Chapter 390 - 277: Shrunk
When Paige Summers woke, another month had already passed.
She blinked open her eyes from a haze, staring at a white ceiling, unable to immediately place where she was.
The last clear memory in her mind was the agony of the medicine being forced down her throat—a pain so intense it almost made her want to kill herself.
She let out a silent sigh of relief.
Her body felt good now, even better than before she’d taken the medicine.
It seemed the medicine, much like the injections before it, had not only done her no harm but had actually been beneficial.
Still, she never wanted to experience that feeling again.
"You’re awake?! That’s wonderful!"
Paige Summers turned her head to see a young woman in a nurse’s uniform giving her a wide smile.
Unsure of her situation, she naturally showed no reaction.
But she could tell that the other woman was genuinely happy she had woken up.
Paige Summers gave a slight nod.
The nurse touched her cheek with a pitying expression. "Hang on, I’ll go get a doctor to check on you!"
With that, she hurried away.
But that simple gesture left Paige Summers reeling.
As far as she could recall, it had been many, many years since anyone had touched her face with such an expression.
What in the world was going on?!
She flexed her hands and found a needle still inserted in her wrist. She pressed her lips together and, without hesitation, pulled it out.
Glancing around, she found herself in a small room containing only the bed she lay on and a small cabinet across from it. There was nothing else.
But the smell and the general feeling of the place told her it was most likely a hospital.
Just as she was debating whether to get out of bed and investigate, the door swung open.
The same young nurse from before was in the lead. Seeing Paige sitting up, she jumped and hurried forward to help her lie back down. "Don’t rush to get up! You just woke up, you need a lot more rest!"
Paige Summers didn’t know what to say. She knew her own body, and right now, it felt perfectly fine.
But there was no need to say that out loud.
The man behind the nurse also came forward. He was a male doctor in his thirties. He didn’t say anything, just performed a routine examination... Finally, he nodded at the nurse. "She seems fine from this look, but if you’re worried, you can take her for more detailed tests."
"That won’t be necessary..."
The one who answered was Paige. She had no desire to go through any more tests. Besides, she now had a faint suspicion she was in a safe environment, not the laboratory from before.
But as the words left her mouth, she was startled by the sound of her own voice.
The hoarseness wasn’t surprising, as she probably hadn’t spoken in a long time. But the childish tone laced within that rasp was starkly different from her previous, mature voice.
Her pupils contracted for a moment. Seeing that neither of the two beside her had any particular reaction, she slowly calmed herself.
Seeing her insistence, they didn’t force the issue, their expressions holding a faint trace of sympathy.
The doctor gave her a few instructions to rest well and then left. The young nurse stayed behind, gathering the needle and other items. When she saw Paige didn’t want the IV put back in, she didn’t try to persuade her.
She tucked the blanket around her and, seeing Paige’s dazed expression, couldn’t help but say, "You poor child. There’s no need to be afraid anymore. You probably don’t know yet, but you’ve been rescued. That twisted laboratory has been shut down and sealed by The Government. You can live a proper life now! By the way, do you have any family? I can help you contact them..."
Paige laboriously licked her lips. Instead of answering the question, she asked, "Can I see a mirror?"
The nurse was taken aback for a second, then smiled. "Of course!" She quickly fetched a small mirror and held it before Paige’s eyes. "Don’t worry, the place blew up before they had a chance to use you as a test subject! The doctor said so too—your body hasn’t suffered any major harm. You were probably just injected with some preparatory medicine. You’ll recover slowly!"
After showing her the mirror, she was quickly called away from the room to attend to other duties.
Paige Summers lay there, still reeling.
Noticing the nurse hadn’t taken the mirror with her but had casually placed it by her pillow, she couldn’t help but sit up and examine her reflection closely...
What in the hell...
The woman in the mirror—no, to be honest, judging by her features, this was undeniably a child. Fourteen, maybe fifteen years old at most!
Don’t tell me I’ve jumped bodies again?!
Paige Summers’s heart seized. She flung the mirror down and frantically felt for her earring...
It was gone.
Her earring was really gone.