Celeste
The first thing I heard was a beep.
Slow. Steady.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
I tried to remember where I was, but my thoughts were buried beneath a thick, suffocating fog. Every time I reached for a memory, it slipped away before I could grasp it.
Other sounds drifted in and out of the darkness.
Voices.
Footsteps.
Something moving nearby.
I couldn’t make sense of any of it.
Then came the pain.
It tore through my chest with every breath, so intense that I wanted to scream. My lungs felt as though they were on fire, each shallow breath sending another wave of agony through my body.
I tried to open my eyes.
Nothing.
I tried again.
Still nothing.
Panic began to creep through the fog.
Why couldn’t I wake up?
What had happened to me?
The beeping continued beside me, the sound
