Nova knew that her thinking was clouded by hunger and she really didn't want to have to eat the food but she didn't know where else she would get a meal from and who knew if the maids wouldn't bring her food the next day.
She hesitated for as long as she could before she gave in and ate. She was only able to eat little because she hadn't eaten in so long but she was at least grateful that she would be able to hold out for another day with the little she ate.
Nova rose to her feet to ring the bell and then went to the bathroom to splash some water on her face before she would go to bed. She stared at herself in the sink's mirror, finding it difficult to recognize the woman in the mirror.
Her cheeks were sunken and her skin was pale, dark eye bags underneath her eyes although she had spent the entire day sleeping. She looked exactly like she felt, exhausted. The food she ate didn't even make her feel better, it just made her feel queasy and uncomfortably full although she had eaten so little.
While she was in the bathroom, she heard the door to her room open and close to indicate that a maid had come to carry the tray. She just ignored them and splashed some water on her face - she couldn't believe that it had just been four days since Roan left, it felt like months.
Nova returned to her room and went right to bed, hoping that when she slept and woke up she would feel somewhat better… Her hopes were dashed to the ground when she woke up a mere fifteen minutes later in terrible pain.
She gritted her teeth and wrapped her arms around her middle wondering what the problem could be. Was it because she hadn't eaten almost two days prior?
Nova crawled out of bed to the simple carpet on the ground, barely keeping from crying out. It was late but she might need to go to the hospital, her stomach hurt too much for her to bear.
Each movement only worsened the pain but Nova somehow managed to get to the door. Silent tears of pain were streaming down her face as she reached for the handle of the door - she felt like there were sharp knives in her stomach, it hurt so much she was sure she was going to die.
The handle bent and with what little strength she had, she tried to pull the door but there was no give. After a few tries, she realized why… the door had been locked!
The horror of her situation quickly sank in and she fell to the ground, hugging her stomach tightly like it would ease some of the pain.
The key wasn't on the door which meant that someone had come in, taken her room's key, and then locked her inside from the outside. She knew who had done it, it had to be the maid that brought her meal.
It would mean that the food she thought was harmless was the cause of her current situation. Fear made Nova break out in cold sweat - had she been poisoned? She didn't want to die.
Giving up on the door, she crawled to the bathroom to see if she could throw up the food and maybe reduce the potency of the poison. To think that she hadn't eaten a lot yet this was the outcome, which meant that if she had eaten all the food on the tray, she would be long dead.
Throwing up was easy because, underneath all of the pain, she was really nauseous. When she was done, she was in even worse pain, so much so that she couldn't even stand on her feet. Her mouth was dry and she could feel herself shaking but she was desperate so she somehow found her way back to the door to bang on it.
Maybe she could attract the attention of someone, anyone… she didn't want to die.
Soon her efforts weakened as she started to have difficulty breathing, her hand sliding down the door, her efforts to call for help going unheard.
Nova's vision swam as she crumpled to the ground, remaining conscious took a lot of effort but she was scared of going into the darkness because she was terrified of not waking up again.
+
Roan stared at his phone for the umpteenth time as he walked across the cold asphalt of the private airport, not only had he not gotten a response from Nova but his texts weren't getting delivered.
At first, he made excuses for why she hadn't replied his text but now he was convinced that she was gone, it was why he had gotten into an argument with his parents because he said he was leaving early.
Convincing them had taken all day and although his mom insisted that he wait till the next morning before taking the flight back, he had no intention of waiting one more moment.
He got on the jet, his stoic expression perfectly masking his unease. Finding Nova would be easy, he was merely worried about how she had fended for herself if she left.
He had considered calling Astor several times to check up on her but he knew that Nova wouldn't appreciate that, especially if she was truly planning to leave. He couldn't help but wonder if he had done or said anything wrong to make her not reply to his texts…
Roan found himself staring at his phone again - even his mom had picked up on his new habit and had a lot of questions for him, questions that he skillfully avoided. His mom knew better than to believe things in the media so she always directed her curiosity about his love life right at him.
He put down his phone and looked out the window at the artificial lights below, the jet couldn't move quickly enough, he needed to get back.