When Eva woke up, she knew that she had missed at least one consultation with a client. After taking stock of all the bodily pains, she found that she was beyond caring. It felt like someone took a sledge hammer to her head and then went to town on the rest of her. She had thought that she would have slept off some of the pain, but a massive headache was beginning to split her skull in two. With a groan, she limped into the bathroom. Without looking in the mirror, she leaned forward an took a mouthful of water from the sink. Her abdomen resisted, and when she swallowed her throat ached horribly. Finally, Eva looked herself over. The bruises had been deep, she recalled reading somewhere that intense bruising normally took on early stages of blue and purple. The color had become more severe during the night, and they hurt with every heart beat and movement. Her cheek looked like some sort of gruesome flower, the way the colors spread on her flesh. Opening the cabinet that stood opposite the sink, Eva dug for her first aid kit. It had been a house warming gift when she had moved here over two years ago. It had never been opened, till now. Taking a seat, Eva pulled out the Neosporin and gauze. Eyeing her mangled knees, she squirted the disinfectant on and proceeded to bandage them up. By the end of first aid session, she had attached a cold pack to her cheek and her neck. It was probably too late, but the cold provided some pain relief. It didn't feel like Joker had broken anything. She also wrapped up her hands and treated any of the bites she had received.

Throwing on her bathrobe, Eva left the bathroom and went into the kitchen. Her purse was on the floor, she could hear a faint beep, signaling the slow death of her cell phone battery. Grabbing it, she plugged it in, and watched as several voicemails and text messages came through. One was from work, another was a frustrated client. The rest were from Marni. Just as Eva was preparing to make a pot of coffee, the phone buzzed, it was Marni. Heaving a sigh, she picked it up. "Eva!"

It was a solid minute before Eva responded "Eva? Eva I know you're there I can hear you breathing!"

Taking a deep breath, and fighting the urge to unload everything onto her friend "Hey Marni…"

"Fucking Christ Eva, what happened to you last night!?"

It was another several seconds before she could bring herself to speak "I-I-Marni, I'm really sorry."

"Well you should be, I was so worried I thought something happened! Why wouldn't you answer the phone?"

Eva glanced in the mirror that hung in her living room. "It died."

She absently touched the cold pack on her neck. "I drank too much and I didn't wanna interrupt you, so I called a taxi…"

"You should have told me! We could have left if your weren't feeling well."

That was true, even though Marni had been reluctant to leave last night, if she had started puking her guts out, the oddball motherly instincts would have kicked in. Why Eva hadn't thought to use that? "You looked like you were having a lot of fun…"

"That's never stopped you before."

That was also true, sick Eva was incredibly childish and clingy, but only with Marni "Well, I just didn't want to ruin your evening."

There was a long pause on Marni's end "Eva, please tell me what's going on?"

She turned on the coffee maker "What do you mean, nothing's going on."

Marni huffed "I'm not stupid Eva! You've been acting off and I know it's about that new client."

She rubbed her eyes, and worried her lower lip "It's just someone from the mafia alright."

That should shake her off. Mafia were intimidating, not as bad Joker, but they were up there "So, it's just mafia?"

Oh Christ, she was buying it. "Yeah, I met him the night before and….. And he gave me a bit of scare."

Another break "He wasn't the reason you left last night right?"

"No, I just drank too much."

That seemed to pacify Marni. Her epiphany from last night must have been erased by the alcohol "He didn't threaten you did he?"

The laugh this spurred was hollow "Haha, you know these mafia types, always threatening and saying if I turn them over to the cops, they'll start pulling off fingernails."

Marni chuckled "I guess, I'm sorry for freaking out."

Thank the God of booze and God in general "It's ok, I should have let you know I was leaving, or at least texted you…"

The doorbell chimed suddenly "Hey Marni, I gotta go…"

"Alright, I'll call you later."

"Right, later."

(Author's Note: One of my readers told me who they envisioned playing the part of Eva while reading my story. It makes me curious, if you guys want, you are welcome to tell me who you see as Eva while you read. Tschuss!)