Edited: Changed Vera Vandermeer to Vera Walton, I don't know why my game gave different last name from the one on the wikis, might be mistranslation
Everything crumbled to dust when Luna suddenly collapsed at the age of 12.
She wasn't responsive at all and thus she was quickly rushed to hospital. What the doctor told her parents broke their hearts completely. She was diagnosed with a rare heart disease and it's incurable with a really slim chance she could survive. Luna still remembered her mother was crying so hard while hugging her tightly while her father tried to hold back his tears and failed to do so. Her older sister tried her best to comfort both of their parents while their little siblings didn't truly understand what happened.
Ever since that day, Luna spent the majority of her life in a hospital for 10 years. She was pulled out from her school and got home-schooled because she often missed the school attendances as she sometimes stayed in the hospital for weeks. Her parents had to take a second job to cover the hospital bills and her medication, while also taking care of the family. Her older sister had to take care of their siblings at home because their parents didn't come home until late at night, while also taking a part-time job to help.
Their relatives tried to help as well, but there wasn't much they could help. Their mother's grandparents were too old to look after children while their father's grandfathers lived far from their town. Hiring a caretaker only added more cost. Luna wished she could help, but her rare heart disease only stopped her. The first and last time she tried to help with house chores, she ended up in the hospital for high blood pressure as her heart couldn't take it. Ever since then, she only focused on her recovery.
Because Luna spent most of her time alone, she spent her time reading books with various topics; from detective and romantic novels to education magazines to textbooks of various fields like art, biology, law and psychology. She liked looking at nature-focused magazines because she could see the world through them even though she's stuck in hospital. Reading textbooks sounded boring and useless knowing she didn't know how long she would live, but she couldn't give up in life.
Other than that, Luna played games in her free time, and dating-sim games were her favorite. Because she couldn't go out, she didn't have any romantic experiences with boys, let alone friendship with others. The latest game she's playing was "Tears of Themis", a recommendation from a cheerful young intern, and she was amazed by how beautiful the game was. Playing as a graduate student in law made her feel she wanted to be one. Her father was a police officer, so it's easy for her to be drawn to a similar field.
"Luna, are you sleeping?" Nurse Jackie called her out.
"Hello, Jackie!" Luna brightened up as soon as she saw the nurse. Jackie had been her nurse for 6 years, 7 years if she counted the time she was an intern in the same hospital. "It's time already?"
"Yes, it's time for your surgery. This will be a big one and hopefully, you will be healthy after this surgery." Nurse Jackie tried to cheer her up. She had been going through many surgeries in the past 10 years, but never this big.
"If the surgery is successful, can I go to the beach? Or maybe forest? Flower field will be nice as well." Luna daydreamed.
"You can go anywhere when you're healthy enough. Everyone is rooting for your recovery." Nurse Jackie didn't lie about this. Because Luna had been in the hospital for a very long time, she knew every nurse and doctor on personal matters. They were like her second family.
"Then… I want to study law…" Luna quietly and excitedly said it. "Or maybe criminal psychology, I always love detective novels. It sounds awesome too!"
"Hahaha, anything you want, Luna." Nurse Jackie sounded happy to see Luna in high spirits. "You can dream big and earn your dreams, dear Luna. You earn it."
"Thank you, Jackie!"
"We all pray for your surgery, Luna."
And it was the last time she saw Nurse Jackie and her family...because the surgery turned out to be her final memory. She didn't feel any pain from the surgery, but she felt regret for her missing moments and milestones of life. All she wanted was a normal life.
Life was too cruel.
~0~0~0~
When Luna opened her eyes, she was expecting the normal hospital ceiling and not a gloomy dark ceiling.
Luna was too shocked to process where she was and what happened to her, but sharp pains on her left wrist brought her back from her initial shock. She finally saw the small pool of blood, a bloody cutter and blood stains on her current dress.
"What...happened… Huh?!" Luna slapped her mouth off, surprised to hear her voice. She knew her voice and she knew the voice she heard wasn't hers at all.
However, she knew she had to attend to the wound before asking questions as it was more emergency than her current situation. She mentally thanked all the nurses in the hospital, they taught her how to clean and bandage wounds and burns. They took a note about how bored she was and they decided to spare their break time teaching various life lessons and skills.
