"My friends say I am a narcissist but I think you are more of a narcissist than I am," Anna told her with a shrug.
"I don't understand."
Seeing the look of confusion on Rose face, Anna smiled. "You like the color of your eyes. Why not green or brown? You chose the rarest color in your eyes because you are a narcissist. I think I should change my eyes color to purple," Anna complained with a playful smile.
Rose returned her smile. "I love black too," Rose said.
"Don't try to get on my good side. Who loves black? A lot of people have black eyes so it is not unique. Why will you love the color of night?"
"I don't know. But your eyes are very beautiful too."
"If we are going to talk about how beautiful I am, I am very aware of it. I am very beautiful and my black eyes are having a unique shade of black. So, thanks for the compliment but I deserve more than that," Anna did a good job of praising herself while Rose stood straight with her mouth twitching as she watched Miss Narcissist praise herself.
Rose gulped and tried to look away. "Well, good night," she said and moved away from her bed.
"No, I can't sleep alone. I am going to get bored in the middle of the night. I don't feel sleepy at all. I have been asleep for months now. I don't think I want to sleep now."
Rose looked at the girl with pity. "I will sleep on the couch in the living area. Call my name when you want to talk to me."
Rose knew that the girl might find it had to sleep because her subconscious mind still remembered all the things that happened to her.
"Rose?" Anna called her when she got settled down on the soft sofa with a blanket.
"Hmmm?" she answered staring into the dark space.
"Why do you look like our mother? Are you her daughter? Perhaps you did not die," Anna asked with a soft unsure voice. She did not want to offend Rose with the question she asked but she really needed to get answer.
"I am not her biological daughter but I was adopted a few months ago. I can remember my birth parents and Mrs. Whitfred is not my mother," Rose answered immediately.
Anna sighed at that answer and frown. "I wanted you to be mother's daughter. It will make her very happy to have her daughter back. So, who are your biological parents?"
"Dead. They died. That is all I remember. They both died in an accident. I was with them but I survived. I woke up in an orphanage as an orphan. I can't remember anything else." Rose had to lie, Anna might be clingy but she did not know the girl's true nature. What if she turns to a stumbling block to her in the future?
"That is a pity."
"Yeah it is. I am used to it now. What about you?"
"I can't remember anything about them. I was a baby when I was abandoned in front of an orphanage. I love Mrs. Whitfred. She is my only mother."
"I guess we were both left in this world alone by our parents. I think Mrs. Whitfred is a nice person and I like her," Rose sincerely said staring aimlessly into the dark space above her.
"Rose, I might not remember how I got into a coma but I know that I was not treated well by those people. I saw the scars on my body. They were much and I know it must have hurt a lot. No wonder I went into a coma. I must have not being able to take the pain. You know what? I hate scars. I never wanted to have a single scar on my body but now, I have a lot on my body. I feel like this body is not mine any longer. I feel strange feelings that are not mine."
Rose sighed. "Since you can talk to me about it, I think that means a lot. They say a problem shared is a problem . . ."
"Half solved," Anna completed the sentence before Rose could continue. She sniffled as tears ran down the side of her face to the pillow. "I feel good talking to you. I just feel like you will understand me more. If I tell the therapist mum will bring over, she will tell mum and make mum worried about me. I don't want her to get worried. I saw it on the internet that I was missing for a week. I can't imagine all the things I made mum pass through when I am not even her biological daughter."
"She loves you a lot. She always tried to spend time with you despite her busy schedule."
"I know and that is why I don't want her to suffer because of what I passed through. I want to be tough. If I was strong enough, those people wouldn't have gotten me. Whoever they are, they would find it had to have hurt me so bad."
"I don't want you to try too hard to remember what happened to you when you were kidnapped. Some things are best forgotten although not forgiven. Mr. Whitfred will investigate it. He will find those people and make them pay."
"I have woken up for only a day now and I really feel like I am going to lose my mind if I stay away from you. I am sorry to be burden on you but I don't think I can stay alone at all. I keep feeling like they have me and hurting me. I don't know why but my chest feels so stuffy and I find it hard to breathe like someone is trying to strangle me."
Rose could easily connect to what she was experiencing. After her rebirth, life became hard. It was as though her past life was better in some ways. Yes, she was bullied by her schoolmates and the kids in the orphanage. She was called bad names and cursed.
All those things hurt her but she could sleep well. She could have dreamless nights but after her rebirth, it seemed that everything that was good about her first life was taken away and replaced by pain. All the things she suffered from in her past life were then replaced with good things.
She now had a family with a mother that looked like her mother and she had a sister who seemed to like her a lot. She was living in a house worthy enough to house the royal family and she gets to wear nice clothes, eat nice foods and sleep on a queen's bed. All these were things she was not opportune to enjoy in her past life. However, she was enjoying them at the expense of her good night rest.
She smiled and rubbed her hand on her face. It was an obvious truth to her now that there was nothing good in this world that could be given for free. She turned and lay on her side as she used the sleeve of her blouse to mop the tears that streamed out of her eyes.
"Rose?" Anna called sitting up. She felt so restless and scared of closing her eyes.
"Hmm?" Rose answered immediately since she was also suffering from insomnia. Her sleep always starts by three at night or four at times.
"Should we go downstairs to get chocolate?" Anna asked placing her feet on the floor.
"The doctor said you should watch your diet," Rose cautioned her standing up. "If you can't sleep, I will join you on your bed. Maybe you will be able to sleep," she suggested and joined Anna on her bed. The bed was a hospital bed making it less comfortable but the two girls squeezed in together under the blanket supporting each other.
"I will ask Mara to return my bed tomorrow. You will stay here till I can sleep on my own," Anna said with a yawn happy that she was able to relax with Rose.
"I will be a little busy tomorrow but as soon as I am done with my lessons, I will take you to the garden," Rose suggested too.
"That will be fun. Mum and I used to plant flowers together when we are not busy. The garden is big and beautiful," Anna began another chain of conversation with enthusiasm.
"Yes, it is. I have been to the garden. I could not go around but I sat there for a while. What flowers have you planted before?" Rose asked and looked down at the girl.
Anna was already asleep peacefully and Rose found herself getting jealous of Anna. The girl could sleep so easily. As usual, Rose stayed awake gazing aimlessly into the dark until she finally closed her eyes to a world of nightmares.