EYE COLOR

Seeing the books piled in front of her, Ceres withdrew her soul immediately. She has basic knowledge when it comes to first aid but that was that and nothing more. She was afraid that she'd kill the patient accidentally if she was the one who will take over Belle's body.

[I'm leaving this to you.] Ceres said and gave way to Belle who was the most qualified to deal with this review session. [Don't get a perfect score. We have to make steady progress from the last failure.]

"I know," Belle muttered softly.

Eli knew that with Belle's current condition, there was a high risk of her not getting back to work. She lost her memories and she strongly refused to become a nurse again. The hospital director won't take any chances with the lives of children with her current inadequate knowledge. She might be asked to resign from her work.

Whenever he looked at her, he felt sad and he may not want to admit it but, he pitied her as well. Her godmother betrayed the trust she gave her and left without even checking how Belle and Neon were doing. It was already a good thing for that ungrateful wench that Belle wasn't pursuing her – not at the moment.

"Belle, do you want to work as my assistant?"

Belle was taken aback by this sudden question because she never thought of working for him. She didn't even want to become a nurse anymore. She stared at him, looking for any slight gestures that would tell her he was joking but Eli looked serious as usual.

"Uhh...why would you want me to work for you? I mean, I don't have enough knowledge right now and I don't even feel like working as a nurse again. That is why I told you not to waste your time on me. It was you who kept insisting that I should review and try to recall things related to my work."

"So, are you firm with that decision? Do you not want to review anymore?"

"Of course, I want to. I still need you to help me find the nearest temple here."

"Oh."

"Anyway, when I'm out of here, I'll take Neon away and you can stop doing this."

Eli has more questions in mind and he really wanted to ask her but he chose to stay silent at this moment. He thought he was getting too privy to her life and she may hate him for that. He didn't want her to hate him.

Belle could feel that she was being watched but she remained calm and composed as if nothing was wrong. She focused herself on the books she was reading and answered the mock exam to the best she could.

[Aren't you sad that you won't be spending time like this after you get out of the hospital?]

Belle didn't say anything. Who wouldn't be sad if you become strangers once again with the person you like so much? Of course, everyone would feel sad. At the same time, Belle gave up her affection for him already. Even if her heart would still beat like crazy when he does something sweet, she refused to acknowledge it. The sooner they cut off their ties, the better for her. In that way, she won't fall deeper into the pits of pain called love.

[What about me? Can't I have the chance to get closer to him? I've always been in love with him.]

Belle stopped writing and crumpled the papers she was using. She wanted to whack this woman inside her but doing so would hurt herself as well. She could not really believe that she was able to ask her such a thing when she did something terrible in her past life. Still, she could not say those hurtful words because she knew that it would offend Ceres who didn't have any other choice in her life.

"Is there something wrong? Do you need help?" Eli asked when he noticed that Belle was acting strange. She was fine a few seconds ago and now she looked annoyed about something. He didn't do anything wrong so he was sure he was not the reason for her sudden mood swings.

"I'm fine, Eli."

Belle was stunned when she said his name with familiarity as if she has done that several times. In truth, she only said his name twice ever since she came back from that dreadful accident and that was under needed circumstances. Now, it was just the two of them and she didn't need to call him that. She was supposed to call him doc.

Eli was no better. Hey didn't know how to react to the way she called him. Neon calling him Eli was fine because he was just a little kid but coming from an adult, and a woman at that; a person who has no relationship with him – they can't even be considered close friends, sounded strange at the same time, there was this ticklish feeling when she said it.

"Doc?"

"Uh..." Eli blushed and looked the other way to avoid meeting her gaze. He felt guilty for acting like a lovestruck teenager when Belle was just calling him his name innocently. [Hmm...come to think of it, I have been calling her Belle ever since she returned and she isn't reacting to that. Maybe I was just thinking too much?] "Eli is fine. You can call me Eli since we will be a pretend couple from now on. We can call each other by our first names to avoid unnecessary suspicions from my parents."

"If you say so. Anyway, I am done answering this part. You can check them while I do the rest."

Eli took the papers from Belle and was about to get back on his chair when he noticed something. He crouched low to be on her eye level and stared directly into her eyes without any preamble. Belle was so shocked that she leaned away to put some space between them.

"Eli?"

"It's strange."

Belle wanted to push him away but aside from looking into her eyes, Eli wasn't doing anything else. She thought it would be an overreaction on her part if she pushes him for no reason. In the end, she could only calm herself despite the crazy thumping of her heart and asked, "What's strange?"

After a few seconds of studying her eyes, Eli pulled away and stood straight in front of her. However, he was still looking at her face. "Have you tried wearing contact lenses?"

"No."

"Then, your eyes...have they always bluish-gray?"