I feel good,” I said with surprise. “I feel strong and powerful.”
I pushed myself up off the bed and swung my legs over the edge.
“You look strong,” he said. “You look healthy.”
“Can I see myself in the mirror?” I asked.
“As long as you think you can stand,” he replied.
I nodded and stood, expecting my legs to shake, but they were solid. I could feel my muscles, thick and full, holding me up without issue.
I walked to the wall with the mirror on it, took one look, and gasped again.
This time the gaunt prisoner was gone. The hollow ghost of a girl, the empty shell, was gone.
In front of me was a gorgeous young woman, a stunning creature with my eyes and my lips, with my hair and the stray curl that sprung out from above my left ear. It was me, but it wasn’t me, and I was stunning.
“Oh wow,” I said. “I’m ready to return.”
“You’re ready,” Doctor Norris agreed. Nurse Flora smiled at me like I was her favorite child like I’d done something monumental.
I felt like I’d achieved something monumental as if there was a shift in my energies simply because I’d gone through hell and back and come out stronger than ever.
The beauty treatments had worked in such an incredible way that I couldn’t wait to get back to my life with Alexander, Luke, and Rome. I couldn’t wait to see Harlow and tell her all about the insanity that had shaped the new me.
I was an Upper, I was rich, I was beautiful, I was young, and I was engaged to Alexander Remington.
I finally could see clearly how incredible my life really was.
I barely heard a thing after that, and I was ready to get back to my room and back to my life.
I strolled across the campus ten feet off the ground, but classes were in, and the entire place was deserted. I got to my room without anybody seeing me.
Once I got inside, I tore off the clothes I’d gotten in the medical center and climbed into the shower again.
I felt like a snake sliding out of my skin, shedding the past and entering into a new era.
I felt fantastic.
If only it wasn’t meant to last.
* * *
“I seriously can’t believehow fabulous you look,” Victoria said for the hundredth time at dinner that evening. She was ogling me, in complete awe of my new looks. “You should get thrown into the Pit more often.”
“Was it that bad?” Grace asked, but every time she asked me about it, her eyes glittered as if she had gotten off on my pain. She was ogling me, in complete awe of my new looks. “You should get thrown into the Pit more often.”
“No thanks,” I said with a shudder. “Are you insane?”
“Why not?” she asked, prodding and hoping for more from me, the kind of thing I couldn’t give. I didn’t want to expose myself to Grace, and I didn’t trust her with my vulnerabilities.
“Leave her alone,” Alexander said dangerously. He had just come in and taken his seat across from me. His eyes had widened in absolute shock when I’d appeared for dinner, and he was desperately trying to get my attention to mouth questions at me over the table.
“I’m just having fun,” Grace whined and rolled her eyes. “You weren’t this grumpy when she wasn’t here, Alex. You seemed just fine having her gone.”
“He wasn’t,” Rome said, coming up behind me. He put his hands on my shoulders and gave them a quick squeeze before taking the seat next to mine. “None of us were.”
“How could I have been fine when my fiancée was missing?” Alexander growled. “And call me by my full name. Nobody calls me Alex, especially not the likes of you.”