Hoping to awaken Asher's sluggish body, D209 stood under the shower, letting the warm water run down his tired body. The water was relaxing even in his very frustrating predicament. He kept telling himself that everything would be fine once he got to the hospital and found a fellow grim reaper.

Mm?...Hey! Where are my clothes? Why am I naked? Am I showering? This is my shower. How did I get here? Where's Kaylee? Am I dreaming?

What the heck was going on? D209 froze on the spot. This had never happened before. What should he do? He closed his eyes and hoped that it was just another glitch, and it would go away. He only wanted to wake the body up, not the soul too.

Hey! Who turned off the lights? Where am I? Hello? I must be dreaming. I need to wake up. But how? Nothing is happening.

Shit! Closing his eyes didn't work. D209 could still hear Asher's soul speaking, but it seemed like Asher couldn't hear what he was thinking though. Either way, this was not good. Left with no choice he opened his eyes again, not like he could stay under the shower forever.

Hey, the lights are on again. And I'm still in the bathroom? What kind of weird dream is this? Can I at least not be naked? Oh, I'm towel drying myself. That makes sense I guess, but why is my dream so boring? Since I'm naked anyway, can't I get some action? At least in my dream, I should get some. In the last dream that I can still remember, I was Daryl Dixon fighting zombies. At least that was fun. But what is this?

Drying himself in front of a mirror, D209 rolled his eyes hearing the things Asher was saying. He didn't know who this Daryl Dixon was but he highly doubts that Asher had it in him to fight zombies, not that the young man was in bad shape or anything. In fact, he was quite surprised to see all the lean muscles hidden underneath the rags this man called his wardrobe.

Hey, I don't need glasses in my dream. I don't think I've ever seen myself this clearly without glasses. Hmm...I wonder what Kaylee would think of me without glasses. Probably nothing. All she thinks about is Dr. Parker. But who can blame her? He's so perfect. I should be happy that Kaylee even knows I'm alive.

D209 couldn't take Asher's self-loathing and grumbling anymore. He quickly went back to Asher's room with just a towel wrapped around himself.

Hey! Where are my clothes? Am I going back to my room? What is really going on here? Hello? I need to wake up.

D209 ignored Asher's questions and went straight to bed, shutting his eyes tightly, hoping Asher's soul would fall back to sleep. At least until he found a way to extract himself.

Wake Up! Wake Up! Waaaaaake Up! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!

Sixty minutes. Sixty excruciating minutes. That was how long Asher had been yelling while D209 kept his eyes shut. But it just wasn't working. If anything, the young man's soul was more awake than ever. Nothing was going right.

Then D209 heard the click of a door. It must be Mike! So he immediately shot up from the bed and rushed to open his door.

Oh, am I awake now? Hey, where am I going? What's happening?

"Hey...mo" Mike yawned. "Morning. Why are you up so early?" Mike yawned again. He was used to dragging his roommate out of bed every morning unless they had different shifts. Asher was a heavy sleeper.

Help! Mike, something really weird is going on. I feel like I'm not controlling myself. It's like an out-of-body experience, except it's an inner-body experience.

"Good morning, Mike! When can we go to the hospital?"

What the fuck is going on? Why are words coming out of my mouth? I didn't say that. Mike! Can you hear me?

"Huh, our shift doesn't start for another two hours. Why are you so eager man? It's going to be another long shift."

"Uh, can we go earlier?"

"Look, I just came out to pee. I want to sleep for at least another hour." Mike yawned again. "And you should do the same. It's not like Kaylee is going to be there any earlier. Okay?" Mike shook his head at his lovesick friend and went into the bathroom.

Mike! Help me! I don't know what's going on. Mike!

D209 closed the door and leaned against it. Two more hours. Could he endure two more hours of Asher's nonstop yelling? Seeing that he didn't have a choice in the matter since he didn't know where the hospital was located, he opted to put some clothes on.

Body, listen to me. We are a team. You can't be running on your own like this. There must be an explanation for this. Let me think. Wait! Am I in a coma? No, I wouldn't be able to dream in comatose. This is definitely just a lucid dream. WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!

Continuing to ignore all the internal yelling, D209 pulled the closet door open. Scanning from one end of the closet to the other end which only took no more than two seconds for the six-foot-wide closet, his eyes almost bulged out of its sockets. He had very low expectations to begin with, if there was any at all, but he really couldn't have expected this. No wonder why Asher's t-shirts were so faded, the guy had only nine t-shirts and three knit sweaters hanging. There was a short stack of jeans and three pairs of sweatpants folded on the shelf. He pulled the drawer beneath the shelf and there were a few boxer briefs inside.

Okay, we should get dressed. No! I mean I should get dressed. I don't want to stay naked. Just grab the tee from the left. From left to right. That's what I always do. No need to think so much about it. It's just a t-shirt. Then grab the pair of jeans on top.

Removing the towel, D209 grabbed a pair of boxers and put them on. Ignoring Asher once again, he tried to pick the least ugly t-shirt there was. Browsing through the few options, he picked a plain dark gray t-shirt that was probably at one point black and then a pair of relaxed light denim jeans, it was the only pair without frayed hems. Then he eyed the knit sweaters, they were definitely in better shape than the t-shirts since they were probably less worn. So he grabbed the beige cardigan as well.

