•••

A frown was etched on Katherine's face. She held her clipboard tightly as she gave me an inquiring look.

"Red, what are you doing?"  

My throat felt dry. "Uhh . . ." Think. Think. Dammit.

I tried passing off a sheepish smile in a bid to throw her off her suspicious gaze. "I wanna pee." My voice shook slightly, and she definitely noticed judging from the way she arched her brows. I found myself shrugging nonchalantly. "Like, I've been holding it for so long."

I tried to make my voice as convincing as possible, so I held the bag of IV fluid up. "Like, jeez. This thing has got me so hydrated I cannot even believe it. Hahaha . . ." My nervous and totally awkward fake laugh trailed off.

Yeah. Who was I kidding?

Katherine gave me a smile, which surprised me. It seemed as though she was amused. "You're in the private wing, dear." She told me as she stepped into the room, causing me to step back too.

I gave her a confused look. "Private what?" That must've cost a fortune. I didn't think my dad could afford that amount of hospital bills. I was about to inquire about something but Katherine interrupted.

"Yes. The washroom's right over there." She directed her finger towards something behind. Looking back, I saw a door. I couldn't recall seeing it earlier. Or maybe I did but with my hazy thoughts and intent focus on getting out of here made me not pay attention to it.

I screamed internally. Damn. Why? Why?

Why?

I let out a sigh, hoping that my frustration wasn't noticeable.

"C'mon," Katherine took me by the hand, leading me back to the bed. "I'll get you prepared for your CT scan." She gestured towards the turban-like bandage on my head. "Let's take a look at your head, shall we?"

I nodded, noticing that she'd dismissed the fact that I wanted to go to the washroom. She probably knew I was lying anyway. I gave in and sat down as she began undoing the bandage.

My head felt lighter and lighter as she unwrapped it. Noticing the cute pendant she had on her neck, my hand reached out to it.

"This looks pretty," I commented honestly. But then I became suddenly still a moment thereafter. My hand froze in mid air.

I wasn't even sure if Katherine had replied because panic had begun surging through me as I stared at my hands.

What. The. Fuckety Fuck? Happened to my nails?

"Oh my god," I commented. "Holy . . . crappy . . . shit."

Katherine paused her movements. "What's wrong?"

I turned my hand this way and that way like I had never seen them before. Because, in fact, I had never seen them. These weren't how my hands looked like.

My nails had blue-green gel polish on them. And I had never painted them in the first place.

"These aren't my nails," I said to Katherine. "Where are my nails?" I asked in a rather accusatory tone.

Katherine chuckled as if she found something funny. "I don't know what you mean," she continued with her unwrapping.

This wasn't funny at all. Where were my short chipped nails that had been bitten nervously numerous times and had never seen a stroke of manicure in their entire life? And why was I having long polished perfect celebrity-like nails?

"Are these fake?" I studied my nails more intently. I didn't know if I was just thinking out loud or addressing Katherine for confirmation just in case she knew.

"You tell me," she said as she put the bandage aside.

This proved it. The credit cards, the platinum blonde haired lady in the displayed picture of the cards, the sleek Samsung phone that wasn't mine but still somehow mine, the mysterious Chanel handbag, these perfect nails, and most important of all, the platinum blonde haired lady in the displayed picture of the cards. It just concluded my outrageous suspicions.

I was in some freak science experiment in someone else's body. Some impersonation had been done. It wasn't me. I was some prissy expensive lady who had been admitted in a private wing, had all these expensive stuff and credit cards, but somehow Cliff was still a constant in my life.

"OK. Your head looks all better today. Are you in any pain?"

How could I be a part of this? This kind of stuff only happens in movies and books. Who would do something like this to me and why would they?

"Red? Are you okay?"

I shut my eyes, trying to remember the last events in my life before I came here. I didn't even remember the accident that the doctor claimed I had been in. My mind was foggy. It was like walking through a dark mist, trying to search for a ray of light but all I could see was pitch black.

"Redding, what's wrong? Should I call the doctor?"

I concentrated harder. There had to be something I remembered. I decided to start from someone I knew to act as a pinpoint in my thoughts. I thought of Dawn and Cliff. I thought of Mom and Dad. I thought of Clark. The last time I remember being with Cliff was when he came and dropped off my lunch at my table before heading towards his. With Dawn, she'd asked me to accompany her in walking the dog round the block but I had told her I was busy doing my assignment. My heart constricted. I felt bad for not taking her.

But another thought was floating around in my head and I couldn't grasp it properly. I knew there was another reason as to why I hadn't taken Dawn for that walk. I felt my forehead crease as I thought harder. It had something to do with Clark. But what was it? The reason was within reach and out of reach at the same time.

What was so important to Clark that I had to do it? I mentally asked. Then it hit me.

"Clark's birthday!" I said out loud, catching Katherine off guard. I tried recalling if I'd attended it, but after saying no to Dawn, I was met with a blank haze in my mind. Nothing. I couldn't remember anything.

"Red?"

I looked at Katherine. "I need to go to the washroom," I said, standing up.

She placed a hand on her heart. "You scared me for a moment. Is everything alright?"

No. Everything's far from okay. Only lord knows whether I'm going crazy or not. How can everything be okay when I'm me but not me but still me but not?

"Yeah, everything's fine."

With her help, she helped me stand up and led me to the washroom.

"If you need any help, I'll be right outside if you need me."

If you could help me get out of this place that would be truly appreciated. "No, I think I'll be fine."

I entered the washroom, being careful not to close the door behind me in a non-hasty manner. There had to be windows large enough for me to pass through.

Right?

RIGHT?

I sighed. I only hoped I wasn't in some high floor in case I had to jump. I scanned the prissy washroom. Bathtub. Mirror sink. Extremely small bathroom window. Well, would you look at that window? How convenient for my plans to get away. I had to try though.

I looked down at my body, trying to judge if I could be able to squeeze through. I was aware that I was naturally small bodied--

"Holy crap!"

My boobs-sorry, I meant to say, the boobs I was currently possessing-were way bigger than I could've imagined. Damn, there goes my luck.

Feeling self-conscious, I slowly dragged myself towards the mirror and stood in front of it.

My eyes widened.

My heart skipped a good number of beats.

And I let out an ear piercing scream.

•••

Do drop votes and comments, share with friends and add to reading lists.

ⓜⓐⓡⓙ💋