Waking Up As The Bullied Nerd

CHAPTER 4

This can't be happening.

This must be a dream. Yeah, it must be a dream. Otherwise, why would I wake up inside a hospital, with a face completely different from what it used to be? I took out my arm and held it in front of me, examining it closely. I was so desperate to wake up that I pinched my arm hard, hoping that the pain would jolt me back to reality. But it didn't work. The pinch felt real, too real for me to believe this isn’t a nightmare.

This was starting to make me feel frustrated. I tried slapping myself across the face, hoping for something different, but the results were the same. The sting from the slap lingered, confirming that this was not some illusion or a mere figment of my imagination. I was trapped in this unfamiliar body, in this bewildering situation, and I couldn't find a way out.

What the hell is this?!

The shock made me collapse onto the cold bathroom floor. My legs gave out beneath me, betraying in my moment of distress. But then I realized, should I even be referring to them as "my legs" when I wasn't even in my own body?

By some stroke of luck, I managed to pull myself up and stumbled to the mirror once again. As I looked into it, fear was rising as her face was starting to get familiar to me. I started pinching my cheeks, making strange expressions, even slapping myself with increasing force, to check one last time. I couldn't believe what was happening to me.

Would anyone would?

I stopped my futile attempts at self-recognition and rested a hand on the cheek of this unfamiliar face. "Isn't she the girl who ran through me?" I muttered, a hand caressing my cheek. Wait, run through me? What did I mean by that?

The face was strangely familiar as if I've seen it before. In an encounter that allowed me to observe its features up close. But when? When did that happen?

Now that I think about it, what happened to my body? Was her soul trapped in mine? Maybe the owner of this body also survived an accident, like me, and was now experiencing something similar.

My legs were trembling again. It felt like they could give out at any moment. I ran the faucet and splashed some water on my face, hoping the coldness would snap me out of this surreal situation. After a moment in front of the bathroom mirror, I made my way back to the hospital bed.

Instead of lying down, I sat on the edge of the bed, letting my feet touch the floor as I tried to process everything that happened.

Is this real, or was I trapped in some sort of lucid dream? Should I resort to banging my head against the wall, hoping to wake up from this sh#t show?

Well, what’s the harm anyway if it meant getting to wake up from this terrible dream?

as I was lost in my profound thoughts, the sound of the hospital door bursting open startled me. Three people stood in the doorway; their faces filled with surprise. There was a doctor, a nurse, and a woman who appeared to be in her mid-30s. The woman's eyes were brimming with tears as she looked at me.

Thumped!

A sudden surge of pain pulsed through my head. As much as I hated admitting it, I wasn't intellectually equipped to handle this confusing mess, making my head hurt.

The woman rushed to my side as soon as she noticed I was in distress. I flinched at her sudden movement. It caught me completely off guard.

"Oh god... This is a miracle!" The accompanying doctor exclaimed, his voice trembling in excitement. He hurriedly approached us and began examining my body with meticulous scrutiny, making me feel uncomfortable. Instinctively, I glared at him, covering myself.

Taken aback by my sudden stare, the doctor backed off, realizing my glare was a threat. Instead of examining me further, he went to retrieve the patient's chart from the nurse and began studying it intently.

"Via, *hic* Oh, dear!" The woman called out a name I didn't recognize, her voice filled with concern and worry before throwing her arms around my shoulders.

Via?

Her hands reached out to cup my cheeks. Her touch felt strange and unfamiliar, but—it was also warm and comforting. Her fingers pressed lightly against my skin, and she leaned in closer, her gaze unwavering as she observed my face for any hints of distress or pain. The room seemed to fade into the background as her focus remained solely on me, her concern acting as a shield against the surrounding turmoil. A smile came out of her lips when she was done checking.

"You're awake now. Thank goodness you've come back to us," she said, tears streaming down her face, staining my hospital gown. "You've been asleep for two months. I thought you'd never wake up."

Wait, what did she say? Two months?!

"I'm sorry, but what? I slept for two months?" The words blurted out of my mouth before I could even process them. As if thinking it through would somehow make it make sense. Instead of the woman, it was the doctor who responded.

"After your operation following the car accident, you fell into a coma for about two months, Miss Grace," he explained. I looked around the room and noticed a calendar on the nightstand beside my bed.

It had been two months! But wait...

"Miss Grace?" The most pressing matter was to discover the identity of the body I was currently inhabiting. I thought her name was Via or something like that.

The more I spoke with the people around me, the more convinced I became that this wasn't a dream. The reality of the situation was starting to sink into my thick skull.

"My name is Grace?"

As soon as the three individuals heard my question, their faces filled with surprise. The woman beside me stumbled and lost her balance. Fortunately, the nurse was nearby and caught her, preventing any harm from befalling her.

* * *

Based on the countless experiences I've been through, in any sort of crazy situation, it's best to shut up and listen to everything the people have to say for now. To avoid the worst possible outcome, I need to gather information thoroughly and avoid unnecessary trouble.

I sound so smart here, but this is something I learned from an old friend.

"It seems that you, Miss Olivia Grace, are suffering from Retrograde Amnesia due to the impact caused by the car accident," the doctor explained to me and the woman who was holding my hand tightly, wiping away her tears.

