NOVEL NEXT 1: Sunrise Smiles
Bolting up in bed with a half-scream, Astrid’s eyes snapped open just before a truckload of nausea hit her, forcing her back onto the pillows she had been laying on. Reaching over to grab a tissue, Astrid doubled over coughing.
Slowing her breathing to push the pain back down, Astrid couldn’t help but think: where was she?
The room Astrid had woken up in looked nothing like the hospital room she had a hazy memory of falling asleep in. The walls were all wooden, a window revealed she was on the second floor, lamps illuminated the room, and there were a few jam-packed bags tucked away in the corner. On the other side of the room was a desk, beside which was an ajar door revealing the interior of a small bathroom. Then, on the right wall was a shut door which Astrid assumed led outside.
For someone who had just woken up from a coma, Astrid felt... pretty good! Her arms felt strong (by her standards). Even if they were a touch paler and thinner than what she remembered...
Glancing down at the inside of her forearm, Astrid saw a still-healing mark. She’d been in the hospital enough times to know a needle or tube had been taken out from there.
With a small golden glow emanating from her fingertip, Astrid pressed down onto the mark. Waiting for the wound to disappear, Astrid lifted her finger before grabbing another tissue as an irritating cough pushed its way through her throat again.
A moment of rest later, Astrid peeled back the blankets.
Her legs seemed... fine actually! Things were looking up! Bending them forward and back, Astrid felt strength running through them. It seemed the months of physical therapy she had expected were no longer on the schedule!
Maybe she hadn’t been asleep for too long then!
Doing some mental celebrations, Astrid calmed herself down as she felt a wave of dizziness wash its way back up.
Leaning back into the pillows, Astrid had no idea what to do.
If she was kidnapped, there wasn’t much that she could do about it. Her punches were about as strong as a weak breeze...
Maybe she could become friends with the kidnapper?
Or maybe it was all in her head! Maybe the hospital had just gone through some... major renovations! Miraculous what a huge monetary donation could do!
Well, there was also a chance everything was her imagination and she had woken up in the afterlife...
Hearing footsteps running up the stairs, Astrid hurried to tug the blankets back over herself. Scolding herself for her stupidity in being so active and flashing her energy to show she was awake, Astrid flinched as the door was thrown open.
Freezing as a purple-haired woman burst through the door, both arms laden with groceries, Astrid paused for a second before exclaiming, “Cia?!”
“A... Astrid?” Valencia murmured, tearing up as her groceries slipped to the floor. “You’re awake?”
“Yeah! I’m awake!” Astrid nodded with a smile and double thumbs up, wrapping the blood-flecked tissues with some clean ones before tucking them behind her pillows, “Why are you tearing up? I couldn’t have been sleeping for that long could I?”
Wiping a tear as a grin blossomed on her face, Valencia picked the groceries back up. Putting them on the nearby desk while rushing over to grab a chair, Valencia pulled out her phone and turned it around. “Astrid, look... It's been seven and a half months...”
“Wha?” Astrid faltered, her jaw dropping as her eyes widened. “Whoa, whoa, whoa... You’ve got to be kidding me... How am I so... strong then?” Pausing as Valencia gave her a look, Astrid cleared her throat. “Well, I know it’d be an overstatement to call myself strong, especially compared to you, but how am I able to move so well?”
“Well, I think it’s because of your healing power. It got stronger after you managed to overcome the god’s attack.” Valencia explained, sitting down and cradling Astrid’s hand like she had done many times over the past half year.
Of course, much of the miracle recovery was actually due to Astrid undergoing the best medical treatment in the world: becoming a deity.
Valencia, however, was a little hesitant to just reveal Astrid’s new status. The line between deity and non-deity was a line etched in stone—interactions and crossings across this invisible line were few and far between. The few recorded cases of people becoming deities were muddled stories about cult leaders filled to the brim with scandals, mystique, and unreliable information.
Valencia would have to reveal her own goddess status, reveal the divine rebirthing ritual, and reveal... well, a lot of stuff.
Even if she did, Astrid still might not believe her. Deities were not only rare but also had an aloof and distant reputation to the rest of the world. Meeting a deity in person—in a non-cult fashion—was an event tantamount to winning the lottery!
Plus, the only deity Astrid had come across (and knew about outside of a book setting), had been one who tried to consume her on their first meeting.
Not an ideal situation.
Taking a moment to come to terms with the fact she had blinked away seven-and-a-half months after being attacked by a deity, Astrid’s eyes dimmed a touch as she looked down at her hands again.
Of course, Astrid didn’t blame the deity—she understood where it had come from. Her power had been envied all her life, and the deity who attacked her was just one among the many people who had tried to use her.
It just... stung. A lot.
“Where are we even?” Astrid mused, changing the topic and looking around while returning Valencia’s hand squeeze. Feeling Valencia’s soft hands twitch like they always did—as if Valencia wanted to grab her hand and never let go—Astrid couldn’t help but let a laugh escape her lips.
Using her other hand to raise Valencia’s, Astrid laced their fingers together, her eyes forming into little crescents as she looked out the window with a smile. “I assume it’s not the hospital since no nurse came running in when I woke up. I’m also not hooked up to a gazillion machines like usual.”
Tossing some of the bloody tissues Astrid had tried to hide in the nearby waste bin, Valencia sat back up as a short sigh escaped under her lips. “You were stable, and on the recovery path, so the hospital deemed it unnecessary for you to be under constant supervision. They need those beds after all, they said if things started looking worse to return you, but... here we are, with you awake! We’re in my hometown though. You had mentioned that you wanted to come here, and I thought that I might as well bring you now considering there’s... not really anywhere else to go.”
“That’s... true,” Astrid muttered as a frown flitted across her face.
Stretching and banishing her negative thoughts, Astrid looked around the room and out the window to try and reorient herself. “Is it dawn or is it dusk right now? It’s a beautiful pink-ish orange outside. I’ve never lived in a place where the sun really peeked its way through the window like this.”
“Ahh, yeah, it’s dawn right now,” Valencia clarified, leaning back her chair as she stared at Astrid with a disbelieving smile.
She had really woken up...
Squeezing Astrid’s hand, Valencia took a second to just... love Astrid. Astrid was staring out the window and her pale face and faint rosy cheeks were illuminated by the morning sun’s first few rays.
With Astrid’s golden hair tumbling down her shoulders and framing her face, Valencia felt her heart flutter as Astrid looked back towards her. A small smile blossomed on Astrid’s face and a faint twinkle of melancholy glistened behind her eyes.
Squeezing Astrid’s hand again, Valencia couldn’t help but feel the urge to swoop forward and kiss Astrid begin to flutter its way into her heart...
