Waking up today feeling like her old self was refreshing. Looking up to the clear blue sky outside her window seemed inviting for a day out in the sun.
Her eyes spotted a few thin clouds scattered around, but no single sign of any rain that could threaten the horizon. Blinking her eyes, she knew she had enough of resting.
Stretching on her comfortable bed in the privacy of the room provided to her did help to make her feel more relaxed. Finally, no nightmares came last night to visit her.
A note, left on the counter, was waiting for her once she stepped inside the kitchen. There was hot coffee brewing on the side, bread, eggs, and bacon on a plate.
"Thanks, Jace." Avana felt more grateful to the man who took her under his wings, reading the note in her hand.
AVA, I AM JUST OUT CHECKING ON SOME PATIENTS. BE BACK BEFORE LUNCH... JACE.
PLEASE, LET ME TEACH YOU HOW TO COOK FIRST.
She giggled at the last part, thinking he must have learned his lesson, not to leave her alone in the kitchen. She did fear that she might burn the whole house down with her cooking skills.
How can you burn anything when you could not even set a fire? Her inner self was right about that, moving around the kitchen to get her day started.
She took her hot coffee and the plate of food, deciding that eating outside seemed to be a good idea, noticing a table on the porch with a view of the beautiful lawn.
Feeling hungry, she forked a piece of the bacon and placed it in her mouth, loving the taste of the pork and its juices as it touched her tongue, planning to enjoy every bit of her breakfast.
While sipping on her coffee, her eyes glimpsed several flowers that she did not recognize but were alluring. But having an unpleasant experience with an unknown plant, she preferred to admire them from afar at this time.
She could see several houses a few meters away from the clinic. But beyond the back fence seemed to be more wood trees and bushes around them. This place was way behind in progress compared to where she came from, concluding based on her observations.
As her lips licked the juices of the bacon off her fingers, she enjoyed the calming breeze that blew her hair to the right. She finally felt at peace with herself.
At least in the meantime, allowing herself to relax, lowering her guard down. She savored basking under the sun and listening to the birds chirping in the air.
"Hey! There you are." Someone greeted her from behind, slightly startling her, unaware she had company. When she turned around, she found a woman walking toward her.
Usually, it was hard to sneak up on her, but at the moment, she was not acting herself. Lately, she had not been herself as her thoughts kept running away, taking her to different places.
"Oh, hey!" She slightly closed her eyes since the sun was directly in her eyes, but she recognized her as the woman looking for Kiev.
"Hi, I am Cathy." She suddenly leaned down on her, pulling her body into her arms. "I am Jace's younger sister." She continued without waiting for her to respond. "I hope we can be friends."
Her enthusiasm was quite contagious.
"We can. I am, Ava." She finally replied, letting her lips widen into a smile when she let her go. "Would you like to join me for breakfast?" She offered, pointing to the food on the table.
She watched Cathy take the other seat, studying her face and finally seeing her resemblance to the doctor. How could she think they were married? The fruit drugged her, excusing herself.
"I already had breakfast, but I think I forgot to introduce myself yesterday. Kiev could be a handful sometimes." Cathy began explaining, swiping her hands on her long hair that swayed with the breeze, covering her face.
"Do you usually take care of Kiev?" She noticed that the boy did not sleep at the clinic last night. After dinner, he suddenly vanished. But she did not want to pry and kept her curiosity to herself until now.
"If Jace is busy and had to handle a lot of patients, I usually took Kiev out of his hands," Cathy explained, grabbing one piece of bacon on her plate and munching on it. "Sorry, it looks so delicious." She could not blame her as she also grabbed another piece.
She did not mind. She liked that she felt comfortable around her. She offered more, but she declined again, saying she had enough.
"Where is Kiev now?" She asked, curious since she had not seen the little boy this morning.
"He is at school most morning, comes home to have lunch, then plays with the other kids in the afternoon," Cathy told her, but she noticed her eyes sparkled, but it could be the sun reflecting on her shiny orbs. Then, it was gone.
"Oh, where is the school?" Finding herself getting more curious as her eyes roamed the street with a few people passing by.
"Just a few blocks from here. This place is a small town with a small population. Almost everybody knows everybody around here." Cathy finally stood up. "I hope you don't mind, but I have to go. I only want to say hi."
She felt Cathy's hand cover hers in a friendly gesture before giving her another quick hug. Then, she was striding away, back to the clinic, closing the door behind her.
Suddenly, her senses spiked up. As if it had stopped, and now it was back again. Maybe the poison did not just affect her strength but also numb even her heightened senses.
Her instinct told her that she had discerned something about her. She was not human as she initially thought, but what was she?
She had no idea as she could not tell?
Suddenly, her mind was sending signals, warning her to take extra precautions. Could she trust her? Was she a friend or a foe?