I wanted to speak up and say that wasn't the point. That I didn't have amnesia and my name wasn't Olivia Grace. It was Lilian John. That I’m not the person they thought I would be and I needed to leave immediately. But I can't. So, I have to play along with this amnesia act.

"When do you think her memories will come back, doctor?" the woman, Salome, asked. I found out earlier that her name was Salome when she tried to get my memory by introducing herself to me over and over.

"I can't give you an accurate date when her memories will come back. It could take around a week, a month, or even years. There are also cases where memories don't return at all. It's on a case-by-case basis, so I'm sorry. This is all I can say to you, ma'am," the doctor replied.

Salome held my hand tightly, nodding in response to the doctor's words. "We better leave first. I think you have a lot to talk about with your guardian, Miss Grace." I'm twenty-four, and I don't need a guardian.

The doctor seemed to think that we needed some alone time to sort things out. He gave us a sympathetic smile before leaving the room with the nurse who had accompanied him earlier.

"Olivia... you really can't remember me?" Salome, as she introduces herself, asked between her sobs. And that's something I need to work on if I want to get my act right.

Aunt Salome. Aunt Salome. Aunt Salo—nope, this isn't happening.

My body went stiff for a moment as Salome's tears burst out, accompanied by heavy sobbing. Comforting people is the last thing I know how to do, as I'm more likely to make people feel even more miserable. Besides, I'm also someone who needs comfort. Any second now, I feel like banging my head against the nearest wall to wake up from this dream.

No, scratch that. This is a nightmare!

I must resist the urge to tell the woman to shut up and stop being so dramatic. But like the other things I want to do, I can't. I think Salome has every right to cry, considering the soul of her niece is somewhere other than her body. Who knows what happened to her and where she is? She could be inside my body as well, trapped and confused like me.

"I'm sorry, but I really can't," I answered her question, which only seemed to make the sobbing worse. It's not like I have any memories to remember. I literally have no idea who you are.

That's the best answer I could come up with. I really want to be honest, but I need to refrain from saying anything too outrageous. Salome continues to cry beside me, wiping away her tears with a flowery handkerchief.

As she introduced herself earlier, she is Salome Grace-Gerard, my aunt who took me in after my grandmother, Ophelia Grace, who originally cared for me, passed away three years ago.

Salome left all the complicated details to be revealed at a later time. For now, it's best for me to acknowledge her as my family and let her explain why I'm in the hospital.

The situation goes like this. Before Olivia was sent to the hospital, she got involved in a car accident two months ago, as what the doctor explained earlier. From what Salome knew, the car that hit Olivia had a broken brake and the slippery road didn’t help the situation one bit. She was crossing the road and got hit by the driver, and by some miracle, the brakes finally functioned after a few minutes of the accident. The driver of the car that hit her on a rainy night was the one who took care of the hospital bills and Salome was the one who tended to her needs ever since she fell into a coma.

Salome told me what kind of person Olivia is, what she always does, how generous and hard-working she was as a person, how she expected her to have a boyfriend but sadly there wasn't, and lastly how smart Olivia is.

"Don't worry too much about school. You're a very kind and smart person. There's no way you can't catch up with your lessons." Her smile was so bright when she bragged to me Olivia is an honor student. Which made my shoulders feel heavier than it was before.

Really, of all people. Why an honor student? I know this act would turn out to be a fiasco because the least thing I could do perfectly is act smart when in fact it’s simple math already an ordeal for me to do. Can’t she be an outcast that nobody wants to be around? Why does she have to be smart?

It was already nighttime when the two of us were done talking about who Olivia Grace was. Salome explained that she never expected me to wake up today. I was thankful that she had to go back to her place because she had some important business to attend to at home. She promised me that she would be back tomorrow, bringing along her husband to help her make me remember them.

The doctor paid a visit and informed us that I could be discharged in two days after some additional tests to assess my condition. After enduring hours of unwanted attention, I finally found myself alone in the room.

I lay down on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling, with my feet hanging off the bed. Today's events have been a major setback for me. The silence in the room allowed my thoughts to resurface, continuing to weigh heavily on my mind.

What has happened to my body?

Why did my soul come to this body?

Is there a way for me to get my body back?

Of all people, why us?

These were the lingering thoughts that kept me up. But there are facts that need to be highlighted.

First, based on the information given by Olivia's aunt, Olivia is an ordinary 18-year-old high school student. I stupidly asked Salome if Olivia was involved or interested in weird things like witchcraft, cults, or anything supernatural. Maybe it would explain why her soul left her body and mine was trapped inside hers. But it didn't help. Well, if body-swapping can exist, so can those, right? It was a long shot anyway.

I couldn't shake off the feeling that the soul switch happened because Olivia was somehow involved in paranormal activities, and I became an unlucky victim. If soul-swapping was possible, then anything could be!

Second, it's been two months since we both got involved in separate road accidents. Two whole freaking months. Olivia had her car accident a day before mine. I couldn't remember all the details clearly, but Salome mentioned that it was a stormy night when the accident occurred. No matter how much I try to piece it together, it doesn't make sense why I ended up inside this girl's body. Maybe Olivia is inside my body as well. That could be a possibility.

My head began to throb again. I let out a deep sigh and decided to surrender to sleep. My brain has reached its limit for now. I closed my eyes and hoped that when I woke up, this would all turn out to be a terrible dream.