Chapter twenty: shifting realities

Aria’s POV

I feel like my soul is placed in the body of a different person. Everything about my body feels strange, but in a good way. I tried sitting up, but I can't.

"Oh, my heavens, she's awake. She's finally awake," Rose says. I don't know if she was screaming, or my hearing seems to have sharpened, but I could hear everything Rose was saying in my ears like a very loud drum.

I feel her steps coming closer; she props me up, placing pillows behind me. "Aria! How are you feeling?" Rose says like she has been waiting for me to wake up for a thousand years.

I part my lips to tell her I feel like shit, but nothing comes out, so I only smile. "It's official, Aria. I think you're related to Sleeping Beauty," she smiles, sitting on the seat next to my bed and holding both my hands.

"Do you know how worried I've been? I thought you were planning on staying in that bed for another week-"

"Who are you talking to?" Lucas asks as he opens the door.

"Dear heavens, she's awake?" he asks, surpris