When was the last time she woke up without a headache? When did the dull ache of her tumor not press behind her eyes like it was trying to gouge them out from the inside? When did her nausea become nonexistent and she woke up with an appetite?

The chime over the intercom roused her from her sleep, and as she lay in bed, assessing herself, she realized that she did not feel like utter crap. She sat up, hair frizzy and wild as she groaned and stretched, cracking her neck and popping her back. A smile danced across her lips, relieved for the first time in months. Not even when that weird little girl had grabbed her, did she feel this fantastic, as though she could take on the world.

Not wanting to take this moment for granted, she grabbed her uniform for the day, grabbed her toiletries and some flip-flops, and headed out the door as her phone charged on the dresser. She needed a shower desperately, after missing yesterday's wake-up call and flying across the world, she could swear she felt a thin layer of grime on the surface of her skin.

Other girls sleepily shuffled down the hall, the place full of yawns and sleepy eyes. Following the crowd, she entered the communal bathroom on the lower level. The walls tiles were a lovely turquoise color, complimenting the white floor tiles. The room was separated into two sections by a wall. Against the wall on either side, stood an army of showers, while opposite the showers was a chain of sinks. Spotless mirrors perched above the porcelain. A separate room to the left led to bathroom stalls.

At the very end of the chain of showers, Temperance noticed an open shower door. She immediately made a beeline to it, hurrying around the crowd of sluggish women before they could snag it.

She quickly shut the door behind her, quickly noticing the setup. Beyond the door was a very small space used for storage, a shelf built into the wall capable of housing shampoos and clothes. She placed her uniform and undergarments on one tier, and her dirty clothes on another. Her baggy of toiletries sat atop the clean pile.

Stepping behind the curtain, she toggled the knobs, changing the temperature of the water as she triggered the water stream. She sighed as the hot water poured over her in pleasant rivets down her skin, washing away tension and stress.

In the shower, with the limited amount of water, she was able to think a little bit over the last few days. She left her home and her sister, knowing full well she would never come back. As much as she tried to commit everything Constance did to memory, it had become so hard keeping it all a secret. Constance was a good person. Becoming a nurse took so much skill and study, and Temperance could not even begin to explain just how proud of her sister she was. But she also knew that Constance would self-sabotage her dream of nursing if it meant taking care of Temperance. And even after she had left this corporeal plane, there was no telling if the girl would go back into the medical field.

She thought of the man that had saved her. He was strikingly similar to what she thought she saw out in the rain — his slicked back raven locks, piercing eyes that held one captive, golden skin that caught the light like a portrait of some dark brooding God. She thought of him sitting on the bench, reading. What was he reading? He looked so entranced, thumb mindlessly rubbing the corner of the page as he waited to turn it. The dark red on his chin from the first night she came — was it blood? Or a figment of her imagination?

She turned her back to the shower stream, reaching through the curtain to grab the baggy of essentials. She pulled out a small bottle of shampoo and set to work scrubbing her scalp.

The water hissed behind her, coating her in steam and warmth. But the water did not sound so welcoming all of a sudden, as the hissing grew louder.

Perplexed, she turned, a choking gasp escaping her as she took in the sight of a snake where the showerhead should be. It was silver, with chrome eyes locked directly on her. It wound its body up tightly, iridescent fangs gleaming as its mouth curled back into a snarl.

Temperance launched herself against the opposing wall, trying in vain to separate herself from the serpent. It hissed, sending a river of venom across the small space and landing on her leg. It burned and she gasped loudly, but the sound of the snake's hiss drowned out the sound.

It wriggled closer and Temperance stared at it, frozen in place with her eyes as large as saucers.

And then, the venom ran cold, striking her skin like little bullets of ice. Only then, did a haze she was not aware of lift from her eyes, like a bride lifting her veil. Eyes flashing open frantically, she took in the sight before her and was confused to see just a simple showerhead that doused her in frigid water. The fluorescents bounced off the chrome surface and made it gleam brightly as she stared at it

A hallucination. That was nothing more than a hallucination. There was no doubt about it this time. The weird little girl and the strange man were almost completely explained away. The girl was the daughter of her art teacher, and the man was... well, she was not quite sure who he was, but if Zhanna saw him, then he was real. Seeing a snake in place of a showerhead was not real.

A sob escaped her lips before she could hold it back. She felt so good today — no pain, no nausea, no fatigue. But it seemed that tumors do not take time off work for long, their effects lingering even if the pain was miraculously staved away.

She slid down the wall, slumping to the floor as the cold water rinsed over her, washing the soap from her hair and the tears from her eyes down the drain.