Fight Left In Me ✔

{2} Heal

Jo wakes up completely disoriented. She has no idea where she is for a few minutes and doesn't realize yet that she slept for hours on end, well into the next morning. 

She sits up and rubs her eyes, memories of yesterday slowly coming back, helping her remember where she is and what happened. 

The sun shines through the curtains and she wonders what time it is, looking around her eyes land on a small table on the other side of the room. On top of it sits a plate with a croissant and next to it there's a glass of orange juice. 

Her stomach growls at the sight of it and she gets up to bite into the croissant. A soft moan escapes her,  chewing on it gratefully, thinking she never tasted anything this good.

She takes a sip from the fresh juice and faintly hears whistling coming from downstairs. She smiles as she enjoys her breakfast, looking around the room some more, spotting a big, soft towel on the chair next to her backpack.

She doesn't give herself time to think twice, grabs her toiletries bag, and walks out to find the bathroom. She goes inside and starts the shower, quickly undressing as the water heats up. 

The second the water hits her cheek, a sharp sting reminds her of the cut there. And as the water flows further down her body, it highlights all the other areas of her body that are damaged.

Bruises, cuts, tense muscles, her heart... She can't think of a place that doesn't hurt. 

She closes her eyes and tries to relax, pulling the braid out of her hair roughly. As she washes her hair with the shampoo she found in the corner, she tries to focus on the simple task to keep her demons at bay.

She washes her body methodically and then steps out of the shower, using the towel to dry herself off before wrapping it around her body. Before walking towards the mirror and grabbing her toothbrush and toothpaste, brushing her teeth as she wipes the fog from the mirror, staring at herself with new interest. She spits out the toothpaste and combs her fingers through her hair, braiding it quickly, while it's still wet, to make sure it stays in place today. 

Looking at herself again, she leans closer towards the mirror, noticing something different about her reflection. She can't really pinpoint it, but she seems more relaxed, happier. 

Not pretty but she never was, so that's impossible. 

Her confidence is at an all-time low, a result of being with Mark for the past five years. Even though she lost a lot of weight, she still fails to see anything beautiful about herself. 

Mark forced her to diet because she was too fat for his taste... And he made sure she never forgot how disgusted he was by the sight of her body.

She shakes her head violently to stop herself from thinking about Mark. That guy doesn't deserve a second of her time anymore. Ever again.

She puts on some make-up before walking back to the guest room, the aroma of coffee entering her nose, right before she closes the door behind her. After rummaging through her bag for a bit, she pulls out a T-shirt from the old days; her favorite Foo Fighters one. 

She also finds her red lace bra and panties, smiling as she pulls them out of the bag. The day she bought those, she imagined herself wearing them when she was free to live her life again. She regularly touched them at the back of her closet, promising herself she would be strong enough someday. 

As she puts the lingerie on and pulls the T-shirt over her head, she becomes aware of the fact that everyone she'll meet today will know about the red lace bra because the shirt is too big and leaves her entire shoulder bare. Old Jo would have been annoyed by that, but today she giggles.