Hey, I only wear sweaters on holidays when Mom visits. Plus, it's too hot outside.

D209 closed the closet door and stood in front of the full-length mirror as he grudgingly got dressed. He shook his head as he pulled the t-shirt over his head.

I'm supposed to be in scrubs all day anyway. It really doesn't matter.

"It does matter!"

Great! Just great. He couldn't hold his tongue. What else could go wrong? Asher was quiet for a second and D209 didn't know if he was still there or not. He could still sense him but why was he suddenly quiet? Shouldn't he shout or shoot a million questions?

Uh, are you talking back to me? Can you hear me? Who are you? Are you me? Or am I you? Is this a dream? What's going on? Hey! I'm talking to you. I know you can hear me. I see your face in the mirror. I mean my face. Tell me what's going on. Right now! HELLO!

Ah, there he goes. D209 could only curse and facepalm himself.

"I've borrowed your body. I was supposed to leave it last night but I'm currently stuck inside you."

Borrow? What do you mean? What the heck are you saying? This has got to be a joke or a dream.

"Look, this is not a joke or a dream. But don't worry, I'm going to find a way to get out of you. When I'm gone, you won't even know I was ever here."

Are you serious? So I'm possessed? So what are you? A ghost? That's some bullshit right there. I'm a doctor. I don't believe in ghosts.

"No, I'm not a ghost. And FYI, they're spirits, a phase every soul goes through, not ghosts. They don't like that. And you'll be one someday too."

I must've gone mad. These consecutive long shifts are driving me insane. I need help before I get worse. I'm showing symptoms of delusion, hallucination, personality change, inability to control muscle movements...oh my God. I have Alzheimer's. Shit! Listen, I know we are confused right now but we need help. Tell Mike to take us to Dr. Zimmerman. He's the leading neurologist at the hospital.

Rolling his eyes, D209 didn't know how he was going to survive the next few hours with Asher constantly talking in his head.

"Stop! You're not sick. You still have a long way to go before it's your time. Your body is simply possessed. Do you see how you don't need glasses? It's because I don't need them."

No. I'm just hallucinating at the moment. And where are my glasses?

"At your friend Kaylee's place."

Kaylee? So you met Kaylee? And she didn't think I was acting strange and had me checked out? Oh my God. I can't remember what happened last night. How can my symptoms go undetected for so long and suddenly it's so aggressive?

"Dammit! Would you stop? I'm real and I repeat, you're not sick. I'm a grim reaper, not a ghost. If you don't believe me, look into the mirror."

D209 channeled his energy, staring into the mirror, he tried to see his own true form.

Gasp! Who are you? How is this possible?

"As I mentioned before, I'm a grim reaper. My code is D209. I'm on a mission for one week to explore the current conditions of humans on Earth. I have an amulet that's used to possess the human body without harming it. However, the amulet is faulty and now I'm stuck inside you. If you look closely you will see the amulet around my neck. That stone pendant is supposed to be red and glowing but it has died."

I see it! So this is really happening? Or is this just a part of my delusion? I really need to see Dr. Zimmerman. I'm building really elaborate stories and I look completely different.

"Asher? Are you on the phone? I can't fall back asleep. Can you make breakfast? Pleaseee..."

Mike! Help me! Take me to Dr. Zimmerman!

"Stop! I can prove to you that I'm real. Watch."

D209 went to the door and chanted something inaudible and then snapped his fingers before opening the door.

"Morning, Asher." Mike frowned and scratched the back of his head. "I came out for something, but I don't remember what. It's so strange."

"You came out to make breakfast," D209 provided.

"Oh yeah. I'm a little hungry and I can't sleep anymore. I guess I'll make some breakfast. Do you want any?"

"Sure! I would love some breakfast. Thanks, Mike."

Mike! What's wrong with you?

D209 closed the door again and walked back to the mirror and stared into it again to reveal himself.

Shit! What did you do to Mike? Is he possessed too? There's no way he would voluntarily cook.

"Don't worry. I only erased a few minutes of his memory and made a very persuasive suggestion. Nothing else. He'll be fine."

So this is really happening?

"Yes," D209 replied with a nod.

Then when will you leave?

"As soon as I can get out of your body."

Can I have control of my body back?

"No, not until I can extract myself," D209 replied even though he wasn't so confident in his answer as nothing was working accordingly. But he really didn't want Asher to take over his body back because he still needed to get a hold of another grim reaper for help.

Ugh! Why me? Of all people, why? Fuck! Why couldn't you pick someone else? What have I ever done to you? I have work to do, you know.

"Look, I didn't want this to happen either. Now, I just need to get to the hospital. That's where I'll find another grim reaper to help me get out of this. So just relax. This is only temporary." D209 really hoped what he's saying was true.

What? There are more of yous?

"Yeah, you don't expect me alone to collect all those passed away souls in the world, now do you?"

I don't know what to think. All I know is I'm screwed.

"Don't worry. I've got you covered."