As Mirabe pulled out thest acupuncture needle, a wave of fatigue hit her, leaving her looking a bit worn out. While Zach wasn''t watching too closely, she deftly injected the prepared solution into his vein.
Ten minutester, after Mirabe had packed away her silver needles, her face still showing signs of weariness, she nced over at Zach. "All done."
Zachy there, drenched in sweat and utterly spent, not even wanting to lift a finger.
"Oh, and Zach, it might be best to stay home for the next couple of days," Mirabe suggested, cleaning up the needles and offering a friendly heads-up.
"Why''s that?" Zach asked, turning to her in confusion.
Mirabe tilted her head slightly, "Because you might find yourself making frequent trips to the bathroom."
Zach, recalling a TV show he''d seen, blurted out, "Acupuncture detox?"
Mirabe raised an eyebrow, "Something like that."
Zach''s cheeks twitched, intrigued by the mysteriousness of it all.
"I''m heading back to my room, Zach. Get some rest," Mirabe said, not lingering any longer as she left with her kit of silver needles.
Once back in her room, Mirabe lounged on the chaise for about ten minutes, massaging her temples until she felt a bit more refreshed. She then took out the remaining half of the antidote solution from her pocket. Under themp''s glow, the pale blue liquid gleamed as she got up and headed to the bathroom.
With a sigh, she unscrewed the cap, poured the antidote into the toilet, and
flushed it away, tossing the empty bottle into the bin nearby.
Opting not to read or browse online, Mirabe simply snuggled back into bed, pulling the covers over her head.
Her phone soon rang from the nightstand.
After lying still for a moment, she reached out to answer, pausing briefly at the caller ID before picking up.
"Are you in bed?" James''s clear voice came through the line.
With her eyes closed and in a somewhat low mood, Mirabe murmured a soft "Yeah."
James stood by the window, phone in hand, and asked, "Feeling down?"
Mirabe opened her eyes at that, hesitating a few seconds before softly replying, "A bit."
"What''s up?" James asked, his gaze fixed outside at the deep, quiet night.
Mirabe clutched her covers tighter, murmuring, "Not much."
James stayed quiet for a few seconds, then gently advised, "Try not to overthink."
"Okay," Mirabe replied, her voice soft, missing its usual spark and instead carrying a touch of vulnerability.
It was like a cat retracting its ws.
"Get some good rest," James said gently.
"Alright... goodnight," Mirabe responded. "Goodnight."
After hearing the call end, James lowered his phone, the screen darkening. He paused for a moment, then unlocked his phone again and opened Messenger to send a message.
Just as Mirabe was about to set her phone down, she saw a notification from Messenger and checked it.
"Heard a little surprise can fix everything. Give it a shot."
Mirabe paused at the message, then watched as several money transfer notifications popped up on her screen.
Looking at the messages, she hesitated for a moment, then chuckled softly, snuggling further under her covers. In that moment, an unexpected calm washed over her.