Second Chance

2 - Nausea

Disgruntled noise escaped their lips as they slowly opened their eyes. The pain they awoke with hadn't settled at all yet, and with every new movement they made, it took all of their might not to scream out in pain.

They were slowly able to take in their surroundings, their eyes now open and the ringing in their ears coming to a halt.

Even though it was light that had at first permeated their vision, the room was completely dark. Aside from the street lamps luminating the night sky and the green light coming from a bunch of machines Chara was attached to. They focused on taking on their audible senses.

A quiet, constant beeping. Most likely a heart rate monitor. A very quiet, peaceful snore.

They slowly tilted their head to their right, trying to cause themselves no more unnecessary pain. Their eyes landed on the sleeping figure before them. Frisk sat seated at the bed they laid on, head positioned right next to their legs. They probably fell asleep whilst keeping an eye on Chara.

Chara noticed a wound on their forearm. Was that from the soul transfer? They would check with their own arm, but... it hurt too much to move anymore. They tried slowly lifting their right hand a little bit more to the right.

Their breath hitched as if they had to battle in order not to scream out. Tears started dwelling in their eyes.

But their hand had reached their destination. The back of their fingers made contact with Frisk's cheek in the hopes of waking them up. But they knew better than anyone else how much of a deep sleeper they were. And yet, their nose crinkled, indicating their awakening.

Frisk slowly opened their eyes, and Chara felt a wave relief rush over them. They sat up straight, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

"Chara...?"

Chara tried to speak, but it was too painful. Instead, they opted to try and reach for Frisk's hand once more. They noticed this, and grabbed hold of it.

"Hurts too much to do anything?", they smiled. The two humans' eyes finally met.

Frisk was in awe. Before them, lied the most beautiful pair of brown eyes they had ever seen. They were red, bloodshot, as if Chara had been sobbing for hours on end.

But they figured they didn't look too different. Tears couldn't be stopped as Frisk released a sob, holding Chara's hand close to them. A low, raspy voice caught their attention.

"It hurts like a bitch.", Chara muttered.

Frisk laughed. "I can't believe that's the first thing you say. Not even a good morning?" They smiled, tears now freely streaming down their face.

"I'm being so strong right now, you have no idea.", Chara joked as they closed their eyes once more, sinking their weight a little deeper in the mattress.

"I know, Chara. Take all the rest you can get."

That was all they needed to hear in order to drift off to a comfortable snooze.

----

The pain had eased up a little bit. Chara opened their eyes once more, this time being met with room lit in bright daylight. They finally had a chance to take in their surroundings properly. Next to the bed sat a simple armchair, lazily shoved underneath a table. There were some notebooks on there, aswell as some binders. Frisk was nowhere to be seen. Chara figured they had gone off to school.

The door opened slowly opened, and the strong smell of coffee permeated their nose. A small gasp.

"Good morning, my child." Toriel's voice was shaking, just a small scare away from breaking down crying. They sat down the cup of coffee on the table, pulling out the chair and sitting it closer to the bed.