| 20 | Closer

[ S E R A P H I N E ]

I should be sleeping. Resting. Letting my body recover. Helping my immune system do its job faster.

But my brain won't let me. For about six hours now, I've been trying to go back to sleep. Nothing's doing the trick.

Listening to relaxing music with headphones on is only doing half of the job. Spending three hours taking dozens of pictures and filming myself getting half-naked in the bathroom didn't work, either. I even prepared and cooked a four-course dinner for my fake fiancé.

I'm achy all over. My whole body's worn out, and I'm well aware that I need at least eight hours of deep sleep tonight if I want to feel alive and somewhat normal tomorrow. Still, nothing's working. Not even those expensive-looking sleeping pills in the medicine cabinet.

“Argh!” This virus is something else.

In the dim glow of the lamplight, covered up from my neck down to my feet, I sit on the thick carpet with my face between my knees. Breathing through my nose is impossible when I'