CHAPTER 4: ADAPTING HER LIFE

I woke up earlier than my usual time. I looked at the wall clock and saw that it is only 6:00 in the morning, everyone is still sleeping. I looked at each one of them, they all seem nice so I am looking forward that I will get close to them, but not so close, because I know that one day I will leave them, and live again normally, as Astraea. While watching them, while they are sleeping, Mrs. Edlia, or should I say Mamang, flinch a little and suddenly open her eyes. The moment she opened her eyes, her gaze is on me, and when she saw that I am awake already, she woke up and went near me. She is truly nice, and she truly loves her daughter Athena, I wish I knew who is this Athena girl first before I took her body, so I can act like her and make her parents happy.

"Hey my daughter, how are you feeling? You are up early?" She said, and sit beside me. She rubbed my hair, and immediately hugged me.

"I'm fine Mom, oh I mean Mamang," I said and smiled at her. She smiled back at me and hugged me once again.

"It's okay to call me Mom, Jetrick is the only one, that is calling me Mamang, you usually call me Mom." She said

"Oh! Okay, Mom." I said and looked away from her. I need to get information as soon as possible, I need to leave this place before the Japanese arrive. I have more than one month, to discover what I need to discover, I can do this. I looked at my Mom when I feel that she left my bed. It looks like she is going somewhere.

"Ahm, Mom where are you going?" I asked. She looked back at me and answered.

"I will go to the cafeteria, I will buy our breakfast, and besides I need to go to your doctor and will ask him when you will be discharged. Why? Do you need anything?" She asked while fixing herself.

"I just want to know if you have a notebook and a ballpen? I just need to write something." I said.

"I'm sorry but I don't have, do you need it right now?" She asked

"Yes, Mom," I said

"Okay, so instead of going to the cafeteria, I will go buy outside, because I know that there's a school supplies store near this hospital. Is there anything you want?" She said.

"None Mom!" I said. She walks toward me and kissed my forehead before leaving the room. As she left the room, I lay on my bed and close my eyes. I didn't know that I fell asleep, I just woke up when I feel that someone is tapping my shoulder, as I opened my eyes I saw Jetrick standing beside my table.

"Hey Athena, you need to wake up, the doctor will check you." He said and smile, I just smiled back at him and saw that the doctor is walking towards me.

"Good morning Ms. Athena!" He said

"Good morning Doctor Gomez," I said, he looked so surprised to what I said.

"Oh! So you're back! You aren't getting confused about who you truly are!" He said with an exclamation, everyone looked so happy on what they heard, so they went near me and give me a group hug. We just parted when we hear Doctor Gomez.

"Oh sorry, Doctor." Said Mom and walk away.

"So as I said, you are now fine, but to confirm if you truly are in your normal condition, I will have a little quiz about you." He said. Oh no! I only know the basic information of Athena. Oh no!

"Okay! Let's start." He said, I just nod at him because I am trying to remember every detail what Mom said.

"What is your full name?" He asked.

"Athena Dela Cruz," I said

"Correct! Okay, the second one. What is the name of your mother?" He asked

"It's Mrs. Edlia Dela Cruz," I answered

"Correct!" He said and the quiz continues, and thanks to God I passed it, which means I can be discharged now!

"Mrs. Dela Cruz, your daughter can now be discharged, just pay your bill and you can now go home." He said

"Oh thank you Doctor Gomez for taking care of my daughter." She said and shake hands with Doctor Gomez. After that, Doctor Gomez left the room.

"Athena, I will just pay our bill, so fix your things. Okay?" She said, I just nod at her and she left the room. We started fixing our things, and after a few minutes we are done, we are just waiting for my Mom and we can go. While waiting for her, I just remember that, why am I admitted here in the hospital, and more than that the first time I came here, my body is in hella pain? I looked at Jetrick because he might know why am I admitted here, maybe it can be a clue on why I am here in my past life.

"Hey! Jetrick!" I approached him, he looked at me with a questioning look, so I continue asking him.

