When Ellie woke up, the hazy blue outside her window gave nothing away as to whether it was about to turn into morning or night. She intently ignored her clock with the aim of reaching clarity without any extra pressure and stumbled blearily toward her en suite.
She'd fallen asleep in a long sleeve t-shirt and over sized athletic shorts rather than her usual nude state. It wasn't cold in her flat, being the middle of the summer and on the highest level of her studio's building, but she'd felt naked after what happened the night before. Or morning before? She wasn't sure of the transition of time just yet and let the thought fade. A shower would help. A bath would be even better, and for what felt like the first time in a long time, she let herself smirk. Not quite a smile, she told herself in self-reproach, but not a bad start.
Her bathroom was dark and even though she was well used to the light switch just inside the door, it eluded her just now so she lazily quit searching for it and just wandered over to the bathtub, turning on the main faucet and adjusting the knobs to where she knew the temperature would even out just right when hot water finally came through. The toilet was the next stop, and as she sat and peed in the dark, she let some of her muscles relax. Where sleep should have helped her unwind, it had only wound her tighter with nightmares she didn't want to recall. She relieved herself and sat there a while longer in the dark, listening to the bath filling up.
