'You need to eat something.'

Lisa's mother begrudgingly offered her daughter some toast, expectantly waiting for the food to be accepted.

Recently the nurse had found herself without an appetite, eschewing meals in favour of of an empty stomach. Occasionally she would binge on whatever she could get her hands on, only to later regurgitate everything that she'd devoured.

Somehow her gut seemed to reject any substance that wasn't PTV, making it difficult to appease her fleeting pangs of hunger.

Woeful, she refused the butter soaked plate that hovered before her face, instead reaching for the nearby jug and pouring herself another glass of crystal water. Like a desert in the midst of a drought, she couldn't quench her undying thirst.

'Do you have an eating disorder?'

The teen shook her head. 'I'm just tired.'

Her mother scoffed. 'That's ridiculous. How can you be too exhausted to eat? Without food, you'll simply waste away.'

Head resting against the wall, the intern folded her arms across her chest, watching as the spread began to melt and seep into the soggy bread, dripping viscously onto the white porcelain like pus trickling from a bloated wound.

It took all of her strength not to gag, memories drifting to that mummified girl encased in soiled bandages. Eyes settling on the vase of posies poised in the centre of the table, Lisa tried to avoid her parent's piercing gaze, lacking the energy to have another tedious argument.

It was much too difficult to engage in conversation, and she didn't enjoy discussing uncomfortable and awkward subject matter. With her mother, it was always a work related topic, which only made Lisa's predicament more pronounced.

'Is something bothering you?'

The teenager glanced at the woman sitting opposite. 'No, I'm alright.'

With a noise of frustration, she turned her eyes to the ceiling. 'I'm not an idiot, Lisa. Something's wrong. You can tell me, I won't get mad. We may not always get along, but I'm still your mother.'

In the weeks that followed her outburst, the woman's attitude had softened somewhat, albeit their relationship was still rather strained. For the two of them to be on speaking terms, however stilted, meant that progress had been made.

Fingernails tapping the side of her glass, the nurse yearned to tell her mother the truth, painfully biting her tongue to prevent the words from spilling out. But it was impossible to confess without airing her own dirty laundry. And if she did that, then what would come of her parents? She didn't want her actions to cause them any harm.

More confined than she had ever been, the intern opened her mouth and let more lies tumble forth. It was all she could do to stave off suspicion.

'I keep thinking about Alessa.' She finally said, eyes on the lace tablecloth.

'Oh, I see.' The older woman hesitated as she searched for the right words. 'That must have been difficult for you. It's never easy seeing a body.'

Lisa shrugged. 'I had to see one sometime, right?'

'Eventually, but you're still so young, and Alessa was just a child. It's always worse when they're children.'

The teen nodded her head in agreement. She had known that becoming a nurse would involve helping people, but the idea of seeing a corpse was something that had never occurred to her. It seemed silly somehow, but that's how it was.

'At least you can rest easy knowing you made the girl comfortable in her last moments.'

With a stifled laugh, Lisa gathered a selection of dishes and headed for the sink, submerging both hands in the tepid water as she began to scrub the plates clean. Doing the dishes wasn't something she particularly enjoyed, but it allowed her to drop the facade, frowning as she turned her back on the woman.

Whilst running a sodden cloth over pale white discs, the intern's mother continued to witter on about the first time she viewed a body. It was so casual that she may as well have been discussing the weather, stirring her tea as she described the intricacies of death.

'Eventually you just get used to it.' She finished, tone steady and voice calm.

'I don't think I'll ever get used to this.' The girl replied, swallowing the lump that threatened to choke her.

Pausing to brush strands of hair from her eyes, the strawberry blonde pulled her bob into a ponytail, leaving it to cascade down her back as she leaned forward to rinse the soap suds from her flesh. Depressed, the nurse reached into the murky water and removed the plug, dangling the chain around the faucet as she dried her hands with a nearby towel, scowling as the coarse fabric caught her brittle and broken fingernails.

Even when her grandfather passed away, Lisa couldn't bring herself to look inside his open casket, waiting at the far end of the church as she lingered by the door, accepting that he was gone, but not wanting her final memory to be of his hollow body.

Gazing at the bland floral wallpaper, the young woman was suddenly overcome with a sense of melancholy, as though a vortex had appeared to suck all joy from the world. Unable to ignore the sensation, she clasped both arms around herself, not bothering to hide her misery as she turned around, sullen and glum.

'Mom?'

'Yes?' The woman asked, slightly concerned.

'I know we don't always get along, but I do love you.'

Startled, the older woman blinked back her surprise. 'What's brought this on?'

Lisa shrugged, 'Nothing. I guess I just felt like I should tell you, in case anything happens.'

Standing to her full height, the nurse collapsed into her mother's warm embrace, returning the tight grip that enveloped her. She smelled of perfume and soap, a scent that brought comfort to the distressed intern.

Her mother had always carried a pleasant aroma, and when she was small, the girl would often curl up beside her, inhaling the sweet and fruity fragrance that seemed to be her natural odour.

'What on Earth is going to happen?' She earnestly queried, pulling back to meet her daughter's gaze, fingers cupping the girl's angular chin.

'It was Alessa. The boiler accident. It happened so quickly, and I was thinking, "What if that happens to me? What if I get run over while crossing the road?" So I want you to know that I love you, in case I have an accident.'

With a soft chuckle, the parent ran a hand down her child's face. 'I know. Now stop being silly and cheer up. It's not the end of the world.'

Perhaps. Lisa thought, forcing herself to smile. But it certainly feels like it.

And it did, like a whirlwind consuming her until all she could see was dust and debris. Something prickled in her mind, like a spark on her brain, igniting a fire that spread through each and every nerve until it finally reached her heart.

Dread. Foreboding. Terror. They were coming. She didn't know when, or how they would strike, but she knew that they inevitably would. Each shadow, every sound, setting her on edge until she was an utter wreck barely capable of logical thought.

She was falling apart, like ancient parchment disintegrating in the howling wind. Eroding little by little, until eventually, there would be nothing left.