"Ahm! I can't still remember why I am admitted here in the hospital?" I asked.

"We got involved in a car accident last month. Your body was severely damaged, and you lost a lot of blood, you were in a coma for more than 20 days. We truly are happy when you woke up the last time but got surprised when you are acting strange, and after that, you went back on being in a coma for 10 days, and thanks to God you woke up yesterday, in a good situation. It's like, a miracle occurred on you." He said. Oh! So we were a survivor of a car accident, but what happened to him? He seems so fine.

"Doctor Gomez said that you might not recover because you were, comatose twice. So Doctor Gomez is also happy when you were so fine yesterday. He's worrying that you might suffer more in personality confusion, and you might not recover from that." He said

"Oh! Wait Jetrick you said that 'we' got involved in a car accident, but you look so fine? Were you not severely damaged?" I asked, with that question I notice that he acted strangely, and begun to stutter.

"Ahm-- I---I am also se-severely damaged, b-but I recover faster because I was sent here earlier than you." He said and he is avoiding my eyes. Okay? Strange!

"Oh! Okay!" I said and stopped talking to him. After that, Mom enters the room, with a nurse beside her.

"Go pick my daughter." She said to the nurse and the nurse went near me.

"Ma'am, let's go." He said and guided me to the wheelchair. I hold his hand and sit. He started pushing the wheelchair, and they follow us. While on our way, I just notice that this hospital looks new.

"Hey Mr. Nurse, can I ask you something?" I said and looked behind me.

"Yes Ma'am, what is it?" He said

"Well! I just notice that this hospital looks new, when did this hospital got established?" I asked he looks so surprised at what I asked.

"Yes Ma'am, you are correct this hospital is only new. It got established last year, and started accomodating patients, last January." He said.

"Oh, I see! Thank you for answering!" I said

"You are always welcome Ma'am!" He said. We reached the ground floor of the hospital and just waited for our car to arrive. After a few minutes, a white car stopped in front of me, and the door opened.

"Let's go, Athena!" Said, my Mom. I stand up from the wheelchair and the nurse guided me. I hopped in the car and thanked the nurse. I looked at the driver's seat and saw that my Dad is the driver, beside him is my little brother, and beside me is my Mom. I just notice that Jetrick is not here, I looked behind me and saw that he is there, besides our things. I smiled at him and he smiled back at me. After a few hours of driving, the car stopped in front of a huge gate, and my Dad pressed the horn, after that the gate automatically opened, and we enter. I looked outside the window and saw that there's a huge mansion.

"Mom! Where are we?" I asked, she giggled on my question and answered.

"It's our house, my daughter! Did you forget?" She said, and laugh. My Dad and Carlos laugh too on what I asked. So we are rich! We stopped in front of the main door, before reaching the door, there are huge stairs, as we stopped a lot of maids go outside and went near us. One of the maids opened the door and they greeted us.

"Welcome back Lady Athena!" They said in the refrain. I just nod at them and waited for my Dad.

"Let's go, Athena!" He said and handed me his arms. I grabbed his arms, and we started heading inside. As we enter, I was so amused by the design of this house. You can feel the 'old house' vibes, the wooden grand stairs are furnished so well! Everything in this house is made of woods, from the cabinets up to the sofas. Oh! I will enjoy living here! We headed upstairs, and I saw that there are three rooms. We headed to the first room, and enter it. I was so amused when I saw the design of this room. It was so huge, there is a hint of the girlish theme of the design. The bed is also huge, and it is also color pink. There is a wooden closet near the bed, and besides my bed is a wooden table where a lamp was placed. I love this place!

"You go rest my princess, the maid will just call you when the dinner is ready!" He said and kissed me on my forehead and left the room. I immediately head towards my bed and lay on it. Oh my god! It is so soft! I love it! I reminisce about the information I have earlier. So I was an accident survivor, I am glad that this body survived this, I am lucky that I was transferred in this body, they all seem nice. I closed my eyes and doze off to sleep.