Late again.

Her mind returned just a few minutes after 4 AM. She fell asleep as soon as she unplugged the helmet and set it aside. Hungry, with sore neck and shoulders. Exhausted beyond her wildest imagination. Her weird dreams intensified, sending her into a stiff state similar to a coma. She knew she was already awake, yet she wasn't able to move. Or didn't want to. Unable to tell a difference at the time.

It was a frightening and disconcerting experience. Her heart was stiff with fear and when her hand finally twitched and she clenched her fist, the relief was overwhelming.

She sat, trembling and confused. It was almost 9. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized she was supposed to be at work three hours ago.

Fuck. FUCK!

She jumped up and instantly laid back down. Why does her head spin this badly?

It took her another minute to come to her senses. Right. That lunch from yesterday was her last meal. That's probably causing it.

She took her phone out and called HR as soon as she was able to sit up.

"Miss Ivette? Yes, that's me. I'm calling to let you know I had to deal with some health problems this morning. I fainted and wasn't able to stand up. Yes, I understand. Of course. I will be there as fast as I can. Yes, I am well aware of that, it won't happen again, I'm terribly sorry."

Anna hung up and sobbed. Fuck.

Anything but her job. Quick shower, two pills flushed by a bit of water, and dark circles under her eyes masked with a bit of concealer.

Fortunately, Dean was at a meeting since early morning, but she was sure he would find out sooner or later.

She had to work overtime, but because every table was occupied and there were no extra microscopes, only one thing left to do – to discharge samples of poor quality. A work no one wanted to do willingly. It usually fell on newbies and those with poor performance in previous months.

But today, she had to do it. For the last four hours of her shift.

It was hard labor and a dirty one on top of that all. It left her exhausted. She nearly fell asleep on the bus on her way home.

She reached into her purse and touched something unfamiliar. Curious what that might be, she pulled it out to examine it better, but it still took her a while to realize what she was holding in her hand.

That's an apple. A real apple!

Anna barely managed to hide her confusion. Where did it come from? Or rather - who?

But the heart in her chest wasn't so easy to besiege. For the whole way home, it couldn't shut up. It didn't matter, as long as she could eat it.

Anna turned the whole purse upside down as soon as she came home and sorted it out. She had a few things in there that she had to throw out, but on top of her things, she found an apple and a small package of protein gel powder for a whole day's worth of meals.

Does she have a right to eat it? She hesitated as she considered selling it, but her cravings got the better of her. Anna put her purse aside and cut the apple into smaller pieces. It was fucking delicious. Crunchy and fresh. It was about four years ago that she had a piece of fruit. She slowly ate that apple, bite by bite, enjoying the rare moment.