8 1.7 The CEO

Waking up with a dull ache in her body, Sonja weakly got out of her bed, nearly collapsing onto her bedroom floor. As Sonja stumbled to the bathroom in the hallway, she silently cursed herself for forgetting such an important detail of the original soul, as she couldn't do it out loud due to having trouble breathing.

See, Sonja's body had a weak heart, which couldn't pump blood effectively throughout her body. This had caused her near-death experience when she was born, as differences in atmosphere and pressure in the outside world didn't cooperate well with her infant body. It was only through meticulous care and keen observation that kept Sonja alive. In her teenage years, due to the growth and maturity of her body, her condition had gotten worse, requiring medication to help strengthen her heart and a strict diet and exercise routine. Sonja had been getting better lately due to surgeries, but pills were still required for daily consumption. Since the new Sonja had forgotten about those pills and skipped more than a day, coupled with a new environment, it caused Sonja's body to not be able to sustain itself very well.

Sonja supported herself into the bathroom, nearly throwing herself onto the ground when the well-oiled door swung in quickly. Gasping for air now, she groped for her pills, which weren't in her room because taking pills had been a part of Sonja's morning routine. Making a mental note to put them there in the future, Sonja swallowed the pills with some tap water, frowning, as she hadn't grabbed a bottle of water on her way to the bathroom.

As Sonja was breathing heavily, trying to get some oxygen into her lungs, her mom rushed into the bathroom. looking disheveled. Before Sonja could open her mouth to explain herself, Mother Moreno, taking in Sonja's pitiful appearance, exploded.

"Sonja, why did you forget your pills?! I hear a thud, and I worry you hurt yourself! Do you need water? Don't leave the house today, ok?" Speaking in slightly broken and accented English, Mother Moreno goes completely mother hen on Sonja, speaking so fast that Sonja couldn't get in an "I'm fine".

"Mom, Mom, MOM!" After raising her voice, Sonja finally managed to grab the attention of her worry-wart mother. Smiling gently at the hysterical woman, Sonja reassured her. "Mom, I'm fine. I took my medication in a timely manner and I feel much better."

After sending her mother out of the bathroom, Sonja looked at the clock on the wall wondering what time it was, since she still felt tired.

5:30 am.

Reality slapping Sonja in the face, she then realized that besides the light in the bathroom she had flicked on as she entered, the rest of the apartment was pitch black, the only other light in the hallway was the light in her parent's bedroom, which was turned off after a minute or two. Sighing at her luck and stupidity, Sonja slowly walked to the kitchen to grab a glass of water before heading back to bed, as the uncomfortable dryness that permeated it would not allow her to sleep at all. Looking in the fridge for the coveted cold water, she saw some unopened bottles of water, along with a pack of strawberries, which she took as well as a bottle of water because Sonja was now feeling a bit hungry. Chocolate would really enhance the strawberries, but chocolate wasn't something often found in their house, especially since they had just moved in. It was a miracle there was something like strawberries in the fridge at all.

Humming a random tune, she sat down at the breakfast nook, which was low enough to provide a person with a view to outside through the window that reached the ceiling. Since Sonja's apartment was at the corner of the building, it allowed for the building of this nook. Looking at her new country, Sonja absentmindedly looked through the window, munching on the strawberries, not caring that she would have to brush her teeth later. The view wouldn't be considered great, but she could see the street below, housing some early risers for jobs Sonja hoped she would never have because God forbid she would have to wake up this early. Looking left and right while moving the horrid cream-colored curtains her mother absolutely adored, she hoped to see the sunrise, but it was much too early, so she just sat there, eating strawberries while looking at nothing in particular.

When she finally decided to head back to bed, the time was now 6:00 am. Unable to stifle the yawn forcing its way out of her throat, she quickly brushed her teeth again and headed back to bed, disabling her alarm as well. Staying up until well past 12:00 am, and waking up at 5:30 am not being able to breathe really drained the energy from a woman. As Sonja collapsed onto her pillow, she told her system to set a reminder for her to take her pills, if she ignored the reminder she was currently setting up on her phone.

Finishing up all impromptu tasks, Sonja could finally be at ease, as she had solved her health issue for the moment and she didn't plan on waking up until 2:00 pm. Turning off her phone and going to sleep, for the first time since forever, whether it was the new soul or the old one, Sonja deeply slept, not caring about the future.