Erica headed back inside the house after her brief moment in the garden.
She headed straight into her room, freshened up, and then jumped to bed.
All these years, she has been training and has never felt as tired as she was at that moment.
All the thinking and reminiscing took a toll on her mentally. When the brain is tired none of the body parts want to work so she immediately retired to bed, and seconds later she was already in deep slumber.
Flashback
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A striking girl in her teens with black waist-length hair, a nose ring, and striking brown eyes with pink plump lips with a long nose could be seen running toward a handsome young man in his late teens.
The guy was handsome as well in his brown suit that complemented his blonde hair. One could tell he was from the office since he was carrying with him some documents in his hands.
On her face was a wide smile as she hugged the guy. It is this same smile that made her parents accept that she would get married to the man she was hugging. This is because they wanted to see her back to her cheerful self.
She had embarked on a hunger strike and refused to talk to or see anyone unless they would accept that she gets married to the love of her life. To get engaged to him since they were still young and not old enough to marry. This was because he came from a poor family, and when she saw that the hunger strike did not succeed, she decided to end her life.
Erica was from a rich family and of course, it was difficult for her parents to accept their only daughter being wedded to a poor man. They did not wish for their daughter to have a hard time since she was not used to the poor life. Instead, she was used to being pampered and given whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it.
She convinced her parents that the man she loved worked in their company and was a very competent worker. He earned a promotion within his first three months of employment, which showed that he was very talented since her father has a keen eye for talent. Therefore, she expected her family to accept him. However, they refused having given them more reasons to refuse her proposal. This is because since the boy worked in their company, it would be a disgrace for an employee to marry his employer.
And so after her parents strongly refused her engagement to the man of her life, she shut herself out of everyone else in the house. She would not leave her room, not eat, she would just stay locked in her room. This made her parents worry so much that they had to break into a room and use another spare key to get into her room. They feared she might have tried something bad.
On entering her room, her parents found her sprawled on the bed with blood oozing from her wrist and her body burning up with a high fever.
She was immediately rushed to the hospital. After her examination, it turned out the cut on her wrist did not penetrate deep and so it was not that serious. However, if they had not discovered her sooner, she would have died from blood loss. The high fever was caused by a lack of proper rest and food since she had been on a hunger strike.
Her parents were beyond devastated and sympathised with their daughter. She was the oldest and only daughter they had.
After two days Erica woke up in the hospital.
Erica fluttered her eyelashes as she tried to adjust to the lights. "Ah...where am I? Is this what heaven looks like? But why aren't I in hell? I killed myself right?" Erica asked no one in particular as she looked around the room that was all white from floor to ceiling.
Erica's father said as he walked towards the small table beside the patient's bed: "No one is dead. You are neither in heaven nor in hell. Fortunately, you were not successful in killing yourself."
He placed hotpots of food on the table one after another from the hotpot bag he had with him. The hotpots covered the whole table, and some even had to remain in the hotpot bag since there was no longer any space on the table.
After that Erica's father rang the bell to call for the nurse.
The nurse came in with a doctor in tow. The doctor was the one who had been responsible for Erica for the days she had been admitted to the hospital. The doctor checked on Erica and gave out his examination," everything is okay, she is now fine and can be discharged to return home tomorrow morning, and Miss Erica you should drink your medicine without missing and on time since your body's immunity is weak, make sure to eat lots of nutritious foods, and do not miss any meals."
Erica just nodded to the doctor's instructions.
After his examination, the doctor left the room leaving the father and daughter pair. Her gaze was diverted away from her father so she could avoid looking at him. She was so angry at all of them. Why would they not accept her engagement to the man she chose?
She is better dead than living without him. He was her reason for living. If she couldn't be with him, then it wouldn't matter if she just died. She would be a living corpse anyway.
Erica's father opened the hotpot letting the aroma fill the room.
Each of Erica's favourite foods was prepared by her father. To her, he was the most excellent cook. Mind you, not only to her but to her whole family her father was the most excellent cook. That's why long before he started to get busy with work when Erica was still young he used to make dinner and sometimes even lunch for them.
Erica missed those days so much and with the aroma in the air and her empty stomach she couldn't help but salivate.
" Honey! If you are awake, please sit so I can serve you food, and if not for me, do it for your health. The doctor has said that you should eat and not miss meals or do you want to prolong your stay in the hospital? By neglecting your health, mmmh?" Erica's father asked.
Erica's stomach as if agreeing with her father's words let out a loud growl, which was a cause for embarrassment for a hungry striker like herself.