soon as she finished taking the medicine. And for some reason it didn't occur to her at all to check where he had put it.

There was nothing on the nightstand. The bed wasn't there either. Ashley continued to sweep the entire room as best she could in the limited light. 

She did that for a long time. Squinting her eyes and forcing them to see more sharply. But all she felt after that was nausea and dizziness.

Ashley let out her breath roughly. She was frustrated.

The torment she received because of the wounds had to be relieved immediately, but she was having trouble finding a medicine that could help her out of that misery.

Finally after thinking hard, trying to strengthen her body to get out of bed but failing because it was too painful, thinking hard again, weighing some things, then reconsidering some things, Ashley gave up. She felt she had to put her ego aside and ask Josh for help.

“Josh,” her attempt to call the first one was audible—barely audible actually.

Ashley was really trying to fight the battle to defeat her ego by having the courage to call out to him more clearly. Instead of swallowing her voice, she chose to try to swallow her high once again. “Josh. Josh.” And what came out of his mouth was still no better than before. It was still similar to hisses and whispers. While the distance between her bed and the sofa was almost three meters away.

She closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath. Then in one breath, she called out to the man again in a shout. “Josh!”

There was still no sign of him waking up.

Ashley shouted again. This time louder and louder. “Joshua Lim!”

And the man seemed to flinch slightly. His call last time was indeed quite thunderous-created from the frustration of not being able to bear the pain in his entire body anymore. It was actually quite natural to wake up all the residents on the same floor as her residence.

From where Ashley was, she could see Josh slowly getting up and looking at her. The man frowned, rubbed his eyes, and massaged the bridge of his nose between his eyes before finally making a sound. “You called me? Did you just yell?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Are you in pain?” The creases on his forehead deepened-half from trying to shake off the sleepiness that was still hanging around and making his eyes feel very heavy, and half from curiosity as to why she was screaming so early.

“Where did you keep my medicine last night? Can you please find it? I need to take it right away,” Ashley explained as clearly and concisely as possible.

“Ah. I think I put it here,” Josh, with his consciousness still not fully gathered, got up from his seat and fumbled with the small table in front of the sofa. “Is it time to take your medicine? What time is it?”

After several failed attempts to locate the plastic bag, as Josh himself couldn't quite remember where he had placed it, his hand finally managed to find a plastic bag. He picked it up and brought it to a brighter spot to make sure.

“What time is it?” Josh asked again without receiving an answer.

Ashley was still sitting on the bed focusing on her own pain. 

Josh, with unsteady steps walked over to the light switch and turned it on. Making the room brightly lit instantly. He approached Ashley to hand her the plastic bag containing her medicines.

“Is the wound that painful?” Josh asked when he saw Ashley lowering her face with her eyes closed tightly, as if she was actually in great pain. “Wait a minute, I'll get some water first.”

Josh left and returned with a glass of water in no time. He waited until Ashley had finished eating all the medicines and then helped the girl to lie back comfortably.

“Rest for a while. I'll get some food for you first.”

“No need. I'm not hungry.”

“Hungry or not hungry you still have to eat. You took all those medicines on an empty stomach. If you don't eat, your stomach will hurt a lot later.”

Ashley was silent. She closed her eyes without wanting to respond to him with any verbal rebuttal. But in her heart, she grumbled and then tried to remind herself to calm down and ignore everything just as Josh was leaving the bedroom.

'Whatever. Whatever he wants to do. I don't care. I don't have the energy to fight. I just want to get rid of this pain as soon as possible.'