She was a bit grateful that she found the first-aid kit and took care of the wounds. Even though everything was new to her, she wasn't completely naive not to notice why this body had these cuts on the left wrist, both old and new cuts. She knew perfectly what the original owner of this body was going to do.
She wanted to take her own life.
"This is such an irony…" Luna laughed out of irony. "Whoever this person is, she wanted to die while I wanted to live… What a cruel twist of fate…"
After she finished bandaging the wounds, she finally looked around and found a mirror.
"...HUH?!"
This was the most shocking thing that happened to her. Luna knew perfectly what she looked like, black hair and dark-blue eyes. The girl in front of her and copying her frantic panic movement had black-purple hair and brown-honey color. Her hair was short because she wanted it that way as she always got many medical procedures, this woman had long hair.
"Why...she looks familiar…" Luna was more confused than panicked.
"...ID… She must be carrying some sort of ID…"
The condition of this apartment was sad, everything was either old or broken. Even the bed wasn't made and the clothes in the wardrobe were a bit old in her opinion.
"This yellow dress…" Luna noticed something and took out a yellow dress. "Why do I feel I saw this yellow dress before…"
Shaking off the weird feeling, she hunted down the purse and finally found a student ID. At least that's what she thought because she never had one in her life. She only knew nurse ID and student ID from young interns.
"Vera...Wa...Wal...Walton…. Vera Walton, Stellis University." Luna looked completely shocked as she was reading it. "Stellis University...isn't that the university from the game?"
All of sudden, her head was in great pain and a flood of memories came rushing in. Memories of a family, school life, accepting into Stellis University, happily dating a man, that man asking more and more money, taking a debt because of it, commiting suicide. All of her thoughts and feelings crushed her to the point she puked from all those depressing feelings.
"I...remember now…" Luna finally remembered who she was.
Vera Walton, she was a minor character in Tears of Themis. She appeared in one of the male leads's personal story as one of the students in his class and had major trouble with her so-called boyfriend who took some PUA lessons. She became suicidal and depressed after she got into debt to give money for her so-called boyfriend and couldn't tell her parents because they forbid her to have a relationship with male student.
That's as far as she could remember.
"Let's recap… The last thing I remember was the doctors administering the anesthetic before the surgery…" Luna tried to make up what truly happened, before realizing the critical thing.
"...If I'm here as Vera...does that mean…" Cold sweat ran through her body as she realized it.
She died in the surgery.
Realizing that, Luna couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. Everyone told her that the surgery could finally fix her and then she could finally become a healthy child. After that, she wanted to go to the beach, or forest, or flower field. She wanted to study Law or Criminal Psychology. She wanted to fall in love, get married and have her own happy family. She wanted to do many things that she couldn't do because of her cursed rare heart disease.
In the end, she died and there was nothing she could do about it.
A book fell beside her and she picked it up, realizing it was the original Vera's diary. The last entry of the diary was basically her suicide note, stating she was sorry for everything and she didn't have any hope left. Still crying, Luna picked up a pen and began to write a new entry.
Date xx Month xx Year 20xx
Dear diary of a stranger,
Vera Walton has successfully committed suicide. By a twist of fate, someone else takes over her body while Vera...the real Vera has passed away. I'm writing this as proof that this is NOT a dream or anything.
That person is me who's currently writing this diary entry.
My name is Luna White, age 22, born on 12th February 20xx and I…(incoherent and wet writing) I...passed away in my life-changing surgery to cure my rare heart disease. By the same twist of fate, I'm now Vera Walton and I know you...because you're a minor character in a game named "Tears of Themis". I'm...a character in a game...
(There's wet spots on the paper)
I know you will never read this because you already passed away, Vera. However, I have to thank you for giving me this chance to live...even in exchange for your own life. I swear to your grave that I will avenge you and I will stop people like your scumbag boyfriend from causing pain and suffering to other women. I don't know how long it will take or will I ever do that, but this is my promise to you, Vera.
So...Rest in Peace, Vera Walton. I will take good care of the life you wanted to throw away.
Closing down the diary, she knew she couldn't come back anymore; not to her family, not to the kind and patient nurses and doctors…
Not to herself as Luna White.